Table of Contents

Part I: Getting Started
Chapter 1: What Is Research?
We All Do Research, All the Time
Scholarly Research Is Different From Everyday Research
Cultural Studies and Research
Nietzsche on Interpretation
Problem of Certainty
Diachronic and Synchronic Research
The Way the Human Mind Works
Overt and Covert Oppositions
Thinking Fast and Slow
Quantity and Quality in Media Research
Media and Communication
Why a Book That Teaches Both Methodologies?
Considering Research Topics
What Is Research? Applications and Exercises
Conclusions
Further Reading
Chapter 2: The Research Process
Search Strategies
Sources of Information
How to Read Analytically
Doing a Literature Review
Primary and Secondary Research Sources
Searching on the Internet or the Game of “Find the Info If You Can!”
Analyzing Methodology in Research Articles
The Research Process: Applications and Exercises
Conclusions
Further Reading
Part II: Methods of Textual Analysis
Chapter 3: Semiotic Analysis
Saussure’s Division of Signs Into Signifiers and Signifieds
Semiotics of Blondeness
Semiotics and Society
Peirce’s Trichotomy: Icon, Index, and Symbol
Allied Concepts
Clotaire Rapaille on Culture Codes
Semiotics in Society: A Reprise
Syntagmatic Analysis of Texts
Paradigmatic Analysis of Texts
Skyfall: A Paradigmatic Analysis
Applications of Semiotic Theory
Paul Ekman on Facial Expression
Semiotics: Applications and Exercises
Conclusions
Further Reading
Chapter 4: Rhetorical Analysis
Aristotle on Rhetoric
Rhetoric and the Mass Media
A Brief Note on the Communication Process
Certeau on Subversions by Readers and Viewers
Applied Rhetorical Analysis
A Miniglossary of Common Rhetorical Devices
Other Considerations When Making Rhetorical Analyses
A Sample Rhetorical Analysis: A Sea to Skin Advertisement
Rhetorical Analysis of the Visual Image
Images in Narrative Texts
Rhetorical Analysis: Applications and Exercises
Conclusions
Further Reading
Chapter 5: Ideological Criticism
Mannheim’s Ideology and Utopia
Defining Ideology
Marxist Criticism
Roland Barthes on Mythologies
The Problem of Hegemony
The Base and the Superstructure, False Consciousness, and the “Self-Made Man and Woman”
Post-Soviet Marxist Criticism
Basic Ideas in Marxist Criticism
A Marxist Interpretation of the Fidji “Snake” Advertisement
John Berger on Glamour
Identity Politics
Feminist Criticism of Media and Communication
The Social Conception of Knowledge
Phallocentric Theory: The Physical Basis of Male Domination
Political Cultures, the Media, and Communication
Pop Cultural and Media Preferences of the Four Political Cultures
Marxist Perspectives on Social Media
A Preview of Critical Discourse Analysis
Ideological Criticism: Applications and Exercises
Conclusions
Further Reading
Chapter 6: Psychoanalytic Criticism
Freud’s Contribution
Cell Phones and the Psyche: Applying the Theories of Erik Erikson
Neuropsychoanalysis: Freud and Neuroscience
Jungian Theory
Psychoanalytic Criticism: Applications and Exercises
Conclusions
Further Reading
Part III: Qualitative Research Methods
Chapter 7: Discourse Analysis
Defining Discourse Analysis
Teun A. Van Dijk on Discourse Analysis
Spoken and Written Discourse
Styles and Written Discourse
Political Ideology and Discourse Analysis
Critical Discourse Analysis
Advertising and Critical Discourse Analysis
Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis
A Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis of an Advertisement
Conclusions
Further Reading
Chapter 8: Interviews
The Prisoner Interviews Number Two
What Is an Interview?
Four Kinds of Research Interviews
Why We Use Interviews
How to Interview People
Questions Investigative Reporters Ask
The Structure of Conversations and Interviews
Transcribing Tapes
Making Sense of Transcribed Interviews
Coding
Problems With Interview Material
Interviews: Applications and Exercises
Conclusions
Further Reading
Chapter 9: Historical Analysis
What Is History?
History as Metadiscipline or Specialized Subject
Is History Objective, Subjective, or a Combination of the Two?
Kinds of Historical Research
The Problem of Writing History
The Problem of Meaning
Historical Periods
Baudrillard and Jameson on Postmodernism
Postmodernism and Historiography
The Historical and the Comparative Approach
History Is an Art, Not a Science
Doing Historical Research
Historical Analysis: Applications and Exercises
Conclusions
Further Reading
Chapter 10: Ethnomethodological Research
Defining Ethnomethodology
Boxed Insert on Ethnomethodology by Dirk Vom Lehn
Garfinkel’s Ingenious and Mischievous Research
Using Ethnomethodology in Media and Communication Research
Metaphors and Motivation
Love Is a Game
Humorists as Code Violators
Techniques of Humor
Ethnomethodology and the Communication Process
Ethnomethodological Research: Applications and Exercises
Conclusions
Further Reading
Chapter 11: Participant Observation
Defining Participant Observation
Significant Considerations When Doing Participant Observation
A Case Study of Participant Observation: Readers of Romance Novels
Problems With Participant Observation
Benefits of Participant Observation Studies
Making Sense of Your Findings
An Ethical Dilemma
Ethics and Research Involving Humans
Participant Observation: Applications and Exercises
Conclusions
Further Reading
Part IV: Quantitative Research Methods
Chapter 12: Content Analysis
Defining Content Analysis
Why We Make Content Analyses
Methodological Aspects of Content Analysis
Aspects of Violence
Advantages of Content Analysis as a Research Method
Difficulties in Making Content Analyses
Content Analysis Step by Step
Content Analysis: Applications and Exercises
Conclusions
Further Reading
Chapter 13: Surveys
Defining Surveys
Kinds of Surveys: Descriptive and Analytic
The VALS Typology Survey
Methods of Data Collection
Advantages of Survey Research
Problems With Surveys
Surveys and the 2012 Presidential Election
A Note on Media Usage Surveys: Shares and Ratings
Open-Ended and Closed-Ended Survey Questions
Writing Survey Questions
Making Pilot Studies to Pretest Surveys
Conducting Online Surveys
Samples
Obtaining Random Samples
Evaluating Survey Accuracy
Surveys: Applications and Exercises
Conclusions
Notes
Further Reading
Chapter 14: Experiments
Everyday Experimentation
Defining Experiments
The Structure of an Experiment
The Hawthorne Effect
Advantages of Experiments
Disadvantages of Experiments
The “Black Rats” Case and Experimental Fraud
A Checklist on Experimental Design
What’s an Experiment and What Isn’t?
Experiments: Applications and Exercises
Conclusions
Further Reading
Chapter 15: A Primer on Descriptive Statistics with Felianka Kaftandjieva
Levels of Measurement
Descriptive Statistics
Measures of Central Tendency
Measures of Dispersion
The Normal or Bell-Shaped Curve
The Problems With Ratings
A Cautionary Note on Statistics
Statistics and Comparisons
Data on Media Use in America
Smartphones
The Problem of Interpretation
Statistics: Applications and Exercises
Conclusions
Note
Further Reading
Part V: Putting It All Together
Chapter 16: Nineteen Common Thinking Errors
Common Fallacies
Conclusions
Further Reading
Chapter 17: Writing Research Reports
Keeping a Journal
A Trick for Organizing Reports
Outlines, First Drafts, and Revisions
Writing Research Reports
The IMRD Structure of Quantitative Research Reports
Writing Correctly: Avoiding Some Common Problems
Academic Writing Styles
A Checklist for Planning Research and Writing Reports
Conclusions
Further Reading