CMNS 260: Empirical Communication Research Methods 1-Introduction to the Course
CMNS 260: Empirical Communication Research Methods 1-Introduction to the Course
Professor: Jan Marontate Teaching Assistants: Nawal Musleh-Motut, Megan Robertson
Lab Instructor: Chris JeschelnikSchool of Communication.
Simon Fraser UniversityFall 2011
Course Organization & Handouts• Syllabus & Outline of Class Sessions– Objectives– Course Administration (textbook, grading, office
hours)– Tentative Schedule of Class Sessions
• Assignments: Handouts 3, 4 & 5
Course contentCourse content
• Introduce different forms of research • Analyze relationships between goals,
assumptions, theories and methods• Study basic data collection and analysis
techniques• Research process—focusing on empirical
methods
Why study methods? Practical aspects– learn to read other people’s research & critically
evaluate it– learn ways to find your own “data” to answer your
own research questions– acquire skills potential employers seek– self-defense (against misinformation) &
responsible citizenship
Importance of research in everyday life & in communications studies
• civil society --Interpersonal & intercultural relations
• policy decisions about “life and death” issues (student loans, health care, welfare benefits…etc
• healthcare (evidence-based medicine), Personal identity and ideas about society
• industry and marketing decisions (choices of products in stores, cable channels, opinion polls etc..)
• …..MORE…..
Why study methods? – “Knowledge is power” (to acquire skills for social
action or change)• “Savoir pour pouvoir, Pouvoir pour prévoir” (Auguste
Comte)• «To know to do (have power), to do (have power) in
order to predict the future and plan for it »
– « Knowledge is understanding »• “décrire, comprendre, expliquer ” (Gilles Gaston Granger)• “to describe, to understand and to explain”
Research has the potential to inform and misinform
• even well-done research is not always used accurately
• some research is technically flawed• knowledge of methods an important tool for
understanding logic and limits of claims about research
Research Methodology (Scholarly Perspectives)
• Process– methods– logic of inquiry (assumptions & hypotheses)
• Produces– laws, principles and theories that can be tested• (Karl Popper & notion of falsifiability for politically
engaged scholars interested in the fight against genocide in the early 20th century)
Research has the potential to inform and misinform
• even well-done research is not always used accurately
• some research is technically flawed• knowledge of methods an important tool for
understanding logic and limits of claims about research
Other Ways of Knowing
– authority (parents, teachers, religious leaders, media gurus)
– tradition (past practices)
– common sense– media (TV. etc.)– personal experience
Talk show host Oprah Winfrey
Cory DoctorowElectronic Frontier Assoc. & Boingboing.net
Ordinary Inquiry vs. Scholarly Inquiry
Risks of “Errors” associated with non-scholarly knowledge
• selective observation--only notice some phenomena-- miss others
• overgeneralization-evidence applied to too wide a range of conditions
• premature closure--jumping to conclusions• halo effect--idea of being influenced by prestige
Types of “Disciplines” (in history)
• Ranking of disciplines (are they scientific or not?)
• Middle ages– education as preparation for careers in theology – trivium (studied first, language skills)• logic rhetoric, grammar
– quadrivium• arithmetic, geometry, music, astronomy
19th century
concrete
abstract
concrete
abstract
Ranking Disciplines: Positivist ideas (Auguste Comte)
Communication as a Science?
• Field more recent – affiliations with the sciences, social sciences & the
humanities
• Scholarly work (like old ideas of science) distinguished from mythology by methods AND goals
• many different approaches
Relations between theory and empirical observation
• Theory and empirical research– Testing theories through empirical observation
(deductive)– Using empirical observation to develop theories
(Inductive)
Theories
EmpiricalGeneralizations
Observations
Predictions(Hypotheses)
TheScientificProcess
Empirical and LogicalFoundations of Research
(does not have to start with theory)
Source: Singleton & Straits (1999: 27); Babbie (1995: 55)
Scholarly Communities--Norms
• universalism -- research judged on “scientific” merit
• organized scepticism -- challenge and question research
• disinterestedness-- openness to new ideas, non-partisan
• communalism--sharing with others• honesty
Scholarly Publications vs. Other publications
• peer review – by knowledgable people– “blind” peer review• referees don’t know who did it• authors don’t know who refereed it
– unpaid
Research Questions
• Questions researchers ask themselves, not the questions they ask their informants
• Must be empirically testable• Not– too vague– too general– untestable (with implicit, untested assumed outcomes)
Using literature reviews to develop ideas for topics
• Literature review = Survey of research done on your topic.
• May be used to• previous research may inspire you to:– replicate a project (exactly or with variations) – explore unexpected findings– follow suggestions for further research– extend explanation or theory to new topic or setting or
context– challenge findings-- try to refute conclusions– look for new variables, relationships not treated in
literature
Research Paradigms
• Sets of shared patterns in a scholarly community about what constitutes worthwhile research (Thomas Kuhn, The structure of scientific revolutions, 1968) – What problems are worth investigating?– What constitutes an answer?
• Different views on how approaches are grouped
Identifying Styles of Research: Example of Quantitative vs. Qualitative Approaches
(Common about 20-30 yrs ago but still used. .Textbook Chapter 13)
Quantitative vs. Qualitative
Objective SubjectiveVariables Processes and eventsReliability
AuthenticityValue-Free Explicitly Stated ValuesIndependent of Context Aware of ContentMany cases or subjects Few cases or subjectsStatistical Analysis Other qualitiesDetached Researcher Involved Researcher
Another idea: Four Paradigms (Burrell & Morgan)
radical humanist radical structuralist
interpretive functionalist
Conflict/radical change
Order/stability/regulation
subj
ecti
ve
objective
““Dimensions” of ResearchDimensions” of Research
Neuman (2000: 37)
Purpose ofPurpose of
StudyStudy
Intended Use Intended Use of Studyof Study
Treatment of Time Treatment of Time in Studyin Study
Space Unit of Space Unit of
Analysis Analysis
ExploratoryExploratory
DescriptiveDescriptive
ExplanatoryExplanatory
BasicBasic
AppliedApplied
-Action-Action
-Impact-Impact
-Evaluation-Evaluation
Cross-sectionalCross-sectional
LongitudinalLongitudinal
-Panel-Panel
-Time series-Time series
-Cohort analysis -Cohort analysis
-Case Study-Case Study
--Trend studyTrend study
-dependent -individual-dependent -individual
-independent -family-independent -family
-household-household
-artifact-artifact
(media, (media,
technology)technology)
Exploratory ResearchExploratory Research
• When not much is known about topic• Surprises (e.g. Serendipity effect)• Acquire familiarity with basic concerns
and develop a picture• Explore feasibility of additional
research• Develop questions
Descriptive ResearchDescriptive Research
• Focuses on “who”, “what” and “how”• Background information, to stimulate new
ways of thinking, to classify types, etc.
Explanatory ResearchExplanatory Research
• To test theories, predictions, etc…• Idea of “advancing” knowledge
Intended Use of StudyIntended Use of Study
• Basic• Applied– action research (We can make a difference)– social impact assessment (What will be the
effects?)– evaluation research (Did it work?)– needs assessment (Who needs what?)– cost-benefit analysis (What is it worth?)
Basic or Fundamental ResearchBasic or Fundamental Research
• Concerns of scholarly community• Inner logic and relation to theoretical issues
in field
Applied ResearchApplied Research
• commissioned/judged/used by people outside the field of communication
• goal of practical applications– usefulness of results
Types of Applied ResearchTypes of Applied Research
Action Research Social Impact Assessment Needs Assessment Evaluation Research
• formative (built in)• summative (final outcomes)
Cost-benefit analysis
Treatment of TimeTreatment of Time Cross-sectional(one point in time)
Longitudinal (more than one point in time)
Main Types of Longitudinal StudiesMain Types of Longitudinal Studies• Panel study
– Exactly the same people, at least twice• Cohort Analysis
– same category of people or things (but not exactly same individuals) who/which shared an experience at at least two times
– Examples: Birth cohorts. Graduating Classes, Video games invented in the same year2000 2010
41-50 41-5051-60 51-6061-70 61-7071-80 71-80
• Time-series– same type of info., not exactly same people, multiple time periods, e.g. Same place
2006 2011Burnaby residents Burnaby residents
• Case Studies may be longitudinal or cross-sectional
Units of Analysis • Examples
– Individual people– Newspaper articles or broadcasts– Individual video games
Ecological Fallacy & Reductionism
ecological fallacy--wrong unit of analysis (too high)
reductionism--wrong unit of analysis (too low)reductionism--wrong unit of analysis (too low)
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