Doing Media Research

Susanna Hornig Priest, Ph.D., has taught mass communication theory and research methods at the undergraduate and graduate level beginning in 1989. She holds a doctoral degree in communications from the University of Washington, a master’s degree in sociology from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and a bachelor’s degree in anthropology from the University of California at Berkeley. Her own research is centered on the role of science in American society and culture, its expression in the mass media, public engagement in science and science policy, and public opinion formation. She is also interested in the social roles of new media technologies.Priest has served as a member of the Research and Publications committees of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communications and as chair and research chair of the Association’s Science Communication Interest Group. She is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, past associate editor of the journal Public Understanding of Science, and current editor of the journal Science Communication. She regularly serves as an advisor to a wide range of academic projects, government agencies, and private organizations on communication, public engagement, and public opinion issues, and reviews research submissions for a variety of academic organizations and scholarly journals. Her current research is supported by grants from the National Science Foundation and other sources.Her publications include over 30 refereed research articles and nearly 20 book chapters, plus 2 books and the Encyclopedia of Science and Technology Communication, for which she served as General Editor. Currently, she is based in Camano Island, WA, and edits Science Communication.

• PART I. ROOTS: SOCIAL SCIENCE FOUNDATIONS1. A Philosophy of Social "Science"Qualitative Versus Quantitative MethodsDeductive Versus Inductive LogicApplied Versus Basic ResearchThe Limits of Social Science Research2. Foundational DisciplinesAnthropology and the Range of Human ExperiencePsychology and the Experimental MethodSociology and the Study of Human Social Groups3. Mass Communication as a Research FieldOrigins of Mass Communication ResearchQualitative Versus Quantitative Research RevisitedContent Analysis as a Key Research ToolMass Communication and New MediaPART II. ASKING QUESTIONS AND COLLECTING DATA: CREATING A RESEARCH PLAN4. Developing a Research Question, Reviewing the Literature, Exploring Data Sources, and Defining VariablesReviewing the Academic LiteratureThe Nature of Academic PublishingDefining and Refining Your Research QuestionsMore About the Role of TheoryFinding Resources and Data for Your ProjectDefining and Measuring Variables5. Designing Quantitative Research: Surveys, Experiments, and Quantitative Content AnalysisSurvey Design BasicsDesigning Basic ExperimentsContent Analysis6. Designing Qualitative Studies: Participant Observation, Interviews, Focus Groups, and Qualitative Content AnalysisParticipant ObservationInterviewsFocus GroupsQualitative Content StudiesPART III. APPROACHES TO DATA ANALYSIS: BASIC TOOLS7. Describing a Numerical Data Set and Making InferencesLevels of MeasurementIdentifying and Summarizing PatternsReasoning From Sample to Population8. Testing Hypotheses and Exploring Other RelationshipsTesting Simple HypothesesUnderstanding Chi-SquareComparing Two MeansWorking With Complex VariablesMultivariate Techniques for Statistical Analysis9. Qualitative Analysis: Identifying Themes and Writing Meaningful SummariesWorking With Theory and Identifying ThemesAnalyzing Qualitative DataOther Forms of AnalysisWriting Descriptive SummariesRelating Data to ConclusionsPART IV. RESEARCH IN BROADER CONTEXT: CONTEMPORARY TRENDS IN THE DISSEMINATION OF RESEARCH RESULTS10. Research Horizons: Opportunities and ChallengesNew Media TechnologyResearch in a Global VillageEthics in Research: A Further Note11. Writing and Presenting the Research ReportConstructing the Research PaperAbout Conference PresentationsA Concluding Note