Media and communication research methods : an introduction to qualitative and quantitative approaches / Arthur Asa Berger.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Table of Contents

Preface to the Third Edition xv
Acknowledgments xvii
Introduction 1 (10)
Round Up the Usual Suspects 1 (3)
Applying the Focal Points Model to Media 4 (1)
How I Became a Man Without Quantities 5 (1)
Data Man Versus Data-Free Man 5 (2)
Kinds of Questions Researchers Ask 7 (1)
Conclusions of a Man Without Quantities, 8 (1)
Who Is Also a Practicing Theoretician
Introduction: Applications and Exercises 9 (2)
PART I GETTING STARTED 11 (40)
1 What Is Research? 13 (22)
We All Do Research, All the Time 14 (1)
Scholarly Research Is Different From 15 (1)
Everyday Research
Cultural Studies and Research 16 (2)
Nietzsche on Interpretation 18 (2)
Problem of Certainty 20 (1)
Diachronic and Synchronic Research 20 (2)
The Way the Human Mind Works 22 (3)
Overt and Covert Oppositions 25 (1)
Quantity and Quality in Media Research 26 (2)
Media and Communication 28 (1)
Why a Book That Teaches Both 29 (1)
Methodologies?
Considering Research Topics 30 (1)
What Is Research? Applications and 31 (1)
Exercises
Conclusions 31 (1)
Further Reading 32 (3)
2 Library Searches 35 (16)
Why Library Research Is So Important 36 (1)
Search Strategies 37 (2)
Doing a Literature Review 39 (1)
Primary and Secondary Research Sources 39 (1)
Sources for Library Research in Media and 40 (2)
Communication
Other Sources of Information 42 (3)
Searching the Internet or the Game of 45 (2)
"Find the Info If You Can!"
Analyzing Methodology in Research Articles 47 (1)
Library Searches: Applications and 48 (1)
Exercises
Conclusions 48 (1)
Further Reading 49 (2)
PART II METHODS OF TEXTUAL ANALYSIS 51 (104)
3 Semiotic Analysis 53 (28)
Saussure's Division of Signs Into 55 (2)
Signifiers and Signifieds
Semiotics of Blondeness 57 (1)
Semiotics and Society 58 (1)
Peirce's Trichotomy: Icon, Index, and 59 (1)
Symbol
Allied Concepts 60 (4)
Clotaire Rapaille on Culture Codes 64 (1)
Semiotics in Society: A Reprise 65 (2)
Syntagmatic Analysis of Texts 67 (3)
Paradigmatic Analysis of Texts 70 (1)
Humpty Dumpty: A Paradigmatic Analysis 71 (1)
Applications of Semiotic Theory 72 (3)
Paul Ekman on Facial Expression 75 (1)
Semiotics: Applications and Exercises 76 (2)
Conclusions 78 (1)
Further Reading 78 (3)
4 Rhetorical Analysis 81 (22)
Aristotle on Rhetoric 82 (2)
Rhetoric and the Mass Media 84 (2)
A Brief Note on the Communication Process 86 (2)
Certeau on Subversions by Readers-and 88 (1)
Viewers
Applied Rhetorical Analysis 89 (1)
A Miniglossary of Common Rhetorical 90 (2)
Devices
Other Considerations When Making 92 (1)
Rhetorical Analyses
A Sample Rhetorical Analysis: A Saturn 93 (2)
Advertisement
Rhetorical Analysis of the Visual Image 95 (4)
Images in Narrative Texts 99 (1)
Rhetorical Analysis: Applications and 100 (1)
Exercises
Conclusions 100 (1)
Further Reading 101 (2)
5 Ideological Criticism 103 (30)
Mannheim's Ideology and Utopia 104 (1)
Defining Ideology 104 (2)
Marxist Criticism 106 (2)
Roland Barthes on Mythologies 108 (1)
The Problem of Hegemony 109 (1)
The Base and the Superstructure, False 109 (2)
Consciousness, and the "Self-Made Man and
Woman"
Post-Soviet Marxist Criticism 111 (1)
Basic Ideas in Marxist Criticism 111 (1)
A Marxist Interpretation of the Fidji 112 (4)
"Snake" Advertisement
John Berger on Glamour 116 (1)
Identity Politics 117 (1)
Feminist Criticism of Media and 118 (3)
Communication
The Social Conception of Knowledge 121 (1)
Phallocentric Theory: The Physical Basis 122 (1)
of Male Domination
Political Cultures, the Media, and 123 (4)
Communication
Pop Cultural and Media Preferences of the 127 (2)
Four Political Cultures
Ideological Criticism: Applications and 129 (1)
Exercises
Conclusions 129 (1)
Further Reading 130 (3)
6 Psychoanalytic Criticism 133 (22)
Freud's Contribution 135 (1)
The Unconscious 135 (1)
The Oedipus Complex 136 (2)
Human Sexuality 138 (1)
The Id, Ego, and Superego 139 (2)
Defense Mechanisms 141 (1)
Martin Grotjahn on Horror 142 (1)
Symbols 143 (2)
Cell Phones and the Psyche: Applying the 145 (2)
Theories of Erik Erikson
Jungian Theory 147 (1)
Archetypes 147 (1)
The Collective Unconscious 148 (1)
The Myth of the Hero 148 (1)
The Anima and the Animus 149 (1)
The Shadow Element in the Psyche 150 (2)
Psychoanalytic Criticism: Applications 152 (1)
and Exercises
Conclusions 152 (1)
Further Reading 153 (2)
PART III QUALITATIVE RESEARCH METHODS 155 (74)
7 Interviews 157 (22)
The Prisoner Interviews Number Two 157 (2)
What Is an Interview? 159 (1)
Four Kinds of Research Interviews 160 (1)
Why We Use Interviews 161 (1)
How to Interview People 162 (2)
Questions Investigative Reporters Ask 164 (3)
The Structure of Conversations and 167 (2)
Interviews
Transcribing Tapes 169 (1)
Making Sense of Transcribed Interviews 169 (1)
Coding 170 (3)
Problems With Interview Material 173 (2)
Interviews: Applications and Exercises 175 (1)
Conclusions 175 (1)
Further Reading 175 (4)
8 Historical Analysis 179 (18)
What Is History? 179 (3)
History as Metadiscipline or Specialized 182 (1)
Subject
Is History Objective, Subjective, or a 183 (1)
Combination of the Two?
Kinds of Historical Research 184 (1)
The Problem of Writing History 185 (2)
The Problem of Meaning 187 (1)
Historical Periods 188 (1)
Baudrillard and Jameson on Postmodernism 189 (1)
The Historical and the Comparative 190 (1)
Approach
History Is an Art, Not a Science 191 (1)
Doing Historical Research 191 (2)
Historical Analysis: Applications and 193 (1)
Exercises
Conclusions 194 (1)
Further Reading 194 (3)
9 Ethnomethodological Research 197 (18)
Defining Ethnomethodology 198 (3)
Garfinkel's Ingenious and Mischievous 201 (2)
Research
Using Ethnomethodology in Media and 203 (1)
Communication Research
Metaphors and Motivation 204 (1)
Love Is a Game 205 (1)
Humorists as Code Violators 206 (3)
Techniques of Humor 209 (1)
Ethnomethodology and the Communication 210 (1)
Process
Ethnomethodological Research: 210 (2)
Applications and Exercises
Conclusions 212 (1)
Further Reading 212 (3)
10 Participant Observation 215 (14)
Defining Participant Observation 216 (2)
Significant Considerations When Doing 218 (3)
Participant Observation
A Case Study of Participant Observation: 221 (1)
Readers of Romance Novels
Problems With Participant Observation 222 (1)
The Problem of Focus 222 (1)
The Problem of Observers Affecting 223 (1)
Behavior
The Problem of Unrecognized Selectivity 223 (1)
The Problem of Mind Reading 223 (1)
The Problem of Validity 224 (1)
Benefits of Participant Observation 224 (1)
Studies
Making Sense of Your Findings 224 (1)
Dealing With Actions 225 (1)
Dealing With What People Think 225 (1)
Using Concepts to Interpret Your Findings 225 (1)
An Ethical Dilemma 226 (1)
Ethics and Research Involving Humans 226 (1)
Participant Observation: Applications and 227 (1)
Exercises
Conclusions 227 (1)
Further Reading 228 (1)
PART IV QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH METHODS 229 (80)
11 Content Analysis 231 (16)
Defining Content Analysis 232 (1)
Why We Make Content Analyses 233 (2)
Methodological Aspects of Content Analysis 235 (2)
Aspects of Violence 237 (2)
Advantages of Content Analysis as a 239 (1)
Research Method
Difficulties in Making Content Analyses 240 (1)
Content Analysis Step by Step 241 (2)
Content Analysis: Applications and 243 (1)
Exercises
Conclusions 244 (1)
Further Reading 244 (3)
12 Surveys 247 (26)
Defining Surveys 248 (1)
Kinds of Surveys: Descriptive and Analytic 249 (1)
The VALS Typology Survey 250 (2)
Methods of Data Collection 252 (1)
Advantages of Survey Research 253 (2)
Problems With Surveys 255 (1)
Surveys and the 2012 Presidential Election 256 (1)
A Note on Media Usage Surveys: Shares and 257 (1)
Ratings
Open-Ended and Closed-Ended Survey 258 (1)
Questions
Writing Survey Questions 259 (3)
Making Pilot Studies to Pretest Surveys 262 (1)
Conducting Online Surveys 262 (1)
Samples 263 (2)
Obtaining Random Samples 265 (1)
Simple Random Samples 265 (1)
Stratified Random Samples 266 (1)
Clustered Samples 267 (1)
Evaluating Survey Accuracy 268 (2)
Surveys: Applications and Exercises 270 (1)
Conclusions 270 (1)
Notes 271 (1)
Further Reading 271 (2)
13 Experiments 273 (14)
Everyday Experimentation 274 (1)
Defining Experiments 275 (1)
The Structure of an Experiment 275 (3)
The Hawthorne Effect 278 (1)
Advantages of Experiments 279 (1)
Disadvantages of Experiments 279 (1)
The "Black Rats" Case and Experimental 280 (1)
Fraud
A Checklist on Experimental Design 280 (1)
What's an Experiment and What Isn't? 281 (2)
Experiments: Applications and Exercises 283 (1)
Conclusions 283 (1)
Further Reading 284 (3)
14 A Primer on Descriptive Statistics
with Felianka Kaftandjieva 287 (1)
Levels of Measurement 288 (1)
Descriptive Statistics 289 (1)
Frequency Distribution 289 (3)
Measures of Central Tendency 292 (1)
The Mean 293 (1)
The Median 294 (1)
The Mode 295 (1)
Measures of Dispersion 296 (1)
Range 296 (1)
Standard Deviation 296 (2)
The Normal or Bell-Shaped Curve 298 (3)
The Problems With Ratings 301 (1)
A Cautionary Note on Statistics 301 (1)
Statistics and Comparisons 302 (1)
Data on Media Use in America 303 (2)
Smartphones 305 (1)
The Problem of Interpretation 306 (1)
Statistics: Applications and Exercises 306 (1)
Conclusions 307 (1)
Note 307 (1)
Further Reading 307 (2)
PART V PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER 309 (28)
15 Nineteen Common Thinking Errors 311 (10)
Common Fallacies 313 (4)
Conclusions 317 (1)
Further Reading 318 (3)
16 Writing Research Reports 321 (16)
Keeping a Journal 323 (1)
A Trick for Organizing Reports 324 (1)
The Secret: One Idea per Slip of Paper 325 (1)
Outlines, First Drafts, and Revisions 325 (1)
Writing Research Reports 326 (2)
The IMRD Structure of Quantitative 328 (2)
Research Reports
Writing Correctly: Avoiding Some Common 330 (3)
Problems
Academic Writing Styles 333 (1)
A Checklist for Planning Research and 333 (2)
Writing Reports
Conclusions 335 (1)
Further Reading 336 (1)
References 337 (6)
Glossary 343 (16)
Index 359 (6)
About the Author 365