Transcript Reading Research: To Boldly Go Where Others Have Gone Before

Chapter Four
Reading Research: To Boldly Go
Where Others Have Gone Before
Introducing Communication Research 2e © 2014 SAGE Publications
Key Concepts
• Relevance vs. quality.
• Primary vs. secondary sources.
• Scholarly vs. trade vs. popular publications.
• Search engines vs. databases.
• Boolean search terms.
• Literature review.
Introducing Communication Research 2e © 2014 SAGE Publications
Bibliographic Research: Why?
• Build a foundation for your research.
• Get help with methods.
• Anticipate ethical issues.
• See standards for language, style and format.
Introducing Communication Research 2e © 2014 SAGE Publications
What We Want From a Literature
Search
• Relevant information ▫ For insight on your research interest.
and
• Quality information ▫ Credible
▫ Reliable,
▫ Written to scholarly standards.
Introducing Communication Research 2e © 2014 SAGE Publications
How Do We Find Quality
Information?
Prefer databases to search engines.
• Database example ▫ Communication and Mass Media Complete
(access through academic library)
• Search engine examples –
▫ Dogpile, Google, Ask
(access through Web)
Introducing Communication Research 2e © 2014 SAGE Publications
Primary vs. Secondary Sources
• Primary
▫ What the author originally wrote.
▫ Has references and method detail.
• Secondary
▫ How someone else interpreted the author.
▫ Lacks the original detail.
Introducing Communication Research 2e © 2014 SAGE Publications
Scholarly, Trade, Popular
Publications: What’s the Difference?
Scholarly
Trade
Popular
Written by
Scholars
Practitioners
Journalists
Frequency
Quarterly
Monthly
Monthly
Weekly
Weekly
Daily
Peer review
Editor
Editor
Yes
Maybe
No
Journal of . . .
“. . . News”
Variable
Academic
Trade Assn.
News media
Articles
reviewed by Citations,
method details
Title
Publisher
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Some Communication Search
Terms
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Advertising
Advocacy
Analysis
Attitude
Audio-visual
Behavior
Body language
Broadcasting
Cable
Cognition
Culture
Diffusion
Gender
Groups
Image
Influence
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Interaction
International
Internet
Interpersonal
Journalism
Management
Mass media
Measurement
Opinion
Organization
Persuasion
Public opinion
Motion pictures
Newspaper
Persuasion
Political
Introducing Communication Research 2e © 2014 SAGE Publications
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Press
Public opinion
Public relations
Radio
Relationship
Rhetoric
Social media
Social space
Symbol
Technology
Theory
Television
Web
Bibliographic Resources
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Catalogs
Dictionaries
Encyclopedias
Indexes
Annuals, yearbooks
Handbooks
Abstracts
Census.gov
Introducing Communication Research 2e © 2014 SAGE Publications
Assessing Quality of Publications
• Author credentials - Prof., Dr., Ph.D.
• Author affiliation - university, corporation, “think
tank”.
• Date of publication.
• Edition.
• Publisher.
• Title.
• Intended audience.
• Objectivity – subjectivity.
• Coverage – comprehensive or selective.
• Citations.
• Writing Style – popular, technical, scholarly.
• Reviews - if any.
Introducing Communication Research 2e © 2014 SAGE Publications
Assessing Quality of Websites
In addition to publication criteria –
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URL - .gov, .edu, .org, .com.
Site explains why content is accepted or rejected?
What people or organization wrote the page?
What contact information is provided?
Can you verify information on the site?
How old are documents on the site?
If you search for similar sites, what type of information
do you get?
Introducing Communication Research 2e © 2014 SAGE Publications
Boolean Searches
OR - NOT - AND
Example -
Hits
▫ Communication
▫ Feminist
112619
1245
▫ Communication OR feminist
▫ Communication NOT feminist
▫ Communication AND feminist
113232
111987
632
Introducing Communication Research 2e © 2014 SAGE Publications
Saving and Reporting Information
Source Information –
▫ Book – author, title, date, edition, publisher.
▫ Journal Article –
 article title, journal title, date, volume, issue
number, page numbers.
▫ For any direct quotes needed
 page numbers from book or journal.
For websites, above plus –
▫ URL (web address).
▫ Date you downloaded the information.
Introducing Communication Research 2e © 2014 SAGE Publications
Saving and Reporting Study Details
• Participants –
▫ Who or what was studied.
• Method –
▫ How research was conducted.
• Results –
▫ What have you discovered?
• Conclusions –
▫ So what?
• Unique aspects –
▫ what is so special about the study?
Introducing Communication Research 2e © 2014 SAGE Publications
The Literature Review
• Narrative that pulls together research you have
read into a rationale for YOUR study.
• Structure – chronological or pro/con.
• Format – introduction-body-conclusion.
• Cites all work you have read using a scholarly
style such as APA, MLA or Chicago.
Introducing Communication Research 2e © 2014 SAGE Publications
Vocabulary Review
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APA
Bibliographic
Boolean operators
Chicago
Citations
Databases
doi
MLA
Peer review
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Popular articles
Primary source
Refereeing
Scholarly articles
Search engines
Search field
Search term
Secondary source
Trade publications
Introducing Communication Research 2e © 2014 SAGE Publications
Web Resources
• American Psychological Association www.apa.org.
• Library of Congress Subject Headings www.loc.gov/catdir/cpso/lcco
• Evaluating Web Sites www.library.cornell.edu/olinuris/ref/research/
webeval.html
Introducing Communication Research 2e © 2014 SAGE Publications