Mass Communication Research Methods

Offering an introduction to key research methods and approaches for the study of media and mass communications processes, this book starts with a discussion on how to select the right methods for the right research questions, before going on to outline the main methods and approaches for the study of: media organisations; the practices of media professionals; media content and representations; and media audiences. Drawing widely on examples from communications research literature, the authors describe the development and application of each method and the details of the steps involved, giving examples of research instruments as appropriate.

SIMON COTTLE is Reader in Mass Communications at Bath College of Higher Education, UK.

Anders Hansen is Associate Professor in the School of Media, Communication and Sociology at the University of Leicester, UK.

RALPH NEGRINE is Professor of Political Communication at the University of Sheffield, UK.

CHRIS NEWBOLD is Lecturer in Mass Communications at the University of Leicester, UK.