Metatheoretical perspectives, and their role in influencing the research process, can be difficult for undergraduate students to grasp. The communication field brings together myriad approaches to communication, lending to students' confusion (Muller, H. L., & Craig, R. T. [2007]. Introduction. In R. T. Craig & H. L. Muller [Eds.],…

This study provides an overview of the shifting epistemological terrain regarding methodological approaches to the research process in the field of communication and discusses how a mixed-methods design could improve methods comprehension in undergraduate education. The authors describe how they incorporated a mixed-methods project into the…

Course: Mixed-Method Communication Research Methods. Objective: The purpose of this semester-long activity is to provide students with opportunities to cultivate mixed-method communication research skills through a social justice-informed service-learning format. Completing this course, students will be able to: recognize the unique strengths of…

This article presents the methodological strategies, results and a critical analysis of the national research project MapCom "The Research Sphere on Communication Studies Social Practices, Map of Projects, Groups, Research Objects and Methods". We present the results obtained within the first two phases of the research project. The…

This article describes how a special kind of academe-industry collaboration--based on a joint appointment agreement between a university and an industry site--was set up, promoted, and experienced by a professor of technical communication and his student interns. To illustrate the nature and value of this kind of collaboration, the article…

This article presents a case-based exploration of the complex interactions between learning, research, and practice in the field of business and professional communication. It focuses on a student research project in the area of corporate social responsibility in the biopharmaceutical industry. Adopting an autoethnographic approach, we aim to…

It is well-established that language skills are amongst the best predictors of educational success. Consistent with this, findings from a population-based longitudinal study of parents and children in the UK indicate that language development at the age of two years predicts children's performance on entering primary school. Moreover, children who…

As a means to involve the public in research, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) established the Partners in Research Program and solicited research grant applications from academic/scientific institutions and community organizations that proposed to forge partnerships: (a) to study methods and strategies to engage and inform the public…

It is well-established that language skills are amongst the best predictors of educational success. Consistent with this, findings from a population-based longitudinal study of parents and children in the UK indicate that language development at the age of two years predicts children's performance on entering primary school. Moreover, children who…

Colleges and universities have come to recognize that creating smaller learning communities is a useful strategy for engaging undergraduate students. Learning communities can provide students with a sense of identity and with connections to faculty, the institution, and knowledge. Despite their popularity, there is little empirical research that…

Between March 2009 and March 2011, Talk To Your Baby has been engaged in a research project, under the title of Face to Face, to identify key messages for parents and carers in relation to communicating with babies and young children, and has examined the most effective ways to promote these messages to parents and carers. The Face to Face project…

Responds to Robert Entman's call for the establishment of a paradigm of news framing research. Describes a research program which includes three paradigmatic outlooks, called cognitive, constructivist, and critical. Argues that the research program has benefited the communication discipline by encouraging researchers to use specific theories to…

Reflects briefly on how the author chooses what research to do. Discusses specific communication research projects that arose from near-sighted, midrange, and far-sighted planning. (RS)

Overview of issues concerning computer-monitored data for research in communication and information science includes a description of systems and kinds of data possible; uses of data; advantages of and problems with computer-monitored data and collection; prior research using computer-monitored data; prospects for future research. A 111-item…

This paper describes the evolution of a group research project undertaken by six communication graduate students, using the Human Relations Area Files (HRAF), a collection of primary source materials on over 250 predominantly pre-literate cultures representing all major areas of the world. The paper narrates the students' research processes, from…