how to find Research Methods in the Library
The library has many books on communication research methods. Here are just a few of them.
- Media and communication research methods : an introduction to qualitative and quantitative approaches by Arthur Asa Berger
- Qualitative communication research methods by Thomas Lindlof
- Media audiences : effects, users, institutions, and power by John Sullivan
- Investigating communication : an introduction to research methods by Lawrence Frey
To find other method texts, use the keyword "methodology" in conjunction with the name of a discipline such as communication or sociology. Alternatively, you can search for particular methods such as content analysis, grounded theory, uses and gratifications, etc.
Use Methods Employed by Other Scholars
Articles don't just communicate the results of research, they also tell us how authors arrived at their conclusions. Read the methods section of a scholarly article, which gives the particular method or guidelines the author(s) used to locate or verify evidence.
For example, here are two methods used by Dr. Delwiche in his study on "Scanner tags, comic book piracy and participatory culture".
Now it's just a matter of consulting the article's references to learn what 'Neuendorf' and 'Thomas' refer to (a book and an article respectively).