Communication Impact Designing Research That Matters

by Priest, Susanna Hornig; Anderson, Traci L.; Anyaegbunam, Chike; Balfour, Robert; Bruin, Marjan de; Cheah, Wai Hsien; Crowell, Tara L.; Donohue, Thomas R.; Edwards, Lynne; Jennifer L. Gregg, Elissa Foster; Hart, Joy L.; Karnell, Aaron; Krizek, Robert L.; M

• ISBN13: 9780742530980
• ISBN10: 0742530981
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-01-07
• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Summary

Designed as an alternative stand-alone text or supplement to conventional research methods texts, Communication Impact introduces methods through engaging narrative descriptions of actual research projects driven by contemporary real-world questions. Each chapter addresses a different method, including community-based research, research on organizations and institutions, problem-focused research, cross-cultural research, and research on new technologies. Visit our website for sample chapters!

Table of Contents

Preface: Why Another Book?	ix
Part I: Community-Based Research	1	(66)
1 Why Did the Scholar Cross the Road? Community Action Research and the Citizen-Scholar	5	(14)
Lana F. Rakow
2 Creating Informed Deliberation: The Role of Impact Surveys in Community Decision Making	19	(14)
Dietram A. Scheufele
3 Community Action for Drug Prevention: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at a Sixteen-Community Study	33	(16)
Michael D. Slater
4 Designing Communication Research for Empowering Marginalized Populations: A Participatory Methodology	49	(18)
Chike Anyaegbunam, Aaron P. Karnell, Wai Hsien Cheah, and John D. Youngblood
Part II: Organizations and Institutions	67	(44)
5 Gender and Professional Identity among Caribbean Journalists	69	(16)
Marjan de Bruin
6 Patient Satisfaction in a Medical Setting: An Emergent Design Approach	85	(16)
Robert L. Krizek and Paaige K. Turner
7 Interpreting Signs: Reflections on Research Design in Context	101	(10)
Robert J. Balfour
Part III: Problem-Focused Research	111	(54)
8 Peer Influence and Prosocial Behavior: Ten Years of Study	113	(16)
Timothy P. Meyer and Thomas R. Donohue
9 Adolescent Memory for Health Information: Mixing "Micro" and "Macro" Variables	129	(14)
Brian G. Southwell
10 Communication at the End of Life: Volunteer-Patient Relationships in Hospice	143	(16)
Elissa Foster
11 Scientific Knowledge and Personal Experience: Mutually Exclusive?	159	(6)
Loreen N. Olson
Part IV: Research across Cultures	165	(58)
12 Stories in the Sand: Field Research with Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Media in Central Australia	167	(18)
David I. Tafler
13 Adventures in a Foreign Field: Complexity, Crisis, and Creativity in Cross-Cultural Research	185	(12)
Karen Ross
14 On Our Way, On the Ground, On Cloud Nine: Research Planning and Adaptation in Belize	197	(10)
Joy L. Hart and Kandi L. Walker
15 Choices and Voices: Assesssing Television Preferences of Teenage African-American Girls	207	(16)
Lynne Edwards
Part V: New Technologies and Research	223	(42)
16 Health Communication Research on Hard-to-Reach Populations Using Telephone Interviews	227	(12)
Jennifer L. Gregg and Pamela Whitten
17 Using the Internet to Conduct Communication Research: Two Scholars' Experiences	239	(14)
Tara L. Crowell and Traci L. Anderson
18 Finding Out What's on the World Wide Web	253	(12)
James W. Tankard Jr. and Cindy Royal
Afterword: Purpose and Direction	265	(4)
Index	269	(4)
About the Contributors	273