The Handbook of Comparative Communication Research aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of comparative communication research. It fills an obvious gap in the literature and offers an extensive and interdisciplinary discussion of the general approach of comparative research, its prospect and problems as well as its applications in crucial sub-fields of communications. The first part of the volume charts the state of the art in the field; the second section introduces relevant areas of communication studies where the comparative approach has been successfully applied in recent years; the third part offers an analytical review of conceptual and methodological issues; and the last section proposes a roadmap for future research.

A comparative approach to media and communication research plays an important, if not indispensable, role in achieving a core mission of researchers: to delimit the generality and specificity of media and communication theories, enabling researchers to more readily identify the influence of social, political and cultural contexts in shaping media and communication phenomena. To de-Westernize and internationalize media and communication studies has thus become the way forward for overcoming the parochialism of mainstream media and communication studies. This volume reflects on what comparative media and communication research has achieved or failed to achieve, the epistemological and theoretical challenges it is facing, and the new directions in which it should be heading.

This volume assesses comparative political communication research and considers potential ways in which it could and should develop. Twenty experts from Europe and the United States offer a unique and comprehensive discussion of the theories, cases, and challenges of comparative research in political communication. The first part discusses the fundamental themes, concepts and methods essential to analyze the effects of modernization and globalization of political communication. The second part offers a broad range of case studies that illustrate the enormous potential of cross-national approaches in many relevant fields of political communication. The third part paves the way for future research by describing the most promising concepts and pressing challenges of comparative political communication. This book is intended to introduce new students to a crucial, dynamic field as well as deepening advanced students' knowledge of its principles and perspectives.

The Handbook of Comparative Communication Research aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of comparative communication research. It fills an obvious gap in the literature and offers an extensive and interdisciplinary discussion of the general approach of comparative research, its prospect and problems as well as its applications in crucial sub-fields of communications. The first part of the volume charts the state of the art in the field; the second section introduces relevant areas of communication studies where the comparative approach has been successfully applied in recent years; the third part offers an analytical review of conceptual and methodological issues; and the last section proposes a roadmap for future research.

New Media, Old Regimes: Case Studies in Comparative Communication Law and Policy, by Lyombe S. Eko, is a collection of novel theoretical perspectives and case studies which illustrate how different communication law regimes conceptualize and apply universal ideals of human rights and freedom of expression to media controversies in real space and cyberspace. Eko’s investigation includes such controversial communication policy topics as North African regimes’ failed use of telecommunications to suppress the social change of the Arab Spring, the Mohammad cartoon controversy in Denmark and France, French and American policy of development and diffusion of the Minitel and the Internet, American and Russian regulation of internet surveillance, the problem of managing pedopornography in cyberspace and real space, and other current communication policy cases. This study will aid readers not only to understand different national and cultural perspectives of thorny communication issues, but also show that though freedom of expression is a pluralistic concept, the actions of all political regimes at the national, transnational, and international levels must be held up to the universal standards of freedom of expression set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. New Media, Old Regimes provides essential scholarship on comparative communication law and policy in a world of new media.

This book provides an authoritative state-of-the-art review of comparative approaches to communication research in the context of time and location. Perspectives unique to mass, interpersonal, political, cultural and organizational communication are explored, while descriptions of well-known empirical projects reveal how collaborations worked and how problems were addressed across different periods and cultures. Comparatively Speaking serves both as a student text and as a stimulus to further research in comparative communication research.

Throughout this book, Edelstein stresses why and how comparative communication research should be done. Highlighting major conceptual and methodological approaches, he provides useful summaries of the major comparative studies performed to date--and pinpoint promising new directions for research and conceptualization. This perceptive look at the state of the art in comparative communications research will serve as a valuable text for courses exploring international communications--as well as a serviceable handbook for researchers and specialists in communications, cross-cultural studies, and popular culture and values.

Comparative research has gained enormous popularity in communication and media studies in the last two decades and is increasingly conducted in international research teams. Collaboration with scholars from different countries brings many advantages, but it is also prone to conflict. Sophia Charlotte Volk presents the first systematic reflection on the conceptual, methodological, and social challenges of international collaborative and comparative studies in communication science. A systematic review of comparative studies and expert interviews with communication scholars shed light on how challenges manifest themselves empirically and what solutions have proven to be appropriate. The book proposes a phase model of collaborative and comparative research that can serve as a guide for scholars on what conditions should be created for productive collaboration in temporary research projects.

Communication research is evolving and changing in a world of online journals, open-access, and new ways of obtaining data and conducting experiments via the Internet. Although there are generic encyclopedias describing basic social science research methodologies in general, until now there has been no comprehensive A-to-Z reference work exploring methods specific to communication and media studies. Our entries, authored by key figures in the field, focus on special considerations when applied specifically to communication research, accompanied by engaging examples from the literature of communication, journalism, and media studies. Entries cover every step of the research process, from the creative development of research topics and questions to literature reviews, selection of best methods (whether quantitative, qualitative, or mixed) for analyzing research results and publishing research findings, whether in traditional media or via new media outlets. In addition to expected entries covering the basics of theories and methods traditionally used in communication research, other entries discuss important trends influencing the future of that research, including contemporary practical issues students will face in communication professions, the influences of globalization on research, use of new recording technologies in fieldwork, and the challenges and opportunities related to studying online multi-media environments. Email, texting, cellphone video, and blogging are shown not only as topics of research but also as means of collecting and analyzing data. Still other entries delve into considerations of accountability, copyright, confidentiality, data ownership and security, privacy, and other aspects of conducting an ethical research program. Features: 652 signed entries are contained in an authoritative work spanning four volumes available in choice of electronic or print formats. Although organized A-to-Z, front matter includes a Reader’s Guide grouping entries thematically to help students interested in a specific aspect of communication research to more easily locate directly related entries. Back matter includes a Chronology of the development of the field of communication research; a Resource Guide to classic books, journals, and associations; a Glossary introducing the terminology of the field; and a detailed Index. Entries conclude with References/Further Readings and Cross-References to related entries to guide students further in their research journeys. The Index, Reader’s Guide themes, and Cross-References combine to provide robust search-and-browse in the e-version.

A comparative approach to media and communication research plays an important, if not indispensable, role in achieving a core mission of researchers: to delimit the generality and specificity of media and communication theories, enabling researchers to more readily identify the influence of social, political and cultural contexts in shaping media and communication phenomena. To de-Westernize and internationalize media and communication studies has thus become the way forward for overcoming the parochialism of mainstream media and communication studies. This volume reflects on what comparative media and communication research has achieved or failed to achieve, the epistemological and theoretical challenges it is facing, and the new directions in which it should be heading.