The precise measurement of media use and exposure to media content posits currently one of the main methodological challenges in communication research. Against this background, new communication technologies have been gaining particular importance because they change existing patterns of media use and create new types of media use. At the same time, these technologies do not only present a challenge for communication research, but they also provide new opportunities for the assessment of media use. The volume regards current developments and trends in the measurement of media use and exposure from various perspectives. Contributions deal with the refinement and advancement of classical approaches, and new methods and measures of assessing media use are introduced and evaluated. They also discuss the advantages and challenges of using online behavioral data as indicators for media exposure. Contributions tackle questions how different methods of measuring media use and exposure can be combined to gain a more accurate picture and what pitfalls can occur.

In this book, Barrie Gunter provides a broad overview of the methodological perspectives adopted by media researchers in their attempt to derive a better understanding of the nature, role and impact of media in society. By tracing the epistemological and theoretical roots of the major methodological perspectives, Gunter identifies the various schools of social scientific research that have determined the major perspectives in the area. Drawing a distinction between quantitative and qualitative methods, he discusses the relative advantages and disadvantages of each approach, and examines recent trends that signal a convergence of approaches and their associated forms of research. The unique strength of this

Building on the measures included in the original 1994 volume and subsequent 2009 volume, Communication Research Measures III: A Sourcebook extends its coverage of measurement issues and trends across the entire communication discipline. Volume III features entirely new content and offers an assessment of new measures in mass, interpersonal, instructional, group, organizational, family, health, and intercultural communication and highlights work in emergent subdisciplines in communication, including social media and new communication technologies, sports communication, and public relations. The “best of the best” from 2009 through today, the profiled research measures in Volume III serve as models for future scale development and constitute the main tools that researchers can use for self-administered measurement of people’s attitudes, conceptions of themselves, and perceptions of others. This book is ideal for undergraduate and graduate courses that emphasize quantitative research methods, measurement, and/or survey design across communication studies disciplines.

The essential reference for human development theory, updatedand reconceptualized The Handbook of Child Psychology and DevelopmentalScience, a four-volume reference, is the field-defining work towhich all others are compared. First published in 1946, and now inits Seventh Edition, the Handbook has long been consideredthe definitive guide to the field of developmental science. Volume 4: Ecological Settings and Processes in DevelopmentalSystems is centrally concerned with the people, conditions, andevents outside individuals that affect children and theirdevelopment. To understand children's development it is bothnecessary and desirable to embrace all of these social and physicalcontexts. Guided by the relational developmental systemsmetatheory, the chapters in the volume are ordered them in a mannerthat begins with the near proximal contexts in which children findthemselves and moving through to distal contexts that influencechildren in equally compelling, if less immediately manifest, ways.The volume emphasizes that the child's environment is complex,multi-dimensional, and structurally organized into interlinkedcontexts; children actively contribute to their development; thechild and the environment are inextricably linked, andcontributions of both child and environment are essential toexplain or understand development. Understand the role of parents, other family members, peers,and other adults (teachers, coaches, mentors) in a child'sdevelopment Discover the key neighborhood/community and institutionalsettings of human development Examine the role of activities, work, and media in child andadolescent development Learn about the role of medicine, law, government, war anddisaster, culture, and history in contributing to the processes ofhuman development The scholarship within this volume and, as well, across the fourvolumes of this edition, illustrate that developmental science isin the midst of a very exciting period. There is a paradigm shiftthat involves increasingly greater understanding of how todescribe, explain, and optimize the course of human life fordiverse individuals living within diverse contexts. ThisHandbook is the definitive reference for educators,policy-makers, researchers, students, and practitioners in humandevelopment, psychology, sociology, anthropology, andneuroscience.

Mediated messages flood our daily lives, through virtually endless choices of media channels, genres, and content. However, selectivity determines what media messages we attend to and focus on. The present book examines the factors that influence this selectivity. Seminal books on selective media exposure were published in 1960 by Klapper and in 1985 by Zillmann and Bryant. But an integrated update on this research field is much needed, as rigorous selective exposure research has flourished in the new millennium. In the contexts of political communication, health communication, Internet use, entertainment consumption, and electronic games, the crucial question of how individuals choose what content they consume has garnered much attention. The present book integrates theories and empirical evidence from these domains and discusses the related research methodologies. In light of the ever-increasing abundance of media channels and messages, selective exposure has become more important than ever for media impacts. This monograph provides a comprehensive review of the research on selective exposure to media messages, which is at the heart of communication science and media effects. It is required reading for media scholars and researchers, and promises to influence and inspire future research.

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.

Öffentliche Kommunikationsprozesse sind im Zeitalter der Digitalisierung von einer wachsenden Dynamik geprägt. Dies stellt die Kommunikationsforschung vor erhebliche methodische Herausforderungen. Die Methodenentwicklung steckt noch in den Kinderschuhen, wenn es darum geht, die eng getakteten und komplexen Interaktionsmuster menschlicher Akteure und technischer Strukturen der digitalen Öffentlichkeit adäquat abzubilden. Empirische Studien sind dazu gezwungen, die Komplexität der Dynamiken in der sozialen Realität zu reduzieren, um diese fassbar zu machen. Damit geht jedoch stets die Gefahr einher, entscheidende Aspekte zu übersehen. Die in diesem Band versammelten Beiträge widmen sich diesem Dilemma am Beispiel verschiedener Anwendungsfelder, von der Kommunikator- und Medieninhaltsforschung bis zur Rezeptions- und Wirkungsforschung. Die Beiträge liegen auf verschiedenen Stufen des Forschungsprozesses und befassen sich mit einer Vielzahl methodischer Ansätze wie der automatisierten Inhaltsanalyse, der Netzwerkanalyse oder der qualitativen Beobachtung. Sie eint die Suche nach innovativen Lösungen für ein gemeinsames Problem, nämlich die zunehmende Dynamik öffentlicher Kommunikationsprozesse adäquat abzubilden.

This book investigates news use patterns among five different generations in a time where digital media create a multi-choice media environment. The book introduces the EPIG Model (Engagement-Participation-Information-Generation) to study how different generational cohorts’ exposure to political information is related to their political engagement and participation. The authors build on a multi-method framework to determine direct and indirect media effects across generations. The unique dataset allows for comparison of effects between legacy and social media use and helps to disentangle the influence on citizens’ political involvement in nonelection as well as during political campaign times. Bringing the newly of-age Generation Z into the picture, the book presents an in-depth understanding of how a changing media environment presents different challenges and opportunities for political involvement of this, as well as older generations. Bringing the conversation around political engagement and the media up to date for the new generation, this book will be of key importance to scholars and students in the areas of media studies, communication studies, technology, political science and political communication.

The Sourcebook for Political Communication Research will offer scholars, students, researchers, and other interested readers a comprehensive source for state-of-the-art/field research methods, measures, and analytical techniques in the field of political communication. The need for this Sourcebook stems from recent innovations in political communication involving the use of advanced statistical techniques, innovative conceptual frameworks, the rise of digital media as both a means by which to disseminate and study political communication, and methods recently adapted from other disciplines, particularly psychology, sociology, and neuroscience. Chapters will have a social-scientific orientation and will explain new methodologies and measures applicable to questions regarding media, politics, and civic life. The Sourcebook covers the major analytical techniques used in political communication research, including surveys (both original data collections and secondary analyses), experiments, content analysis, discourse analysis (focus groups and textual analysis), network and deliberation analysis, comparative study designs, statistical analysis, and measurement issues.

The era of digital communication provides endless opportunities for the collection and analysis of social data in novel ways. It also presents new and unanticipated challenges, as researchers are often inventing elements of their methodologies on the fly or studying a phenomenon or media platform for the first time. Research Exposed offers in-depth, behind-the-scenes accounts of doing empirical social science in this new paradigm. Through firsthand descriptions of innovative research projects, it shares lessons learned from over a dozen scholars’ cutting-edge work. These candid accounts describe what can go wrong when pioneering new genres of research and how such difficulties can be overcome, giving both big-picture reflection and actionable advice. The chapters discuss a variety of methods, ranging from the completely novel to the use of more traditional approaches in the digital context, and cover research questions relevant to a range of disciplines, including sociology, political science, communication, information studies, and anthropology. By focusing attention on the concrete details seldom discussed in final project write-ups or traditional research guides, Research Exposed helps equip junior and senior scholars alike with essential information that is all too often left with no outlet for sharing. It offers important insights into how empirical social science research can be both innovative and rigorous when dealing with the opportunities and challenges presented by digital media.