CA3011 Communication Arts ResearchA. Chulamani C. A. Parichart W.

LECTURE ONE

1. Science and Research2. Research Process

CONTENTScience and Research (Ch.1 in Wimmer and Dominick, 2011)

• What is research?• The development of mass media research• The methods of knowing• Characteristics of the scientific method• Selecting Research Topic for Beginners• Determining topic relevance

WHAT IS RESEARCH?

1.What is research?Research is an attempt to discover something.

What is research?

• To ‘research’ means literally to ‘search’ ‘again’ (re-), but the common uses of the word imply a ‘ careful’ or ‘systematic’ investigation.

• Media and communication research can be defined as the planned, critical, systematic and transparent investigation into or gathering of info. about media and/or communication processes. (Hansen and Machin, 2013)

Formal VS Informal• Which format should a radio station adopt?• Which songs should a radio station play?• What do viewers like most and like least about

their favorite TV news program?• Why is a current TV program not performing as

well as was anticipated?• How effective is advertising on TV, radio, the

Internet, and in all types of print?• Why are newspaper subscriptions declining?• What should a politician include in campaign

messages?• Who should be the endorser for a new

customer product?

• Decide which clothes to put on that are appropriate for the day’s activities

• Select something to eat for breakfast that will stay with you until lunchtime .

• Decide when to leave the house to reach your destination on time.

• Figure out the most direct route to your destination.

• Determine how loudly to talk to someone.• Estimate how fast you need to walk to get

across the street so you won/t be hit.• Evaluate the best way to tell a friend

about a problem you have.

What types of things do mass media researchers

investigate?

We conduct the research every day. You analyze, test,

or evaluate.

THE DEVELOPMENT OF MASS MEDIA RESEARCH

The development of mass media research

PHASE 1: THE MEDIUM ITSELF

PHASE 2: USES AND USERS OF THE

MEDIUM (medium is developed)

PHASE 3: EFFECTS OF THE MEDIUM

(social, psychological, physical effects)

PHASE 4: HOW THE MEDIUM CAN BE

IMPROVED

Source: Research Phases in Mass Media (Wimmer and Dominick, 2011)

What is it? How does it work? What technology

does it involve? What functions or services does it

provide? Who will have access to the medium? How

much does it cost?

How do people use the medium in real life? What is

the purpose people have when using the medium? Do

children use it? Do adults use it? What gratifications does the medium provide?

What are the social, psychological and physical

effects of the medium? How much time do people spend with the medium? Does it

change people’s perspective? Are there any harmful effects?

Does the medium help people?

Can the medium provide information or entertainment to more type of people? How can

new technology be used to perfect the sight/ sound of the

medium? Is there a way to change the content to be more

valuable or entertaining?

Note• The research is not intended to be linear;

however, it can be conducted simultaneously in all four phases.– TV (medium) investigate satellite-delivered digital

audio and video– The uses of TV investigate TV on handheld devices– Effects investigate e.g. violent programming– Improvements investigate improvement of smart

TV

THE METHOD OF KNOWING

The Methods of KnowingThere are several approaches in an answering research questions. Four approaches to finding answers are:

1. The method of tenacity: follows the logic that something is true because it has always been true.

Ex. “I don’t advertise because my parents did not believe in ad.”

2. The method of intuition: assumes that something is true because it is “self-evident” or “stands to reason.”Ex. Some creative people resist efforts to test their ad methods because they know how to attract customers.

3. The method of authority: promotes beliefs in something because a trusted source such as parents, news correspondents, teachers say it is true.Ex. “Consumers will spend money to receive news updates via mobile phone because the producers think so.”

The Methods of Knowing (contd.)

4. The scientific method approaches learning as a small steps. That is, one study one source provides only an indication of what may or may not be true; the ‘truth’ is found only through a series of objective analyses. This means that the scientific method is self-correcting in that changes in thought or theory are appropriate when errors in previous research are uncovered.Ex. In communications, researchers discovered that the early ideas of the power of the media (the hypodermic needle theory) were incorrect and, after numerous studies, concluded that behavior and ideas are changed by a combination of communication sources and people react differently to the same message.

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD

Five Characteristics of the Scientific Method• There are five basic characteristics that

distinguish the scientific method from other methods of knowing.

1. Scientific research is public.

• Research must take care in their published reports to allow other researchers to freely verify a given study and support or refute the initial research findings.

Researchers check the accuracy of the

work.

2 Science is objective

• Science tries to rule out eccentricities of judgment by researchers.

• When a study is conducted, explicit rules and procedures are developed and the researchers must follow them.

• Facts must stand and interpretations fall.

Researchers are not subjective.

3. Science is empirical

• Researchers are concerned with a world that is knowable and potentially measurable.

• They must be able to classify what they study and reject non-sensible explanations of events.

• They must link abstract concepts to the empirical world through observations.

Define the variables clearly

4. Science is systematic and cumulative

• No single research study stand alone, nor does it rise or fall by itself.

• Wise researchers always use previous studies as building blocks for their own work.

• They should review the available literature on the topic so that the current study will draw on the heritage of past research.

• They should search for order and consistency among findings. Researchers start from

consulting previous literature

5. Science is predictive

• Science is concerned with the present to the future.

• Scientists try to develop theories because they are useful in predicting behavior.

Reference

Wimmer, R. & Dominick, J. (2011). Mass Media Research: An Introduction (9th ed.). Belmont, CA: Thompson Wadsworth.

Thank you for your attention