Scientific research
is an organized, objective, controlled, qualitative or quantitative empirical
analysis of one or more variables. The terms that define the scientific
research method describe a procedure that has been accepted for centuries. In the
sixteenth century, for example, Tycho Brahe conducted years of organized and
controlled observation to refute many of Aristotle’s theories of the solar
system and the universe.
All research, whether
formal or informal, begins with a basic question or proposition about a
specific phenomenon. For example, why do viewers select one television
programme over another? Which sections of the newspaper do people read most often?
Which type of magazine covers attracts the most readers? What type of radio
format will attract the largest number of listeners? Which websites attract the
most visitors? Which types of advertising are most effective in communicating
messages to consumers? These questions can be answered to some degree with
well-designed research studies. However, the task is to determine which data
collection method can most appropriately provide answers to specific questions.
Methods of knowing in
Communication Research
There are several
possible approaches to answering research questions. Kerlinger and Lee (2000),
using definitions provided nearly a century ago by C.S. Peirce, discuss four
approaches to finding answers, or methods of knowing: Tenacity, Intuition, Authority
and Science. To this list, Wimmer and Dominick added Self-discovery.
v Method of Tenacity: A user of the method of tenacity follows the logic that something is true because it has always been true. The idea is that nothing changes – what was good, bad or successful before will continue to be so in the future. For example, a business owner might say, “I don’t advertise because my parents did not believe in advertising.”
v Method of Intuition: In the method of intuition, or the
priori approach, a person assumes that something is true because it is ‘self-evident’
or ‘stands to reason.’ Some creative people in advertising agencies resist efforts
to test their advertising methods because they believe they know what will
attract customers. To these people, scientific research is a waste of time, and
their advertising effectiveness usually suffers as a consequence.
v Method of Authority: This method promotes a belief is
something because a trusted source, such as a parent, a news correspondent, or
a teacher, says it is true. The emphasis is on the source, not on the methods
the source may have used to gain the information. During the late 1990s, this
was shown not to be true.
v Method of self-discovery: This method refers to things we learn
and know without intervention from an outside source. While we may use
information gathered from other sources to provide an answer to a question or
problem, self-discovery is evident when a person synthesizes a variety of
information to come to a decision about something, or maybe even to invent a
new product or service. Self-discovery involves using one or more of the other
methods of knowing, but the difference is that the discovery was made alone.
v Scientific Method: This is a series of small steps, and
unlike the other methods of knowing, it has several definable characteristics.
Communication Research YouTube Video:
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| Mass Media Research by Wimmer and Dominick |
