Basic Research Methods in Communication
Code: 104773 ECTS Credits: 6| Degree | Type | Year |
|---|---|---|
| 2503868 Communication in Organisations | OB | 3 |
Contact
- Name:
- Anna Tous Rovirosa
- Email:
- anna.tous@uab.cat
Teachers
- Luiz Peres Garzezi
Teaching groups languages
You can view this information at the end of this document.
Prerequisites
In previous years, students have acquired knowledge from the following subjects: Structure of Communication, Document and Archive Management, Theory of Communication, Internal Communication, General Sociology, History of Communication.
The knowledge acquired in these subjects is necessary to follow the course correctly, as students will have a theoretical basis on which to base the theoretical framework for planning their research. It is advisable, therefore, that students should be aware of the knowledge and skills acquired in these subjects.
Objectives and Contextualisation
The course is taken in the third year, during the second semester, and belongs to the training block of the subject "Research in Communication". The training objectives of the course are: a) To explain the different ways of approaching scientific knowledge and the quantitative and qualitative methods and techniques applied to the analysis of communication. b) To present and explain the most appropriate strategies for planning and designing research in communication.
Demonstrate a capacity for self-learning and self-demanding in order to achieve efficient work.
Demonstrate an adequate knowledge of the contemporary world and its recent historical evolution in the social, economic, political and cultural dimensions.
Develop critical thinking and reasoning and know how to communicate them effectively, both in Catalan and Spanish and in a third language.
Differentiate the main theories of the discipline, its fields, conceptual elaborations, the marks and theoretical approaches that underpin knowledge of the discipline and its different fields and sub-areas, and acquire a systematic knowledge of the structure of the media.
Disseminate knowledge and innovations in the area.
Adequately present the results of the research process orally, in writing, audiovisual or digitally, in accordance with the standards of the discipline.
Generate innovative and competitive proposals in research and professional activity.
Competences
- Act within one's own area of knowledge, evaluating sex/gender-based inequalities.
- Apply specific research methodologies to formulate hypotheses, validate and verify ideas and concepts and interpret data on communication in organisations.
- Differentiate the principal theories on communication in organisations, which underpin knowledge of the discipline and its different branches.
- Manage time efficiently and plan for short-, medium- and long-term tasks.
- Students must be capable of collecting and interpreting relevant data (usually within their area of study) in order to make statements that reflect social, scientific or ethical relevant issues.
- Students must be capable of communicating information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialised and non-specialised audiences.
- Students must develop the necessary learning skills to undertake further training with a high degree of autonomy.
- Students must have and understand knowledge of an area of study built on the basis of general secondary education, and while it relies on some advanced textbooks it also includes some aspects coming from the forefront of its field of study.
- Work in compliance with professional codes of conduct.
Learning Outcomes
- Apply research methods in accordance with professional standards so as not to falsify results.
- Apply scientific research methods to the design of an organisation's information needs.
- Communicate using language that is not sexist or discriminatory.
- Differentiate between quantitative and qualitative techniques in communication research.
- Display knowledge of communication science in order to develop critical thinking and produce original ideas on the current context.
- Display knowledge of the scientific context of communication when applying the research.
- Disseminate the knowledge acquired when performing academic and professional tasks.
- Identify and describe communication processes, and the main currents and theories that underpin or criticise them, from a conceptual, methodological and research perspective.
- Interpret and discuss documents on the main techniques and mechanisms for communication research.
- Present a summary of the studies made, orally and in writing.
- Present research results to non-expert audiences, orally and in writing.
- Propose projects and actions that incorporate the gender perspective.
- Submit course assignments on time, showing the individual or group planning involved.
- Work independently to solve problems and take strategic decisions on the basis of the knowledge acquired.
Content
Topic 1. Introduction to communication research
1.The research training of communicators and their role in institutions and companies. 2. The path of research, its importance, timeliness and effectiveness. 3. Paradigms and theories in communication sciences: the main orientations and areas of research in communication 4. Communication research and its social demands. Final thesis. 5. Communication Research Centres. 6. Specialised Publications and Online Resources in Communication Research. 7. Communication Research in the Digital Era. Practical examples.
Topic 2. The research process and its stages. Its application to communication research.
1. Quantitative and qualitative research. Degree of experimentation. Scientific language: concepts and terms. 2. Organisation, planning and process of scientific work: stages and phases of the research process. 3. Delimitation of the objective and the disciplinary field. 4. Elaboration of the research strategy. 5. The research project: structure and content. 6. Selection of the topic. 7. Statement of the problem and delimitation of objectives. 8. Theoretical framework and documentary sources. Type of research: description, explanation, exploration. 10. Formulation of hypotheses. 11. Methodology. Design and strategy of the research. 12. Delimitation and design of the sample. 13. Work plan, timing and budget. 14. Verification and generalisation of results.
Topic 3. Research techniques for communication analysis. Quantitative Techniques I. Databases.
1. Statistical databases on communication and documentary research. 2. 2. Les dades de consum de mitjans. 3. Reports on the state of communication. 4. The analysis and study of the data and their application to the contexts of communication research. 5. Practical examples. 6. Case studies.
Topic 4. Quantitative techniques.
1. Quantitative techniques applied to communication research. 2. 3. The analysis of content: definition and different types of quantitative content analysis. design, planning, execution. 4. Elaboration of the analysis programme applied to the analysis of contingent analysis. 5. Practical examples. 6. The survey: design, planning, execution. 7. Elaboration of the analysis programme applied to the survey. planning, execution and analysis of results. Practical examples.
Topic 5. Qualitative techniques
The application of qualitative techniques to mass communication research. Interviews, life histories, observation, discussion groups.
Topic 6. Communication plan. SEO strategies to disseminate the research results.
The content of the course is sensitive to aspects related to the gender perspective.
Activities and Methodology
| Title | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type: Directed | |||
| Classes on problem solving, cases and exercises | 10 | 0.4 | 2, 1, 5, 6, 8, 9 |
| Laboratory practices | 20 | 0.8 | 2, 5, 6, 4, 10, 9, 13, 11, 14, 7 |
| Theoretical classes | 15 | 0.6 | 4, 8, 9, 7 |
| Type: Supervised | |||
| Test of contents | 10 | 0.4 | 5, 6, 4 |
| Tutorials | 15 | 0.6 | 2, 9, 7 |
| Type: Autonomous | |||
| Personal study | 15 | 0.6 | 6, 4, 14, 7 |
| Reading of articles and reports of interest | 12 | 0.48 | 8, 14 |
| Work preparation | 21 | 0.84 | 2, 1, 5, 6, 10, 8, 13, 11, 14, 7 |
The course will follow a face-to-face methodology: both the theoretical sessions and the practical and problem solving activities will be face-to-face.
The detailed timetable with the content of the different sessions will be displayed on the day the course is presented. It will also be posted on the Virtual Campus where students will be able to find a detailed description of the exercises and practicals, the various teaching materials and any other information necessary to follow the course properly. In the event of a change of teaching modality for health reasons, the teaching staff will inform of the changes that will take place in the syllabus of the subject and in the teaching methodologies.
Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.
Assessment
Continous Assessment Activities
| Title | Weighting | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Class attendance and participation | 5% | 3 | 0.12 | 2, 3, 5, 6, 10, 9, 12, 7 |
| Delivery of research work | 20% | 5 | 0.2 | 2, 1, 3, 8, 13, 11, 12, 14, 7 |
| Oral presentation of papers | 15% | 3 | 0.12 | 3, 5, 10, 11, 12 |
| Practical activities | 45% | 20 | 0.8 | 3, 6, 4, 10, 9, 12, 14 |
| Test of contents | 15% | 1 | 0.04 | 5, 6, 4, 8, 9 |
The assessment of the course consists of the elaboration of a practical work, its presentation, the course practicals, a test of contents and its recovery.
The assessment activities, as well as the training activities, incorporate the gender perspective.
THE ASSESSMENT ACTIVITIES ARE:
-Coursework, 20% of the final grade.
-Practicals, 45% of the final grade.
-Contingency test, 15% of the final grade.
-Oral presentations, 15% of the final grade.
-Class attendance and participation, 5% of the final grade.
In order to pass the course, a minimum mark of 5 must be obtained in all the activities.
RECOVERY
Students will have the right to retake the course if they have been assessed on the set of activities, the weight of which is equivalent to at least 2/3 of the total qualification of the course. In order to be able to sit the retake of the course, an average mark of 3.5 must be obtained.
The activity that is excluded from the recovery process is the course work.
SECOND REGISTRATION
In the case of second enrolment, students may take a single synthesis test consisting of a research proposal on communication in organisations (institutions or media), with a theoretical and practical section, using the bibliography indicated by the lecturers and applying it to a case study.
The grade for the course will correspond to the grade for the synthesis test.
PLAGIARISM
In the event that the student performs any irregularity that may lead to a significant variation of an evaluation act, this evaluation act will be graded with 0, regardless of the disciplinary process that could be instructed. In the event, that several irregularities occur in the evaluation acts of the same subject, the final grade for this subject will be 0.
Bibliography
Basic References
BERGANZA, María Rosa y RUIZ José A. (coordinadores) Investigar en Comunicación. Guía práctica de métodos y técnicas de investigación social en comunicación. Madrid. McGraw Hill, 2005.
BERICAT, Eduardo. La integración de los métodos cuantitativos y cualitativos en la investigación social. Significado y medida. Barcelona, Ariel, 1998.
BORGATTI, Stephen. P., EVERETT, Martin G.; JOHNSON,Jefrrey C. Analyzing Social Networks. London: Sage, 2018.
CORBETTA, Piergiorgio. Metodología y técnicas de investigación social. Madrid: Mc Graw Hill, 2007.
DOMÍNGUEZ, Màrius Y Simó, Montserrat Tècniques d'investigació social quantitatives. Barcelona, Edicions Universitat de Barcelona, 2003
GAITÁN, Juan A. Y PIÑUEL, José L., Técnicas de investigación social. Elaboración y registro de datos. Madrid, Síntesis, 1998.
RUIZ OLABUÉNAGA, José Ignacio. Cómo elaborar un proyecto de investigación. Bilbao, Ediciones Universidad de Deusto, 1998.
SORIANO, Jaume. L'ofici de comunicòleg. Mètodes per investigar la comunicació. Barcelona, Eumo Editorial, 2007.
VILCHES, Lorenzo (coord.) La investigación en comunicación. Métodos y técnicas en la era digital. Barcelona, Gedisa, 2011.
Additional References
ADORNO, Theodor Epistemología y ciencias sociales. Madrid, Cátedra (Valencia), Universitat de València, 2001.
GALINDO CÁCERES, Jesús (coord.) Técnicas de investigación en sociedad, cultura y comunicación. México,Addison Wesley Longman, 1998.
GARCIA FERRANDO, Manuel, IBAÑEZ, Jesús i ALVIRA, Francisco (comps.) El análisis de la realidad social. Métodos y técnicas de investigación. Madrid, Alianza Editorial, 2001.
GÓMEZ-ESCALONILLA, Gloria. “Métodos y técnicas de investigación utilizados en los estudios sobre comunicación en España”. Revista Mediterránea de Comunicación, 12, n1 (2021): 115-27. https://doi.org/10.14198/MEDCOM000018
HESSE-BIBER, Sharlene Nagy. Mixed methods research: merging theory with practice. Nova York: The Guilford Press, 2010.
IGARTUA, Juan José Métodos cuantitativos de investigación en comunicación. Barcelona, Bosch, 2006.
JENSEN, Klaus i JANKOSWSKI, Nicholas (eds.) Metodologías cualitativas de investigación en comunicación. Barcelona, Bosch Casa Editorial, 1993.
TAYLOR, Steve i BOGDAN, Robert. Introducción a los métodos cualitativos de investigación. La búsqueda del significado. Barcelona, Ediciones Paidós, 1992.
TOUS-ROVIROSA, Anna, & DERGACHEVA, Daria (2021). #EsteVirusloParamosUnidos : War-like political communication on Twitter: Creating homogeneous communities in the Covid-19 crisis. Estudios Sobre el Mensaje Periodistico, 27(4),1227-1241. https://doi.org/10.5209/ESMP.75758
TOUS-ROVIROSA, Anna (2024). "Plan de comunicación: la transferencia y divulgación de resultados de investigaciones científicas [Communication plan: transfer and dissemination of scientific research results]". Infonomy, 2(3) e24037.
WIMMER, Roger D. i DOMINICK, Joseph R. La investigación científica de los medios de comunicación. Una introducción a sus métodos. Barcelona, Bosch Casa Editorial, S.A., 1996, 1a. ed.
WIMMER, Roger D. i DOMINICK, Joseph R. Introducción a la investigación de medios masivos de comunicación. México, International Thomson cop. 2001, 6ªed.
Software
PSPP, NodeXL and Netlytic
Language list
| Name | Group | Language | Semester | Turn |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (PLAB) Practical laboratories | 71 | Catalan | second semester | afternoon |
| (PLAB) Practical laboratories | 72 | Catalan | second semester | afternoon |
| (SEM) Seminars | 71 | Catalan | second semester | afternoon |
| (SEM) Seminars | 72 | Catalan | second semester | afternoon |
| (TE) Theory | 7 | Catalan | second semester | afternoon |