Communication Research Methods
Code: 103858 ECTS Credits: 6| Degree | Type | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Journalism | OB | 3 |
Contact
- Name:
- Nuria Simelio Sola
- Email:
- nuria.simelio.sola@uab.cat
Teachers
- Luiz Peres Garzezi
- Laura Cervi
- Beatriz Villarejo Carballido
Teaching groups languages
You can view this information at the end of this document.
Prerequisites
There are no prerequisites, but it is desiderable that students have previously attended the course "Theories of Communication".
Objectives and Contextualisation
The course has the following main learning objectives::
a) To explain the different ways of approaching the scientific knowledge
b) To explain the quantitative and qualitative methods and techniques applied to the analysis of communication and journalism.
c) To present and explain the most appropriate strategies for the planning and design of a research in communication and journalism.
Competences
- Act with ethical responsibility and respect for fundamental rights and duties, diversity and democratic values.
- Adequately present the findings of the research process in oral, print, audiovisual or digital media forms, in accordance with the canons of journalism.
- Demonstrate a critical and self-critical capacity.
- Demonstrate a self-learning and self-demanding capacity to ensure an efficient job.
- Demonstrate adequate knowledge of the modern world and its recent historic development in terms of social, economic, political and cultural aspects.
- Differentiate the discipline's main theories, its fields, conceptual developments, theoretical frameworks and approaches that underpin knowledge of the subject and its different areas and sub-areas, and acquire systematic knowledge of the media's structure.
- Disseminate the area's knowledge and innovations.
- Introduce changes in the methods and processes of the field of knowledge to provide innovative responses to the needs and demands of society.
- Properly apply the scientific method, raising hypotheses regarding journalistic communication, validating and verifying ideas and concepts, and properly citing sources.
- Students can apply the knowledge to their own work or vocation in a professional manner and have the powers generally demonstrated by preparing and defending arguments and solving problems within their area of study.
- 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 in order to undertake further training with a high degree of autonomy.
- Take account of social, economic and environmental impacts when operating within one's own area of knowledge.
- Take sex- or gender-based inequalities into consideration when operating within one's own area of knowledge.
Learning Outcomes
- Analyse a situation and identify its points for improvement.
- Analyse the indicators of sustainability of academic and professional activities in the areas of knowledge, integrating social, economic and environmental dimensions.
- Analyse the sex- or gender-based inequalities and the gender biases present in one's own area of knowledge.
- Apply knowledge of the research context.
- Apply scientific research methods to the design of journalistic projects.
- Apply survey analysis and qualitative research techniques.
- Communicate using language that is not sexist or discriminatory.
- Consider how gender stereotypes and roles impinge on the exercise of the profession.
- Critically analyse the principles, values and procedures that govern the exercise of the profession.
- Demonstrate a critical and self-critical capacity.
- Demonstrate a self-learning and self-demanding capacity to ensure an efficient job.
- Disseminate the area's knowledge and innovations.
- Explain the explicit or implicit code of practice of one's own area of knowledge.
- Identify and describe information and communication processes, as well as the main trends and theories that formalise and criticise them from a conceptual, methodological and research point of view.
- Identify situations in which a change or improvement is needed.
- Identify the social, economic and environmental implications of academic and professional activities within one's own area of knowledge.
- Properly apply the scientific method in media research.
- Propose new ways to measure the success or failure of the implementation of innovative proposals or ideas.
- Propose projects and actions that are in accordance with the principles of ethical responsibility and respect for fundamental rights and obligations, diversity and democratic values.
- Propose projects and actions that incorporate the gender perspective.
- Propose viable projects and actions to boost social, economic and environmental benefits.
- Students can apply the knowledge to their own work or vocation in a professional manner and have the powers generally demonstrated by preparing and defending arguments and solving problems within their area of study.
- 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 in order to undertake further training with a high degree of autonomy.
- Weigh up the impact of any long- or short-term difficulty, harm or discrimination that could be caused to certain persons or groups by the actions or projects.
- Weigh up the risks and opportunities of both one's own and other people's proposals for improvement.
Content
1. Introduction to the research in journalism and communication: a) Research training, research institutions and companies. b) Importance, opportunity and efficiency of communication research. c) Paradigms and theories in communication sciences: the main orientations and areas of research in communication d) The investigation in communication and its social demands. e) Research centers in communication. d) Scientific journals and network resources
2. The research process and its applications. a) Quantitative and qualitative research. b). Organization, planning and process of scientific work: stages and phases of the research process. c) Study object. d) Research strategy. e) Planning researcj: structure and contents
3. Research techniques for the analysis of communication. Quantitative techniques I. Databases and analysis programs for Internet research.
4.Quantitative techniques II a) Experiment b) Content Analysis. c) Surveys
5. Qualitative techniques a) Interview in depth and Life histories. 2. Group techniques: focus groups and Delphi method. 3. Participant and non-participating observation.
The calendar will be available on the first day of class. Students will find all information on the Virtual Campus: the description of the activities, teaching materials, and any necessary information for the proper follow-up of the subject.
Activities and Methodology
| Title | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type: Directed | |||
| Evaluation | 10 | 0.4 | 9, 2, 3, 1, 4, 17, 5, 6, 7, 11, 10, 12, 13, 14, 16, 15, 27, 18, 19, 20, 21, 25, 24, 22, 23, 8, 26 |
| Laboratory activities | 22 | 0.88 | 4, 17, 5, 6 |
| Lectures | 15 | 0.6 | 17, 6, 14 |
| Workshops | 15 | 0.6 | 4, 17, 5, 6, 12, 14 |
| Type: Supervised | |||
| Tutorials | 14 | 0.56 | |
| Type: Autonomous | |||
| Autonomous work | 42 | 1.68 | 4, 17, 5, 6, 12, 14 |
The teaching methodology will consist of in-class activities, lectures, laboratory activities, workshops and autonomous work.
Innovative methodologies such as problem-based learning and challenge-based learning are included.
A detailed schedule outlining the content of each session will be presented on the first day of the course and will be available on the course’s Virtual Campus, where students will find all teaching materials and necessary information for eƯective course monitoring.
Should the teaching modality change for reasons of force majeure according to the competent authorities, the teaching staƯ will inform students of any modifications to the course schedule and teaching methodologies.
Note: The course content will be sensitive to issues related to gender perspective and the use of inclusive language.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Research project | 30% | 10 | 0.4 | 9, 2, 3, 1, 4, 17, 5, 6, 7, 11, 10, 12, 13, 14, 16, 15, 27, 18, 19, 20, 21, 25, 24, 22, 23, 8, 26 |
| 1 exam | 20% | 1 | 0.04 | 4, 11, 10, 14, 25, 23 |
| 1 exam | 20% | 1 | 0.04 | 4, 11, 10, 14, 25, 23 |
| 3 practices | 30 % | 20 | 0.8 | 9, 2, 3, 1, 4, 17, 5, 6, 7, 11, 10, 12, 14, 16, 15, 27, 18, 25, 24, 22, 23, 8, 26 |
The course includes the following assessment activities:
Activity A: Course assignments, 30% of the final grade. Three laboratory assignments (in groups).
Activity B: Research project, 30% of the final grade (in groups).
Activity C: 1 exam, 20% of the final grade.
Activity D: 1 exam, 20% of the final grade.
To pass the course, students must obtain a minimum average score of 5 in Activities C and D. To calculate the average, a minimum score of 4 is required on each exam.
Students will have the right to resit the course if they have been assessed on activities that account for at least two-thirds of the total grade. The research project is excluded from the final resit.
In the case of a second enrollment, students may take a single synthesis test, which will consist of an exam covering both theoretical and practical content. The final grade for the course will correspond to the grade obtained in the synthesis test.
Failure to submit all three assignments and the research project will result in a "not assessable" status.
In this course, the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies is permitted exclusively for support tasks such as article and bibliography searches, using tools that will be specified in class. Students must clearly identify the parts generated using such technology, specify the tools used, and include a critical reflection on how these influenced the process and the final outcome of the activity. Lack of transparency in the use of AI for this assessed activity will be considered academic dishonesty and may result in a partial or total penalty in the activity’s grade, or more severe sanctions in serious cases.
If a student commits any irregularity that may significantly affect an assessment activity, that assessment will be graded with a 0, regardless of any disciplinary proceedings that may be initiated. If multiple irregularities occur in the assessment activities of the same course, the final grade for the course will be 0.
Bibliography
BERGER, Arthur Asa (2016) Media and Communication Research Methods: An Introduction to Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches. Thousand Oaks. Sage.
BORGATTI, Stephen. P., EVERETT, Martin G.; JOHNSON,Jefrrey C. (2013). Analyzing Social Networks. London: Sage.
CORBETTA, Piergiorgio (2007) Metodología y técnicas de investigación social. Madrid: Mc Graw Hill.
DOMÍNGUEZ, Marius y SOLSONA, Montserrat. (2003) Tècniquesd’investigació social quantitatives. Barcelona, Edicions Universitat de Barcelona.
IGARTUA, Juan José (2006) Métodos cuantitativos de investigación en comunicación. Barcelona, Bosch
JENSEN, Klaus (ed.) (2016). La comunicación y los medios. Metodologías de investigación cualitativa y cuantitativa. México: Fondo de Cultura Económica.
LIS, Irene y PATRICIA, Mariana. (2018) Investigaciones en comunicación en tiempos de big data: sobre metodologías y temporalidades en el abordaje de redes sociales. AdComunica. Revista Científica de Estrategias, Tendencias e Innovación en Comunicación, 15, 25-43
MEDINA, Alfons i BUSQUET, Jordi (2019). La recerca en comunicació. Barcelona: UOC
SIMELIO, Núria; GINESTA, Xavier; SAN EUGENIO, Jordi y CORCOY, Marta (2019) Journalism, transparency and citizen participation: a methodological tool to evaluate information published on municipal websites. Information, Communication & Society. 22 (3), 369-385
VILCHES, Lorenzo (coord.) (2011) La investigación en comunicación. Métodos y técnicas en la era digital. Barcelona, Gedisa
Software
Text editing software: Word or similar.
Data analysis software: PSPP or similar.
Groups and Languages
Please note that this information is provisional until 30 November 2025. You can check it through this link. To consult the language you will need to enter the CODE of the subject.
| Name | Group | Language | Semester | Turn |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (PLAB) Practical laboratories | 11 | Catalan | second semester | morning-mixed |
| (PLAB) Practical laboratories | 12 | Catalan | second semester | morning-mixed |
| (PLAB) Practical laboratories | 13 | Catalan | second semester | morning-mixed |
| (PLAB) Practical laboratories | 21 | Catalan/Spanish | second semester | morning-mixed |
| (PLAB) Practical laboratories | 22 | Catalan | second semester | morning-mixed |
| (PLAB) Practical laboratories | 23 | Catalan | second semester | morning-mixed |
| (SEM) Seminars | 11 | Catalan/Spanish | second semester | morning-mixed |
| (SEM) Seminars | 12 | Catalan | second semester | morning-mixed |
| (SEM) Seminars | 13 | Catalan | second semester | morning-mixed |
| (SEM) Seminars | 21 | Catalan | second semester | morning-mixed |
| (SEM) Seminars | 22 | Catalan | second semester | morning-mixed |
| (SEM) Seminars | 23 | Catalan | second semester | morning-mixed |
| (TE) Theory | 1 | Catalan | second semester | morning-mixed |
| (TE) Theory | 2 | Catalan | second semester | morning-mixed |