![[PDF]](/pb-assets/Icons/adobe-pdf-icon-1498649896243.png){kind=icon}
Abstract
This article presents a hybrid methodological technique that fuses elements of experimental design with qualitative strategies to explore mediated communication. Called the “qualitative experiment,” this strategy uses focus groups and in-depth interviews within randomized stimulus conditions typically associated with experimental research. This mixed methods research draws on the advantages of qualitative inquiry to better understand meaning construction and gain a more holistic reading of response differences between varied groupings of mediated content.
Keywords qualitative, experiment, focus group, interview, mixed methods, communication
References
Section:
|
Benoit, W. L., Holbert, R. L. (2008). Empirical intersections in communication research: Replication, multiple quantitative methods, and bridging the quantitative–qualitative divide. Journal of Communication, 58, 615-628. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
Bird, S. E., Dardenne, R. W. (1997). Myth, chronicle, and story: Exploring the narrative qualities of news. In Berkowitz, D. (Ed.), Social meanings of news (pp. 333-350). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Google Scholar | |
|
Brady, B., O’Regan, C. (2009). Meeting the challenge of doing an RCT evaluation of youth mentoring in Ireland: A journey in mixed methods. Journal of Mixed Methods Research, 3(3), 265-280. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
|
Brannen, J. (2005). Mixing methods: The entry of qualitative and quantitative approaches into the research process. International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 8, 173-184. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Brewer, J., Hunter, A. (1989). Multimethod research: A synthesis of style. Newbury Park, CA: Sage. Google Scholar | |
|
Campbell, D. T., Fiske, D. W. (1959). Convergent and discriminant validation by the multitrait-multimethod matrix. Psychological Bulletin, 56, 81-105. Google Scholar | Crossref | Medline | ISI | |
|
Cannella, G. S., Lincoln, Y. S. (2004). Epilogue: Claiming a critical public social science—Reconceptualizing and redeploying research. Qualitative Inquiry, 10, 298-309. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
|
Caracelli, V. J., Greene, J. C. (1997). Crafting mixed method evaluation designs. In Greene, J. C., Caracelli, V. J. (Eds.), Advances in mixed-method evaluation: The challenges and benefits of integrated diverse paradigms (pp. 19-32). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Carmel, E., Crawford, S., Chen, H. (1992). Browsing in hypertext: A cognitive study. IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics, 22, 865-884. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Cooper, C., Brown, J., Azmetia, M., Chavira, G. (2005). Including Latino immigrant families, schools and community programs as research partners on the good path of life. In Weisner, T. S. (Ed.), Discovering successful pathways in children’s development: Mixed methods in the study of childhood and family life (pp. 359-386). Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. Google Scholar | |
|
Creswell, J. W. (1994). Research methods: Qualitative and quantitative approaches. London, England: Sage. Google Scholar | |
|
Creswell, J. W., Plano Clark, V. (2010). Designing and conducting mixed methods research (2nd ed.). London, England: Sage. Google Scholar | |
|
Creswell, J. W., Shope, R., Plano Clark, V., Green, D. O. (2006). How interpretive qualitative research extends mixed methods research. Research in the Schools, 13(1), 1-11. Google Scholar | |
|
Darnton, R. (1975). Writing news and telling stories. Daedalus, 104, 175-194. Google Scholar | ISI | |
|
Ericsson, K. A., Simon, H. A. (1993). Protocol analysis: Verbal reports as data (Rev. ed.). Cambridge: MIT Press. Google Scholar | |
|
Eveland, W., Dunwoody, S. (2000). Examining information processing on the World Wide Web using think aloud protocols. Media Psychology, 2, 219-244. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
Festinger, L., Riecken, H. W., Schachter, S. (1956). When prophecy fails. Minneapolis: University of Minneapolis Press. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Fontana, A., Frey, J. (2005). The interview: From neutral stance to political involvement. In Denzin, N., Lincoln, Y. (Eds.), The Sage handbook of qualitative research (pp. 695-728). London, England: Sage. Google Scholar | |
|
Goldenberg, C., Gallimore, R., Reese, L. (2005). Using mixed methods to explore Latino children’s literacy development. In Weisner, T. S. (Ed.), Discovering successful pathways in children’s development: Mixed methods in the study of childhood and family life (pp. 21-46). Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. Google Scholar | |
|
Gonzalez, M. C. (2000). The four seasons of ethnography: A creation-centered ontology for ethnography. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 24, 623-650. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
Graber, D. A. (1990). Seeing is remembering: How visuals contribute to learning from television news. Journal of Communication, 40, 134-155. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
Grimes, T. (1990). Encoding TV news messages into memory. Journalism Quarterly, 67, 757-766. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | |
|
Hill, J. R., Hannafin, M. J. (1997). Cognitive strategies and learning from the World Wide Web. Educational Technology Research & Development, 45, 37-64. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
Hyndman, D. (2002). Indigenous representation of the T’boli and the Tasaday lost tribe controversy in postcolonial Philippines: Interpreting the eroticized, effeminizing gaze in National Geographic. Social Identities, 8(1), 45-66. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Johnson, R. B., Onwuegbuzie, A. J., Turner, L. A. (2007). Toward a definition of mixed methods research. Journal of Mixed Methods Research, 1(2), 112-133. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
|
Kovach, B., Rosenstiel, T. (2007). The elements of journalism: What news people should know and the people should expect. New York, NY: Three Rivers Press. Google Scholar | |
|
Krueger, R. A., Casey, M. A. (2000). Focus groups: A practical guide for applied research (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Kvale, S., Brinkman, S. (2009). Interviews: Learning the craft of qualitative research interviewing. London, England: Sage. Google Scholar | |
|
Lang, A. (1995). Defining audio/video redundancy from a limited-capacity information processing perspective. Communication Research, 22(1), 86-115. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
|
Lazarsfeld, P. (1944). The controversy over detailed interviews. Public Opinion Quarterly, 8, 38-60. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Lemus, D. (2005). The use of mixed methods in organizational communication research: An analysis of the last ten years. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the International Communication Association, New York, NY. Google Scholar | |
|
Lincoln, Y. S. (2010). What a long, strange trip it’s been . . . ”: Twenty-five years of qualitative and new paradigm research. Qualitative Inquiry, 16, 3-9. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
|
Lindlof, T. R., Taylor, B. C. (2002). Qualitative communication research methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Google Scholar | |
|
Lundsgaarde, H. P., Fischer, P. J., Steele, D. J. (1981). Human problems in computerized medicine. Lawrence: University of Kansas. Google Scholar | |
|
Lutz, C. A., Collins, J. L. (1993). Reading National Geographic. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. Google Scholar | |
|
Mason, J. (2006). Mixing methods in a qualitatively driven way. Qualitative Research, 6(1), 9-25. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | |
|
Maxwell, J. A., Loomis, D. (2003). Mixed methods design: An alternative approach. In Tashakkori, A., Teddlie, C. (Eds.), Handbook of mixed methods in social and behavioral research (pp. 241-271). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Google Scholar | |
|
Maxwell, J. A., Sandlow, L. J., Bashook, P. G. (1986). Combining ethnographic and experimental methods in evaluation research: A case study. In Fetterman, D. M., Pitman, M. A. (Eds.), Educational evaluation: Ethnography in theory, practice, and politics (pp. 121-143). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Google Scholar | |
|
Mendelson, A. L. (2001). Effects of novelty in news photographs on attention and memory. Media Psychology, 3, 119-157. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
Mendelson, A. L., Darling-Wolf, F. (2009). Readers’ interpretations of visual and verbal narratives of a National Geographic story on Saudi Arabia. Journalism, 10, 798-818. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | |
|
Merton, R. K. (1987). The focused interview and focus groups: Continuities and discontinuities. Public Opinion Quarterly, 51, 550-566. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
Merton, R. K., Kendall, P. L. (1946). The focused interview. American Journal of Sociology, 51, 541-557. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
Moors, A. (1996). On appearance and disappearance: Representing women in Palestine under the British Mandate. Thamyris, 3, 279-310. Google Scholar | |
|
Morgan, D. (1997). Focus groups as qualitative research. London, England: Sage. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Nielsen, J. (1999). Designing web usability: The practice of simplicity. Indianapolis, IN: New Riders Publishing. Google Scholar | |
|
Nordstrom, A. D. (1992). Wood nymphs and patriots: Depictions of Samoans in the National Geographic magazine. Visual Sociology, 7(2), 49-59. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Parameswaran, R. (2002). Local culture in global media: Excavating colonial and material discourses in National Geographic. Communication Theory, 12(3), 287-315. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
Patton, M. Q. (2002). Qualitative evaluation and research methods (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Google Scholar | |
|
Sandelowski, M. (2000). Combining qualitative and quantitative sampling, data collection, and analysis techniques in mixed-method studies. Research in Nursing & Health, 23, 246-255. Google Scholar | Crossref | Medline | ISI | |
|
Sandelowski, M. (2010). What’s in a name? Qualitative description revisited. Research in Nursing & Health, 33, 77-84. Google Scholar | Medline | ISI | |
|
Schutt, R. K. (1999). Investigating the social world: The process and practice of research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge Press. Google Scholar | |
|
Steet, L. (2000). Veils and daggers: A century of National Geographic’s representation of the Arab World. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press. Google Scholar | |
|
Strauss, A., Corbin, J. (1998). The basics of qualitative research: Techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory (2nd ed.). London, England: Sage. Google Scholar | |
|
Tram, H. (2010). The pipeline to publication: Student research output in mass communication journals (1999-2008). Journalism & Mass Communication Educator, 64, 395-413. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | |
|
Tremayne, M., Dunwoody, S. (2001). Interactivity, information processing, and learning on the World Wide Web. Science Communication, 23, 111-134. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
|
Trumbo, C. W. (2004). Research methods in mass communication research: A census of eight journals 1990-2000. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 81, 417-436. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
|
Viviano, F. (2003). Kingdom on edge: Saudi Arabia. National Geographic Magazine, 204(4), 2-41. Google Scholar | |
|
Wanta, W., Roark, V. (1994). Responses to photographs. Visual Communication Quarterly, 1(2), 12-13. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Weaver, D. H. (1987). Thoughts on an agenda for mass communication research. In Gurevitch, M., Levy, M. R. (Eds.), Communication research in the 1990s: New directions and new agendas? Newbury, Park, CA: Sage. Google Scholar | |
|
Webb, E. J., Campbell, D. T., Schwartz, R. D., Sechrest, L. (1966). Unobtrusive measures. Chicago, IL: Rand McNally. Google Scholar | |
|
Zelizer, B. (1990). Achieving journalistic authority through narrative. Critical Studies in Mass Communication, 74, 366-376. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
Zillmann, D., Gibson, R., Sargent, S. L. (1999). Effects of photographs in news-magazine reports on issue perception. Media Psychology, 1, 207-228. Google Scholar | Crossref |
