Communication

Responding to the newly-emerging trend of organisations hiring journalists to create content on their behalf, Brand Journalism is the first comprehensive, practical guide to this hybrid form of traditional journalism, marketing and public relations. This textbook takes a direct and practical approach to the subject, showing journalists and journalism students how they can apply their skills to working for a brand, and showing those who work for non-media organisations how their organisation can acquire the skills necessary to become a multimedia publisher. Areas covered include: Establishing the audience your brand wants to engage with ; Identifying your organisation's business goals ; Developing a brand journalism strategy to help deliver those business goals ; Measuring the results of your brand journalism strategy. The book also features a wealth of case studies on the subject and offers an invaluable companion website - www.brand-journalism.co.uk.

Creating Autoethnographies is an introduction to autoethnography, a form of autobiographical personal narrative that explores the writer's experience of life. The first ever practical text on this increasingly popular research method, it provides a background and considers some of the criticisms of the approach. It is suitable for all social science students, both graduate and upper level undergraduate.

The book is structured to mirror the process of writing about experience, from establishing an idea through to the process of writing and the development of creative writing skills, and provides detailed worked examples of the whole process. The final two chapters are devoted to exploring two cases in which readers can see the principles discussed in action. There are also a wide range of case studies drawn from a wide a range of social science disciplines and exercises throughout the text.

In the book, Tessa Muncey identifies a number of trends in social science research, such as the increasing focus on the individual and giving a voice to service users, that are resulting in an increase of interest in narrative research. Creating Autoethnographies is a timely contribution to the field. (SAGE).

When you combine the sheer scale and range of digital information now available with a journalist's'nose for news'and her ability to tell a compelling story, a new world of possibility opens up. With The Data Journalism Handbook, you'll explore the potential, limits, and applied uses of this new and fascinating field.This valuable handbook has attracted scores of contributors since the European Journalism Centre and the Open Knowledge Foundation launched the project at MozFest 2011. Through a collection of tips and techniques from leading journalists, professors, software developers, and data analysts, you'll learn how data can be either the source of data journalism or a tool with which the story is told—or both.Examine the use of data journalism at the BBC, the Chicago Tribune, the Guardian, and other news organizationsExplore in-depth case studies on elections, riots, school performance, and corruptionLearn how to find data from the Web, through freedom of information laws, and by'crowd sourcing'Extract information from raw data with tips for working with numbers and statistics and using data visualizationDeliver data through infographics, news apps, open data platforms, and download links. (EBSCO).

Includes coverage of the selection of cases, observation and interviewing, recording data, and takes into account ethical issues, Doing Ethnographic and Observational Research introduces the reader to the practice of producing data through ethnographic fieldwork and observational research. (SAGE).

To the uninformed, surveys appear to be an easy type of research to design and conduct, but when students and professionals delve deeper, they encounter the vast complexities that the range and practice of survey methods present. To complicate matters, technology has rapidly affected the way surveys can be conducted; today, surveys are conducted via cell phone, the Internet, email, interactive voice response, and other technology-based modes. Thus, students, researchers, and professionals need both a comprehensive understanding of these complexities and a revised set of tools to meet the challenges.

In conjunction with top survey researchers around the world and with Nielsen Media Research serving as the corporate sponsor, the Encyclopedia of Survey Research Methods presents state-of-the-art information and methodological examples from the field of survey research. Although there are other "how-to" guides and references texts on survey research, none is as comprehensive as this Encyclopedia, and none presents the material in such a focused and approachable manner. With more than 600 entries, this resource uses a Total Survey Error perspective that considers all aspects of possible survey error from a cost-benefit standpoint.

Key features: Covers all major facets of survey research methodology, from selecting the sample design and the sampling frame, designing and pretesting the questionnaire, data collection, and data coding, to the thorny issues surrounding diminishing response rates, confidentiality, privacy, informed consent and other ethical issues, data weighting, and data analyses.

Presents a Reader's Guide to organize entries around themes or specific topics and easily guide users to areas of interest. Offers cross-referenced terms, a brief listing of Further Readings, and stable Web site URLs following most entries.

The Encyclopedia of Survey Research Methods is specifically written to appeal to beginning, intermediate, and advanced students, practitioners, researchers, consultants, and consumers of survey-based information. (SAGE).

Webometrics is concerned with measuring aspects of the web: web sites, web pages, parts of web pages, words in web pages, hyperlinks, web search engine results. The importance of the web itself as a communication medium and for hosting an increasingly wide array of documents, from journal articles to holiday brochures, needs no introduction. Given this huge and easily accessible source of information, there are limitless possibilities for measuring or counting on a huge scale (e.g., the number of web sites, the number of web pages, the number of blogs) or on a smaller scale (e.g., the number of web sites in Ireland, the number of web pages in the CNN web site, the number of blogs mentioning Barack Obama before the 2008 presidential campaign). This book argues that it can be useful for social scientists to measure aspects of the web and explains how this can be achieved on both a small and large scale. The book is intended for social scientists with research topics that are wholly or partly online (e.g., social networks, news, political communication) and social scientists with offline research topics with an online reflection, even if this is not a core component (e.g., diaspora communities, consumer culture, linguistic change). The book is also intended for library and information science students in the belief that the knowledge and techniques described will be useful for them to guide and aid other social scientists in their research. In addition, the techniques and issues are all directly relevant to library and information science research problems.

Table of Contents: Introduction / Web Impact Assessment / Link Analysis / Blog Searching / Automatic Search Engine Searches: LexiURL Searcher / Web Crawling: SocSciBot / Search Engines and Data Reliability / Tracking User Actions Online / Advaned Techniques / Summary and Future Directions

Ethnography isn't a prescribed set of methods - it's a methodology that acknowledges the complexity of human experience and the need to research it by close and sustained observation of human behaviour.

In this comprehensive, yet concise introduction, Karen O'Reilly introduces the reader to the technical, practical and philosophical issues that arise when employing traditional and innovative research methods in relation to human agents. She invites the reader to engage in reflexive and creative research that draws critically and creatively from the full range of qualitative methods.

Using case studies of students' work to illustrate the dilemmas and resolutions that an ethnographic researcher may encounter, this textbook guides the reader from the initial design and planning stages through to the analysis and writing-up. It explores the historical and philosophical foundations of ethnographic research and goes on to cover a range of relevant topics such as participant observation, qualitative interviews, (focus) group interviews and visual data collection and analysis.

Designed primarily for undergraduates, this book incorporates complex methodological debates which will also engage more experienced researchers, perhaps coming to ethnography for the first time. (Psychology Press 2005).

This book invites readers to learn how to use qualitative data analysis software in the context of doing their research project. The reader follows basic steps for creating and conducting a real project with real data, using the new-generation software package, QSR NVivo. The software tools are introduced only as needed and explained in the framework of what is being asked. (SAGE).

This Encyclopedia provides readers with authoritative essays on virtually all social science methods topics, quantitative and qualitative, by an international collection of experts. Organized alphabetically, the Encyclopedia of Social Science Research Methods covers research terms ranging from different methodological approaches to epistemological issues and specific statistical techniques.

Written to be accessible to general readers, the Encyclopedia entries do not require advanced knowledge of mathematics or statistics to understand the purposes or basic principles of any of the methods. To accomplish this goal, there are two major types of entries: definitions consisting of a paragraph or two to provide a quick explanation of a methodological term; and topical treatments or essays that discuss the nature, history, applications, and implications of using a certain method, including suggested readings and references. Readers are directed to related topics via cross-referenced terms that appear in small capital letters. By assembling entries of varied origins and serving different research purposes, readers will be able to benefit from this immense source of methodological expertise in advancing their understanding of research.

With three volumes and more than 900 signed entries, the Encyclopedia of Social Science Research Methods will be a critical addition to any social science library. (Sage).

The SAGE Dictionary of Statistics provides students and researchers with an accessible and definitive resource to use when studying statistics in the social sciences, reading research reports and undertaking data analysis. Written by leading academics in the field of methodology and statistics, the Dictionary will be an essential study guide for the first-time researcher as well as a primary resource for more advanced study.

This is a practical and concise dictionary that serves the everyday uses of statistics across the whole range of social science disciplines. It offers basic and straightforward definitions of key concepts, followed by more detailed step-by-step explanations of situating specific methods and techniques. It also contains lists of related concepts to help the user to draw connections across various fields and increase their overall understand of a specific technique. A list of key readings helps to reinforce the aim of the Dictionary as an invaluable learning resource.

Designed specifically for students and those new to research, and written in a lively and engaging manner, this Dictionary is an essential reference work for students and researchers across the social sciences. (SAGE).

This 42 chapter volume represents the state of the art in visual research. It provides an introduction to the field for a variety of visual researchers: scholars and graduate students in art, sociology, anthropology, communication, education, cultural studies, women's studies, ethnic studies, global studies and related social science and humanities disciplines.

The SAGE Handbook of Visual Research Methods encompasses the breadth and depth of the field, and points the way to future research possibilities. It illustrates "cutting edge" as well as long-standing and recognized practices. This text is not only "about" research, it is also an example of the way that the visual can be incorporated in data collection and the presentation of research findings. Contributors to the book are from diverse backgrounds and include both established names in the field and rising stars. Chapters describe a methodology or analytical framework, its strengths and limitations, possible fields of application and practical guidelines on how to apply the method or technique.

The Sage Handbook of Visual Research Methods is organized into seven main sections:

I) Framing the Field of Visual Research
II) Producing Visual Data and Insight
III) Participatory and Subject- Centered Approaches
IV) Analytical Frameworks and Approaches
V) Visualization Technologies and Practices
VI) Moving Beyond the Visual
VII) Options and Issues for Using and Presenting Visual Research
(SAGE)

Historically, social researchers have shown a willingness to exploit new technologies to enhance, facilitate, and support their various activities. However, arguably no other technological development has influenced the landscape of social research as rapidly and fundamentally as the Internet. This collection avoids both uncritical embrace and wholesale dismissal by considering some of the key literature in the field of Internet research methods.

Volume 1: Core Issues, Debates and Controversies in Internet Research introduces themes and issues that run across all four volumes like epistemology, ontology and methodology in the online world; access, social divisions and the 'digital divide'; and the ethics of online research.

Volume 2: Taking Research Online – Internet Survey and Sampling addresses the range of resources, digital archives, and Internet-based data sources that exist online from relatively straightforward and practical guides to such material through to more polemical pieces which consider problems relating to the use, access, and analysis of online data and resources.

Volume 3: Taking Research Online – Qualitative Approaches considers the broad range of approaches to conducting researching via or 'in' the Internet. The focus is on conventional methods that have been 'taken online', and which in doing so, have become transformed in scope and character.

Volume 4: Research 'On' and 'In' the Internet – Investigating the Online World follows logically from that which precedes it in exploring how social research has been 'taken online', not simply through the deployment of existing methods and techniques via the Internet, but in researchers' increasing recognition and investigation of the online world as a sphere of human interaction – a socio-cultural arena to be explored 'from the desktop' as it were.

Introduces students to statistics as a powerful means of revealing patterns in human behavior.

The textbook covers everything typically included in an introductory course on social statistics for students in the social sciences and the authors have taken the opportunity of this Second Edition to bring the data sources as current as possible. The book is full of up-to-date examples and useful and clear illustrations using the latest SPSS software.

While maintaining the student-friendly elements of the first, such as chapter summaries, exercises at the end of each chapter, and a glossary of key terms, new features to this edition include:

Updated examples and references
SPSS coverage and screen-shots now incorporate the current version 14.0 and are used to demonstrate the latest social statistics datasets
Additions to content include a brand new section on developing a coding frame and an additional discussion of weighting counts as a means of analyzing published statistics
Enhanced design aids navigation which is further simplified by the addition of core objectives for each chapter and bullet-pointed chapter summaries
The updated Website at http:/www.soc.surrey.ac.uk/uss/index.html reflects changes made to the text and provides updated datasets

A valuable and practical guide for students dealing with the large amounts of data that are typically collected in social surveys, the Second Edition of Understanding Social Statistics is an essential textbook for courses on statistics and quantitative research across the social sciences.

For designers, writing and research skills are more necessary than ever before, from the basic business compositions to critical writing. In this competitive climate, designers are routinely called upon to make words about the images and designs they create for clients. Writing about design is not just "trade" writing, but should be accessible to everyone with an interest in design. This book is a complete, introductory guide to various forms of research and writing in design—and how they explain visuals and can be visualized. These pages address communication on various levels and to all audiences:
- Designers to Designers - Designers to Clients - Designers to the Design-literate - Designers to the Design-agnostic - Being able to express the issues and concerns of the design practice demands facts, data, and research. With Writing and Research for Graphic Designers, you’ll learn how to turn information into a valuable asset— one of the key talents of the design researcher.