Communication Research
Asking Questions,
Finding Answers
Joann Keyton, Ph.D.
Chapter
2
The
Research Process: Getting Started
Getting
Research Ideas from the Media
All of the major news outlets have Web pages that are
updated daily, sometimes hourly. Try:
Do You Have Access to Comserve?
Check to see if your department or university subscribes to Comserve, an on-line service provided by the Communication Institute for Online Scholarship, or CIOS. If not, student memberships are available for a small fee. Besides organizing electronic discussion groups, Comserve also posts review of books, highlights new research, provides bibliographies, and posts other things relevant to the community of communication scholars. If your topic is of general interest (for example, effects of media on children, persuasive strategies to facilitate gun control) you can also find discussion groups on any of the web search engines <Yahoo>or < Google>. Looking in on these Internet conversations will help you identify issues of popular interest—some of which could lead you to a topic to research.
Online Journals
The Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication is one journal that is online and free to everyone, as is the American Communication Journal. Check these out! Also review the Journal of Online Behavior.
Other Ways to Access Journals
Most other journals are now only available through institutional or personal subscription services. Check with your library to identify which journals you can access online via your library’s website.
Alternately, if you are a member of the National Communication Association or the International Communication Association, you can access the journals they publish through your membership.
Evaluating Resources from the
Web
Find something online? Before you use it as a basis for your research study, consider these criteria from Cornell University.
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