Qualitative Methods in Communication and Media

Qualitative Methods in Media and Communication offers a learning-centered guide to designing, conducting, and evaluating qualitative communication and media research methods. Drawing upon years of teaching qualitative research methods, Sandra L. Faulkner and Joshua D. Atkinson introduce and unpack qualitative communication research method design, analysis, representation, writing, and evaluation using extended examples and clear discussion. The authors use key terms, extended examples, discussion questions, student-tested writing and research activities, examples of student work and questions, and suggested resources to help readers design, do, and analyze qualitative research.

As a textbook, its pedagogical goals for the student include: (1) becoming a critical reader of research studies by understanding the epistemologies and methodological assumptions used by researchers, (2) learning the various methods, strategies, and approaches for doing qualitative research, (3) developing a strong basic vocabulary and understanding of concepts relating to qualitative and humanistic research methods, (4) understanding special concerns related to particular research methods, and (5) designing, executing, and representing original qualitative research projects.

With numerous elements intended to engage students and enrich the learning process, the book provides examples of how to do qualitative and critical analyses, including arts-based and media and textual analyses to understand, describe, and query communication and media research in a variety of communication areas. There is also an extensive discussion of ethics in qualitative research and spotlights with renowned researchers on hot topics in qualitative research.

Sandra L. Faulkner is Professor of Media and Communication at Bowling Green State University. Her interests include qualitative methodology, poetic inquiry, inclusive pedagogy, and critical perspectives on interpersonal and family communication. She often uses poetry, creative nonfiction, and autoethnography to explore her own negotiation of identity as a parent, partner, and professor. Her book, Poetic Inquiry: Craft, Method, & Practice (2019), won an Honorable Mention in the 2021 ICQI Book Award. She received the 2013 Knower Outstanding Article Award from the National Communication Association, the 2016 Norman K. Denzin Qualitative Research Award, the 2020 Trujillo and Goodall ＂It’s a Way of Life Award＂ in Narrative Ethnography, and the 2022 Legacy Award from the National Communication Association Ethnography Division.

Joshua D. Atkinson is Professor of Media and Communication at Bowling Green State University. His past research focused on the role of alternative media in western activism, illustrating the ways in which activists utilized alternative media to construct contexts for communicative resistance. He has also explored communicative practices utilized by activists in efforts to reclaim lost spaces and places, and recently demonstrated the increasing role that alternative and activist media have on mainstream political communication in the United States. In 2004, he was the co-winner of the Norman K. Denzin Award for Qualitative Research.