SJMC Communications Research Division
The SJMC Communication Research Division promotes top-notch quantitative and qualitative communications research. For more than 50 years, the Research Division has supported graduate students and faculty working on a wide range of projects.
Research Division support generally takes the form of consulting on research design, instrumentation, and data analysis; providing and maintaining a variety of software and hardware; and encouraging networking and cross-fertilization among researchers.
Meet the Research Division staff
Learn about our Bag Lunch series
View the Human Subjects Policy
See recommended readings about communications research
Link to online research resources
Learn about on-campus research facilities and technology at the University of Minnesota
View our list of databases for secondary analysis
Kenneth Doyle
Director, Research Division
Associate Professor
Itai Himmelboim, Research Division Research Assistant
Betsy Anderson, Resident and Ph.D. student
George Anghelcev, Resident and Ph.D. student
Dong Dong, Resident and Ph.D. student
Julie Jones, Resident and Ph.D. student
Rita Langteau, Resident and Ph.D. student
Sela Sar, Resident and Ph.D. student
John Wirtz, Resident and Ph.D. student
Consultation can be individual or in small groups, and is available during published office hours and by appointment. Evening and weekend appointments can be arranged with the Research Division Staff. The Research Division can be contacted by e-mailing the individuals listed above, by phone at 612-626-0221, or by visiting 330 Murphy Hall.
Research Division Bag Lunch Series
The Brown Bag Series promotes good research by arranging for informed presentations on a variety of topics related to communications and commiunications research. The Series provides opportunities for supportive and constructive discussions of research-in-progress, and encourages interaction between students and faculty.
Presenters include SJMC faculty and graduate students, visiting faculty and students, and practioners from various parts of the communications industries. Topics include anything of potential interest to researchers, from current issues of substance to developments in research methods, hardware or software.
If you have a suggestion for, or would like to make a presentation at, a Bag Lunch session, please contact Ken Doyle, the director of the Research Division.
For the purpose facilitating research using human subjects, the following are some things to take into consideration in the process of planning and conducting a research project.
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University of Minnesota and federal policies require that research involving human subjects be reviewed to take into consideration:
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The rights and welfare of the individual(s);
The appropriateness of the method(s); and
The balance of risks and potential benefits of the investigation. -
There are three different kinds of application procedures in the University of Minnesota. Please be sure that you are using the correct application form for the proper review procedure. The three forms are:
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Full committee review;
Expedited review;
Administrative review for screened as exempt research. -
Research projects conducted by graduate students in core classes (e.g., JOUR 8001, JOUR 8002, JOUR 8501, JOUR 8502) may be allowed without permission from the Human Subjects Commettee, in cases of minimal or no risk to the subjects. In such cases, the instructor is responsible for reporting the projects to the Human Subjects Committee at the end of the semester.
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For questions and forms visit the University's Research Subjects' Protection Programs website or contact:
IRB, Human Subjects Committee
Box 820
D528 Mayo Memorial Building
420 Delaware Street, S.E.
Minneapolis, MN 55455
(612) 624-9829
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For your consideration, here is an incomplete list of recommended readings on communications research.
I. Statistics and Methods for the Absolutely Terrrified
Cronk, B.C. (2000). How to Use SPSS. Los Angeles: Pyrczak Publishing.
Fraenkel, J. R., Sawin, E.I. and Wallen, N.E. (1999). Visual Statistics: A Conceptual Premier. MA: Allyn & Bacon.
Pyrczak, F. (2001). Making Sense of Statistics: A Conceptual Overview. Los Angeles: Pyrczak Publishing.
Pyrczak, F. (1999). Statistics with a Sense of Humor. Los Angeles: Pyrczak Publishing.
II. Statistics and Methods for Beginning Graduate Students
Allison, P.D. (1999). Multiple Regression: A Premier. California: Pine Forge Press.
Babbie E & Halley F (1995). Adventures in Social Research. California: Pine Forge Press.
Bailey, C.A. (1996). A Guide to Field Research. California: Pine Forge Press.Campbell, R.T. and Crittenden, K. S. Regression: A Primer. California: Pine Forge Press.Davis, J. and Bruner, J. Analyzing Data. California: Pine Forge Press.
Frankfort-Nachmias, C. and Leon-Guerrero, A. (2000). Social Statistics for a Diverse Society. California: Pine Forge Press.Leik, R. Experimental Design and Analysis of Variance. California: Pine Forge Press.
Lindlof, T. (1995). Qualitative Communication Research Methods. Sage.Maisel, R. and Persell, C. How Sampling Works. California: Pine Forge Press.McCall, G. Program Evaluation. California: Pine Forge Press.
Norman, G. & Streiner, D. (1997). PDQ Statistics. Mosby.
Riffe, Lacy & Fico. (1998). Analyzing Media Messages: Using quantitative content analysis in research. Lawrence Earlbaum.
III. Advanced Students
Betz, N., and Weiss, D. J. (1976). Validity of Psychological Measurements. In Bolton, B. (ed.) Measurement and Evaluation in Rehabilitation. Baltimore: University Park Press. 1-35.
Borman, W. C. (1978). Exploringthe Upper Limits of Reliability and Validity in Job Performance Ratings. Journal of Appliled Psychology, 63(2), 135-44.
Bracht, Glenn H., and Glass, Gene V. (1968). The External Validity of Experiments. American Educational Research Journal, 5(4), pp. 437-474.
Brislin, R., Lonner, W., and Thorndike, R. M. (1973). Cross-cultural Research Methods. New York: Wiley.
Campbell, D. T., and Fiske, D. W. (1969). Convergent and Discriminant Validation by the Multitrait-Multimethod Matrix. In Jackson, D., and Messick, J. Problems in Human Assessment. New York: McGraw Hill. Pp. 124-132.
Cattell, R. B. (1969). The Three Basic Factor Analytic Research Designs. In Jackson, D., and Messick, J. Problems in Human Assessment. New York: McGraw Hill. Pp. 300-304.
Cronbach, Lee J. (1957). The Two Disciplines of Scientific Psychology. Presidential Address, Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association, New York. September 2.
Cronbach, L. J., and Meehl, P. E. (1969). Construct Validity in Psychological Tests. In Jackson, D., and Messick, J. Problems in Human Assessment. New York: McGraw Hill. Pp. 57-77.
Cronbach, Lee J., and Snow, R. E. (1977). What Do We Know about ATI? What Should We Learn? In Aptitudes and Instructional Methods. New York: Irvington.Cronbach, L. J., Gleser, Go. C., Nanda, A. N., and Rajaratnam, N. (19XX). The Dependability of Behavioral Measurements. New York: Wiley.
Doyle, K. O. (1998). Reliability and Dimensionality of Stimulus Ratings. Journal of Advertising Research, March/April, 45-50.
Glass, G., McGaw, B., and Smith, M. L. (1981). Meta-Analysis in Social Research. Chapter 2: Meta-Analysis of Research.
Keselman, H.J. and colleagues (10 of them!) (1998). Statistical practices of educational researchers: An analysis of their ANOVA, MANOVA and ANCOVA analysis. Review of Educational Research 68 (3), 350-386.
Morgenson, F. P., Seligman, M. E. P., Sternberg, R. J., Taylor, S. J., & Manning, C. M. Lessons Learned from a Life in Psychological Science: Implications for Young Scientists. American Psychologist, 54(2), 106-116.
Schumann, D. W., and Thorson, E. (1999). Advertising and the World Wide Web. Mahwah NJ: Erlbaum.
Snow, Richard E. (1973). Representative and Quasi-Representative Designs for Research on Teaching. Invited Address, Division of Measurement and Methodology, American Educational Research Association, New Orleans, February 26.
Sudman, S. (1983). Applied Sampling. In Rossi, P. H., Wright, J. D., and Anderson, A. B. (eds.) Handbook of Survey Research. New York: Academic Press. Pp. 145-94.
IV. Ethics Research Recommendations:
Black, J. & Barney, R. (eds.) (1995). Exploring Questions of Media Morality: A Special Issue of the Journal of Mass Media Ethics, Vol 9, Nos. 3 & 4, 1994. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Burrowes, C.P. (1989). Measuring freedom of expression cross-culturally: Some methodological and conceptual problems: Mass Communication Review, 16 (1&2), 38-51.
Christians, C.G. (ed.) (1991). Communication ethics and contemporary theory (Special issue) Communication, 12.
Elliott, D. (1991). Moral development theories and the teaching of ethics. Journalism Educator, 46 (3), 18-24.
Ferre, J.P. & Willihnganz, S.c. (1991). Public Relations and Ethics: A Bibilography. Boston: G.K. Hall.
Harris, C.E., Jr., Pritchard, M.S., & Robins, M.J. (1995). Engineering ethics: Concepts and cases. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Jaksa, J.A. & Pritchard, M.S. (1994). Communication ethics: Methods of analysis (2nd ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Lambeth, E.B. (1998). Marsh, mesa, and mountain: Evolution of the contemporary study of ethics of journalism and mass communication in North America. Journal of Mass Media Ethics, 3 (2), 20-25.
V. Legal Research Recommendations:
Anderson, David A., (2002). Freedom of the Press, 80 Texas Law Review 429.
Carter, et al., (2000). Mass Communication Law in a Nutshell, (5th ed.), St. Paul, MN: West.
Cohen, et al., (2000). Legal Research in a Nutshell, (7th ed.), St. Paul, West.
Kunz, Christina L., et al., (2000). The Process of Legal Research, (5th ed.), New York: Aspen Publishers, Inc.
Melone, Albert P., (2000). Researching Constitutional Law, (2nd ed.), Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland Press.
Posner, Richard A., (2001). Frontiers of Legal Theory, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Rhode, Deborah L., (2000). Symposium: Law, Knowledge, and the Academy: Legal Scholarship, 115 Harvard Law Review 1327.
Revesz, Richard L., (2002). Empirical Research and the Goals of Legal Scholarship, 115 Harvard Law Review 1327.
Revesz, Richard L., (2002). Empirical Research and the Goals of Legal Scholarship: A Defense of Empirical Legal Scholarship, 69 University of Chicago Law Review 169.