Media and Communication Research Methods, Fourth Edition is a concise and practical text designed to give students a step-by-step introduction to conducting media and communication research. Offering real-world insights along with the author's signature animated style, this text makes the discussion of complex qualitative and quantitative methods easy to comprehend. Packed with detailed examples and practical exercises, the Fourth Edition of this bestselling introductory text includes a new chapter on discourse analysis; expanded discussion of social media, expanded coverage of the research process, and more. Ideal for undergraduate and graduate students conducting research for the first time, this accessible text will help students understand, practice, and master media and communication research.

Author Biography

Arthur Asa Berger is Professor Emeritus of Broadcast and Electronic Communication Arts at San Francisco State University, where he taught between 1965 and 2003. He has published more than 100 articles, numerous book reviews, and more than 60 books. Among his latest books are the third edition of Media and Communication Research Methods: An Introduction to Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches (2013), The Academic Writer's Toolkit: A User's Manual (2008), What Objects Mean: An Introduction to Material Culture (2009), Bali Tourism (2013), Tourism in Japan: An Ethno-Semiotic Analysis (2010), The Culture Theorist's Book of Quotations (2010), and The Objects of Our Affection: Semiotics and Consumer Culture (2010). He has also written a number of academic mysteries such as Durkheim is Dead: Sherlock Holmes is Introduced to Sociological Theory (2003) and Mistake in Identity: A Cultural Studies Murder Mystery (2005). His books have been translated into eight languages and thirteen of his books have been translated into Chinese.