Evolving Journalism Research Methods offers the first comprehensive survey of research methods and their applications in Journalism Studies.
Divided into five sections, this volume begins by contextualizing key theories and industry debates, from newsroom automation to ethics in research. It addresses sampling and sourcing techniques as well as the broad distinctions between qualitative and quantitative methods, including their relative strengths and weaknesses. Finally, authors consider and problematize techniques for analyzing and reporting data. Throughout the book, case studies illuminate the close relationship between theory and methodology in the research process, bringing into question issues such as source credibility, news framing, and the roles of gender, big data, and Artificial Intelligence.
Featuring diverse contributions from scholars at the cutting-edge of research in this area, this book is key reading for anyone researching journalism or studying industry issues at an advanced level.
Edited by:
Michael P. Boyle,
Adam M. Rainear
Imprint: Routledge
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions:
Height: 234mm,
Width: 156mm,
Weight: 930g
ISBN: 9781032621487
ISBN 10: 1032621486
Series: Routledge Research in Journalism
Pages: 400
Publication Date: 05 November 2025
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Primary
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
List of Contributors Section I: Theory Introduction to theory in a changing world Michael P. Boyle and Adam M. Rainear Chapter 1: Digital journalism: Theory, practice and critics Masduki, Iwan Awaluddin Yusuf, Narayana Mahendra Prastya, Id NDK Ningsih, and Dian Dwi Anisa Chapter 2: Heuristics and digital horizons: Navigating media effects in journalism Xialing Lin and Patric R. Spence Chapter 3: Community structure: From modest model to robust theory John C. Pollock Chapter 4: Understanding user and designer perspectives on newsroom automation: Exploring a clash in newsworker and technologist perspectives through comparative analysis Shangyuan Wu, Pei Qi Chua, and Edson C. Tandoc Jr. Chapter 5: An exploratory experiment to understand perceptions of medical experts and scientists presented in news media regarding the COVID-19 vaccine. Brett W. Robertson and Adam M. Rainear Chapter 6: Ethics in Research Kimberly Meltzer Section II: Sampling and Measurement Section introduction Michael P. Boyle and Adam M. Rainear Chapter 7: Rapport and journalist to subject relationships Kimberly Meltzer Chapter 8: Measuring media's ecological effects: Spatial analyses of local media’s role in non-institutional political engagement Abby Y. Qin Chapter 9: Qualitative listening in data gathering Michele Kimball Chapter 10: Universal Design (UD) practices and accessibility disclosure statements: Best practices in the web-based research Alicia Mason, Elizabeth A. Spencer, Pan Liu, Kristen M. Livingston, Angela Ashmore, Lauren Shepard, and Tristan A. Spencer Chapter 11: Gender, caste, language and terrain in India's Maoist conflict journalism fieldwork Ashmi Desai Chapter 12: Exploring question order effects: Implications for questionnaire design Mike Schmierbach and Michael P. Boyle Section III: Qualitative Research Methods Section introduction Michael P. Boyle and Adam M. Rainear Chapter 13: Four research methods for studying journalists' knowledge and expertise Zvi Reich, Irit Neumann, Oded Jackman, Liri Bloom & Tal Mishaly Chapter 14: Qualitative analysis in fact-checking methodology research: Semi-structured, in-depth interviews Victoria Moreno-Gil Chapter 15: Journalism and autoethnography: An explication and application James A. Ford & Richard D. Besel Chapter 16: Focus groups in journalism research: A reappraisal Martin J. Riedl, Gina M. Masullo, & Tamar Wilner Chapter 17: Discourses of a shortage: News sharing on social media during the 2022 infant formula crisis Alison N. Novak Chapter 18: Interviews and focus groups within journalists in Pakistan's conflict zone: Methodological and ethical challenges Sayyed Fawad Ali Shah & Shabir Hussain Chapter 19: Gender sensitive journalism education in Kashmir: An exploratory study Paromita Pain, Aaliya Ahmed, & Zara Malik Khaled Section IV: Quantitative Research Methods Section introduction Michael P. Boyle and Adam M. Rainear Chapter 20: Cognitive barriers to select news from distrusted sources: An eye tracking examination of expectancy violation perceptions Robin Blom Chapter 21: Effects of collectivism in perceptions of websites and discussion forums: A comparison between national vs. individual-level differences Maria Molina and Mike Schmierbach Chapter 22: The necessity and sufficiency of intercoder reliability and other contemporary issues in content analyses Cory L. Armstrong and Fangfang Gao Chapter 23: Stimulus creation for experiments: A case study using media literacy videos Anne Oeldorf-Hirsch, Alyssa Appelman, Mike Schmierbach, and Michael P. Boyle Chapter 24: Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) topic modelling and journalism studies: A case study of UK news coverage using FOI requests Jingrong Tong Chapter 25: Cancer information overload and message fatigue: The overload-fatigue model and dispositional origins Jakob D. Jensen, Rachel A. Katz, Helen M. Lillie, Manusheela Pokharel, Dallin R. Adams, and Sean Upshaw Section V: Analyzing and Reporting Data Section introduction Michael P. Boyle and Adam M. Rainear Chapter 26: Planning, conducting, and presenting visual journalism research: Considerations for visual data collection, analysis, and publication T.J. Thomson Chapter 27: Using newsroom reconstruction to understand metacognition in journalism Patrick R. Johnson Chapter 28: Exploring news consumption as an independent and dependent variable L. Meghan Mahoney and Tang Tang Chapter 29: Applying responsible research and innovation (RRI) as a method in journalism research Astrid Gynnild and Anja Salzman Chapter 30: “Flow” as the new unit of analysis: Introducing snowball crawling and named-entity recognition as a methodological toolkit for media research Steve Guo and Dan Wang Chapter 31: Who said what? Studying public opinions with big data methods and discourse perspectives Xianlin Jin and Xin Sheng Index
Michael P. Boyle is a Professor in the Department of Communication and Media at West Chester University, USA. His research interests focus on news coverage of protest as well as the implications of media use on public opinion and perceptions of media effects. Adam M. Rainear is an Associate Professor in the Department of Communication and Media at West Chester University, USA. His research utilizes technology—such as social media, robotics, and artificial intelligence—to understand how individuals access information and communicate about risks such as weather, climate, and environmental hazards.
