The Characteristicsof Introductory Research MethodsCourses in Mass CommunicationDoctoral Programs

SHIRONG LU

This study assesses the content of introductory research methods courses inmass communication doctoral programs in the United States. Directors ofthirty-two graduate programs were surveyed about their doctoral programs'requirements for research methods. Syllabi for forty-three required introductoryresearch methods courses were collected. An extensive list of variables for eachwas analyzed and compared. Requirements in research methods training havebecome fairly common across doctoral programs. Although quantitative meth-ods instruction, emphasizing design and analysis skills, is still most prevalent,non-quantitative methods courses, focusing on qualitative methods andphilosophical and historical theories, are offered and often required in manydoctoral programs.

Good tools make for good work.Ev6!n if a craftsman came up with themost ingenious design in the world, hecould not complete it without the helpof the right instruments. So is the casewith research. If due attention is notpaid to methods, scholars run the riskof not fulfilling on great ideas.

Research methods instruction haslong heen a vital component ofjournalism and mass communicationgraduate education. Although researchmethods are still considered just ameans to an end hy some academics,most scholars and professors havecome to realize the importance of these"means." With the expansion of

doctoral programs and the emergenceof new research paradigms, is thereany consensus about what doctoralstudents should know ahout researchmethods? Previous studies haveexplored the epistemological frictionsamong various methodologicalapproaches.^ Some kept tahs on meth-ods used in academic publications.^Some examined research methodsinstruction in undergraduate pro-grams.^ This study builds on priorresearch hy focusing on introductoryresearch methods courses required fordoctoral-level students in journalismand mass communication programs hyexamining the syllahi of the primary

Amy Shirong Lu (AMYLU@UNC.EDU) is a doctoral student and Thamas S. and CarolineH. Royster, Jr. Fellow, School of Journalism and Mass Communication, University ofNoith Carolina at Chapel Hill.

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methods courses offered at most U.S.doctoral programs.

Literature Review

The field of journalism and masscommunication has always been inter-disciplinary as it has borrowed boththeory and methods from othercontiguous fields, such as sociology,psychology, and political science. Thiswas clearly shown more than twentyyears ago when Paisley found that thepublished articles in communicationjournals contained more citationsfrom non-communication journals(especially social scientific ones] thancommunication journal citations.*

Sociology is usually regarded asthe parent of journalism and masscommunication research in terms ofperspective, theory, and methodology.Sociologists, however, still debate thediscipline's underlying paradigms,thus allowing scholars to adoptdifferent perspectives and researchmethodologies.^ It is generally agreed,however, that quantitative methodolo-gy has been on the rise since the 1940sand continues to play an important rolein sociology today,^ A similar trend ofthe dominance of quantitative methodshas been observed in psychology andpolitical science as well.^

The interdisciplinary nature ofjournalism and mass communicationresearch has always allowed a multi-plicity of research perspectives, but hasalso contributed to clashes betweendifferent schools of thought. Today, the"quantitative" school and "qualitative"school are the most common referralpoints of social scientific and interpre-tative humanistic approaches. Socialbehavioral quantitative methods havebecome more widely used by mass

communication researchers since theearly 1950s, although humanisticmethods and viewpoints had almostexclusively dominated the field previ-ously.^ Since the 1970s, qualitativemethods began to regain adherents anduse.^ With the emergence of criticaland cultural studies, the field'smethodological diversity has grown.^"Potter et al. described three mass mediaresearch paradigms; social science,interpretative, and critical studies.^^As Cooper and colleagues observed,"the terms highlight the intellectualdilemmas that stem from a differentialset of foundational assumptions thatoften induce a heated debate within theresearch community, "̂ ^

Some possible explanations forthese debates come from the deve-lopmental trajectory of almost anyscientific discipline. In its initialdevelopment, a discipline typicallywill rely primarily on qualitative data,which offers a descriptive or rudi-mentary understanding of a social phe-nomenon. Qualitative methodologiesare useful for delineating what peoplehave experienced, but not as effectivefor assessing extent or mechanisms.Consequently, as the disciplinematures, research gradually shiftstoward quantitative methodology.Researchers are expected to bothdevelop new verified knowledge and toassess what they know or think theyknow at that time.^^ Ultimately, thediscipline should acquire an integratedbody of research methods that allows awider spectrum of exploration withprecision as well as depth.

A stream of journalism and masscommunication research has investi-gated the use of different methods inacademic publications. Cooper et al.coded mass media research articles

JOURNALISM & MASS COMMUNICATION EDUCATOR 290

published between 1965 and 1989 andfound that although the majority usedquantitative methods, use of quali-tative methods had been increasingsince the 1970s.^* Trumbo replicatedtheir study, examining articles pub-lished between 1990 and 2000, andfound that the use of mixed methodshad increased significantly.^^ Weavernoted the trend of combining multipleresearch methods in the 1980s and pre-dicted that this kind of approachwould increase in popularity.^^

These studies raise the question ofhow and what doctoral students, thefutiu-e generation of journalism andmass communication researchers, arebeing taught about research methods.Common sense suggests that scholeirs'or researchers' training and course-work in graduate school should influ-ence their future academic endeavors.The research methods education fordoctoral students, however, remains anarea in which little systematic researchhas heen done.

The published articles regardingresearch methods instruction havefocused mostly on undergraduates,who typically are taught researchmethods as a part of professionalpractice. For example, journalismmajors learn how to conduct a poll orinterpret a poll's result for a newsstory; advertising majors learn how totarget effective advertising campaignstoward the right population; publicrelations majors learn how tounderstand the puhlic's perception oftheir client. Some studies involvedconducting surveys to examine theimportance of undergraduate-levelmethods instruction,^^ some providedsuggestions for effective researchmethod instruction,^^ and someexplored research methods instruction

for students of particular sub-disciplines such as journalism,^^advertising, and puhlic relations.^"Others focused on the status of qua-litative communication research meth-ods^^ and research methods coursework for students specializing in busi-ness and technical communication,intercultural communication, organi-zation communication, and smallgroup communication.^^

This study's intent was asses-sing the required introductory-levelresearch methods for mass communi-cation doctoral students. An introduc-tory research methods course refers toone that doctoral students are usuallyrequired to take in the early stages ofcoursework. Introductory researchmethods courses offer a glimpse at adoctoral program's general take on howscholars should be trained to conductresearch. Specifically, this studysought to determine the following bysurveying directors of graduate studiesand collecting required introductorydoctoral course syllabi: whether anyspecific research method(s) course(s) is(are) required, how they are taught,who teaches them, what is taught,what students are expected to do, andhow students are evaluated.

Method

The study focused on the doctoralprograms listed in the Association forEducation in Journalism and MassCommunication (AEJMC) 2005Directory.'^'^ To he included in thestudy, the program had to be listed ashaving a doctoral program in one ormore of the following areas:journalism, mass communication,mass media, communication studies,communication and public affairs.

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media and information studies, inter-cultural communication, health com-munication, and/or communicationand media arts. A total of 43 doctoralprograms were identified.

In March 2006, a cover letter withsurvey questions was e-mailed to thedirectors and staff members of the grad-uate programs of the 43 identified pro-grams. A week later, those who had notreplied to that inquiry were sent a fol-low-up cover letter and survey ques-tions.^* The syllabi of 43 requiredintroductory methods courses from 25doctoral programs (58.1% of the Ph.D.programs contacted) were collectedeither directly from the graduate advi-sors' e-mail responses or from theinstructors, whose e-mail addresseswere provided by graduate programdirectors and staff members.

By April 1, 2006, directors andstaff members of graduate studies from36 of 43 programs had replied to e-mailinquiries, for a response rate of 83.7%.Among the 36 directors, two refused toparticipate in this study because theydid not think their programs should beconsidered "joiu-nalism and mass com-munication" even though they werelisted in the AEJMC Directory. One saidthat the program was in "rhetorical the-ories,"^^ and the other said that theprogram was in "human communica-tion. "̂ ^ Two other programs wereexcluded: one had just started the doc-toral program less than a year earlier,and no specific doctoral programrequirements had been set yet; theother was currently redesigning itsdoctoral program, and the researchmethods requirement was still underdiscussion. Therefore, responses from atotal of 32 programs (74,4% of all Ph.D.programs contacted) were included.See Table 1.

In response to the request for therequired introductory research meth-ods course syllabi, graduate studiesdirectors and staff from 9 programs e-mailed them directly, and the rest pro-vided the name(s) and e-mailaddress(es) of the methods instruc-tor(s). Instructors from 16 of 23 doctor-al programs e-mailed the requested syl-labi. By May 1, 2006, 43 introductoryresearch method syllabi from 25 doc-toral programs had been collected foranalysis.

Each syllabus was coded by title,duration of each meeting (hours),number of meetings per week, numberof instruction weeks, instructors'gender, academic rank (assistant/associate/full professor),^'' textbooks,supplemental readings (format: elec-tronic reserves/course packs; type:journal articles/book chapters), courseobjectives, range of topics, assign-ments/evaluation criteria, prerequi-sites (previous coursework/researchexperience/visual technology/compu-ter literacy/academic writing skills),kind of ethics training (if any classsession was exclusively devoted toresearch ethics; if Institutional ReviewBoard was covered in instruction; ifIRB training was required; if there wereany detailed/general warnings againstplagiarism), classroom etiquette expec-tations (detailed/general description),and recommended citation styles(APA/Turabian/Chicago/ML A),

Each syllabus was also coded interms of the weight of instruction inthree areas; quantitative, qualitative,critical/historical/rhetorical.^^ For ex-ample, if, during a fifteen-weekinstruction period, three weeks weredevoted to qualitative methodologyinstruction while the rest were devotedto quantitative methodology, the course

JOURNALISM & MASS COMMUNICATION EDUCATOR 292

Table 1RESEARCH METHODS COURSE REQUIREMENTS IN 32 DOCTORAL PROGRAMS*

Years Ph.D. Program ExistedMean= 29.2 (Range= 3-72)

Average Program Length 3.9 (With MA) (ME= 3.7, Range = 3-7)4.8 (Without MA) (ME= 5, Range = 4-6)

Numher

Mean=1.8

of Required Methods Courses01

23

Numher of Programs1

1017

4

Methods Course Requirements Numher of Programs

1 Quantitative + 1 Qualitative 121 Methods core + 1 or more methods course(s) 81 Quantitative 71 Core (1/3 Quan+l/3Qual+l/3 Critical/Historical) 21 Quantitative + 1 Qualitative + 1 Critical/Historical 2

*Based on 32 graduate directors' responses.

would have a quantitative weight of80%, a qualitative weight of 20%, anda critical/historical/rhetorical weightof 0%. Then, the weight of eachmethod was adjusted by the numher ofcourses under each program. Forexample, if a program required twointroductory methods courses, onepurely quantitative (100%, 0%, 0%)and one purely qualitative (0%, 100%,0%), the weight of the three methodsfor this program would be 50%, 50%,0%. Since the total sample size issmall. Fisher's Exact Probability Testwas used to explore relationshipsbetween kinds of classes and require-ments.^^

ResultsAlmost all (31 of 32) of the

programs included in the study requiredoctoral students to complete some

research methods courses. More than70% of programs require students totake two or more courses coveringquantitative and qualitative methodsand heyond. Seven programs requireonly one quantitative method course;the remaining programs require amixture. Students typically are giventhe option of taking the courses in anysequence, except eight programsrequire that a "core" methods coursebe taken before any other methodscourses. Interestingly, quantitativecourses are generally offered in the fallsemester, while qualitative courses aregenerally offered in the spring semes-ter, suggesting that quantitative meth-ods typically will be taken first. No sig-nificant relationship was detected forthe program's age and number ofrequired courses or pattern of require-ment.

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Table 2COURSE TITLES BY COURSE TYPE*

Type Course Title

(Mostly) Quantitative Research Method(ology) in Mass (Media) Communication^'' 11Quantitative (social science) research methods (design) 7Statistical Application in Communication Research 1Quantitative data analysis 1Descriptive/Experimental Research in Communication 1Seminar in Empirical Research 1Introduction to Mass Communication Research 1Seminar in Mass Communication Research 1

Subtotal 24 (56%)

Qualitative

Critical/Historical/Rhetorical

Mixture

Qualitative Method(ology) in Mass Commimication (Research) 8Researching communication lHumanistic research methods lInterpretive Methodology in Communication Research 1

Subtotal 11 (25%)

Historical/Critical Research (Methodology) in Communication 3Rhetorical criticism 1Seminar in Critical Research Methods 1

Subtotal 5 (12%)

Methods of (Mass) Communication ResearchMethod of Inquiry

Subtotal

213 (7%)

Total 43 (100%)

•Based on 43 collected syllabi.

Introductory Research MethodsSyllabi Analysis. Of 43 syllabi ana-lyzed, 5 types of courses wereidentified: 20 purely quantitative, 4mostly quantitative (with an averageof 87.2% quantitative methods in-struction throughout the course),^° 11purely qualitative, 5 critical/his-torical/rhetorical, and 3 mixed coursesof two or three methods. The firstand second categories were combinedinto a (mostly) quantitative cate-

gory for ease of comparison (24courses).

Course Title, Contact Hours, In-structors, and Textbooks. Course titlesof the four course types are listed inTable 2. More than half of the (mostly)quantitative courses use general termsfor research methods in mass commu-nication (or mass media] withoutreferring specifically to quantitativemethods. The remainder use quantita-tive-related terms, such as "quantita-

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Tahle 3CONTACT HOURS AND INSTRUCTORS' GENDER AND RANK

Type Instructor Instructor RankMeeting AverageLength (M)(M Hrs. Weekly/week) Meetings Male Female Assist. Assoc. Full

(Mostly) Quantitative 2.3 1.6 17 7 5 7 12

Qualitative 2.2 1.5 4 7 5 4 2

Crit/Hist/Rhet 2.9 1.0 2 3 1 3 1

Mixture 1.3 2.3 2 1 1 1 1

tive," "statistical," "data analysis,""descriptive/experimental," "empiri-cal," and "social science." Fewer than10% of the qualitative methods cours-es use only general terms; more than90% emphasize the course's focus onqualitative methods. Critical/histori-cal/rhetorical methods courses' titlesall emphasize the specific type ofmethod. All "mixture" courses usegeneral terms in their titles.

The number of contact hours andinstructor characteristics are presentedin Table 3. According to this collectionof methods syllabi, the averagerequired introductory methods coursemeets 2.3 hours for 1.5 times a week foran average of 14.6 weeks in a semester.Critical/historical/rhetorical courseshave the longest class and the leastfrequent weekly meetings while mixedmethods courses have the shortestclass and the most frequent weeklymeetings.

(Mostly) quantitative methodscourses have the highest percentage ofmale instructors and qualitative meth-ods courses have the highest percent-

age of female instructors. (Mostly)quantitative and critical/historical/rhetorical methods are taught by most-ly tenured professors while qualitativemethods are taught by mostlyuntenured ones.^^

The most popular^^ textbooks inthe (mostly) quantitative courses areEarl R. Babbie's The Practice of SocialResearch (used in seven programs);Guido H. Stempel, David H. Weaver,and G. Cleveland Wilhoit's MassCommunication Research and Theory(five); and Roger D. Wimmer andJoseph R. Dominick's Mass MediaResearch (five). The most popular text-book used in qualitative methodscourses is Thomas R. Lindlof andBryan C. Taylor's Qualitative Commu-nication Research Methods (five). Thecritical/historical/rhetorical methodscourses had no texthook in common.Almost 70% (30 out of 43) of the meth-ods courses require additional readingseither in the form of electronic reservesor course packs, which consist ofjournal articles (27 courses) and bookchapters (25 courses).

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Table 4COURSE OBJECTIVES BY COURSE TYPE

Course Type Course Objectives

(Mostly)Quantitative Acquire hands-on experience and practical skills

Understand foundations of quantitative research methodsApply statistical programs in data analysisEvaluate published researchApply research methods to solve problemsLearn key conceptsBecome intelligent consumers of mass mediaLearn the process of research publicationImprove writing skillsParticipate in a class projectConceptualize a real projectDevelop an integrated literature revievir

Qualitative Learn qualitative research skillsApply theoryUnderstand theories shaping qualitative researchPractice qualitative methodsDevelop critical thinkingUnderstand philosophical and historical origin

of qualitative methodsBecome thoughtful and ethical researchersUnderstand nature and purpose of qualitative researchEvaluate published studiesMake contribution to the fieldImprove writing skillsUnderstand the limitations of qualitative research

Critical/ Understand the persuasive power of media messagesHistorical/ Develop critical thinkingRbetorical Improve communication and writing skills

Address historical events criticallyImprove analytical skillsUnderstand cultural phenomena betterCain access to research resourcesDiscover one's own orientation toward critical research

Mixture Engage with different approachesUnderstand communication processUnderstand strengths and limitations of different methodsDevelop one's identity in researchEvaluate published articlesBecome an ethical researcher

JOURNALISM & MASS COMMUNICATION EDUCATOR ^36

# of Syllabi

1514

13

65

5

3

3

31

11

107

664

2

211111

332

22211

321111

Tahle 5TOPICS (SoR'rED BY FREQUENCY)

(Mostly) QuantitativeTopics

Data iinalysisMeasurement and conceptsExperimentSamplingSurveyContent SBalysisResearch designReliability and validityHypothesis testingResearch ethicsCritique/evaluation of researchPublication of quan researchApplication/operationalizationCriticism of social science

#

282525212119121212

64431

QualitativeTopics

Participant observationEthnographyStages of researchhiterviewsTextual analysisResearch report writingResearch ethicsField applicationQualitative res. HistoryFocus groupsReception analysisOral historyHistorical researchCase studiesNarrative analysisIdeological criticismIndustry analysisGrounded theorySocial constructivismDiscourse analysisVisual methodsRhetorical methodPsychoanalytic methodBiographical methodPolitical criticismLegal method

#

99888665554332222111111111

Critical/Historical/RhetoricalTopics

Historical methodRhetorical criticismCritical methodFeminist criticismGeneric criticismIdeological criticismNarrative criticismCluster criticismFantasy theme analysisMetaphor criticismPedantic criticismGenerative criticismEthicsTextual analysisPost-modernismPost-colonialism

#

4322222111111111

Course Objectives, Topics, Assign-ments/Evaluation Criteria. Course ob-jectives were determined by lookingat the course overview and courseobjectives sections of the collectedsyllabi. Table 4 presents course ob-jectives sorted by frequency. Themajor emphasis in quantitative meth-ods courses was on practical skills,understanding of hasic concepts andterms, and performing elementary sta-tistical analyses. The qualitative andcritical/historical/rhetorical coursestend to stress philosophical andhistorical theories related to the

methods, and to emphasize criticalthinking.

To determine the content coveredin the courses, schedules werereviewed, and similarities emerged.Table 5 lists content categories by fre-quency. Qualitative courses consist ofmore diversified content. "Criticism"serves as the dominant content formost of the Critical/Historical/Rhe-torical topics. Qualitative and Critical/historical/rhetorical methods coursesare quite similar. No course devotedany session to reviewing previousconcepts. Three qualitative courses

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and one mixture course have "fieldwork" sessions, consisting of about23% of course time. Only threecourses, one from each category,included explicit application of themethods.

Tahle 6 shows that all three kindsof methods courses^^ put considerableemphasis on research papers orproposals—counting for 40% of theterm grade for the quantitative, almost50% for the qualitative, and more than75% for the critical/historical/rhetori-cal courses. A full paper (in 21 courses)is a more popular assignment than aresearch proposal: only three (mostly)quantitative courses and fourqualitative courses require only aproposal. Other than research papers,most points in quantitative methodscourses are on exams, which assessedstudents' statistical knowledge, dataanalysis skills, homework problem-solving, and group projects.Qualitative methods courses stressreflexive and critical thinking.

Besides research papers andproposals, quantitative homework andexams are the most frequently usedassignments in (mostly) quantitativecourses; textual analysis, interviews,and observation are assigned in quali-tative courses; and reflection papersand mini exercises and quizzes areused in critical/historical/rhetoricalcourses.

Prerequisites, Ethics, ClassroomEtiquette, and Citation Styles. Inaccordance with the introductorynatvu-e of these courses, more than 90%either did not mention prerequisitesor stated explicitly that no priorexperience was needed. Nor did anysyllabi list baseline expectations orcompetencies in visual technology,computer literacy, or academic writing

skills. Only three purely quantitativeresearch methods courses required thatone or two statistics courses be takenpreviously.

About one-third of the (mostly)quantitative and qualitative coursesexplicitly mentioned the topic ofethical treatment of human subjects.About one-fifth of (mostly) quantitativeand 10% of qualitative courses explic-itly mentioned the Institutional ReviewBoard. Five professors made the IRBtraining completion certificate arequirement of the class.

More than 60% of course syllabiincluded discussions of academicintegrity and classroom etiquette insepeu-ate sections. Academic integrityincluded professors' explicitstatements about their expectation oforiginal work with proper references.Classroom etiquette included theprofessors' explicit requirements foracademic performance, such asattendance, punctuality, classroommanners, etc. Among professorswhose syllabi mentioned these topics,80% provided detailed and specificdefinitions and warnings with vari-ous plagiarism examples; 30%elaborated on expected professionalhehaviors.

About 80% of critical/historical/rhetorical courses, 70% of mixedcourses, and 50% of both (mostly)quantitative and qualitative courseshave specific citation requirements.Among them. The AmericanPsychological Association (APA) isthe most popular (91%), followedby Turabian/Chicago (30%), andModern Language Association (MLA](22%). The proportion did not add upto 100% because eight courses offerflexibility in choosing from two ormore styles.

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Table 6STUDENT ASSIGNMENTS/EVALUATION CRITERIA

(SORTED BY PERCENTAGE WEIGHT OF FINAL GRADE)

(Mostly) QuantitativeAssignment

Research paper/proposalExamsData analysisHomework assigmnentGroup projectIn-clas.s quizBrief research proposalClass research projectClass presentationPaper critiqueParticipation/attendance

#

1417

518

3752

117

13

%

40372825221715151111

8

QualitativeAssigmnent

Research paper/proposalReactions to readingsParticipation/attendancePaper critiqueClass presentationInterview exerciseObservation exerciseTextual analysisEthnographyHistoriographyResearch questionIdeological criticism

#

1149326673221

%

4823201513

9877777

Critical/Historical/RhetoricalAssignment

Research paperTake-home exam

#

51

Participation / attendance 2Reflection papersMini exercise and quizLibrary resourcesSpeech analysisGeneric criticism

32111

%

7520151010

Note; The percentage weight was calculated only for those syllabi that provided the percentage ofdifferent assignments in final grade. For example, five critical/historical/rhetorical syllabi required aresearch paper, while only three listed a percentage weight for research papers. The 75% was calculatedbased on information from the three courses, i.e., the denominator for calculation was three instead offive.

Discussion

This profile of requirements forreseiirch methods in U.S. doctoral edu-cation in mass communication showsthat they are consistent with the gener-al goal of doctoral-level methods instruc-tion: to cultivate competent researcherswho can carry out academic research bywriting and publishing research.

That few courses required prereq-uisites reflects the mission and natureof doctoral education in journalismand mass communication: students arenot expected to have knowledge eitherin practical media-related skills suchas graphic design or video productionthat might be helpful in the researchprocess, nor do they have to completeany specific courses hefore enteringthe introductory level methods course(although hasic math competency typi-

cally is assumed for acceptance ingraduate programs). That only purelyquantitative courses require previouscoursework might be becausequantitative methods have a relativelymore linear structural development;their concepts and statistics techniquesare like building blocks—lacking fun-damentals will limit more complicateddesign and analysis.

Quantitative methods coursescompose about two-thirds (63.8%) ofdoctoral program methods instruction,qualitative methods are slightly morethan one-quarter (28.7%), and criti-cal/historical/rhetorical methodsaccount for less than one-tenth ofresearch instruction (7.5%). This ratiois close to what Potter and colleaguesfound in their 1993 analysis of masscommunication articles published ineight communication journals: the

299 AUTUMN '07

social science paradigm accounted forabout 60% of studies, the interpretativeparadigm was about 30%, and thecritical paradigm was 6%.̂ *

Course titles also seem to reflectthe historical dominance of quantita-tive methods. More than half of quanti-tative courses did not include anyquantitative or empirical adjectivebefore the general term "research meth-ods," suggesting that professors stillthink of quantitative methods as "the"methods with which to study masscommunication. In contrast, almost allof the qualitative and critical/histori-cal/rhetorical methods courses used anon-empirical adjective in their coursetitles, in an apparent attempt to distin-guish themselves from quantitativeresearch methods.

Another indication of the contin-ued dominance of quantitative meth-ods is that quantitative courses aremore often offered in the fall semesters,typically when doctoral students enterprograms, whereas qualitative coursesare offered in the spring, typicallywhen doctoral students have complet-ed a quantitative course.^'

That most quantitative courses aretaught by tenured male professorswhile most other methods courses aretaught frequently by untenured femaleprofessors may be due to a number offactors, including old stereotypes ofmale preference for quantitative ("sci-entific") and female preference forqualitative ("humanities") methods. Itis more likely that the increasing pres-ence of females in graduate programswho are being taught qualitative meth-ods results in younger and female pro-fessors prepared to teach qualitativemethods.^^

That warnings against academicplagiarism are frequent (25 courses).

but relatively little attention is paid tothe ethics of research with human sub-jects (9 courses) may be because fewcourses required research proposalsthat would be necessary for a formalIRB application. Given the increasedimportance of research ethics compli-ance for human subjects, further atten-tion in introductory research methodscourses may he warranted. It would beunfortunate if students are left with theimpression that the IRB process is toodaunting, resulting in opting forconducting secondary data analysis,textual analysis, or other kinds ofanalyses that do not require IRBapproval.

Limitations and Suggestionsfor Further Study

This study is not withoutlimitations and its findings raise anumher of questions. One limitation isthat only doctoral programs wereincluded, and often master's programsinclude methods courses that mayinfluence students' curriculum choic-es, Ph.D. program selection (if any),and subsequent research. Futureresearch might benefit from surveyingthe field's current doctoral students toexplore the research method(s) theyhave chosen for their careers, and thencorrelate their methods choices andtraining with early academicpublications.

Reliance on graduate studiesdirectors as respondents rather thanthe course instructors and/or doctoralstudents might have resulted inconjecture and even bias. It is not pos-sible to tell from analyzing only syllabiwithout input from the course instruc-tor what occurs in the classroom andover the course of the semester or quar-

JouRNALtsM &• MASS COMMUNICATION EDUCATOR 300

ter. Some professors may feel like theyhave to provide instruction in somemethods that they do not like or evenapprove of, or give short shrift to somewith which they have less experience.Thus, some are endorsed more thanothers. Instructors and/or graduate stu-dents could be surveyed to obtain amore comprehensive picture of atti-tudes and classroom time. It would bevaluable to see this study as a baselinefrom which we might observe futurestability and change in graduateresearch methods instruction.

Endnotes

1. Christian Erzberger and GeraldPrein, "Triangulation: Validity andEmpirically-Based HypothesisConstruction," Quality and Quantity31 (1997): 141-54; David Weaver,"Communication Research in the199O's: New Directions and NewAgendas," in Beyond Agendas: NewDirections in CommunicationsResearch, ed. Philip Gaunt (Westport,CT: Greenwood Press, 1993), 199-220;David Weaver, "Mass CommunicationResearch: Problems and Promises," inCommunication Research: The Chal-lenge of the Information Age, ed.Nancy W. Sharp (Syracuse, NY: Syra-cuse University Press, 1988), 21-38.

2. See Roger Cooper, W. JamesPotter, and Michael Dupagne, "AStatus Report on Methods Used inMass Communication Research,"Journalism Educator 48 (1994): 54-61;Rasha Kamhawi and David Weaver,"Mass Communication ResearchTrends from 1980 to 1999," fournalismB- Mass Communication Quarterly 80(2003): 7-27; Dennis T. Lowry, "AnEvaluation of Empirical StudiesReported in Seven Journals in the

7O's," fournalism Quarterly 56 (1979):262-68, 282; Richard M. Perlof,"Journalism Research: A 20-YearPerspective," fournalism Quarterly 53(1976): 123-26; Craig W. Trumbo,"Research Methods in MassCommunication Research: A Census ofEight Journals 1990-2000," fournalism&• Mass Communication Quarterly 81(summer 2004): 417-36.

3. See Julie Bolding, "ResearchSkills Instruction in UndergraduatePrograms," fournalism & Mass Com-munication Educator 51 (spring 1996):15-22; Bryan E. Denham, "MaximizingResearch Methods Instruction,"fournalism &• Mass CommunicationEducation 58 (summer 2003): 147-62;Bryan E. Denham, "Teaching ResearchMethods to Undergraduates," fourn-alism 8" Mass Communication Educa-tor 51 (4, 1997): 54-62; Lawrence R.Frey and Carl H. Botan, "The Status ofInstruction in Introductory Undergra-duate Communication ResearchMethods," Communication Education37 (4, 1998): 249-56; Don W. Stacksand Mark Hickson III, "The Communi-cation Investigator: Teaching ResearchMethods to Undergraduates," Commu-nication Quarterly 39 (4,1991): 351-57.

4. William Paisley, "The Conver-gence of Communication and Informa-tion Science," in Libraries andInformation Science in the ElectronicAge, ed. Hendrik Edelman (Philadel-phia, PA: ISI Press, 1986), 122-53.

5. See Sergei N. Eisenstadt andMiriam Curelaru, The Form ofSociology: Paradigms and Crises (NewYork, NY: John Wiley & Sons, 1976);Robert W. Friedrich, A Sociology ofSociology (New York, NY: Free Press,1970); Charles C. Lemert, Sociologyand the Twilight of Man:Homocentrism and Discourse in

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Sociological Theory (Carbondale, IL:Southern Illinois University Press,1979); and George Ritzer, Toward anIntegrated Sociological Paradigm: TheSearch for an Exemplar and an Imageof the Subject Matter (Boston, MA:Allyn & Bacon, 1981).

6. See George S. Bridges, GeraldM. Gillmore, Jana L. Pershing, andKristin A. Bates, "Teaching Quantita-tive Research Methods: A Quasi-experimental Analysis," TeachingSociology 26 (1998): 14-28; Julia S.Brown and Brian G. Gilmartin,"Sociology Today: Lacune, Emphases,and Surfeits," The AmericanSociologist 4 (1969): 283-91; TheodoreG. Wagenaar, "Is There A Gore inSociology? Results from A Survey,"Teaching Sociology 32 (1, 2004): 1-18.

7. See Leona S. Aiken, Stephen G.West, Lee Sechrest, Raymond R. Reno,"Graduate Training in Statistics,Methodology, and Measurement inPsychology," American Psychologist45 (1990): 721-34; Barbara M. Byrne,"The Status and Role of QuantitativeMethods in Psychology: Past, Present,and Future Perspectives," CanadianPsychology 37 (2,1996): 76-80; RichardChristie, "Some Implications ofResearch Trends in Social Psychology,"in Perspectives in Social Psychology,ed. Otto Klineberg and RichardChristie [New York, NY: Holt, Rinehartand Winston, 1965), 141-52; David E.McNabb, Research Methods forPolitical Science: Quantitative andQualitative Methods (Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, Inc., 2004).

8. See Al Moffett and Joseph R.Dominick, "Statistical Analysis in theJournal of Broadcasting, 1970-85: AnUpdate," Feedback 28 (2, 1987): 13-20;Wilbur Schramm, "Twenty Years ofJournalism Research," Public Opinion

Quarterly 21 (1, 1957): 91-107; EugeneJ. Webb and Jerry R. Salancik. "Noteson the Sociology of Knowledge,"Journalism Quarterly 42 (1965): 591-96; Roger D. Wimmer and Richard B.Haynes, "Statistical Analyses of theJournal of Broadcasting, 1970-1976,"Journal of Broadcasting 22 (1978): 241-48.

9. See Cooper, Potter, andDupagne, "A Status Report," 54;Lawrence R. Frey, Shawny Anderson,and Paul G. Friedman, "The Status ofInstruction in QualitativeGommunication Research Methods,"Communication Education 47 (1998):246-60; Thomas R. Lindlof, "TheQualitative Study of MediaAudiences," Journal of Broadcasting &•Electronic Media 35 (1991): 23-42;John J. Pauly, "A Beginner's Guide toDoing Qualitative Research in MassGommunication," Journalism Mono-graphs 125 (1991); Steven J. Taylor andRobert Bogdan, Introduction to Quali-tative Research Methods (New York,NY: John Wiley & Sons, 1998).

10. Stanley J. Baran and Dennis K.Davis, Mass Communication Theory:Foundations, Ferment, and Future(Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/ThomsonLearning, 2003).

11. W. James Potter, Roger Cooper,and Michel Dupagne, "The ThreeParadigms of Mass Media Research inMainstream Communication Journals,"Communication Theory 3 (1993): 317-35.

12. Cooper, Potter, and Dupagne,"A Status Report," 55.

13. Anonymous Editor.14. Cooper, Potter, and Dupagne,

"A Status Report."15. Trumbo, "Research Methods in

Mass Communication Research."16. Weaver, "Communication Re-

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search."17. Bolding, "Research Skills

Instruction"; Frey and Boltan, "TheStatus of Instruction."

18. Denham, "Maximizing ResearchMethods Instruction"; Denham,"Teaching Research Methods"; Stacksand Hickson, "The CommunicationInvestigator."

19. Rachel Davis Mersey, "Examin-ing the Student Newspaper: An Oppor-tunity to Teach Research Methods,"Journalism &• Mass CommunicationEducator 61 (spring 2006): 65-78.

20. Paula M. Poindexter, "A Modelfor Effective Teaching and Learning inResearch Methods," Journalism &• MassCommunication Educator 52 (4, 1998):24-36.

21. Frey, Anderson, and Friedman,"The Status of Instruction," 246-60.

22. See Kim Sydow Campbell,"Research Methods Course Work forStudents Specializing in Business andTechnical Communication," Journal ofBusiness and Technical Communica-tion 14 (2, 2004): 223-41; Steven A.Beebe and Thompson Biggers, "TheStatus of the Introductory Intercul-tural Communication Course,"Communication Education 35 (1986):56-60; Cal W. Downs and Michael W.Larimer, "The Status of Organiza-tional Communication in SpeechDepartments," Speech Teacher 23(1974): 325-29; R. Wayne Pace andRobert F. Ross, "The Basic Course inOrganizational Communication," Com-munication Education 32 (1983): 402-12; Dennis E. Warnemunde, "TheStatus of the Introductory Small GroupGommunication Gourse," Communica-tion Education 35 (1986): 389-95.

23. See AEJMG Gentral Office Staff,Journalism &• Mass CommunicationDirectory, vol. 23 (Golumbia, SG:

Association for Education in Journ-alism and Mass Gommunication,2005).

24. For the second round of e-mailinquiry, the author referred to theonline National Gommunicationassociation (NGA) Doctoral Database(http://www.natcom.org/nca/index.asp?downloadid=180) for an update of e-mail addresses. The author understoodthat the AEJMG records and NGArecords were different but found thatmany programs were cross-listed withdifferent e-mail contacts. The NGAdatabase thus served as the bestalternative source available. In fact, thesecond round of e-mail contacts basedon NGA records contributed elevenmore replies.

25. Anonymous graduate studiesdirector I. "Re: A Research MethodInstruction Study Asking for YourInput," (2006).

26. Anonymous graduate studiesdirector II. "Re: A Research MethodInstruction Study Asking for YourInput," (2006).

27. Most instructors list their aca-demic ranks on their syllabi. For thosewho do not, the researcher looked uptheir ranks from their institutions' Websites, which are usually but not alwaysupdated.

28. Gritical, rhetorical, and histori-cal methods are different from eachother; reasons to combine them are thedifference between qualitative methodsand the three are more substantive thanthe difference among the three (this canbe observed from Table 4 and Table 5.);the scarcity of courses in these threemethods.

29. To conduct analysis in a four-fold table, the researcher divided sever-al variables into two groups accordingto their means or according to their

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nature. For example, the programswere divided into "old programs" and"new programs" with 30 (the averageage of the programs) as the dividingline. They are also divided into "M.A.required" and "M.A. not required"according to their requirements. As forcourse types, they are divided into"(mostly) quantitative methods cours-es" and "non-quantitative methodscourses." More details are availableupon request.

30. This is calculated according tothe course schedule. For example, if afifteen-week course devotes two weeksto qualitative method instruction andthe rest to quantitative method instruc-tion, this course is considered 86.7%quantitative and 13.3% qualitative, inother words, a mostly quantitativecourse.

31. Details available upon request.32. In determining the most popu-

lar textbooks used, the number of pro-grams was counted instead of courses.For example, if a textbook was used inseven courses in five programs, thebook was counted five times. Differenteditions of the same book were countedas one. Textbooks required in mixedmethods courses were counted into thethree major methods categories. Onlytextbooks used in more than four pro-grams are mentioned here; a list of allbooks is available upon request.

33. Because it is impossible todetermine the three mixed courses'percentage distribution in each of the

three methods (i.e., the students canchoose to write a research paper or aproposal using any methods), thosethree courses are not included in theanalysis of student evaluation toolsreported in Table 5.

34. Potter, Gooper, and Dupagne,"The Three Paradigms," 329.

35. Notably, qualitative methodinstruction preceded quantitativemethod instruction in two of the threemixed method courses.

36. See Jane W. Loeb, "The Status ofFemale Faculty in the U.S.: Thirty-fiveYears with Equal OpportunityLegislation" Management Revue 17(2006): 157-80; Dan Shaver, GarrollGlynn, Mary Ann Ferguson, MaryAlice Shaver, Rick Stephens, WayneWanta, David Weaver, and GhuckWhitney, "Status Report: Ph.D. Educa-tion in Mass Gommunication," 2005,ht tp : / /www.aejmc.org/pubs/phd/phdfinalreport.pdf (March 12, 2007);Joan S. Stark, Malcolm A. Lowther, andAnn E. Austin, "Gomparative GareerAccomplishments of Two Decades ofWomen and Men Doctoral Graduates inEducation," Research in HigherEducation 22 (3, 1985): 219-49.

37. Media Gommunication Re-search Methods, GommunicationResearch Methods, Research Methodsin Journalism, and Research Methodsin Gommunication Studies were alsoincluded in this category because theyall emphasized the use of methods in(mass) communication research.

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