University of Washington

Interdisciplinary Ph.D. Concentration
in Political Communication


Methodology Courses

(see section C of Program Requirements)

Combination Qualitative & Quantitative

COM 501

Methods of Inquiry (5) Baldasty, Manusov. Overviews some of the most important methods of inquiry used to investigate communication phenomena. Includes textual criticism, content analysis, ethnography, experimentation, survey research, and historical approaches. Explores the utility of different methods for investigating research topics, defining and measuring concepts, reading texts, and investigating theories.

COM 511

Content Analysis (5) Giffard. Content analysis as a technique for making inferences from texts. Includes quantitative, qualitative, and computer-assisted approaches to analysis.

COM 527

International Communication Research Methods (5) Rivenburgh. Methodological issues particular to the design or analysis of research that deals with data from different countries, cultures, or sub-cultures. Prerequisite: COM 501 or equivalent.

COM 528

Internet Research (5) Foot. The adaptation of existing methods of social research to Internet tools & environments, and the development of new methods for researching Internet-related phenomena. Prerequisite: COM 501 or equivalent.

TC 516

Research Methods in Technical Communication (3) Spyridakis. Introduction to research methods in technical communication. Students examine the relationship between theory and research, hypothesis testing, experimental designs, modes of observation, sampling, validity, and data analysis and interpretation. Prerequisite: introductory statistics course. Offered yearly: Spring.

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