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Popular Communication
Popular communication is a field of inquiry that is primarily concerned with communication that is widely available, intended for, and accessible to a mass population. Derived from the Latin word popularis, popular simply means of the people, so that popular communication refers to communication of the people. Research in popular communication centers on various types of communication that are generally available to the people, intended for the people, and/or well-liked by the people. Thus, popular communication is often linked to mass-mediated messages, and the research and study of popular communication is multilayered and tied to a philosophy that is often critical in nature and concerned with uncovering systems of power. The focus on the popular means research in popular communication often works to connect academic thinking with real-life everyday interactions and messages.
Determining what is “popular” is a central question over which researchers in this area of communication have struggled. What results is a quagmire of different definitions and conceptualizations of what constitutes the popular. However, it has been asserted, that among these various definitions and conceptualizations, there are some commonalities that warrant discussion in determining what counts as popular communication. First, since that which is popular is of the people, it stands to reason that popular communication represents the perspective of the people rather than the elites who hold power in a given social structure. When viewed through this lens, the popular can take on a derogatory tone and be seen as something inferior to more elevated perspectives or products. Second, the popular can be viewed as practices or objects that are well-liked by many people versus those only enjoyed by a few. The third aspect of the popular is the idea that it includes practices and objects that are meant to appeal to a wide audience, and finally, it can refer to works created by the people for their own use.
This entry examines popular communication as a field of research through its types, theoretical underpinnings, methodology, and multidisciplinary appeal, which works together to create something that is a unique area of inquiry worthy of distinction within the broader field of communication.
Types of Popular Communication
Popular communication can be broken down into several types of communication on which research has focused. Popular communication includes various media including news, television and film, popular literature, advertising, and music. The onset of digital technology is exploding the access to and content of various new media such as social networking sites, online communities, blogs, and podcasts, among others, which have gained popularity and served as valuable resources for researchers attempting to understand modern popular culture. New media takes the study of popular communication in new directions, as the access and availability of technology allows the populous to create and proliferate communication in unprecedented ways. A YouTube video, for example, can be produced by most high school students and may be viewed by millions for very little money, compared to the vast resources that are needed to produce and get a network television show to viewers. Whereas historically the modes of producing mass-mediated messages were controlled by a very few wealthy individuals, today they are dispersed and readily accessible by the masses themselves. This decentralization of the modes of production has greatly impacted popular communication and the study of such communication.
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- Creating and Conducting Research
- Creation of Research Project
- Authoring: Telling a Research Story
- Body Image and Eating Disorders
- Hypothesis Formulation
- Methodology, Selection of
- Program Assessment
- Research Ideas, Sources of
- Research Project, Planning of
- Research Question Formulation
- Research Topic, Definition of
- Research, Inspiration for
- Social Media: Blogs, Microblogs, and Twitter
- Testability
- Ethics
- Acknowledging the Contribution of Others
- Activism and Social Justice
- Anonymous Source of Data
- Authorship Bias
- Authorship Credit
- Confidentiality and Anonymity of Participants
- Conflict of Interest in Research
- Controversial Experiments
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- Cultural Sensitivity in Research
- Data Security
- Debriefing of Participants
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- Funding Research
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- Peer Review
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- Privacy of Information
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- Public Behavior, Recording of
- Reliability, Unitizing
- Research Ethics and Social Values
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- Literature Reviews
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- Creation of Research Project
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- Intercoder Reliability Techniques: Holsti Method
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- Intercoder Reliability Techniques: Percent Agreement
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- Metrics for Analysis, Selection of
- Narrative Analysis
- Observational Research Methods
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- Internet Inquiry
- Association of Internet Researchers (AoIR)
- Chat Rooms
- Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC)
- Internet as Cultural Context
- Internet Research and Ethical Decision Making
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- Online and Offline Data, Comparison of
- Online Communities
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- Online Data, Hacking of
- Online Interviews
- Online Social Worlds
- Social Networks, Online
- Spam
- Measurement
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- Parsimony
- Physiological Measurement
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- Range
- Raw Score
- Reaction Time
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- Reliability, Cronbach’s Alpha
- Reliability, Knuder-Richardson
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- Scales, Likert Statement
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- True Score
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- Under-represented Group
- Content Analysis
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- Post Hoc Tests: Scheffe Test
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- p value
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- Blocking Variable
- Causality
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- Manipulation Check
- Measures of Variability
- Median Split of Sample
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- Multitrial Design
- Null Hypothesis
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- Orthogonality
- Overidentified Model
- Pilot Study
- Population/Sample
- Power Curves
- Quantitative Research, Purpose of
- Quantitative Research, Steps for
- Quasi-Experimental Design
- Random Assignment
- Replication
- Research Proposal
- Rigor
- Sampling Theory
- Sampling, Determining Size
- Solomon Four-Group Design
- Stimulus Pre-test
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- Two-Group Random Assignment Pretest–Posttest Design
- Variables, Control
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- Variables, Mediating Types
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- Within-Subjects Design
- Linear Approaches to Statistics
- Analysis of Residuals
- Bivariate Statistics
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- Conjoint Analysis
- Contrast Analysis
- Correlation, Pearson
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- Covariance/Variance Matrix
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- Discriminant Analysis
- Kendall’s Tau
- Kruskal-Wallis Test
- Linear Regression
- Linear Versus Nonlinear Relationships
- Multicollinearity
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- Multiple Regression: Multiple R
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- Simple Bivariate Correlation
- Statistical Measurement Issues
- Z score
- Categorization
- Cluster Analysis
- Data Transformation
- Errors of Measurement
- Errors of Measurement: Attenuation
- Errors of Measurement: Ceiling and Floor Effects
- Errors of Measurement: Dichotomization of a Continuous Variable
- Errors of Measurement: Range Restriction
- Errors of Measurement: Regression Toward the Mean
- Frequency Distributions
- Heterogeneity of Variance
- Heteroskedasticity
- Homogeneity of Variance
- Hypothesis Testing, Logic of
- Intraclass Correlation
- Mean, Arithmetic
- Mean, Geometric
- Mean, Harmonic
- Measures of Central Tendency
- Median
- Mode
- Mortality in Sample
- Normal Curve Distribution
- Relationships Between Variables
- Sampling, Probability
- Sensitivity Analysis
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- Simple Descriptive Statistics
- Skewness
- Standard Deviation and Variance
- Standard Error
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- Statistical Power Analysis
- Type I error
- Type II error
- Univariate Statistics
- Variables, Categorical
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- Variables, Defining
- Variables, Interaction of
- Statistical Models
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- Binomial Effect Size Display
- Cloze Procedure
- Cross Validation
- Cross-Lagged Panel Analysis
- Curvilinear Relationship
- Effect Sizes
- Hierarchical Linear Modeling
- Lag Sequential Analysis
- Lambda
- Log-Linear Analysis
- Logistic Analysis
- Margin of Error
- Markov Analysis
- Maximum Likelihood Estimation
- Meta-Analysis: Estimation of Average Effect
- Meta-Analysis: Fixed Effects Analysis
- Meta-Analysis: Literature Search Issues
- Meta-Analysis: Model Testing
- Meta-Analysis: Random Effects Analysis
- Meta-Analysis: Statistical Conversion to Common Metric
- Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA)
- Multivariate Statistics
- Odds Ratio
- Ordinary Least Squares
- Path Analysis
- Probit Analysis
- Quasi-F
- Sobel Test
- Structural Equation Modeling
- Time-Series Analysis
- Analysis of Variance Approaches
- Understanding the Scope of Communication Research
- Areas of Inquiry
- Acculturation
- African American Communication and Culture
- Agenda Setting
- Applied Communication
- Argumentation Theory
- Asian/Pacific American Communication Studies
- Bad News, Communication of
- Basic Course in Communication
- Business Communication
- Communication and Aging Research
- Communication and Culture
- Communication and Evolution
- Communication and Future Studies
- Communication and Human Biology
- Communication and Technology
- Communication Apprehension
- Communication Assessment
- Communication Competence
- Communication Education
- Communication Ethics
- Communication History
- Communication Privacy Management Theory
- Communication Skills
- Communication Theory
- Conflict, Mediation, and Negotiation
- Corporate Communication
- Crisis Communication
- Cross-Cultural Communication
- Cultural Studies and Communication
- Cyberchondria
- Dark Side of Communication
- Debate and Forensics
- Development of Communication in Children
- Diaspora
- Digital Media and Race
- Digital Natives
- Dime Dating
- Disability and Communication
- Distance Learning
- Educational Technology
- Emergency Communication
- Empathic Listening
- English as a Second Language
- Environmental Communication
- Family Communication
- Feminist Communication Studies
- Film Studies
- Financial Communication
- Freedom of Expression
- Game Studies
- Gender and Communication
- GeoMedia
- GLBT Communication Studies
- GLBT Social Media
- Group Communication
- Health Communication
- Health Literacy
- Human-Computer Interaction
- Instructional Communication
- Intercultural Communication
- Intergenerational Communication
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- International Film
- Interpersonal Communication
- Intrapersonal Communication
- Jealousy
- Journalism
- Language and Social Interaction
- Latino Communication
- Leadership
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- Managerial Communication
- Mass Communication
- Massive Multiplayer Online Games
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- Media Diffusion
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- Media Literacy
- Message Production
- Multiplatform Journalism
- Native American or Indigenous Peoples Communication
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- Organizational Communication
- Parasocial Communication
- Passing
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- Peace Studies
- Performance Studies
- Personal Relationship Studies
- Persuasion
- Philosophy of Communication
- Politeness
- Political Communication
- Political Debates
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- Propaganda
- Public Address
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- Relational Dialectics Theory
- Religious Communication
- Rhetoric
- Rhetorical Genre
- Risk Communication
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- Selective Exposure
- Service Learning
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- Structuration Theory
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- Terrorism
- Training and Development in Organizations
- Video Games
- Visual Communication Studies
- Wartime Communication
- Structure of Research Community
- Areas of Inquiry
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