Abstract
Oftentimes, students enter a research project with trepidation and a sense of uneasiness. I am sure that if we take a moment to sit back and think, we can recount the number of times we have heard students express that research is boring, too difficult, or overly daunting. How then can we as educators captivate and engage our students while shifting their mindsets to appreciate and value the research process?
In the book The Illustrated Guide to the Content Analysis Research Project, Patricia Swann, a former dean of the School of Business and Justice Studies and professor of public relations and management at Utica College, and executive director of the Raymond Simon Institute for Public Relations and Journalism, acts as the reader’s “Sherpa,” guiding student learners through the research process.
Leveraging her years of experience in teaching, Swann’s text takes the guesswork out of how to approach a research project. The book is written with the undergraduate student in mind, offering easy-to-understand language that assumes the reader has no prior research experience or formal understanding of the research process. By providing straightforward examples and illustrations that pop off the page, the text demystifies the research process, allowing readers to better understand how to pull together a complete project using the content analysis method.
The book contains 12 concise chapters. Each chapter reinforces key terminology and research basics by providing simple exercises to help the reader at every stage of the project. In addition, the text offers numerous examples of strong campaigns—from Obamacare to vaping. Serving as the Sherpa, Swann methodically decodes the research process section by section, enabling readers to easily understand how to successfully approach research projects.
In the first chapter, Swann readies readers by framing the research mindset, grounding them with basic scientific terminology, and discusses the “where” and “how” to begin the writing process. Chapter 2 delves into the scientific method, taking a deeper look into key fundamental research aspects. Swann introduces the ideas of concepts and constructs, defines a hypothesis, articulates what research questions are, and breaks down the differences between independent and dependent variables. In this chapter, Swann also highlights the various components of a research paper, which is an asset to students.
With a foundation of research processes and terms now established, Chapter 3 moves to help students understand and decide the type of research methodology that is most appropriate for collecting the desired data. Swann delves into both qualitative and quantitative methods, including a thorough explanation specific to content analysis and all that it entails. Progressing through the book, I was thrilled to see that Chapter 4 centered on the ethics behind areas of inquiry. Research misconduct, conflicts of interest, and protecting human subjects are just some of the topics she deftly describes in this chapter.
Throughout the balance of the book, Chapters 5 through 13, Swann methodically guides readers through the required elements of a research paper, taking the time to explore each section individually. Chapter 5 focuses on the process of picking an appropriate research topic and leads nicely into Chapter 6 where the principles of writing the literature review are discussed. Readers then learn how to formulate a hypothesis and flush out research questions in the following chapter, with the concepts of how to best approach both the methods and results sections of a research paper discussed in Chapters 8 and 9, respectively. With the discussion and conclusion remaining as outstanding elements, Chapter 10 describes the best approach to writing each section. Swann then moves on to stress the importance of the abstract in Chapter 11, including examples and best practices before providing keen insights on formatting, references, and appendices in Chapter 12. The final chapter, equal in importance as each that precedes it, highlights various outlets available to the reader for sharing their research with the broader community.
Similar to the quality of the text itself, Swann’s ancillary resources do not disappoint. Not only does the book include exercises, but readers also have access to 12 worksheets and practice assignments that correlate and reinforce concepts found within the chapters, making this truly a complete guide to developing and executing a research project. Professors can incorporate the worksheets into class sessions or assign them as homework modules. They are a perfect complement to a research project from start to finish.
The intended audience of this text is the novice researcher. The plainspoken language, illustrations, and simple examples used throughout are the seminal aspects of this book. Swann has provided us with a step-by-step approach to research for anyone teaching a research course, and I would argue that this text could easily be adapted to support a variety of courses that work directly with clients wherein students must conduct original research. Perfect for almost any discipline including communications, public relations, advertising, or marketing.
In my opinion, perhaps the most important contribution of the book is its presentation of the content. Swann herself has drawn every illustration. These images reinforce concepts in a simple, yet memorable way. For example, in Chapter 8, as Swann describes the concept of snowball sampling, readers are provided an image of a snowman surrounded by snowballs (Figure 1) as a way to cleverly articulate how this method is used.
Brilliant illustrations such as this reinforce various areas within the research process and are found throughout the text.
A book like this is long overdue. Hands down, this is one of the clearest, easiest-to-understand research writing texts available. This is an excellent investment for students and professors alike.
