Exploring media, data, and networking practices—new methods volume published by SpringerVS

SpringerVS has published a new methods volume entitled “Exploring Media, Data, and Networking Practices: Methodological Concepts and Research Software,” edited by ZeMKI members Prof. Dr. Andreas Hepp, Florian Hohmann, and Dr. Philip Sinner.

Whether people are informing themselves, communicating with others, or acting on data, in today’s media environment this typically happens not through one medium, but across several. This cross-media nature of contemporary media, data, and networking practices poses a twofold challenge for empirical research: one conceptual and methodological challenge is to adequately capture cross-media practices. One challenge of operationalization is to develop effective research methods, whereby triangulation of established social science survey methods with software-based methods has proven particularly helpful. The aim of this volume is to introduce both the conceptual and practical application of research software in the study of media, data, and networking practices, while reflecting on the existing challenges. To this end, following a comprehensive introduction, the first part presents methodological concepts for research. A second part of the volume deals with the practical implementation of this research on the basis of case studies. To achieve this, nine international teams of authors have collaborated:

• Exploring media, data, and networking practices: An introduction to cross-media approaches – Andreas Hepp, Florian Hohmann, Philip Sinner, and Alessandro Belli
• The sorting study as an observational method in media and communication research: Analysis logic, status quo, potential – Stephanie Geise
• Sorting methods for researching media repertoires: Contextualized repertoire maps – Lisa Merten and Uwe Hasebrink
• Q-Sort and the study of visual communication – Katharina Lobinger and Cornelia Brantner
• Digital diaries for researching media and data practices – Christian Schwarzenegger and Anna Wagner
• Q-sort and the investigation of information and news repertoires – Kim Christian Schrøder
• Sorting the context: the potential of triple-articulated digital media diaries – Gaia Amadori and Giovanna Mascheroni
• Exploring media generations and their socialization with a diary app – Andreas Hepp, Matthias Berg, and Cindy Roitsch
• Network maps and independent sorting: An innovative approach to researching the communication repertoires and communication strategies of popular sports clubs – Philip Sinner

Click here for the volume at Springer.
Click here for the volume at SpringerProfessional.