<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>The authors explored the research methods of the manifold studies on online political communication published in nine selected scientific journals over an 8-year period stretching from the beginning of 2009 to March 2017 and systematized the results into a comprehensive, methodological, “state-of-the-art” report. The main findings are that the most frequent method of researching online political communication is the quantitative or qualitative content analysis. Still, recurrent is the combination of methodological approaches, where the quantitative and qualitative techniques complement each other. Moreover, the research of political communication in general, but online especially, has become more an interdisciplinary field. Yet the collection and analysis of data from new media and social networks requires more and more advanced expert skills.</p></abstract>

The authors explored the research methods of the manifold studies on online political communication published in nine selected scientific journals over an 8-year period stretching from the beginning of 2009 to March 2017 and systematized the results into a comprehensive, methodological, “state-of-the-art” report. The main findings are that the most frequent method of researching online political communication is the quantitative or qualitative content analysis. Still, recurrent is the combination of methodological approaches, where the quantitative and qualitative techniques complement each other. Moreover, the research of political communication in general, but online especially, has become more an interdisciplinary field. Yet the collection and analysis of data from new media and social networks requires more and more advanced expert skills.

Online Political Communication Research Methods

doctoral candidate at the Department of Humanities and Political Science

Department of Political Science and Humanities

Department of Political Science and Philosophy, Faculty of Arts

J. E. Purkyně University in Ústí nad Labem

Politics in Central Europe

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

{"article-title":"Online Political Communication Research Methods"}

The authors explored the research methods of the manifold studies on online political communication published in nine selected scientific journals over an...

Online Political Communication Research Methods

Published Online: Sep 18, 2020

Page range: 433 - 454

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/pce-2020-0019

Keywords
political communication, new media, research methods, social networks, web 2.0

© 2020 Olga Brunnerová et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Online Political Communication Research Methods

Published Online: Sep 18, 2020

Page range: 433 - 454

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/pce-2020-0019

Keywordspolitical communication, new media, research methods, social networks, web 2.0

© 2020 Olga Brunnerová et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
political communication, new media, research methods, social networks, web 2.0