Rhetorical research methods have been being developed since the Classical
Period. As the transition was made to seeing communication from a social scientific
perspective, scholars began studying communication using the methods
established from the physical sciences. Thus, quantitative methods represent the
steps of using the Scientific Method of research.
1. Decide on a focus of study based primarily on your interests. What do you
want to discover or answer?
2. Develop a research question(s) to keep your research focused.
3. Develop a hypothesis(es). A hypothesis states how a researcher who believes
the subjects under study will or will not communicate based on certain
variables. For example, you may have a research question that asks, “Does
the gender of a student have an impact on the number of times a college
professor calls on his/her students?” From this, you might form two
hypotheses: “Instructors call on female students less often then male
students.” and “Instructors call on students of their own sex.”
4. Collect data in order to test hypotheses. In our example, you might observe
various college classrooms in order to count which students’ professors call
on more frequently.
5. Analyze the data by processing the numbers using statistical programs like
SPSS that allow quantitative researchers to detect patterns in communication
phenomena. Analyzing data in our example would help us determine if there
are any significant differences in the ways in which college professors’ call on
various students.
6. Interpret the data to determine if patterns are significant enough to make
broad claims about how humans communicate? Simply because professors
call on certain students a few more times than other students may or may not
indicate communicative patterns of significance.
7. Share the results with others. Through the sharing of research we continue to
learn more about the patterns and rules that guide the ways we communicate
Answer (1)
Quantitative research helps us study communication in a measurable way, and the goal is to find patterns in how people interact, based on numbers and evidence.Choose your topic – Think of what you're curious about. Example: “Do teachers treat male and female students differently?”Form a research question – A clear question to focus on. Example: “Does gender affect how often teachers call on students?”Make a hypothesis – A guess or assumption based on what you expect. Example: “Teachers call on male students more.”Collect data – Observe or survey to get real info. Example: Sit in classrooms and count how often each gender is called.Analyze the data – Use tools like SPSS to find patterns or trends in the numbers.Interpret the results – Ask: “Do these results really show a strong pattern?” A small difference may not be meaningful.Share what you found – Present it through reports, papers, or presentations so others can learn from it.
