Significance of Media Research

Among the four methods of knowing, research uses the scientific method of investigation. The other three methods; tenacity, authority and intuition differ from the method of science because it is verifiable, objective, empirical, systematic, cumulative and logical. Some scholars also take it as the valid way of attaining knowledge because of its two basic characteristics:

· It is an objective state of human mind.

· It follows a systematic procedure.

Media research is the part of communication research which does the scientific study of mass communication processes including how people interact with mass media as an individual or in a group, media contents and the activities of media professionals and media owners. Media scholars have defined the three approaches under mass media research, they are; people or behavior oriented research, media oriented research and artifact oriented research. Mass media research further provides exploration, examination and application in the field of mass media. There isn’t any area in Mass media that doesn’t conduct or use research. Research is the only area in mass media that relates it to everything. Every time we raise a “who, what, when, where, why, how questions we have developed an investigative question. For example why do people choose to watch one television program over another, how internet affected readership of newspapers, what type of articles are most popular in magazines, when is the best time to broadcast a youth related program. Research helps provide answer to these questions.

Research is an integral part of mass media because it results in better and accurate reporting, also evaluating and examining past and present to make better decisions for future.