COM 275: Foundations of Communication Research: Conceptualization & Operationalization

Research ideas

Conceptualization is "forming an idea. Ideas are built on the body of knowledge that’s already been created. Your idea builds on the research that’s already been done on your topic or related topics" (Davis Lachlan, p. 49).

Start with:

Now you have some foundational authors: Geertz and Pacanowsky, and you can look for articles in Communication Source by them (change the drop-down at the end of the search box to Author). After you search and have some results, change the order of results to oldest 1st.

To find primary sources in a database like Communication Source, use the terms:

research (Su Subject terms)

AND primary OR quantitative OR experimental OR method* OR qualitative (SU Subject terms)

AND whatever your topic is.

Next, use

Defining terms

Operationalization is "defining your terms as you’re using them in your research project. ... the first use of library research is to determine what background information already exists about your topic" (Davis Lachlan, p. 49).

Do library research to find definitions, methodology, ways of analyzing data:

You can also use the Find articles, books, & more box at the top of the page like this:

"cultural approach to organizations" Geertz Pacanowsky  

or "Classical Management Theory" Weber Taylor Fayol, then Refine Results: Limit by Source Type = eBooks

  • Last Updated: Feb 15, 2024 3:19 PM
  • URL: https://libguides.gvsu.edu/com275