LibGuides: Media and Communication: Reference works &amp; research skills materials

Reference works: dictionaries and encyclopedias

The SAGE Encyclopedia of Mass Media and Society
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New (2020) encyclopedia discussing media around the world in their varied forms - newspapers, magazines, radio, television, film, books, music, websites, social media, mobile media - and describing the role of each in both mirroring and shaping society.
The SAGE Encyclopedia of the Internet
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International Encyclopedia of Communication Research Methods
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Covers all communication research methods, from data collection to data analysis, from qualitative to quantitative, and from classical to modern approaches (such as psychophysiological measures, implicit association tests, and the analysis of big data).
International Encyclopedia of Media Effects
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Comprehensive collection of the most up-to-date research on the uses and impacts of media throughout the world. Over 200 entries cover all aspects of the uses and impact of media, utilizing empirical, psychological, and critical research approaches to the field.
International Encyclopedia of Communication
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Interdisciplinary guide on communication.
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Entries are written by leading experts in the field and give references and suggested readings.

Oxford Reference This link opens in a new window
Multidisciplinary collection of (subject) dictionaries and encyclopedias, timelines and quotations, plus thesauri and guides to English grammar and usage.
Also includes 6 reference works in Media Studies.

International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences
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Encyclopedia on social and behavioral sciences and related topics (second edition, 2015)
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Contains over 3900 articles on communication, behavioral sciences, social sciences, psychology and education theory.
International Encyclopedia of Intercultural Communication
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New encyclopedia featuring 256 articles addressing issues, theories, and concepts that have substantively contributed to the development of intercultural communication (ICC) theory and research.
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Also provides entries outside the ICC’s discipline of communication, such as cross-cultural psychology, cultural anthropology, and social psychology.
Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology
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Encyclopedia on sociology and related sciences.
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This database contains articles and links on subjects, theories, research and persons. It is an important reference for experts and newcomers and entries vary from short definitions of key terms to extended explorations of major topics. Updated regular.
The Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopedia of Social and Political Movements Online
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Encyclopedia containing over 400 entries exploring social and political movements and related collective phenomena throughout the world.
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Covers a broad range of historical and modern topics to create an understanding of social and political developments and changes throughout much of human history, from the French revolution, to the global women’s movement, to Martin Luther King Jr. and the American civil rights movement, through to more recent issues including environmentalism and the Arab Spring.
Encyclopedia of Human Behavior
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Encyclopedia on human action and reaction, and the thoughts, feelings, and physiological functions behind those actions (Second edition, 2012).
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This peer-reviewed encyclopedia contains articles about topics in physiological psychology, perception, personality, abnormal and clinical psychology, cognition and learning, social psychology, developmental psychology, language, and applied contexts.

You can browse by article title, author and subject.
Gale Virtual Reference Library Encyclopedia of Management
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General information as well as a link to other management concepts, related terms, references, and electronic databases and information sources.
The Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopedia of Globalization
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Reference resource with over 600 entries on key concepts of Globalization from across the social sciences: from sociology and anthropology to political science, economics, and human geography.
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Focusses on founding theories as well as the realities of globalization today, like: agency-structure, Americanization, anti-globalization, Bretton Woods, coca-colonization, empire, Euro crisis, ethnic cleansing, exploitation, feminization of poverty, genocide, global warming, nation-state, neo-liberalism, oil, post-globalization, Qaedaism, rape, sex work, sport, terror, transnational corporations, Twitter Revolution, water crisis, Web 2.0, Wikileaks, World Social Forum and, Zapatistas. Also lists a number of key documents listed as entries such as the Kyoto Protocol and The Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics This link opens in a new window
Online version of the well known dictionary of economics.

International Encyclopedia of Revolution and Protest: 1500 to the present
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Encyclopedia covering the history of protest and revolution since 1500. Available till December 31, 2023.
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Entries are classified by key topic, subject, place, people, and period. Items can be found by searching, browsing, and cross-referencing.

Reference works for media & psychology

Does your topic touch upon the field of Psychology? Then please consult this extensive list of reference works in the Psychology Guide.

Methods & tools for doing academic research

O’Reilly This link opens in a new window
This platform provides access to thousands of e-books, video courses, learning tracks and conference videos on e.g. data science, computer programming, as well as e-books covering all scientific disciplines and non technical subjects.
Note: Users need to sign up for an account at O'Reilly to get full access to the Safari learning platform. Without an account only temporarily access is granted.

International Encyclopedia of Communication Research Methods
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Covers all communication research methods, from data collection to data analysis, from qualitative to quantitative, and from classical to modern approaches (such as psychophysiological measures, implicit association tests, and the analysis of big data).

Sage Research Methods Online (SRMO) This link opens in a new window
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SRMO helps you to answer your research methods and research design questions with over 100,000 pages of book, journal, reference and video content. Case studies ('Cases') of actual research projects add nuance and context to the more theoretical material. SRMO contains many materials relevant for Media & Communication research, such as the SAGE Handbook of Online Research Methods (2017).

SRMO special issue on Big Data Research
Previous special issues, f.e. on social media research.

Newest additions (2018) for Media & Communication research:
• Curtis and Curtis’s Social Research: A Practical Introduction
• Thinking Ethnographically by Paul Atkinson
• SAGE Handbook of Qualitative Data Collection by Uwe Flick
• SAGE Handbook of Social Media Research Methods
• SAGE Encyclopedia of Communication Research Methods
SRMO contains
- dictionaries, encyclopedias, and handbooks;
- the entire "Little Green Book" series (Quantitative Applications in the Social Sciences) and "Little Blue Book" series;
- two major works collating a selection of journal articles and
- newly commissioned videos.
One of the features is The Methods Map. This is a visualization tool that can be used to discover relationships between methods, to discover new methods and to find content related to them. Underpinning the Methods Map is a new taxonomy of social science research methods, developed by Sage, and containing over 1,400 unique terms.

Related databases: Safari: O’Reilly’s Learning Platform for Higher Education

Media and Communication

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Reference works: dictionaries and encyclopedias

Reference works for media & psychology

Methods & tools for doing academic research