With Many Looking to Us for Better Answers, We Must Answer Carefully: A Call for Methodological Reform in Research on Effects of Communication Technology

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James D. Ivory

Virginia Tech University (Correspondence: jivory@vt.edu)

Citation: Ivory, J. D. (2018).  With many looking to us for better answers, we must answer carefully: A call for methodological reform in research on effects of communication technology. Journal of Communication Technology, 1(1), 6-19. https://doi.org/10.51548/joctec-2018-002

Abstract: Among the range of approaches and topic areas encompassed by the broad and interdisciplinary field of communication, research on the effects of communication technology is prominent and long-standing. Given the attention that research on the effects of communication technology receives from the scholars, the public, and policymakers, it is imperative that the accuracy, validity, replicability, and reproducibility of that research is a priority. This essay suggests five points, informed by research related to open science, that the community of researchers studying effects of communication technology might bear in mind to protect and promote the most accurate body of knowledge possible.

Keywords: communication technology, media effects, open science, replication