Instructor Resource
Treadwell and Davis, Introducing Communication Research: Paths of Inquiry, 4e
SAGE Publishing, 2020
Lecture Notes
Chapter 14: Research Results in Print and Online: Writing and Presenting for
Scholarly and Other Publics
Learning Objectives
14-1 Identify major publics for research findings and explain why each of them is important.
14-2 Describe the format and style of a conventional scholarly research report.
14-3 Explain why the format and style of scholarly reports are necessary when writing for a
scholarly audience.
Chapter Summary
This chapter begins by identifying major publics for research findings and explain why each of
them is important. Next, the chapter describes the format and style of a conventional scholarly
research report. In addition, the chapter explains why the format and style of scholarly reports
Annotated Chapter Outline
I. The Publics of Research
A. Scholarly publics
Instructor Resource
Treadwell and Davis, Introducing Communication Research: Paths of Inquiry, 4e
SAGE Publishing, 2020
1. Publication is the way scholars engage in formal conversation with one another.
B. News media
1. Editors look for stories that are relevant to their readers, viewers, or listeners.
2. Relevance is one of several news determinants or aspects of a story that make it
newsworthy.
C. Interest groups
1. Relevant to corporations, non-profit organizations, government agencies,
advertising, technology, education, and health care.
II. The Voices of Research
A. Scholarly publications
1. Format refers to the standardized headings that most journal editors require for
B. Authors
1. Qualitative—quantitative.
a. Quantitative studies use a commonly understood shorthand for authors and
Instructor Resource
Treadwell and Davis, Introducing Communication Research: Paths of Inquiry, 4e
SAGE Publishing, 2020
2. Active—passive.
a. Acknowledge the authors’ presence and give them a voice is simply to shift to
3. Subjective—objective (language and bias)
a. Writers wittingly or unwittingly shape readers’ interpretations of research
C. Research participants
1. Voices of the research participants also need to be heard.
3. Action research is aimed at improving the lives of the research participants and
4. Enables research participants to be heard via their own nonscholarly media.
III. Disseminating Research
A. Websites
1. Allows the publication and archiving of content that cannot be presented via
traditional print media.
B. Blogs
1. Text communication with a web public via your own mini website.
C. Podcasts
1. Audio file made available via the web to be heard on an audio player, computer or
smartphone.
Instructor Resource
Treadwell and Davis, Introducing Communication Research: Paths of Inquiry, 4e
SAGE Publishing, 2020
D. Webinars
1. Live presentation to a web audience.
2. Typically involve a speaker or moderator’s presentation.
E. Conference presentations
IV. Visualizing Research
A. An art and a science
1. Hierarchy of complexity beginning with the basic text “bullet points.”
B. Visualize research findings
1. Virtual reality headset.