Thoroughly revised and updated, this third edition integrates perspectives from the social sciences and the humanities, focusing on methodology as a strategic level of analysis that joins practical applications with theoretical issues.

The Handbook comprises three main elements: historical accounts of the development of key concepts and research traditions; systematic reviews of media organizations, discourses, and users, as well as of the wider social and cultural contexts of communication; and practical guidelines with sample studies, taking readers through the different stages of a research process and reflecting on the social uses and consequences of research.

Updates to this edition include:

An overview of the interrelations between networked, mass, and interpersonal communication.

A new chapter on digital methods.

Three chapters illustrating different varieties of media and communication research, including industry–academic collaboration and participatory action research.

Presentation and discussion of public issues such as surveillance and the reconfiguration of local and global media institutions.