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Sampling Practices in Communication Studies: A Decade of Research in Four Top Journals

Received: 22 May 2023     Accepted: 8 June 2023     Published: 15 June 2023
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Abstract

Background: The ability to draw accurate inferences from research depends heavily on the quality and representativeness of research samples. Research samples in the social sciences, including communication, are frequently criticized for being small and unrepresentative, yet there is substantial variation in sample characteristics. Objective: The objective of this project was to undertake a systematic examination of the characteristics of human samples used in communication research in major communication journals, in order to respond to the criticisms that such samples are small, underpowered, and lacking in external validity. Method: To ascertain the status of human samples in communication research, this project examined every empirical study published between 2010 and 2019 in four top communication journals—Communication Monographs, Communication Research, Human Communication Research, and Journal of Communication—that reported data from human subjects. The data set included 1,264 individual studies and a total sample size of 932,060 participants. Results and Conclusion: Sample sizes ranged from 10 to 57,847 participants, with an average of 740.12 participants, and were larger for non-experiments than experiments, quantitative than qualitative studies, and secondary than primary data analyses. Ninety-four countries were represented in the samples, although more than 70% of samples were recruited exclusively from the United States. Compared to U. S. demographics, such studies oversampled younger participants, female participants, and white participants.

Published in Communication and Linguistics Studies (Volume 9, Issue 2)
DOI 10.11648/j.cls.20230902.12
Page(s) 27-41
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Samples, Representativeness, Statistical Power

References
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Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Kory Floyd, Nathan T. Woo, Jeannette Maré, Kaylin L. Duncan. (2023). Sampling Practices in Communication Studies: A Decade of Research in Four Top Journals. Communication and Linguistics Studies, 9(2), 27-41. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.cls.20230902.12

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    Kory Floyd; Nathan T. Woo; Jeannette Maré; Kaylin L. Duncan. Sampling Practices in Communication Studies: A Decade of Research in Four Top Journals. Commun. Linguist. Stud. 2023, 9(2), 27-41. doi: 10.11648/j.cls.20230902.12

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    AMA Style

    Kory Floyd, Nathan T. Woo, Jeannette Maré, Kaylin L. Duncan. Sampling Practices in Communication Studies: A Decade of Research in Four Top Journals. Commun Linguist Stud. 2023;9(2):27-41. doi: 10.11648/j.cls.20230902.12

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  • @article{10.11648/j.cls.20230902.12,
      author = {Kory Floyd and Nathan T. Woo and Jeannette Maré and Kaylin L. Duncan},
      title = {Sampling Practices in Communication Studies: A Decade of Research in Four Top Journals},
      journal = {Communication and Linguistics Studies},
      volume = {9},
      number = {2},
      pages = {27-41},
      doi = {10.11648/j.cls.20230902.12},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.cls.20230902.12},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.cls.20230902.12},
      abstract = {Background: The ability to draw accurate inferences from research depends heavily on the quality and representativeness of research samples. Research samples in the social sciences, including communication, are frequently criticized for being small and unrepresentative, yet there is substantial variation in sample characteristics. Objective: The objective of this project was to undertake a systematic examination of the characteristics of human samples used in communication research in major communication journals, in order to respond to the criticisms that such samples are small, underpowered, and lacking in external validity. Method: To ascertain the status of human samples in communication research, this project examined every empirical study published between 2010 and 2019 in four top communication journals—Communication Monographs, Communication Research, Human Communication Research, and Journal of Communication—that reported data from human subjects. The data set included 1,264 individual studies and a total sample size of 932,060 participants. Results and Conclusion: Sample sizes ranged from 10 to 57,847 participants, with an average of 740.12 participants, and were larger for non-experiments than experiments, quantitative than qualitative studies, and secondary than primary data analyses. Ninety-four countries were represented in the samples, although more than 70% of samples were recruited exclusively from the United States. Compared to U. S. demographics, such studies oversampled younger participants, female participants, and white participants.},
     year = {2023}
    }
    

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    T1  - Sampling Practices in Communication Studies: A Decade of Research in Four Top Journals
    AU  - Kory Floyd
    AU  - Nathan T. Woo
    AU  - Jeannette Maré
    AU  - Kaylin L. Duncan
    Y1  - 2023/06/15
    PY  - 2023
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.cls.20230902.12
    DO  - 10.11648/j.cls.20230902.12
    T2  - Communication and Linguistics Studies
    JF  - Communication and Linguistics Studies
    JO  - Communication and Linguistics Studies
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    EP  - 41
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2380-2529
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.cls.20230902.12
    AB  - Background: The ability to draw accurate inferences from research depends heavily on the quality and representativeness of research samples. Research samples in the social sciences, including communication, are frequently criticized for being small and unrepresentative, yet there is substantial variation in sample characteristics. Objective: The objective of this project was to undertake a systematic examination of the characteristics of human samples used in communication research in major communication journals, in order to respond to the criticisms that such samples are small, underpowered, and lacking in external validity. Method: To ascertain the status of human samples in communication research, this project examined every empirical study published between 2010 and 2019 in four top communication journals—Communication Monographs, Communication Research, Human Communication Research, and Journal of Communication—that reported data from human subjects. The data set included 1,264 individual studies and a total sample size of 932,060 participants. Results and Conclusion: Sample sizes ranged from 10 to 57,847 participants, with an average of 740.12 participants, and were larger for non-experiments than experiments, quantitative than qualitative studies, and secondary than primary data analyses. Ninety-four countries were represented in the samples, although more than 70% of samples were recruited exclusively from the United States. Compared to U. S. demographics, such studies oversampled younger participants, female participants, and white participants.
    VL  - 9
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Author Information
  • Department of Communication, University of Arizona, Tucson, United States

  • Department of Communication Studies, California State University, Sacramento, United States

  • Department of Communication, University of Arizona, Tucson, United States

  • Department of Communication Studies, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, United States

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