Professor Frank Russell, Courtesy of the CSUF Communications Department
We conducted our scholarly interview with Professor Russell, an associate journalism professor at CSUF. Professor Russell has a bachelor’s degree in journalism and a master’s in mass communication from San Jose State University. He completed his Ph.D. in journalism from the University of Missouri. With over 15 years of experience in journalism, Professor Russell has worked at numerous publications such as The Seattle Times and Los Angeles Daily News, working in various parts of the journalism industry, including management, editing, writing, and page design. As a professor here at Fullerton, Professor Russell teaches classes focusing on news reporting and serves as the news adviser for the school newspaper, Daily Titan. Majority of his research focuses on media sociology, media ethics, and social media within the career of journalism. For our interview, we discussed his 2023 research paper “#BREAKING Twitter use in a large media market.”
By: Alexa Olmos, Dulce Garcilazo, Haley Lopez, Mia Mendoza
Gayle Jansen Brisbane is a former broadcast sports journalist and current associate professor at CSUF, teaching TV news and sports journalism.Brisbane, Ph.D., studies women’s progress in sports media and how religion, politics, and media intersect today. She holds degrees from CU Boulder, Chatham University, and Pepperdine. The research study titled “Side-by-Side Sports Reporters: A Between-Subjects Experiment of the Effect of Gender in Reporting on the NFL,” written by Brisbane, analyzes gender representation in sports journalism, more specifically in the NFL, as well as highlights the importance of ongoing studies to understand biases in sports media.
Key Findings:
Brisbane studies indicated that audience perceptions of gender in sports media reporting have evolved. She highlights previous research that emphasizes biases favoring male reporters. However, her study found that such biases have decreased. This suggests that there is a shift towards more diverse and equitable views regarding gender in the sports industry.
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Q1: How did you go about the variables like attractiveness or experience in selecting the journalists for the videos?
To fairly examine perceptions of credibility and knowledge, Dr. Brisbane was careful to control key variables. She selected two professional sportscasters, one male and one female, who were similar in age, attractiveness, and experience in the sports business. She even pretested their attractiveness by having a small group of people rate them to ensure one wasn’t significantly more attractive than the other. By holding these factors constant, the only major difference between the two presenters was gender. This approach allowed participants to focus solely on the sportscasters’ credibility and knowledge rather than other factors.
Q2: The study focuses on fact-based vs. Opinion-based reporting– why was this distinction essential?
One of the most important choices in Dr. Brisbane’s study design was the decision to compare fact-based reporting versus opinion-based reporting, specifically in the context of NFL coverage. The NFL, a hyper-masculine sport with no female players, has often drawn criticism regarding how women in the media are treated when covering it. Female sportscasters are frequently dismissed with comments questioning how they could possibly understand the game if they haven’t played it.
With this in mind, the study tested whether audiences would perceive female reporters as equally credible when presenting objective facts versus offering a personal opinion. Participants watched one of two versions of the same script: one version simply outlined recent NFL rule changes, while the other included a measured opinion about why those changes might not be a good idea. Both male and female reporters delivered the exact same words in the same setting to ensure gender was the only variable.
Following this format, the researchers had to ask themselves a critical question: if a woman presents facts, she might be seen as neutral or acceptable, but does that same credibility still hold if she offers her own opinion or takes on the game? Would viewers accept her expertise when expressing an opinion, or would misogyny and stereotypes surface? By repeating and refining the recordings to be exactly the same, Dr Brisbane ensured the experiment tested audience perception with complete consistency, making the gender-based insights even more compelling.
Q3: What challenges did you face during your study, and how did you overcome them?
While designing a study that isolates gender bias in sports journalism, Dr. Brisbane faced several challenges, particularly when it came to gathering participants. She wanted to move beyond the limited approach many academic studies take, which often rely solely on college students. This method typically skews younger and more females, which could distort results for a topic like NFL reporting that traditionally draws an older male audience.
Initially, the study had a limited number of participants. To address this, Dr. Brisbane and her co-author invested in Amazon Mechanical Turk, a platform that allowed them to collect data from a wider, more representative demographic across the United States. This approach brought in a diverse mix of participants by age and gender, with a particularly valuable number of older male respondents—the exact audience they aimed to understand.
Financial limitations could have held the project back, but with funding support from her co-author, Dr. Brisbane was able to scale the study in a meaningful way. The result was a participant pool that better reflected the actual audience consuming televised NFL coverage, strengthening the relevance and impact of the study’s findings.
Q4: Were you surprised that your findings differed from those of prior studies?
Dr. Brisbane explained that she wasn’t entirely surprised by the results as being a part of the sports media industry for 20 years, she was hopeful there would be more of an acceptance of women in sports. She had hoped that her findings would prove no difference, showing how strongly women had made progress. For Dr. Brisbane, it meant that women in sports media have made credible strides and moved beyond the topic of bias/discrimination in the industry.
Q5: How do these findings compare to older studies that showed clear gender bias?
Dr. Brisbane notes that many older studies it was often focused on women’s physical attraction rather than their professional efforts. Through Brisbane’s own study, she focuses on her connections in the business to get an assessment from current sportscasters. Brisbane believed that previous studies focused too heavily on a woman’s looks, so in her own study, Brisbane branched out and got findings from women in sports media showing their professional credibility rather than looks.
Q6: What do your findings suggest about the sports journalism industry, specifically female sportscasters?
Dr. Brisbane shared that her findings highlight the growing recognition that women belong in sports media and that their opinions are valued for their credibility and knowledge. She explained that when women approach sports journalism in a professional way, they are just as capable as their male counterparts. Today, women are increasingly seen as valuable contributors in the field, offering meaningful insights into the games themselves. Dr. Brisbane believes her findings and this ongoing evolution will open doors for even more women to make their mark in the industry.
She also expressed that it’s encouraging to see women in sports media being more accepted, hoping this trend continues. However, she acknowledged that challenges remain, including sexism and unequal treatment. While there’s still work to be done, Dr. Brisbane believes it’s important to recognize the progress made. Although achieving complete gender equality has yet to be achieved, the gap is narrowing. Her findings ultimately point to a positive shift in the industry that supports female sportscasters’ continuous empowerment.
Case-Study Participants Information
Brisbane, G. J., Ferrucci, P., & Tandoc, E. (2021). Side-by-Side Sports Reporters: A Between-Subjects Experiment of the Effect of Gender in Reporting on the NFL. Communication & Sport, 11(1), 115-134. https://doi.org/10.1177/2167479521995462 (Original work published 2023)
Case-Study Sampling Method
Brisbane, G. J., Ferrucci, P., & Tandoc, E. (2021). Side-by-Side Sports Reporters: A Between-Subjects Experiment of the Effect of Gender in Reporting on the NFL. Communication & Sport, 11(1), 115-134. https://doi.org/10.1177/2167479521995462 (Original work published 2023)
By: Jessica Marquez, Audrey Sanchez, Isaias Galvan, and Jacob Medina
Introduction: Dr. Ed Fink is a Faculty Emeritus and Professor of Cinema and Television Arts at California State University, Fullerton. With an impressive academic background, Dr. Fink holds a Ph.D. in Mass Communications and an M.A. in Telecommunications from Indiana University, as well as a B.A. in Theatre and Drama from Valparaiso University. Since joining Cal State Fullerton in 1990, Dr. Fink has played a huge role in the growth of the College of Communications, advancing to Full Professor in 2006 and later serving in multiple leadership roles, including Director of the Faculty Development Center, Associate Dean, and Dean of the College of Communications. One of his most notable achievements was authoring the proposals that created the B.A. degree and department of Radio-TV-Film in 2001, now known as Cinema and Television Arts. Dr. Fink is recognized for his dedication to teaching, advising, and scholarship, authoring four textbooks and publishing articles in respected journals. His expertise has been showcased at numerous professional conferences, and he continues to serve as a division officer for the Broadcast Education Association. Beyond academia, Dr. Fink is known for his successful fundraising efforts, commitment to service, and contributions to both the university and professional community.
Q1. What inspired you to conduct this research study?
When talking to Dr. Fink told us that this study was conducted for his doctorate dissertation back in the 1990s when he was attending Indiana University. The study was originally 300 pages and had been cut down multiple times to the copy that we see today. As a graduate student, Fink was studying mass communication and taking many classes focusing on research methods, where he had to conduct a lot of survey research and design. What inspired him was one of his professors named Egon Guba. He had written a book called Naturalistic Inquiry, which was a study on teacher satisfaction. After his study, Egon realized that they had missed a couple of variables, which led him to question the whole science paradigm. His professor’s questioning of the paradigm sparked an interest in Fink to also ask the idea of mass communication. Unlike physics, chemistry, or civil engineering, mass communications doesn’t just use one method of research but can use all of them depending on the research question you have. With these questions that Dr.Fink was having about mass communication research, he realized he wanted to make this his dissertation topic. By doing so, he was hoping to find clarity on what researchers do in the field of mass communication. From there, he conducted a literary review and found that there were three traditions, social science, interpretive, and critical studies, that all the journal articles he read fell under. Fink then went on to formally conduct his study, trying to prove his thesis that “all or at least most of the research of mass communication falls into these three broad, broadly defined research traditions”.
Q2. What were some of the challenges you faced while conducting this research/collecting the data?
Dr. Fink stated that there were quite a few challenges when conducting his research. The first was intercoder reliability, which meant that he had trouble defining all these terms, along with not quite knowing how to operationalize them once they were defined. He also had issues later down the line with the wording he used in his study, which led to people going over his dissertation to question the findings he collected. The second issue he ran into was with the reliability of his coding. The graduate students that he had hired as coders were not coming up with the same answer for the ten articles they were given, falling short of the 70% reliability standard. To fix the problem, Fink went back and fine-tuned his definitions, along with giving the graduate students ten additional articles to code. This second round got his reliability scores up to where they needed to be. The third problem was time; Fink was a new professor at Cal State Fullerton when doing this research. Meaning that he had to find time in between teaching and treading to collect the data that he needed, often using times like spring break to get most of the intercoder reliability ready.
Q3. If you could do this study again, what would you do differently?
If Dr. Fink had the opportunity to conduct his study again, he mentioned that there are several things he would do differently. One of the main changes he would implement is the use of mixed methods. He explained that mixed methods research has become increasingly popular among researchers today. This approach combines both qualitative and quantitative methods, allowing for a more comprehensive understanding of the research topic. Dr. Fink also discussed using a mixed method design that would include surveying participants, conducting focus groups, and incorporating experiments. He believes this approach would allow for a deeper exploration of the research question and would help capture different perspectives within the data. Dr. Fink also noted that researchers today often work across multiple traditions, leading to less coherence within a single method and more crossover between research approaches. If conducting the study today, he would create new coding instruments that account for this blending of methods, allowing for a more flexible and accurate analysis.
Lastly, Dr. Fink expressed the importance of being open-minded and considering the possibility that mixed methods might even be viewed as a fourth tradition in research. He explained that recent readings and studies he has explored highlight the growing use of mixed methods, suggesting that researchers should recognize this evolving trend and incorporate it into their work. Overall, Dr. Fink emphasized that mixed methods would play a key role if he were to conduct the study again.
Q4. How did you determine how long you would collect the data?
While working alongside his mentor, Dr. Fink aimed to determine how many studies he would need for his research to be considered credible. He was also trying to complete his work within a shorter time frame, ideally avoiding a two- to three-year process. After factoring in the time it typically took him to thoroughly analyze each article, as well as his financial situation, Dr. Fink ultimately decided to work with a sample of 253 studies. Out of those 253, eight were identified as outliers. Upon closer examination, Dr. Fink noticed that these eight studies posed research questions that didn’t align with the conditions of his research. The questions were either too vague or misaligned with the goals and methods of his study, making it difficult to draw meaningful conclusions. Many of the questions appeared to be rooted more in mass communication perspectives, but they lacked clear indicators that would classify them as falling under social science, interpretive, or critical approaches. As a result, Dr. Fink chose not to include these outliers in his final analysis. He did not view them as mixed-method studies either, as they didn’t meet the criteria or demonstrate a clear combination of methodologies.
Q5. What methods did you use to collect and analyze the data? (qualitative or quantitative or a combination of both for this study?
Dr. Fink said that he used a quantitative method for performing this study. While defending his dissertation, it was brought to his attention that it might be problematic to use one of the three paradigms to research them. He argued that the social science paradigm–numbers and data–was the most reliable and formal method for proving whether or not the proposed paradigms were the most commonly used in mass communication studies. Taking his research question into account, “Does it seem that the three research traditions guide the studies that are published in the field of mass communications?” he found that a formal content analysis was the most appropriate method.
Q6. Did the study’s results come out how you expected, or were you surprised by your findings?
Dr. Fink explained that the results of his study came out as he expected. He mentioned that the process involved reading many internal articles to help define the three research paradigms and their operational variables. Out of 253 articles, Dr. Fink found that eight studies fit within these paradigms, which made sense to him. He explained that when a research paper is submitted, it goes through a peer-review process where editors select reviewers who specialize in that specific area. These reviewers come from one of the three traditions or paradigms identified in the study: critical studies, historical, and social science research. For example, Dr. Fink noted that critical studies tend to make value judgments, historical articles often use interpretive methods, and mass media effect studies rely heavily on quantitative measurement and social science techniques. That being said, it did not surprise him that reviewers were often aligned with these paradigms.
However, Dr. Fink was surprised by some findings, particularly with the idea of generalizability within the social science paradigm. He expected to see more instances where researchers stated their study could be generalized to a larger population. He found that most studies limited their claims, likely because their sample sizes were small or specific, such as college students aged 18-25. Dr. Fink also anticipated more generalizability within critical studies, especially regarding calls for social change, but found this to be less common than expected.
For our interview, we had the privilege to speak to Professor Christian Seiter, he teaches human communications specifically about the process of social influence at Cal State Fullerton.
Professor Seiter studied people’s social media reactions during the pandemic and we interviewed him about the process of how he used social media in his research while also sharing his results and what he had gained from doing this study. Professor Seiter based his research on three specific social media sites, Reddit, Facebook, and YouTube. The trajectory of people’s behavior led him to this study, especially when the pandemic that had recently started in March of 2020.
The pandemic was something that has never happened in our lifetimes before which led to new sides of people’s behavior on social media when situations such as country wide lockdown, restaurants were closing for dining in and only serving take out at one point, and toilet paper shortages occurred. The pivotal moment for Professor Seiter to start this type of study was the way the public reacted to Tom Hanks and his wife, Rita Wilson being one of the first celebrities to get covid. People on social media were either struck with hate towards them, while others gave words of hope and encouragement to Tom Hanks and his wife. These two types of behaviors on social media caught Professor Seiter’s attention and was the birth of his study. When interviewing with Professor Seiter, I noticed how he paid close attention to different behaviors on different apps based on community and guidelines. Some apps such as Reddit had a more vocal audience compared to others.
How do people use social media? In his study, Seiter sought to search how social media was being used in the wake of social issues that affected the world. During this research process, he stated “I would look up…you know…what people are talking about.” While actively searching through social media sites, Professor Seiter compared that Reddit was the most reliable source of information for collecting data for his research. Comparing the various different social media sites, he also found that people were much nicer and more helpful compared to the other two sites. Social support amongst people in different social media sites Professor Seiter states that he sought to answer the question of people asking for help and if they were actually receiving it based on the different sites. His primary basis of the study was based on social support. The study focuses on aggressive communication, Professor Seiter sought to find that between the social media sites. “People look for social support and instead they get like uh ‘go to hell” People have different forms of reactions on social media. The communications amongst people on these sites vary. There is a possibility that a person seeking “social support” may receive a positive of a negative reaction. Through his study, Professor Seiter aimed to use social media to see how people communicate in the wake of a big social dilemma. This study being conducted a few years back, relates to how social media is used at all times to show how communication online is used to talk about social issues. There is a potential to use facts but there is a great potential that misinformation can be spread, specifically pertaining to issues that can affect many people. Side model and anonymity, their role in social media Professor Seiter connected the side model and anonymity by examining how the side model doesn’t necessarily cause anonymity to lead to antisocial behavior. By comparing and contrasting, he explained that while some people use anonymity to say negative things online, there are also those who use anonymity for acts of kindness. The primary focus of the side models is the norms of the groups where anonymity occurs. For example, if we look at a group that is constantly giving back to the community and doing charitable things, the side model proves they are most likely to use anonymity for good. On the other hand, those who usually show negative, anti-social behavior use anonymity to continue those behaviors and negatively impact the use of social media to bring others down. Seiter even goes on to say how anonymity can intensify it; for the group of people normally doing nice things or constantly being negative, anonymity is a factor that truly increases said behavior. Professor Seiter emphasized that the side model serves as the foundation of the study. At the same time, anonymity acts like a magnifying glass, helping researchers understand why people behave differently when given the option to remain anonymous.
A real-life example based on this study that Professor Seiter provided during the interview was the contrast between Facebook and Reddit during the pandemic. They found during the study that Facebook primarily uses real names and real personal photos, while Reddit has the aspect of anonymity; you can use made-up names and don’t need much personal information displayed, unlike Facebook. Reddit also has a system called Reddiquette, which is essentially a guideline on how to act on the platform. In Professor Seiter’s words, Reddiquette is “how not to be a jerk.” Reddit also has an upvote and downvote system; essentially, if a person makes a negative post or comment, users can downvote it, and the post/comment goes down the thread and doesn’t gain much foot traffic because of the negative votes. This system ensures that helpful and positive information is displayed and prioritized rather than negative. Because of Reddit’s anonymity and the systems in place to control antisocial behavior, many found Reddit to be more helpful than Facebook during the pandemic.
Another example can be found on YouTube, where there isn’t much regulation on what is being said/posted compared to Reddit. Professor Seiter emphasized that the lack of regulations on YouTube causes those with antisocial behavior to flock toward that website and post what they can’t on sites like Reddit. Professor Seiter also stated, “The issue isn’t anonymity itself, the anonymity plus the anti-social norms, that’s where you have a problem.”
After the interview with Professor Seiter, the first question that came to mind is how different his study could be now. Since the pandemic, the whole world has become so reliant and frankly addicted to social media and for many; it is their only place of socializing, and because of this communication via social media has intensified. People online have become even meaner because they have become so comfortable being behind a screen. As well as at the time of this study Professor Seiter conducted, it was just the start/rise of TikTok. If TikTok was added into his study would his findings come out different?
Work Cited:
Seiter, C. R., & Brophy, N. S. (2021). Social Support and Aggressive Communication on Social Network Sites during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Health Communication, 37(10), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2021.1886399
*Photo Courtesy of Washington State University Website
Article by Ava Villalobos, Alyssa Heinlein, Brittany Montiel, and Nevaeh San Luis
ABOUT DR. ERICA AUSTIN – BACKGROUND AND INSPIRATION Our team interviewed Dr. Erica Austin from Washington State University. She obtained her PhD in Communications from Stanford University, and she currently works as the Director of the Murrow Center for Media and Health Promotion Research at Washington State. We contacted Dr. Austin to discuss her study, “An Exploration of the Associations of Alcohol-Related Social Media Use and Message Interpretation Outcomes to Problem Drinking Among College Students.”
By: Eli Lopez, Anthony Aguilar, Madison Arellanes, and Jackson Butler
Dr. Kelly D. Blake, ScD. Courtesy of the National Cancer Institute
Introduction
It was with great pleasure to conduct our scholar interview with Dr. Blake, a Health Scientist and Program Director in the National Cancer Institute’s Health Communication and Informatics Research Branch as well as Director of NCI’s Health Information National Trends Survey, focusing her research on public support for different tobacco use policies and allowing for us to get further insight into her research process.
Q1: Can you explain why you decided to research the advertisements of tobacco products and their effects on tobacco use?
Dr. Blake mentioned that when she was in her doctorate program, her doctoral dissertation work was in public support for different tobacco control policies. She spoke on how this study is a continuation of that interest. At the National Cancer Institute, Dr. Kelly Blake directs the health information national trends survey – HINTS. HINTS is a communication based survey. She feels as though the survey that she directs was a good place to begin looking at peoples opinions to reduce advertising and product placement at point-of-sale and on social media. A few years ago, the NCI had a monograph on tobacco and the media landscape. This was a synthesis of all the data that existed which shared the total weight of evidence of studies from the US and abroad. This demonstrated a causal relationship between tobacco advertising and promotion and increased tobacco use. She says that point of sale advertising is associated with impulse purchases of cigarettes which encourage smokers to purchase more cigarettes as it is a trigger. There is also a prevalence of tobacco use on social media, most platforms have restrictions on tobacco advertising but more can be done. She and her team were interested in documenting the public’s support for policy to limit this kind of advertising and placement. Dr.Blake said this is because oftentimes public policy can drive a policy maker’s decision on whether or not to take on a policy.
Q2: How did you decide which research method to use? Why did you choose the next birthday method?
Dr. Blake feels that the best way to assess public opinion is to ask people what they support or oppose. HINTS is an established health communication survey. They felt survey research was the best because they could do so in a naturally representative sample. They chose the next birthday method because it allowed them to select a person at random within a household. It allows an equal probability of selection if they were to be able to make inferences at the population level.
Q3: How did you determine how long you would collect the data?
Dr. Blake mentioned a piece of literature called “Total Design Survey Methods” by Don Dillman where there would first be a postcard invitation or a letter invitation. This is then followed by a packet that actually contains the survey which would be sent again a few weeks later and the process repeats. There was the initial contact followed by several follow ups which were all scattered over the course of 7 or 8 weeks. Dr. Blake said that they have modified that protocol a little bit. She said that they use an established method of going out to households to try and get them to complete the survey. They would then just wait until they saw responses start to trickle in.
Q4: How did you envision this research contributing to the understanding of product placement and advertisements in general? How do you expect it to contribute or affect the advertisements of tobacco?
Dr. Blake stated that in 2009 under the Obama Administration, the FDA implemented the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act which gives the FDA the authority to regulate tobacco advertising including at the retail level. It also preserved the rights of states and travel entities so they could have their own tobacco retail regulations. In terms of product placement, Dr. Blake said that public health experts at the National Cancer Institute prohibit point of sale advertisements such as at gas stations or places where people are near product displays. There have long been policy proposals to limit that paid advertising emplacement. Those policies have proven to be successful in other countries which puts these other countries far ahead of the United States.
Q5: When creating the survey questions, how did you conclude which questions you would ask?
Dr. Blake said that if you work in survey research, everyone has different measurement objectives on your team. HINTS makes sure that the questions are measuring the concepts to which they’re mapped. The first thing they did was think about what the gaps were, such as what they do not know about policy support in the United States for these communication related tobacco policies. The next thing they do is think about where they could be helpful when informing about policy and limitations. They also reach out to internal and external experts on the given topic. They serve as “champions” with this sort of content and they propose different survey questions. Next, they go through several months of testing where they take 15-20 people (not randomly, by opt in) and give them each $75-$100 to either come in person or do it online to go through the questions that have been proposed and ask them what they think they’re trying to ask in the question. They look at the results from that and then they do it again with another round of people.
Q6: We know that your research survey was conducted over the course of five months; how long did this research take to complete from start to finish?
Being a nationwide survey, compared to smaller studies, from start to finish Dr. Blake’s research time frame was an incredible 18 months.
From several development tests to choosing the sample addresses from the postal service to finally finalizing data packages in order to be ready for public release so the data can be used for under different releases.
Q7: What were some challenges you and your team faced while conducting your research and how did you navigate the issue(s)?
Conducting and executing research and surveys is no walk in the park. For Dr. Blake, when asking policy supporting questions, stated that a roadblock throughout her research was figuring out how to navigate the sample that had neutral responses that neither support or do, rather in the middle.
In their particular study, they locked neutral in with opposition, not because it necessarily falls within the opposing opinion but rather because this group can be considered people who can move their opinion. Leading for the researchers to move forward with the plan of how to move the opinions to those who are neutral v.s supporters, especially when looking at policy you want to move people in one direction.
Conclusion
Concluding the interview, Dr. Blake left our team with a fresh perspective on how to move forward when conducting research. We understand that research takes time, and that conducting research spans over months, depending on its scale. Ultimately we are left with an understanding that in order to have a truly random sample, you must allow for an equal probability of selection when surveying. Dr. Blake and her team’s research concluded that the majority of adults in the U.S. support prohibiting tobacco product placement on social media. Through their research, they were able to see how the support from U.S. adults varied by age, sex, education, rurality, and children in the household. Dr. Blake informed us how much work and thought goes into conducting research and holding surveys, which will allow us to have a greater vision into our own term project.
Photos courtesy of Blake, et al., 2021, U.S. Public Opinion Toward Policy Restrictions to Limit Tobacco Product Placement and Advertising at Point-Of-Sale and on Social Media
Our group chose to interview Bayla Gomberg, a communications scholar with a master’s degree from California State University, Fullerton. Bayla shared her journey through communications research, which began with her undergraduate studies as an advertising major. Initially drawn to social media topics, she developed a strong interest in understanding body image, the influence of celebrity culture, and the effects of parasocial relationships in online spaces. Her early curiosity about how social media affects self-perception and identity sparked a desire to conduct research on these themes.
During our discussion, Bayla explained how she approached developing a focus for her projects, describing the challenges and rewards of honing in on specific areas within communications. For Bayla, finding her research path meant paying close attention to the questions that intrigued her. She connected each topic with a research question, then linked that question to a specific behavior, allowing her to dive deeper into the nuances of social media’s impact. By following what interested her most, she built a foundation for exploring new ideas, seeking to understand the complex interactions between media and individuals. This method, she emphasized, was crucial in guiding her studies and refining her focus.
Our conversation offered a valuable look at Bayla’s commitment to exploring real-world questions through academic research, and it underscored the importance of personal passion in selecting and sustaining a research focus. Her journey highlights how pursuing specific questions can illuminate larger trends in communications.
During our conversation, Professor Gomberg highlighted her experience with research and particularly content analysis. She elaborated on image collection for content analysis and creating themes and ideas based off of findings. In her specific area of study she mentions research on body image and the brand Skims. Through the content analysis that was conducted Professor Gomberg looked at different brands that sell shapewear and the different images that could persuade people. When explaining this process she also emphasizes the use of decoding and how it’s important when creating different analyses from the different images and content collected. Bayla also recommended using theories that you understand and know to apply rather than one that you are not as familiar with.
When asked about any challenges she may have faced when collecting data she specifies a few different scenarios. When collecting data at the University level Professor Gomberg says having a wide age range in the population was difficult. Since most students working on a group project range from 18-24, similarly, the people taking the survey were the same age because it’s either peers taking the survey or the people you interact with on social media who are also a similar age. When it comes to content analysis Professor Gomberg explained how “objective opinion” became an issue because when looking at content and different images it’s difficult to not view it with your own opinion. She advises to be critical of the images you are analyzing for content analysis. Finally, when it comes to conducting focus groups at the college she states that it can be expensive and time consuming. Getting everyone to agree on times and be able to meet can be a hassle. Bayla also elaborates on how the opinions of the focus group members can affect each of their responses. If they feel judged, embarrassed, or like they are not in a safe space, their answers may not be as truthful. She addresses this by stating the importance of being organized with your questions, and creating a safe environment where the participants can freely and truthfully provide the data needed.
Professor Gomberg provided much needed insight of the importance of content analysis and how to navigate the difficulties that come with trying to collect data and gather volunteers to participate.
Professor Bayla Gomberg has really given us some valuable insight into how to conduct a research project and the benefits and challenges that come with it. For instance, in selecting participants for surveys or focus groups, she says that it really depends on what your research question is. For example, if your research question focuses on social media, then you would find your research participants on social media. Or if you are looking for someone who has seen a particular movie, there might be a possible chance that they might not be on social media, so you would have to extend your search to a physical place such as Walmart or better yet, a forum or a website that does movie reviews. Then you would have to find a specific target audience for your research like a certain age demographic and you would hope to collect “enough people in that age range.” Professor Gomberg has also advised us to not limit your survey research to one website and instead post it on a bunch of different websites because you want a good population and/or sample size from around the world or nationwide. The main important lesson she told us she has learned about participant recruitment is to be organized and to “be on the same page as your other researchers.” And that you’re always trying to get to your target audience and understand them from their level; rather than just being “the researcher on the other side of the screen.” In the end, you are trying to get the most authentic response from your research participants.
For specific tools and/or software she uses for data organization and analysis, she recommends using Qualtrics through the Cal State Fullerton website. As you can easily type out which question you want and get the answers selected; you could also design it to make it look professional and once it is posted, you could actually see the responses coming in live as you want to make sure that people are “learning and doing what you need them to do.” She mentions that with Qualtrics, since you are using quantitative data, it tells what the results equal to a certain amount of percentage and it does all the math for you, so you are not spending a lot of time adding up the responses that amount to the percentages. Finally, you could change those results to what is more visually pleasing to the eye and what could you understand better through pie charts, graphs, etc. For presenting the results, Professor Gomberg used Google Decks and copied and pasted the results onto those decks and explained what the results mean.
Additionally, what Professor Gomberg recommends to ensure that your data findings are reliable and reflect accurate insights, is to look at the data, the research question, and the majority of people who responded in a specific way. However, she emphasizes to look at the responses that were the opposite result of what you were expecting or have a very low percentage as well because, in her own words, “just because something is a majority, does not mean that is everybody and that is not the most important part of the research.” You have to look at the minority results and ask yourself, why did so many people not find it this way? Or not behave in this sense? As it really depends on what you’re researching, it is important to look at both sides of it and to “dive deep” into the participant’s answers rather than just looking at the numbers. The true explanations of your percentages is what brings your research to another level, in contrast with just saying, “here’s the results!”
In sum, Professor Gomberg’s answers on conducting your own research was really helpful and insightful to our future research projects within the communications major.
Some of the main takeaways I had after our discussion with Professor Bayla Gomberg were that the most important part of doing research is ensuring that you are organized and have a plan before you even start collecting different kinds of data. She especially emphasized the importance of being organized in group projects as well because, when working in a group setting, it can be very easy to get lost. By making sure that everyone is on the same page, everything will be more cohesive when it comes to the way you work together, conduct research, and write your essay.
One statement that Professor Gomberg made that really stood out to me was when she said, “The theory drives the research and really provides support to the entire argument you’re trying to make. Without the theory, the argument wouldn’t really be an argument.” This highlights the importance of understanding the theory you are using and explaining your results as if you were explaining them to a two-year-old, making them clear and concise. She also mentioned that it’s okay to keep it simple when conducting a study; for this reason, it’s fine to choose one specific aspect to deeply explore in your research. Focusing on one variable can help break things down, and it’s okay not to address every single question you posed in your research unless specifically recommended by a professor.
Overall, she advised us to research different topics and challenge ourselves to collect data in various ways, such as through focus groups and exploring different subject areas.
Jasmine Phillips Meertins Ph.D., Photo by CSUF Communications Department, 2022
About
California State University Fullerton students Sophia Cardenas, Jean Le, and Brian Tran interviewed Jasmine Phillips Meertins, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Communications at CSUF. The interview consisted of questions relating to Meertin’s research article, Institutional Relational Maintenance Barriers and Perceptions of Relationship Quality Among Women With Incarcerated Partners, written alongside Katherine A. Durante and Eman Tadros. Other questions included thoughts on conducting research and research theory.
The music industry is fast-pace, with new trends coming and going, so using our interest in the music industry, we decided to look into a study of a music technology that peaked in 2000, the compact disc. We met with Dr. Waleed Rashidi, a California State University, Fullerton professor, to gain insight into how he conducted his survey in the article Young adults’ compact disc usage experiences in 2020. Dr. Rashidi has dedicated his career to researching music, specifically music technologies, which is why he decided to research why young adults still wanted to engage with CDs and whether they would still engage with them in the future.
Before conducting his study, research on CD usage had to be done. It can be difficult to find credible sources that report accurate numbers but Dr. Rashidi found the Recording Industry of America (RIAA) and Billboard to be reliable and accurate sources for reporting data. The RIAA is aligned with many record labels so they have the credibility and trustworthiness of being a long-time establishment. They are also the association that certifies albums when they are sold for gold, diamond, or platinum releases. All of this combined makes these organizations a credible source of information and they report accurately for sales figures, shipment, and when designating awards. He also mentions the International Federation of Phonographic Industry (IFPI) as another source that measures worldwide sales figures.
Achieving the same level of reliability and validity in the survey is essential to his research, so Dr. Rashidi emphasized the importance of data saturation. He achieved this by having enough of a response sample that represents the population and can be generalizable. The survey was sent to CSUF students, but if it was sent to students in different geographical areas, there may be different results. People in different regions of the country interact differently with the media; people on the West Coast are surrounded by the entertainment industry, but people in different geographical areas may have different ways of interacting and experiencing entertainment. There is also an economic basis. Those with more money can pay for streaming or afford to start a physical collection of vinyl records or albums. In contrast, those with less may not be able to afford such a costly engagement with the artist, like purchasing physical copies of music. “Looking at the country regionally and understanding the economic differences in different regions could be important in understanding why certain responses might differ from area to area,” said Rashidi. General demographics also impact the results because age and ethnicity can affect how people experience and interact with music.
The research includes direct quotes from the open-ended questions asked in the survey. When asked how he narrows down which quotes or information to include in the article, he said that he looks for similarities in the responses. A pattern can be a trend, and then he looks for a theme he can build upon; he pulls a few examples to highlight the similarities between the participants. He is also looking for outliers because he wants to hear about things that weren’t as popular or frequent, so this is an opportunity to find out why they responded differently from the majority. As a researcher, he finds this area interesting because he wants to hear from various perspectives. He selects examples to back up what he originally claimed, points out similarities, and highlights some interesting outliers.
CD sales in the year 2020 were heavily influenced by the bundling practice, which is when an artist puts together a CD with the purchase of other merchandise or a concert ticket to create a higher charting sale for the CDs. Dr. Rashidi has not followed how bundling has continued to affect CD sales. Still, he did make a connection based on some of the open-ended responses he gained from his survey that the K-Pop community has found a way to capitalize on the lost art of CD sales by having exclusive inclusions of trading cards of the band members that fans want access to which leads them to continue to purchase the CDs. This has led to a new study he is currently working on about how K-Pop has influenced the market of physical music sales in the decade of the 2020s. Since Dr. Rashidi’s original study was published, Billboard has changed the rules about how CD sales are calculated. It will be interesting to see how different the numbers come out without the addition of bundling calculated.
The thought process behind deciding which research method to use when conducting a study about the music and entertainment industry was a question we had in mind when going into this interview because we will likely be doing the same research style in the coming weeks. Dr. Rashidi’s insight on the matter guided us to a decision we believe will be fit for our study moving forward as well as his. He explained that using a survey was most effective when reacting to the target audience of college students because it is the most convenient way to gather information, and people will be more willing to participate in the less work they must do. When you send out a survey that is expected to take no more than ten minutes, people are much more willing to interact with it than if you invited them to a thirty-minute interview with no compensation for their participation. “I can get a number of responses that way in a timely fashion and also a good variety,” Rashidi said regarding his decision-making process. After conducting our interview with Waleed Rashidi about how he conducted his research for his study, Young adults’ compact disc usage experiences in 2020, it has given us greater insight on how to move forward as researchers ourselves as well as some insider tips when it comes to how to navigate what is and is not credible information in the music and entertainment industry. The information gained from this interview will allow us to make more informed and strategic decisions when it comes to creating our own research in the music space.
Image from Young Adults’ Compact Disc Usage Experiences in 2020.
By: Ariana Rodriguez, Briana Mendoza, Jacob Collantes, and Vanessa Crook
BIOGRAPHY
Dr. Jasmine Phillips Meertins is an assistant professor in the Department of Communications at CSUF, teaching public relations, digital foundations, and event management courses. She holds a Ph.D. in Communication from the University of Miami, an M.A. in International Affairs from The George Washington University, and a B.A. in Political Science from Yale University. She has also taught public relations at Nevada State College and has international experience in higher education administration at Virginia Commonwealth University and the University of Miami. Dr. Katherine A. Durante is an assistant professor in the Sociology department at the University of Utah, where she teaches introductory criminal justice courses and sociology classes in crime and inequality. She received her Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Cincinnati, M.A. in Sociology from Cleveland State University, and B.A. in Sociology and Criminology from Jon Carrol University. Her research studies focus specifically on racial and ethnic inequality in the criminal legal system and the impacts of incarceration on the family.
The Society for Communications Research 