Communication research is really an umbrella term that covers a large territory. Research on therapeutic strategies for speech disorders, interpersonal persuasion, public relations, and technology-assisted communication all are included, for example. Many different purposes are also included under this umbrella. Sometimes researchers are most interested in how natural communication works in organizations, sometimes they want to identify tools to increase communication effectiveness.
Research can also seek to discover how specific aspects of communication work together.
These different purposes affect the various types of methods researchers use. To put it another way, the different forms of communication research ask different kinds of questions, and need different kinds of methods to find answers. This part of the Inquiry site explores five different types of communication research, which respond to different purposes. These are not specific research methods, only general types. Each Study Guide discusses specific research methods.