The chapters convey initial questions, thoughts, and applications of methods that constitute foundational research efforts. Twelve of the twenty-one authors come from, or are affiliated to, communications departments. This is supplemented by four from the area of English language and literature, four from Sociology, and one from Computer Sciences. The institutions represented range in geography from Illinois, California, and Denver, to Sydney, Toronto, and Japan. The chapters cover a wide range of approaches and have various objectives.
Some papers advocate an established research approach.
In each case the writers support the efficacy and adaptability of these methods. Other pieces apply traditional approaches and find them lacking. Some chapters present formulated methods of enquiry. As a researcher interested in conversation analysis I found much to engage with in Denzin's method. What is clear is Jones's enthusiasm for the subject.