The lively, conversational tone of this text provides a user-friendly environment for students to analyze the role of communicative activity in shaping human behavior. The book discusses research methods as the discovery of meaningful relationships in how human beings communicate with one another. The process of selecting a theoretical framework, judging the importance (practical and theoretical) of problems, designing assessment procedures, and interpreting the findings is explained in concise, easy-to-understand language. Qualitative and quantitative methods are integrated, together with examples of the many forms of reasoning that go into research. This book promotes the ability to do communication research and an appreciation of the role of this research in our culture.