Recently I have been exposed to much online consumer content–specifically about self-love and body positivity. Influencers are showing what their “real” bodies look like and how posing affects the outcome of the picture. I was digging this weekend and came across a research journal shared in 2019-2020; researchers at the National Library of Medicine published an article about the importance of developing healthy eating promotion in mass media campaigns. No, it’s not how I typically spend my Saturday afternoons, but when duty (or school?) calls you, make it exciting. 

This article details the advancement the assessment of mass media campaigns has made and provides a valid contribution to the mass communications field because it offers an extensive review of existing research on the credibility of news and journalistic practices in the digital age. Something that, well, people are often questioning. Researchers identify key trends and patterns in the field, which can help inform future research and guide the development of effective communication strategies. They do this in what we like to call “qualitative” research.

Wait, what is qualitative research?

Quantitative and qualitative research are two different approaches to conducting research studies. 

Quantitative research focuses on numerical data and statistical analysis to conclude a population or a phenomenon. According to Scribbr, these involve collecting data through structured methods, such as surveys or experiments, and analyzing the data using statistical techniques to identify patterns, trends, and relationships. Quantitative research is like trying to solve a puzzle. First, we ask many people the same questions, then look at their answers and try to find patterns. Once we find those patterns, we can predict what others might say. It’s like trying to guess what the whole picture looks like by looking at a few pieces.

Qualitative research, on the other hand, focuses on non-numerical data and aims to understand a phenomenon’s meaning and subjective experience. It’s like being a detective! We ask people questions, observe their behavior, and try to understand their thoughts and feelings to learn more about what’s happening.

Research journals are like a library that contains many books full of new insights and abundant knowledge waiting to be discovered.

Many journals publish articles covering various research methods and approaches, including qualitative and quantitative research. By publishing multiple studies, these journals aim to provide a comprehensive and balanced view of the research in a particular field.

The Research Journal “Parental Socialization of Adolescent Media Use: A Typology of Parental Approaches” validly contributes to the mass communications field because it offers a new typology of parental approaches to socializing adolescents’ media use via both quantitative and qualitative data. This typology is based on a systematic review of existing literature and provides valuable insights into how parents attempt to manage and regulate their children’s media use. It also addresses an important issue relevant to researchers and practitioners in mass communications: how parents can shape their children’s media habits.

Both quantitative and qualitative research are important in their own ways-quantitative research uses numbers and data to help us understand patterns and make predictions. Qualitative research helps us understand people’s thoughts and feelings and gives us insight into how they experience the world around them. By using both types of research, we can get a complete picture of whatever topics we’re studying.