Mass communications is a multidisciplinary field that draws on research methods from the humanities, social sciences, statistics, computer science, and engineering. It evolves and adapts in response to emerging technologies, political perceptions of 'the media', social concerns, and economic pressures.
Mass communications research can be divided into these core areas:
To conduct research on advertising strategy, you will need to consult trade publications, industry reports, consumer surveys, scholarly articles and studies, newspapers, and magazines. Some of this information is publicly available, but most requires a subscription. Both public and subscription resources on business and advertising are included on this guide.