Qualitative Inquiry and the Future of Health Communication Research

Abstract

This article examines the ways that qualitative inquiry, especially when used in concert with quantitative inquiry in multimethodological designs, can contribute to the research challenges of health care and health promotion. It explores methodological diversity in health communication research and illustrates how survey, textual analytic, and ethnographic research are utilized in health communication research. The article concludes with a discussion of how multimethodological research designs have been successfully employed to examine complex health communication models, theories, and processes.

Keywords:

• Ethnography
• Health Communication
• Multimethodolgical
• Survey
• Textual Analysis

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Gary L. Kreps

Gary L. Kreps (PhD, University of Southern California, 1979) is Professor and Chair of the Department of Communication at George Mason University (GMU(in Fairfax, VA, where he holds the Eileen and Steve Mandell Endowed Chair in Health Communication. He also holds a joint faculty appointment with the National Center for Biodefense at GMU. Fairfax, VA 22030. E-mail: [email protected]