Call for submissions: Journal of Communication Special issue: Qualitative Theorizing and Methodological Advancements. Deadline: 15 July 2024.
Guest Editors: Kristina M. Scharp (Rutgers University, USA), Elizabeth A. Hintz (University of Connecticut, USA), and Sandra Vera Zambrano (Universidad Iberoamericana, Mexico).
This special issue of the Journal of Communication aims to highlight the qualitative communication research that provides important insights into what communicating is like, how it happens, and the institutional and ideological forces enabling and constraining what is possible. Qualitative scholarship is an integral part of communication research as it provides the nuance to discern what results actually mean, the situated understanding to account for the complexities inherent in communication, and the context to inspire hypothesis testing. Despite its promise, qualitative communication research has also long been criticized for being “too descriptive” or for its inability to generate theoretical frameworks and heuristics meaningful beyond a single case or isolated social context. Yet, this misnomer, which emphasizes generalizability at the expense of nuance and context, ironically contributes to the homogeneity of communication research (see #CommunicationSoWhite; Chakravartty et al., 2018) and leads to stagnation. To develop as a discipline, we must be more inclusive of different ways of knowing that allow researchers to ask new questions and address different goals.
Center for Intercultural Dialogue 