Looking Back and Looking Forward: Observations on the Role of Research Methods in the Rapidly Evolving Field of Political Communication Gerald M. Kosicki, The Ohio State University, Douglas M. McLeod, University of Wisconsin–Madison, and Jack M. McLeod, University of Wisconsin–Madison

We focus on the methods of political communication research to understand their role in advancing theory and knowledge. We address the adequacy and inadequacies of current methodological practices and the extent to which they are able to capture current developments in political communication. Though many of our comments apply to communication research in general, we embed our discussion in the context of political communication. In addition to the unique aspects imposed by this context detailed below, political communication provides a topic domain in which research questions raise matters of real-world significance and broad macro-social implications. Indeed, political communication, both mass and interpersonal, is at the very heart of fundamental democratic processes. Thus, research questions and the methods used to answer them play important roles in understanding how our political system works, as well as in revealing where it is broken.