ABSTRACT
A major part of research into political communication deals with election campaigns which present unique occasions for studying the strategies and effects of political communication. Methodological issues in international political communication research are derived from research that occurs in contexts outside the United States or in directly comparative international contexts. This chapter addresses examples of qualitative and quantitative research issues in both contexts, and some methodological issues that are not unique to either qualitative or quantitative research paradigms. The chapter considers the issues in relation to four specific topics in political communication: news exposure and coverage of political events, public opinion, political advertising, and political debates. Studies of news exposure and coverage of political events, particularly elections, has received considerable attention from political communication researchers. To achieve acceptable levels of generalizability, political communication researchers engaged in comparative research must deal with unique problems related to study design and sampling.
