CITATION AND COPYRIGHT INFORMATION:
Cite as: Dervin, B., & Clark, K. D. (1999). Exemplars of the use of the Sense-Making Methodology (meta-theory and method): In-depth introduction to the Sense-Making issues of the electronic journal of communication. The Electronic Journal of Communication [On-line serial] 9 (2, 3, & 4).
© The Electronic Journal of Communication (1999).

ABSTRACT:
The purpose of this introductory essay to these three issues of the Electronic Journal of Communication focusing on the Sense-Making Methodology is to provide: (a) an overview of the 18 exemplar studies which constitute these issues; (b) a brief introduction to the Sense-Making Methodology; and (c) a beginning explanation of why authors writing from such diverse discourse communities with such diverse implementations share a common interest in and use of Sense-Making. The substantive foci represented by the exemplars include: public communication campaign and audience research; practitioner encoding; audience decoding; information seeking in context; health communication; and religious communication. Discourse communities include both qualitative and quantitative studies; survey research and ethnography; media uses and effects; cultural studies reception analysis; and feminist studies, among others. Disiciplinary fields represented include: communication, journalism, environmental education, sociology, library and information science, and nursing. Implementations include: in-depth interviews, phone surveys, participant observation, content analysis, text analysis, statistical analysis, and thematic analysis, among others. What all exemplars share in common is the use of the Sense-Making Methodology as a source of methodological guidance for virtually every aspect of research step-taking—conceptualizing and framing questions, observing, interviewing, listening, and analyzing.

TO OBTAIN FULL TEXT:
Some readers may be able to obtain this journal online at their institutions by accessing www.cios.org. Others may join CIOS under the following options: For a one-year membership, the professional rate is $45.00 US ($40.00 US if you work at a CIOS Institutional or Departmental Affiliate) or $25.00 US for students ($20.00 US if you are a student at a college or university that is a CIOS Institutional or Departmental Affiliate). Others should request access to the full text URL by completing this form. (This will open a new window.)

OTHER MATERIALS BY THESE AUTHORS ON THIS WEB SITE:
For Dervin,
See:  http://communication.sbs.ohio-state.edu/sense-making/AAauthors/authorlistdervin.html
For Clark,
See:  http://communication.sbs.ohio-state.edu/sense-making/AAauthors/authorlistclark.html