Online Political Communication Research Methods

The authors explored the research methods of the manifold studies on online political communication published in nine selected scientific journals over an 8-year period stretching from the beginning of 2009 to March 2017 and systematized the results into a comprehensive, methodological, “state-of-the-art” report. The main findings are that the most frequent method of researching online political communication is the quantitative or qualitative content analysis. Still, recurrent is the combination of methodological approaches, where the quantitative and qualitative techniques complement each other. Moreover, the research of political communication in general, but online especially, has become more an interdisciplinary field. Yet the collection and analysis of data from new media and social networks requires more and more advanced expert skills.