Research Steps
This research guide provides subject and discipline related resources, search strategies, and research tips to support course assignments and student research success.
Steps to Effective Research
- Identify a Research Topic
- Get the topic context and background with Reference resources
- Find books and ebooks
- Find articles
As needed, request articles not available at ORU through Interlibrary Loan - Evaluate Your Sources
- Cite your sources
Note: If you are unfamiliar with searching for books, ebooks, and articles, learn to use library search tools by viewing the videos on the library's Video Tutorials page.
If you have questions or need help, Ask-A-Librarian.
Featured New Books/Ebooks
The Language of Humor
by Much of today's communication is carried out through various kinds of humor, and we therefore need to be able to understand its many aspects. Here, two of the world's leading pioneers in humor studies, Alleen and Don Nilsen, explore how humor can be explained across the numerous sub-disciplines of linguistics. Drawing on examples from language play and jokes in a range of real-life contexts, such as art, business, marketing, comedy, creative writing, science, journalism and politics, the authors use their own theory of 'Features, functions and subjects of Humor' to analyze humor across all disciplines. Each highly accessible chapter uses a rich array of examples to stimulate discussion and interaction even in large classes. Supplemental PowerPoints to accompany each of the 25 chapters are available online, taking many of the insights from the chapters for further interactional discussions with students. View opens new windowTable of ContentsCall Number: PN6147 .N55 2019, LRC 5th floorPublication Date: 2018-11-01
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The SAGE Handbook of Family Communication
by Upper level students and researchers in media and communication studies, family studies and family policy.ISBN: 9781452282022Publication Date: 2014-02-15
Intercultural Communication: A Peacebuilding Perspective
byCall Number: P94.6 .R46, LRC 5th floorPublication Date: 2014-08-01
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Featured "Leadership" Titles
Leadership Is Language: The Hidden Power of What you Say--and What You Don't
by Wall Street Journal Bestseller From the acclaimed author of Turn the Ship Around!, former US Navy Captain David Marquet, comes a radical new playbook for empowering your team to make better decisions and take greater ownership. You might imagine that an effective leader is someone who makes quick, intelligent decisions, gives inspiring speeches, and issues clear orders to their team so they can execute a plan to achieve your organization's goals. Unfortunately, David Marquet argues, that's an outdated model of leadership that just doesn't work anymore. As a leader in today's networked, information-dense business climate, you don't have full visibility into your organization or the ground reality of your operating environment. In order to harness the eyes, ears, and minds of your people, you need to foster a climate of collaborative experimentation that encourages people to speak up when they notice problems and work together to identify and test solutions. Too many leaders fall in love with the sound of their own voice, and wind up dictating plans and digging in their heels when problems begin to emerge. Even when you want to be a more collaborative leader, you can undermine your own efforts by defaulting to command-and-control language we've inherited from the industrial era. It's time to ditch the industrial age playbook of leadership. In Leadership is Language, you'll learn how choosing your words can dramatically improve decision-making and execution on your team. Marquet outlines six plays for all leaders, anchored in how you use language: * Control the clock, don't obey the clock: Pre-plan decision points and give your people the tools they need to hit pause on a plan of action if they notice something wrong. * Collaborate, don't coerce: As the leader, you should be the last one to offer your opinion. Rather than locking your team into binary responses ("Is this a good plan?"), allow them to answer on a scale ("How confident are you about this plan?") * Commit, don't comply: Rather than expect your team to comply with specific directions, explain your overall goals, and get their commitment to achieving it one piece at a time. * Complete, not continue: If every day feels like a repetition of the last, you're doing something wrong. Articulate concrete plans with a start and end date to align your team. * Improve, don't prove: Ask your people to improve on plans and processes, rather than prove that they can meet fixed goals or deadlines. You'll face fewer cut corners and better long-term results. * Connect, don't conform: Flatten hierarchies in your organization and connect with your people to encourage them to contribute to decision-making. In his last book, Turn the Ship Around!, Marquet told the incredible story of abandoning command-and-control leadership on his submarine and empowering his crew to turn the worst performing submarine to the best performer in the fleet. Now, with Leadership is Language he gives businesspeople the tools they need to achieve such transformational leadership in their organizations.ISBN: 9780735217539Publication Date: 2020-02-04
Leading Cross-Culturally
by As the US becomes more diverse, cross-cultural ministry is increasingly important for nearly all pastors and church leaders. Of particular concern is the issue of leadership--a difficult task made even more challenging in multicultural settings. Sherwood Lingenfelter helps the reader understand his or her own leadership culture (and its blind spots), examine it critically in light of Scripture, and become an effective learner of other cultural perspectives on leadership. He also confronts the issues of power inherent in any leadership situation. Lingenfelter carefully defines cross-cultural leadership and unpacks that definition throughout the book, with an emphasis on building communities of vision, trust, and empowerment through leadership based on biblical principles. In the end, he argues that leaders must inhabit the gospel story to be effective cross-culturally.ISBN: 9780801036057Publication Date: 2008-12-01
Media and Religious Authority
by As the availability and use of media platforms continue to expand, the cultural visibility of religion is on the rise, leading to questions about religious authority: Where does it come from? How is it established? What might be changing it? The contributors to The Media and Religious Authority examine the ways in which new centers of power and influence are emerging as religions seek to "brand" themselves in the media age. Putting their in-depth, incisive studies of particular instances of media production and reception in Asia, Africa, Latin America, and North America into conversation with one another, the volume explores how evolving mediations of religion in various places affect the prospects, aspirations, and durability of religious authority across the globe. An insightful combination of theoretical groundwork and individual case studies, The Media and Religious Authority invites us to rethink the relationships among the media, religion, and culture. The contributors are Karina Kosicki Bellotti, Alexandra Boutros, Pauline Hope Cheong, Peter Horsfield, Christine Hoff Kraemer, Joonseong Lee, Alf Linderman, Bahíyyah Maroon, Montré Aza Missouri, and Emily Zeamer, with an afterword by Lynn Schofield Clark.ISBN: 9780271073224Publication Date: 2016-08-02
Selected Articles
Cunningham, C. M., Hazel, M., & Hayes, T. J. (2020). Communication and Leadership 2020: Intersectional, Mindful, and Digital. Communication Research Trends, 39(1), 4–31.
Mayfield, J., Mayfield, M., & Neck, C. P. (2021). Speaking to the Self: How Motivating Language Links With Self-Leadership. International Journal of Business Communication, 58(1), 31–54. https://doi.org/10.1177/2329488417731861
Yue, C. A., Men, L. R., & Ferguson, M. A. (2021). Examining the Effects of Internal Communication and Emotional Culture on Employees’ Organizational Identification. International Journal of Business Communication, 58(2), 169–195. https://doi.org/10.1177/2329488420914066
Featured Database
- AVON: Academic Videos Online This link opens in a new window
