What is the Difference between Cross-National Comparisons and Semi-Comparative Work? Example of Swedish-Ugandan Climate Change Communication Research
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Date
2015
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Journal of Development and Communication Studies
Abstract
This methodological article presents the research approach of semi-comparisons and describes how it could be applied in the field of media and communication studies. The point of departure is that cross-national collaborations do not necessarily always have to result in full-fledged comparative studies, but can “go halfway”, i.e. stay at the semi-comparative level. This is exemplified in terms of an ongoing long-term collaboration between Swedish and Ugandan researchers, focusing on sustainable communication involving the role of media as a provider of relevant information in the case of the climate change issue. The semi-comparative approach – here characterized by: 1) cross-national research connectivity, 2) activities in which one “puts one’s own nation in a wider context” and 3) spontaneous, cross-national research influences – enables the generation of knowledge about the universalism and particularism within the dimensions of mediated climate communication, which would not have been possible with a regular cross-national comparative study.
Description
Keywords
climate change, media, cross-national comparative research, semi-comparative approach, sustainable communication, universalism, particularism.
Citation
Berglez, P. & Nassanga, G.L. 2015. What is the Difference between Cross-National Comparisons and Semi-Comparative Work? Example of Swedish-Ugandan Climate Change Communication Research , Journal of Development and Communication Studies, 4(1): 33-48. http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/jdcs.v4i1.3