This chapter will help you:

• Define the terms induction, deduction, and abduction.
• Identify key reasons for doing research.
• Explain the ways we “know what we know.”
• Describe major worldviews in human communication research and how each shapes the nature of research.
• Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of basing your work on the work of other researchers.
• Explain with examples the difference between a research question and a hypothesis.