The Handbook of Comparative Communication Research provides a comprehensive examination of comparative communication research. It offers extensive and interdisciplinary discussions of the general approach of comparative research, its prospect and problems as well as its applications in crucial sub-fields of communication.

Foreword; PART I: INTRODUCTION; 1 On the Why and How of Comparative Inquiry in Communication Studies; PART II: DISCIPLINARY DEVELOPMENTS; 2 Comparing Political Communication; 3 Comparing Organizational and Business Communication; 4 Comparing Development Communication; 5 Comparing Computer-Mediated Communication; 6 Comparing Visual Communication; 7 Comparing Intercultural Communication; 8 Comparing Language and Social Interaction; 9 Comparing Gender and Communication; 10 Comparing Health Communication; PART III: CENTRAL RESEARCH AREAS; 11 Comparing Media Systems; 12 Comparing Media Systems: A Response to Critics; 13 Comparing Media Policy and Regulation;14 Comparing Media Markets; 15 Comparing Media Cultures; 16 Comparing Journalism Cultures; 17 Comparing Public Relations; 18 Comparing Election Campaign Communication; 19 Comparing News on National Elections; 20 Comparing News on Europe: Elections and Beyond; 21 Comparing News on Foreign and International Affairs; 22 Comparing Cross-border Information Flows and their Effects; 23 Comparing Entertainment and Emotions; 24 Comparing Media Use and Reception; 25 Comparing Effects of Political Communication; PART IV: CONCEPTUAL AND METHODOLOGICAL ISSUES; Challenges to Comparative Research in a Globalizing Media Landscape
Sonia Livingstone; 27 Comparative Research Designs: Toward a Multilevel Approach; 28 Comparative Survey Research; 29 Comparative Content Analysis; 30 Securing Equivalence: Problems and Solutions; 31 Analyzing Comparative Data: Opportunities and Challenges; PART V: CONCLUSION: 32 Challenges and Perspectives of Comparative Communication Inquiry

Thomas Hanitzsch is Professor of Communication at the Institute of Communication Studies and Media Research, University of Munich, Germany. A former journalist, his teaching and research focuses on global journalism cultures, war coverage, celebrity news and comparative methodology. He has authored and edited five books, and his work has been published in major communication journals and edited volumes. Thomas is currently Editor-in-Chief of Communication Theory, and serves as Vice-Chair of the Journalism Studies Section of the European Communication Research and Education Association (ECREA). He is currently leading the Worlds of Journalism Study, a massive multinational survey of journalists, and is involved in several other comparative projects.

Frank Esser (PhD 1997, University of Mainz) is Professor and Chair of International & Comparative Media Research in the Department of Mass Communication and Media Research at the University of Zurich. He was assistant professor of mass communication at the University of Mainz and the University of Missouri-Columbia, and visiting professor at the University of Oklahoma. His research focuses on cross-national studies of news journalism and political communication. He has published five books including Comparing Political Communication: Theories, Cases, and Challenges (Cambridge University Press, 2004), and sixty book chapters and journal articles. Frank is on the editorial boards of Journalism and The International Journal of Press/Politics, and serves as Vice Chair of the Journalism Division of the International Communication Association (ICA). In Zurich he is co-director of the NCCR Democracy, a National Center of Competence in Research funded by the Swiss Science Foundation, to study the impact of globalization and mediatization on Western democracies.