{'fraction_non_alphanumeric': 0.041682747973755305, 'fraction_numerical': 0.032419915090698574, 'mean_word_length': 5.680412371134021, 'pattern_counts': {'":': 0, '<': 0, '<?xml version=': 0, '>': 0, 'https://': 0, 'lorem ipsum': 0, 'www.': 0, 'xml': 0}, 'pii_count': 0, 'substrings_counts': 0, 'word_list_counts': {'cursed_substrings.json': 0, 'profanity_word_list.json': 0, 'sexual_word_list.json': 0, 'zh_pornsignals.json': 0}}
New Approaches to Method and Measurement in the Study of Political Communication Effects

In 2008 Bennett and Iyengar (2008) called on us to rethink the relevance of existing theoretical paradigms amidst a rapidly changing communication environment. Building on this call, Holbert, Garrett, and Gleason (2010) argued that the study of political communication can only grow if scholars constantly assess the state of the field through systematic empirical research. Since this exchange—which initiated a debate that brought self-conscious reflection and more than 1,000 citations—there have been many advancements in the field of political communication. Many of these advancements have attempted—as Bennett and Iyengar (2008) urged—to make sense of political communication’s role in a world where information is more plentiful than ever before. Chief among these advancements have been new methodological approaches. Indeed, political communication scholars have not abandoned old theoretical paradigms but drawn on innovations in design (Arceneaux & Johnson, 2013;; Klar & Shmargad, 2017), measures (Anderson, de Vreese, & Albæk, 2016), data sources (Muddiman & Stroud, 2017; Munger, 2016), automation tools (Dietrich & Juelich, 2018; Margetts, Peter, Hale, & Yasseri, 2015), and access to technology (Dunaway, Searles, Sui, & Paul, 2018; Ohme, de Vreese, & Albaek, 2017) to better answer questions during this “new minimal effects era” (Bennett & Iyengar, 2008). Rather than shrink at the difficulties of measuring exposure to media, for example, given endogeneity issues presented by today’s fragmented media audience, researchers have innovated. These types of innovations have changed the landscape of political communication, and this symposium presents a series of newmethodological approaches to further build the way the field conducts empirical research. The authors whose work is included in this symposium are, much like the scholars who came before them, seeking to understand the role of media and communication in complex and changing political and social contexts (e.g., Katz & Lazarsfeld, 1955; Lasswell, 1927; Lazarsfeld &Merton, 1971). And while much has changed in the decades since Lang and Lang (1953) suggested the affordances of television exert distinct effects on viewers, the role of communication technology in structuring people’s exposure to political information remains relevant (Epstein, 2018; Prior, 2007). The key difference is that contemporary political communication research has now become more focused on the relationship between concepts and methods.