Comparative research

Comparative research guides our attention to understanding how communication phenomena vary in different spatial, cultural, or temporal environments and how macro‐level societal contexts shape communication and outcomes differentially. In this review we argue that the significance of comparative research in political communication has been to describe and explain the effects of system‐level factors on processes of communication on the individual, organizational, or group level. Based on findings from current research we highlight that comparative approach has significantly advanced the study of media and political communication systems, journalism and political communication culture, election campaigning and information environments as well as research on the Internet and civic attitudes. In the concluding section we argue particularly that globalization puts new challenges on comparative research in future communication scholarship