In order to prepare a successful research project, a qualitative researcher often must consult media documents of various types. Author David L. Altheide shows the reader how to obtain, categorize, and analyze these different media documents in this entry in theQualitative Research Methodsseries. He looks at traditional primary documents such as newspapers and magazines but also at more recent forms--television newscasts and cyberspace. The use of student examples of research protocols makes this book a useful primer in deriving meaning from the bombardment of media documents a qualitative researcher faces.