Les numeros 2,3,4 (Volume 9) du Journal electronique de la communication renferment des articles qui illustrent l'emploi de la Methodologie de la Creation-du-Sens que Brenda Dervin et alii developpent depuis 27 ans. Contrairement aux acceptions que l'on donne au terme methodologie, soit qu'il serve de synonyme a methode ou soit qu'il se reduise a la meta-theorie, la Methodologie de la Creation-du-Sens a ete mise au point dans un but strictement methodologique, c'est-a-dire dans le dessein de fournir un guide philosophique dans l'elaboration d'un ensemble coherent de regles, susceptibles de faciliter la theorisation, l'observation, l'audition et les conclusions afferentes aux diverses formes de communication et a l'etude de celle-ci.

La methode de la Creation-du-Sens comporte un ensemble de suppositions meta-theoriques, de premisses methodologiques et d'outils de recherche precis, y compris diverses formes d'entretiens et de codage ainsi qu'une perspective dans laquelle la communication tient lieu de procede. Ces elements pourraient eventuellement servir de guide dans toutes les recherches. La methode de la Creation-du-Sens, developpee pour servir a combler les breches methodologiques, a ete concue pour resister aux polarisations artifi cielles (la qualitative par opposition a la quantitative, la conductive par opposition a l'inductive, la prediction par opposition a l'explication, la theorie par opposition a la pratique, le contextuel par opposition au generalisable).

La diversite de ces 19 articles, qui paraissent dans ces trois numeros du Journal electronique de la communication, se retrouve dans leurs racines litteraires et leurs applications. Certains articles sont qualitatifs, d'autres quantitatifs; certains ont recours a l'analyse de texte, d'autre a l'analyse de contenu, d'autres encore a des analyses de statistiques. Certains contiennent de longs echantillons, d'autres de courts echantillons. Certains se fient entierement a des enquetes par telephone, d'autres in cluent les observations et les resultats de travaux ethnologiques faits sur le terrain. Pour certains, la Creation-du-Sens leur sert surtout de methode, pour d'autres elle sert de meta-perspective pour les orienter dans presques toutes les etapes de leurs recherches. Ces articles se divisent en cinq parties, chacune puisant dans le reservoir des donnees la substance qui lui donne vie.

Etudes d'audience dans les campagnes de sensibilisation: Il s'agit de cinq articles ou les auteurs s'interrogent sur les moyens utilises dans les campagnes de sensibilisation et dans les recherches, et /ou ces auteurs fournissent des exemples de l'utilisation de la methode de la Creation-du-Sens en tant qu'outil pour la comprehension de la mentalite du public. On met egalement l'accent sur la methode de la Creation-du-Sens telle que les adolescents la comprennent dans les messages antitabagiques (Frenette); on evoque le cas de femmes toxicomanes enceintes et de leur besoin (Dervin, Harpring & Forman-Wernet); on souligne la methode de la Creation-du-Sens telle que le chef de famille la comprend dans les messages pour la protection de l'environnement (Madden); pour ce qui est du VIH et du Sida (Brendlinger, Dervin & Foreman-Wernet); et de la signification de la faune et de la flore sauvage (Murphy).

Etudes des medias, des communications de masse et des nouvelles techniques: Ces six articles traitent plus particulierement du codage par les praticiens et du decodage par le grand public des messages mediatiques. La serie comprend des etudes realisees sur la maniere dont les personnalites qui dirigent les stations de radio des mineurs d'etain en Bolivie conceptualisent le pouvoir hierarchique et reagissent a son egard (Huesca); la maniere dont les producteurs benevoles envisagent la possibilite de produire des emissions pour la television par cable auxquelles le public aurait acces (Higgins); la maniere dont les membres du sexe feminin et de sexe masculin decodent les reclames qui idealisent le corps de la femme (Shields); la maniere dont le public interpretent les actualites presentees a la television (Dworkin, Foreman-Wernet, & Dervin); la maniere dont la methode de la Creation-du-Sens est utilisee dans les informations sur les loisirs quand la confrontation de la lecture des journaux et les situations reelles de la vie s'avere necessaire (Spirek, Dervin, Nilan, & Martin); et finalement la maniere dont la methode de la Creation-du-Sens est employee dans un groupe de discussion sur l'Internet (Schaefer).

Les besoins de l'information, la recherche de celle-ci et son emploi dans le contexte: Deux etudes qui ont recours a la methode de la Creation-du-Sens en tant qu'outil pour faire progresser la theorisation de la recherche de l'information et de son utilisation se concentrent sur les dispositions structurelles par opposition a un agent chercheur d'information qui agit en tant que variable independante de la recherche de l'information et de son emploi (Nilan & Dervin); et sur l'utilisation de la methode de la Creation-du-Sens dans le but de cerner des situations ou le besoin d'information existe et une exploration initiale de situations par opposition a une exploration des domaines professionnelles en tant que variables independantes de la recherche d'information et de son emploi (Cheuk & Dervin).

La recherche de renseignements et de moyens de communication efficaces dans le domaine de la sante: Trois articles examinent les contextes des soins medicaux, y inclus: un rapport sur les experiences vecues d'une jeune personne atteinte d'une maladie chronique (Cardillo); une etude de la reflexion retrospective au service d'une methode d'apprentissage enrichie des complexites des taches accomplies par les infirmiers (Teekman); et une etude de la qualite des renseignements pour les cancereux en faisant appel a des entretiens obtenus des malades et du personnel soignant (Nelissen, van Eden, & Maas).

Etudes des communications religieuses: Deux articles, de facons differentes, analysent la critique de la religion catholique et les nouvelles interpretations tendancieuses de celle-ci; un des articles decrit comment et pourquoi certains informateurs catholiques cherchent a resoudre au mieux de leurs interets des cas de conscience epineux en accord avec leur foi (Coco); l'autre applique une Creation-du-Sens provenant d'une analyse de communication en tant que procede afin d'elucider le processus de fonctionnement d'un petit groupe de feministes (Clark).

L'objet principal de l'introduction aux 18 exemplaires redigee par Dervin & Clark est de souligner les traits communs qui lient les etudes qui utilisent diverses methodes et discours originels et de les mettre a la disposition de ceux qui partagent le meme interet pour la Methodologie de la Creation-du-Sens.

Kathleen D. Clark
The University of Akron
Akron, Ohio USA
kclark@uakron.edu

Brenda Dervin
The Ohio State University
Columbus, Ohio USA
dervin.1@osu.edu

Abstract.The purpose of this introductory essay to these three issues of the Electronic Journal of Communication focusing on the Sense-Making Methodology is to provide: (a) an overview of the 18 exemplar studies which constitute these issues; (b) a brief introduction to the Sense-Making Methodology; and (c) a beginning explanation of why authors writing from such diverse discourse communities with such diverse implementations share a common interest in and use of Sense-Making. The substantive foci represented by the exemplars include: public communication campaign and audience research; practitioner encoding; audience decoding; information seeking in context; health communication; and religious communication. Discourse communities include both qualitative and quantitative studies; survey research and ethnography; media uses and effects; cultural studies reception analysis; and feminist studies, among others. Disiciplinary fields represented include: communication, journalism, environmental education, sociology, library and information science, and nursing. Implementations include: in-depth interviews, phone surveys, participant observation, content analysis, text analysis, statistical analysis, and thematic analysis, among others. What all exemplars share in common is the use of the Sense-Making Methodology as a source of methodological guidance for virtually every aspect of research step-taking -- conceptualizing and framing questions, observing, interviewing, listening, and analyzing.

Abstract.  This is a study of struggles and successes faced during pregnancy by ten drug-addicted mothers. The focus was their information needs studied using the meta-theory and methods of Sense-Making Methodology which defines information as that which assists sense-making and sense-unmaking. The women related 40 moments of concern for themselves or their unborn children, with descriptions of situations, questions and thoughts they had, ways in which they tried to get answers, and how answers helped and/or hindered. Results suggested that the women were acutely aware of struggles they faced, describing these as occurring against a background of hopelessness, fear, and guilt. At the same time, the women gave overt guidance to caretakers with a genuine interest in providing assistance rather than further stigmatization. The women wanted to be listened to, and supported in the context of their real material lives. The discourse context for the study is the literature on public communication campaigns directed at this audience, and the failure of traditional approaches focused on remedying people's deficits. A comparison is made of assumptions usually implemented and those that would need to be brought to bear if campaigns were genuinely audience-centered.

Abstract.  This chapter presents an Australian study using Sense-Making Methodology to explore the experiences of urban householders with public communication campaign messages to use environmentally friendly products, to reduce energy usage and to recycle, compost, and otherwise reduce household waste. Household consumption activities are associated with the degradation of ecological functions and overall environmental sustainability. Sense-Making Methodology provided a general methodological frame for the study and a particular way of interviewing and analyzing data. Forty householders living in Brisbane, Queensland, were interviewed in depth and data analyzed qualitatively for general patterns of experience with environmental messages. Findings offer insight into the kind of confusions experienced by householders regarding environmental issues, what information they wanted about protecting the environment, and the usefulness of information they got. In brief, the Sense-Making approach offered a fruitful way of listening to how respondents saw themselves intersecting with environmental campaign messages and identified a range of issues that environmental campaigns must address to reach this vital stakeholder group.

Abstract. Research accounts of alternative media practices -- those media production activities that strive to be democratic in structure while advocating for social change -- are largely descriptive of homogeneous, unified, and integrated practices. This article focuses explicitly on alternative media practices in terms of how they deal with pluralism and heterogeneity in the process of producing media content. Specifically, this article examines a well-known alternative media genre -- the radio stations operated by Bolivian tin miners -- with regard to how these broadcasters conceptualized and responded to "difference" in their everyday activities. The Sense-Making Methodology was used as method and also meta-theoretically to generate an analytic template refocusing the examination of alternative media from an emphasis on homogeneous practice to an examination of how media practices implement differences procedurally. Conclusions emphasize that a communication- as- procedure analytic is useful both for distinguishing alternative from mainstream media practices and for designing media practices that are responsive to pluralistic, heterogeneous, and diverse societies.

Abstract. This article represents an emerging research genre which focuses on the study of information seeking and use in context. Context is explored using the Sense-Making Methodology which requires consideration of time, space and movement in defining and studying information seeking and use. This approach differs from most traditional studies that have conceptualized context and situation as pre-defined conditions that predict across time. This study's respondents included three professional groups: auditors, engineers, and architects. A Sense-Making interviewing approach was used to collect qualitative data focusing on information seeking and use in recent job-facing situations. An iterative comparative analysis involving the deductive application of Sense-Making's meta-theory with the inductive force of the data led to the development of ten information need situations, called information seeking situation types in this study. Seven of these situations were common to all three professional groups. These commonalities are noteworthy because previous studies have mainly highlighted differences between workplace domains. The conclusions from this study point to the utility of taking into account information seeking situation types which are conceptualized as embedded in time and arising out of sense-making activities as information users construct their movements through time-space.

Abstract. This essay explores the possibilities offered by Sense-Making Methodology as an exceptionally useful theory and method for studying lived experience. Following an overview and explanation of the theory and method, the use of Sense-Making is demonstrated through the description of a case study of health communication in the context of adolescents dealing with chronic health conditions. In theory and practice, Sense-Making Methodology provides a satisfying response to challenges posed to qualitative researchers by postmodern, postcolonial, and feminist critiques, including questions about the ethics of representation, interpretation, the role and voice of the "Other" in research, and the ways that research practices too often serve to further objectify and dominate those who are already systematically disempowered in society. Chronically ill adolescents are an example of a population for whom issues of power, control, autonomy, and representation have particular salience, with implications for research methodology and methods and for everyday communication interactions, including communication in health care settings. Sense-Making is particularly useful in such contexts because it provides both a way of conceptualizing lived experience and a way of dialoguing about it, and because it explicitly mandates and enacts the privileging of the voice of the Other as theorist of his or her own life.

Abstract. Reflective thinking is heralded as the method par excellence for (student) nurses to learn from the complexities of professional practice. However, there is a lack of clarity in the nursing literature as to what is the nature of reflective thinking, how it is utilized by practitioners, how it connects to nursing practice, and how it contributes to the development of nursing knowledge. Using the Sense-Making Methodology, this study explored the nature of reflective thinking by investigating how ten qualified nurses made sense of unusual clinical situations in three New Zealand hospitals. The study examined whether or not learning occurred and proposed a new definition of reflective thinking.