NJOMACS

The article analysis the patterns of research in communicatiowrand media studies in Nigeria, an area hardly explored, with focus on the sub-genres/topics, type of theories utilised and the methodological orientation employed. The study adopts mixed content analysis to examine twenty peer-reviewed articles, purposively selected from scholarly journals online. Political communication and digital media appear the most utilised sub-genres, with Uses and Gratification, and Framing as dominant theories, while a considerable number of the articles had no theoretical underpinnings. There appears to be a methodological balance between quantitative and qualitative methods with few studies adopting mixed methods, while survey and content analysis are the most utilised research techniques, with interview, coding sheet and questionnaire as the most utilised instruments of data collection. Purposive sampling features more than probability sampling with a balanced adoption of descriptive statistics and thematic analysis. The utilisation of mixed methods research approach is encouraged to enrich scholarly discourse and inject rigour into the field, and for a broader understanding and stronger inferences. Research in Communication and Media should incorporate theories to provide for the integration and correlation of theoretical discourse with empirical findings about complex phenomena in real-life experiences.