CMM 601 Problems and Methods in
Communication Research
Fall 2009
Dr. Edward Woods
250 Smith Hall
Office Hours: MTW 12-2, And by Appointment
Office Phone: 696-3104 Home Phone: 697-5451
Course Objectives: The purpose of this course is to further develop your knowledge and skill in social science research methods. Specific objectives include:
1. Use concepts associated with standard social science research in communication.
2. Evaluate communication research using the criteria of social science research.
3. Use statistical procedures in analyzing data.
4. Design a communication study.
Texts Required:
Frey, L.R., Botan, C.H., Friedman, P.G., & Kreps, G.L. (2000). Investigating communication: An introduction to research methods (2nd Edition). Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon, Inc.
Rubin, R.B., Palmgreen, P., & Sypher, H.E. (Eds.). (1994). Communication research measures: A sourcebook. New York: The Guilford Press.
Course Assignments:
Two Tests = 30% (First test = 20%; (Mini)-Test 2 = 10%)
Summaries of communication research measures = 10%
Statistical Analysis = 20%
Research Proposal = 40%
Attendance
We meet but once a week, so attendance at each session is extremely important. Given that one of our class sessions equals up to three class periods of a daytime schedule, if you miss more than two sessions for unexcused reasons, your final grade will be lowered by 1/2 of a letter grade for each absence over that limit. Excused absences for university approved reasons do not count against you, except that if you miss 1/4 of the meetings for any reason, you will fail (unless you can drop--deadline for withdrawal from a single class is Friday, October 30. Excused absences must be documented. Excessive lateness will not be acceptable. Two latenesses will count as one absence.
Academic Dishonesty--The University implemented a policy a few years ago that is quite severe. The instructor must report all instances of academic dishonesty to the Academic Affairs Office. The second offense results in suspension, the third instance results in expulsion. What is academic dishonesty? Plagiarism, cheating, and fabrication. Plagiarism is passing off someone else's work as your own. Fabrication is any kind of forgery or lying to advance your standing in the class. Cheating is dishonest work on a test. My policy toward academic dishonesty is simple--if you commit it, you fail the course. So don't do it! You don't have to, and you deny yourself the learning experiences by which you grow.
Summaries
To provide you with the opportunity to build a knowledge of some widely used communication research measures, this assignment consists of your choosing ten of the short articles about communication measures found in the Communication Research Measures text and summarizing the content. This text is one of the great resources in the communication discipline (my opinion), so gaining familiarity with its content is a great plus. Here is how the assignment works. You will submit an initial summary of an article about a research measure. If that summary receives an A or B grade, you have completed the assignment except for the bibliography of the remaining nine articles. If your initial submission does not receive an A or a B, you must submit another until you receive an A or a B. (Each time you submit a summary, it must be of a different article.) Suppose you don’t make an A or a B until your fourth summary. Then you would submit a bibliography of six extra measure articles that you have read. You should submit the first article summary after we have covered the concepts of validity and reliability (Ch. 5) in an acceptable APA format, by our last meeting in November. If you make an A on the first summary, that is your grade for the assignment. If you take two tries to make an A, you receive the average of the two for your assignment grade. If you have to go the distance and submit four summaries, then your overall grade for the assignment will be the average of the four.
Criteria for assessment include:
Including important points from the article on each research measure
Accuracy of paraphrase
Clearness of paraphrase Well-crafted paraphrase
Error-free Follows APA style
Statistical Analysis
This assignment will give you an initial experience in a) gathering data, b) using a computer and statistical software to test hypotheses or research questions, and c) reporting the results of your research in an acceptable format.
For this assignment, as an exercise, class members will serve as respondents and the relationship of two variables beyond demographic data (such as age and gender) will be tested. One of the functions of the Communication Research Measures text is to provide you easy access to measures (although you may decide to use measures not in the text). The measures must be multi-item measures such as those found in Communication Research Measures.
The length expectation for this assignment is 5 pages, divided into four sections: Rationale, Methodology, Results, and Discussion.
Criteria for evaluation include:
Adopting the conventions of the field in crafting your analysis
Well-argued justification for carrying out the research
Well-crafted reporting of methods used
Appropriate use of statistical procedures
Well-crafted and correct reporting of the results
Credible interpretation of results
Error-free
Follows APA style
Research Proposal
For this assignment, you will prepare a prospectus for approval without actually conducting the research and reporting the results. The proposal breaks down into two major parts--Problem, and Methodology. (See attached guidelines and criteria for a detailed breakdown of a typical proposal).
The length expectation of the text of your research proposal is 13 pages (not including tables and bibliography).
Tentative Course Schedule
August 27--Course Introduction, and Ch. 1
Sept. 3--Chapters 2 & 3--The Research Process--Conceptual Choices and Using the Literature
September 10 --Chapters 4, 5--Planning and Designing the Data Collection
September 17 --Chapters 6 Ethics and Politics in Research
September 24 --Chapter 7--Experimental Research
Five Research Question Due
October 1 --Chapter 8 --Nonexperimental Research
October 8 --Test 1 & Last day to turn in article summary
October 15--Chapter 11--Theory of Statistics; First part of Chapter 12
October 22--Chapter 12 (Continuation of Statistical Theory)
Chapter 13--Differences Between Groups: Chi Square and t-tests
October 29--Chapter 13 (continued)--Analysis of Variance; Chapter 14—Analyzing
Relationships Between Variables (Correlations).
November 5 & November 12-- Running Computer Analyses (Meet at Computer Lab--SH 532)
November 19 -- Discussing Results--Chapter 15
Nine item bibliography of research measures carefully read due
November 26 THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY
December 3 Consultations on Proposals
Statistical Analysis Due
Course Evaluation
December 10—Proposal Due
December 10 Final Exam (really a mini-test)
The College of Liberal Arts has asked faculty to provide these important dates:
August 31—W period begins
October 30—W period ends
November 12-December 8—Only withdrawal from all classes allowed.
Research Proposal Guidelines
(Adapted from Metts, S.M. (1991). Instructor=s manual: Investigating communication. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.)
Chapter I: The Problem
This section is the justification for conducting the research. It includes the rationale and need for the proposed study. The chapter has four main parts, each of which should be labeled in your paper.
A. Introduction--Background to the problem. It should:
1. Present a brief history of interest in the area
2. Specify unresolved issues, theoretical questions, and/or social concerns
B. Review of the literature--surveys the theory and research related to the problem. Include the following details:
1. Delineate the relevant theoretical positions pertaining to your problem.
2. Summaries of prior research: prior studies of how the variables have been studied, findings, conclusions, and weaknesses
3. Establish the basis of your study--isolate issues which merit further research.
C. Purposes and objectives--drawing on what you have previously stated, explain the issues you plan to investigate.
1. Specify the variables for your study
2. Delineate the research problem--explain the expected relationships among the variables and outline the comparisons of interest
3. State the importance, scope, and limitations of your study.
4. If necessary, review any conceptual or substantive assumptions
D. Hypotheses or Research Questions
1. A conceptual statement of your hypotheses and/or research questions. You state the predicted relationships between the independent and the dependent variables.
2. The next chapter will provide an operational statement of hypotheses and variables.
Summary of Chapter I contents
Chapter II: Methodology
A. Introduction: Brief Review of Chapter I as a transition to your explanation of the proposed methodology.
B. Research Design, in which:
1. The type of research design is identified using such terms as lab/field, experimental/nonexperimental/survey, etc.
2. Independent and dependent variables are operationally defined.
3. Instrumentation: Explain any pilot studies which will be used to develop or validate measures (if new). Establish validity and reliability of measures.
C. Procedures, an explanation of how you plan to gather data.
1. Selection of subjects (you may have to review sample versus population issues).
2. Explanation of classroom, lab, or field procedures. Include instructions to subjects, how materials will be distributed, how treatments will be administered, data collection and recording, etc.
D. Planned statistical analyses
E. Conclusion
Also include appendices of variable measures if necessary and a bibliography.
______________________________________________________________________________
If you carried out the proposal, your paper would also include the following parts:
III. Results: A report of the statistical results obtained from your analyses, including whether or not your hypotheses were supported.
IV. Discussion and conclusions: Discussion of the meaning of the results, and how they fit into theory and previous research. Also, what does your study suggest for future research?
Criteria for evaluation include:
Scholarly tone in language use
Engaging our interest in the introduction showing the importance
Well-argued justification for the study you will propose
Appropriate coverage of prior research and variables that lead directly to your proposal with no rambling—gaps in prior research or next stage to be tested clearly identified bearing directly on your proposal
Well-crafted reporting of methods to be used
Appropriate identification of statistical procedures to be used
Error-free
Follows APA style