University of Northern Iowa
Department of Communication Studies

48C:286:04 Studies in Comm. Research Methodology: Quantitative Fall 2000

Instructor: Dr. Joyce Chen                                                      Office Hour: M 1-5pm
Office: EST 206                                                                            or by appointment
Office Phone: 273-2574                                                     Email Address: chen@uni.edu

Class meeting times: Wednesday 6:00 - 8:50pm, CAC 116

Textbooks
    Reinard, J. L. (2001). Introduction to communication research, (3^rd. ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill Higher Education.

Reference Book (on reserve at the multimedia service in the library)
    Rubin, R.B., Palmgreen, P., & Sypher, H.E. (1994). Communication research measures: A sourcebook. New York: The Guilford Press.

    Frey, L., Botan, C.H., Friedman, P.G., & Kreps, G.L. (2000). Investigating Communication: An introduction to research methods. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Course Objectives
There are many kinds of communication research methods. This course will focus on the quantitative approach. By the end of this term, you will:

--gain knowledge about the differences between qualitative and quantitative research methodologies;

--gain basic knowledge and skills for designing quantitative research;

--understand basic terminology of statistics and be capable of operating some relevant statistical analyses to analyze and interpret statistical results;

--understand the rationale why certain research methods you need to use for your research project;

--be able to develop a methodological perspective for a thesis or final paper required for your graduation.

Course Organization
Since my teaching philosophy is to promote students' learning processes, I will accommodate your learning needs based on your individual research background. The course will not be difficult but it requires substantial work to achieve the objectives mentioned above. The class time will mainly contribute to the discussions of theories and methods, and the exercises of designing a research project and conducting statistical data analyses. Assigned readings, leading discussions, and individual conferences will be emphasized throughout the semester. Since your final paper for the class needs to meet the requirement of a MA thesis prospectus, you'd better discuss your topic with your advisor early during the semester, so that you can use this class to effectively work on that research project.

"The University of Northern Iowa is an Affirmative Action Equal Opportunity Institution. Students with disabilities and other special needs should feel free to contact the professor privately if there are services or adaptations which can be made to accommodate specific needs."

Grading
Grading for assignments and exams will be as follows:

The grades will be weighted by the percentages shown above and combined to result in your final course grade. Assignments are due at the beginning of class on the due date, unless otherwise stated. The grading will not be hard as long as you complete all the assignments. However, before giving you the final grade I need to make sure that you achieve the objectives of this course.

Leading Discussion
As mentioned before, discussion will be the main learning format of this class. We will review part of the materials covered by the course of Introduction to Research and concentrate on the textbook for this course. There are two leading discussions. One is to select a chapter that you would like to present as a discussion leader in the class. Please read the assigned chapter, and prepare notes and questions for its scheduled discussion. The other is to find a research article from one of the communication journals. The research topic in the article should be closely related to your research interest, and the methods employed is quantitative. You will present the research to the class. However, for both leading discussion you do not have to fully understand the materials. I will help you explain the concept, give examples, interpret the research findings, or demonstrate the techniques, in order to advance the discussion. The purpose of leading discussion is to encourage students’ participation. The grades will be given based on the evidence of your preparation for the discussion.

Statistics
This is a practical course that will provide you with the opportunity to gain real experiences of planning/designing a research with a quantitative approach. Statistics are a necessary tool for quantitative data analyses. However, this is not a statistics class. I will not require/expect you to learn all the statistics during this methods class. Instead, I will try to help you practice certain statistical data analyses that are frequently used in communication research projects and best for interpretation of your data. My goal is to accommodate your needs and to make you feel comfortable with the application of statistics to your research.

The software that we will use for statistical analysis is SPSS-PC. It is available in the lab CAC116 and EST 114, the Post-production lab in Electronic Media Division. There are brief descriptions about procedures of using SPSS-PC in the textbook. I will demonstrate the SPSS operation in the class, and also help you individually depending on your background about statistics and computers. There will be two stages. First, we will use my data set just for the purpose of exercises. Then, we will use your own data as a pre-test for your research project.

Written Assignment
You will get a handout for each assignment.

A. Statistics

1. Descriptive data analysis (frequencies, means)

2. Differences between groups or variables ( t-test, Chi-Square, ANOVA)

3. Relationships between variables (correlations, crosstabs, factor analysis)

B. Survey Questionnaire

C. Final Paper

Tentative Schedule

Week 1 (8/23) Syllabus and Introduction

Week 2 (8/30) The Role of Research in Communication (Joyce)
Readings: Ch.1

Week 3 (9/6)
Individual research at the library, NO CLASS MEETING

Week 4 (9/13) Communication Research Problems
Readings: Ch.2 (Colleen)
Using Communication Research Sources
Readings: Ch.4 (Sergei)

Week 5 (9/20): Conceptualization in Communication Research
Research article presentation X 2 (Colleen, Seth)
Readings: Ch.3 (Curtis)

Week 6 (9/27): Composing the Communication Argument:  The Reasoning and the Evidence
Research article presentation X 2 (Barbara, Bobbi)
Readings: Ch.5 (Yanliu)
Assignment: Final paper

Week 7(10/4): Measurement in Communication Research
Research article presentation X 3 (Curtis, Sarah, Yanliu)
Readings: Ch.8 (Chikako)

Week 8(10/11): Design of Descriptive Empirical Research in Communication
Readings: Ch.9 (Barbara)
Quiz #1
Assignment: Survey questionnaire

Week 9 (10/18): Sampling
Readings: Ch.11 (Seth)
Research article presentation X 3 (Chikako,Tania, Sergei)
Due: Survey Questionnaire

Week 10 (10/25): SPSS-PC & Descriptive Statistics (Joyce)
Readings: Ch.12, Appendix E
Statistics Assignment #1

Week 11 (11/1): Inferential Statistics: Relationships & Differences (Joyce)
Readings: Ch.13 & 14
Due: Statistics Assignment #1
Statistics Assignment #2

Week 12 (11/8):
Due: Statistics Assignment #2
Statistics Assignment #3
Quiz #2

Week 13 (11/15): Review Statistics & Discussion (Individual research projects)
Due: Statistics Assignment #3

Week 14 (11/22): Flexible –Thanksgiving--

Week 15 (11/29): Qualitative Research (Sarah)
Textual Analysis & Content Analysis (Tania)
Readings: Ch.7 & 6

Week 16 (12/6): Project Presentation

Finals Week: Final Paper due 12/12 (Tuesday)