Comm 454

Communication Inquiry

Instructor:                        Stephen D. Bruning, Ph. D.,  204 Yochum Hall,   sbruning@capital.edu
                                        Phone 236-6323 (w), 338-1715 (h)

Office Hours:                   8-9:00, TTH, and by appointment

INSTITUTIONAL GOALS STATEMENTS

 

University Mission:   Transforming lives through higher education

 

University Learning Goals:

Thinking critically, reasoning logically, and communicating clearly

 

College of Arts and Sciences Philosophy: Ability to communicate effectively through reading, writing, speaking and listening

 

Department of Communication Learning Goals: to develop an appreciation for and understanding of (1) the historical development and relationship of public communication and human interaction, (2) communication media as social forces through which an individual interprets, modifies, controls, and adjusts to the social environment, and (3) the aesthetically satisfying elements and successful performative characteristics of effective communication arts.

 

STATEMENT OF INSTITUTIONAL POLICY:

 

University policies governing drop dates, penalties, plagiarism, and academic integrity, as detailed in the university bulletin, student handbook(s), and/or undergraduate time schedule, will be observed.

I. COURSE OBJECTIVES

This course is based upon three overriding principles:

  • We live and function in a society based on communication.
  • Study of communication provides an individual with the knowledge and skills necessary to compete successfully within ever-changing social, technological, and professional environments.
  • There exist many techniques for investigating the phenomena of communication, and the development of a rudimentary understanding of these techniques can help an individual interpret, modify, control, and adjust to the environment.

 

Following the successful completion of this course, you will be able to:

  • Describe qualitative research processes.
  • Describe quantitative research processes.
  • Develop theoretical explanations, grounded in qualitative and/or quantitative research, that further understanding of the phenomena of communication.
  • Appreciate the formal study of the role of communication within a complex society.
  • Discuss, debate, and criticize the ways in which communication influences ethics, morals, and values in our society.
  • Understand the various perspectives that researchers may take when examining the phenomena of communication.
  • Develop critical thinking skills, and appreciate how critical thinking skills can aid in your growth as a scholar, professional, and individual.

 

II. REQUIREMENTS

  • Read your text conscientiously so that you may gain insight into the phenomena of communication research.
  • Do all assignments at the time scheduled. DO NOT miss assignments. Late assignments will be accepted, but your grade will be lowered two letter grades.
  • Read newspapers and magazines. Listen to the radio and television programs dealing with current problems. Then start thinking how communication could be studied in the stories we hear every day.
  • Attend class regularly.
  • All work submitted must be the student's own. Cheating in any form (see below for definitions and examples) will not be tolerated and will result in disciplinary action.

 

Academic Integrity (Capital University Student Handbook)

"Academic Integrity" is the expectation that all Capital students are to be honest in their academic endeavors, and that the work one submits for academic evaluation must be his/her own, unless an instructor expressly permits certain types of collaboration. Instructors are expected to make this Academic Integrity Policy known, in writing, at the beginning of a course.

A non-exhaustive list of behaviors which constitute academic misconduct and subject one to sanction(s) includes:

Cheating -- deceiving/misrepresenting information submitted on a paper/test/project

e.g. -- using materials/notes not permitted by the instructor during an examination

-- collaborating on a test/project when not authorized to do so by the instructor

-- receiving, giving or stealing parts of, or an entire test which has not yet been administered

-- substitution of one student for another during an examination

Plagiarism -- submitting work that is not expressly one's own as one's own

e.g. -- quoting verbatim or paraphrasing excessively another person's words (published or unpublished) without acknowledgment of the source

-- including facts, statistics, or other illustrative materials that are not common knowledge without acknowledgment of the source

-- submitting another's term paper, essay test answer, computer program, or project as one's own

Fabrication -- using "invented" information or falsifying research, data, or other findings with the intent to deceive

e.g. -- citing information not taken from the source indicated; failure to document a secondary source material

-- listing sources in a bibliography not directly used in the academic exercise

-- submitting lab reports or clinical data which contain fictitious/falsified information; concealing/distorting the true nature, origin, or function of such data

III. EVALUATION OF STUDENT PROGRESS

  • Four papers will be graded.
  • Assigned activities are graded based upon your ability to demonstrate a thorough comprehension of communication theory building and research.

 

The value of each assignment is as follows:
 

Materials, articles, etc. for the literature review

  10

Rough Draft Literature Review

  50

Final Draft Literature Review

125

Methods and Results Section

100

Discussion Section

125

Attendance

  75

Participation

100

Findings presentation

  40

                                                                                                                     Total:

 625 Points

Specific points of evaluation for (a) the articles for the literature review, (b) the rough and final draft of the literature review, (c) the methods and results section, (d) the discussion section, and (e) the findings presentation will provided during class.  Make sure that you attend class so that you can obtain this information. 

Attendance Grade:  Attendance is taken every day.  If you are not in attendance, you will lose five points for each day you are absent. 

Participation grade:  Periodically I will ask you to e-mail me articles, sentences, paragraphs, and so on.  Your participation grade will be determined based upon both your completion of what I have asked you to do (e.g., you e-mailed me an article) and the effectiveness of work (e.g., you sent me an article that would be used in your research investigation). 

Grades are assigned using the following scale:
 

 

575 - 625 -- A

563 - 574 -- A-

550 - 562 -- B+

513 - 549 -- B 

500 - 512 -- B-

488 - 499 -- C+

450 - 487 -- C

438 - 449 -- C-

425 - 437 -- D+

388 - 424 -- D

375 - 387 -- D-

000 - 374 -- F 

 

 

IV. SCHEDULE OF WEEKLY ASSIGNMENTS

The following pages contain the tentative semester schedule. There will be ample time for class discussion of communication principles. You are urged to follow the syllabus regularly and to note the specific dates upon which activities and reports are due.
 

Date

Topic 

Chapter

Aug 27

Introduction and overview to the course

 

Aug 29

Studying communication 

  • Overview to the communication discipline
  • Ways of knowing
  • The research process
  • Recognizing good research

 

Aug 31

Studying communication 

  • The three-stage model of communication research
  • Assumptions of researchers

 

Sep 5

Conducting research using secondary sources 

  • Selecting, narrowing, and adjusting a topic 
  • Developing search strategies

 

Sep 7

Conducting research using secondary sources 

  • Reasons for reviewing previous research
  • The search for research
  • Reading scholarly journal articles




Sep 10

Developing research questions and hypotheses

  • Describing communication behavior.
  • Relating communication behavior to other variables.

 

Sep 12

Observing and measuring communication variables

  • Conceptual vs. operational definitions.
  • Measurement theory.

 

Sep 14

Writing a literature review

  • Collecting information.
  • Writing style.
  • Questions to answer.
  • Articles, Materials, etc. for the Literature Review Due

 

Sep 17

Individual Workshops -- sign up in class

 

Sep 19

Individual Workshops -- sign up in class

 

Sep 21

Individual Workshops -- sign up in class

 

Sep 24

Writing a literature review

  • Collecting information.
  • Writing style.
    Questions to answer.

 

Sep 26

Writing a literature review

  • Collecting information.
  • Writing style.
    Questions to answer.

 

Sep 28

Conducting research using secondary sources 

  • Basics of APA

 

Oct 1

Research ethics and politics

 

Oct 3

Research ethics and politics

 

Oct 5

Rough Draft of Literature Review Due

 

Oct 8

Designing valid communication research

  • Threats to internal validity.
  • External validity.

 

Oct 10

Preparing research projects 

  • Research review. 

 

Oct 12

Revising the Literature Review Based upon Feedback

 

Oct 15

Textual analysis

  • Rhetorical criticism.
  • Interaction analysis.
  • Performance studies.

 

Oct 17

Writing the Methods Section

  • Questions to answer.
  • Information to provide.
  • Developing a thorough methods section. 

 

Oct 22

Writing the Methods Section

  • Questions to answer.
  • Information to provide.
  • Developing a thorough methods section. 

 

Oct 24

Writing the Methods Section

  • Questions to answer.
  • Information to provide.
  • Developing a thorough methods section. 

 

Oct 26

Individual Workshops -- sign up in class 

 

Oct 29

Individual Workshops -- sign up in class 
Final Draft of Literature Review Due

 

Oct 31

Individual Workshops -- sign up in class

 

Nov 2

Writing the results section

  • Reporting important findings.
  • Reporting all results.
  • Quantifying results when possible. 

 

Nov 5

Describing quantitative data

  • Making sense of numbers.
  • Describing data through summary statistics.
  • Describing data in standard scores.

 

Nov 7

Describing quantitative data

  • Making sense of numbers.
  • Describing data through summary statistics.
  • Describing data in standard scores.

 

Nov 9

Theory development

  • Basic tenets of theory
  • Purpose of theory

 

Nov 12

Final Draft of Methods and Results Section

 

Nov 14

Developing theory 

  • Building arguments to support theory.   

 

Nov 16

Individual Workshops -- sign up in class.

 

Nov 19

Individual Workshops -- sign up in class.

 

Nov 26

Writing the discussion section

  • Presenting findings.
  • Developing theory.
  • Defending conclusions.
  • Suggestions for future research

 

Nov 28

Findings presentations

 

Nov 30

Findings presentations

 

Dec 3

Findings presentations

 

Dec 5

Findings presentations

 

Dec 7

Findings presentations

 

Final Paper -- ALL SECTIONS are Due No Later than 10:00 December 12, 2007