Final Posting

Hello class,

 Can you believe this is our last blog posting? Remember, there will be no class this Thursday, April 30th. Below is information we covered in chapters 7 and 13.

Experiment

3 Factors for Causation

Control

Attribute Variable

Random Assignment

Pretest

Double-blind procedure

Intervening variables

Suppressor

Reinforcer

Lurking

Types of experimental design

Chi square

T-test

independent samples

paired samples

ANOVA

post-hoc comparisons

In class, we discussed the difference between an independent samples t-test and a paired samples. For posting this week, I would like you to develop a line of research that uses a t-test. Give me an example of both an independent samples and paired sample.

Individual Meetings

Good work in the last three classes. Lots of material but good stuff. This week we covered;

True Score and Error Score

Internal Validity

Measurement Reliability

Multiple Administration

Internal Consistency

Measurement Validity

Content Validity

Face validity

Criterion Validity

Construct Validity

Good Treatment

Environmental Influences

History

Sleeper

Sensitization

Hawthorne Effect

Selection

Self-selection Bias

Regression Effect

Ceiling and floor Effect

Mortality (Attrition)

Evaluation Apprehension

Researcher Personal Attribute Effect

Researcher Unintentional Expectancy Effect

Researcher Observational Bias

Observer Drift

Observer Bias

Halo Effect

External Validity

Sampling

Simple Random

Systematic

Stratified

Cluster

Convenience

Volunteer

Purposive

Quota

Network (Snowball)

Ecological Validity

Replicate Findings

Constructing Scales

Next Class (April 14) we will have individual meetings. I want you to bring your SPSS project and I will give you advice on how to improve any stakes. Each of you will be alloted a five minute time frame. For this week's posting, I would like you to select you time. This way you don't have to sit around all class. Lets start with 5:30 and go in 5 minute intervals until 6:30 (i.e. 5:30, 5:35, 5:40, etc.). Please post your name and select a time not chosen by another student.

Thursday, April 2.

Hello class,

  This week's blog posting is an easy one. On class Tuesday, I handed out your SPSS assignment. I forgot to record who had which data set. So, for this week's posting, I would like you to write the 2 variables that you were given for the assignment. They are hand written on the top of the paper. Remember to post your name.

Hello class, I hope you are all studying for the second exam and preparing for a much deserved spring break. Here is what we discussed this week;

3 ways variables can be related

  Correlations

Critical Values

Spurious Relationships

Central Limits Theorem

Kurtosis & Skewness

Confidence Interval

Null Hypothesis

Type I & Type II errors

Remember, we are taking Tuesday off to study extra hard for the exam that is on Thursday. Please feel free to email me if you have any questions. 

March 4, 2007

Hello Class,
This week we spent some time dealing with descriptive statistics and some inferential statistics. This week week we discussed;

Measures of Central Tendency
Mean
Median
Mode
Measures of Dispersion
Range
Standard Deviation
The Normal Curve
.34
.14
.02

In class we discussed how sometimes it is better to discuss the median or mode of data instead of the mean. For example, when discussing the average college graduates' income, we might want to discuss the median because outliers (such as professional athletes) would skew the mean. Can you think of other examples where we would want to discuss the median or mode instead of the mean?

February 26, 2009

Hey Class,

 Good work getting all caught up this week. There was a lot of material covered this week but I think we got the important material. We covered;

Survey Research 

Political Polls

Market Research

Evaluation Research

Sampling

Deficiencies in a Sample Frame

Foreign

Missing

Duplicates

Response Rate

Locatability

Cooperation

Eligibility

Longitudinal Designs

Trend

Cohort

Panel

Phrasing Questions

Simple Random Sample

Systematic Sample

Stratified Sample

Descriptive Statistics

Measures of Central Tendency

Mean 

Median

Mode

Measures of Dispersion

Range

Variance

SD

Visual Displays

On Monday, we discussed Sampling. For this weeks posting, I would like you to develop a research question or hypothesis. From that question, give 1) a target population, 2) Survey Population, and 3) The Sample Frame

February 5

Good work this week class. I know we had to work hard to cover the large amount of material but I like the interaction and discussions were developing. This week (and perhaps next Monday) we covered;

  The Process of Basic Communication Research

  Hypotheses vs. Research Questions

  Independent vs. Dependent Variables

  Types of Questions we Ask'

       Definition

       Fact

       Value

       Policy

  Operationalization (again :)

       Adequate

       Accurate

       Clear

  Conceptual Fit 

  Measurement

  Level of Measurement

       Nominal

       Ordinal

       Interval

       Ratio

  Scales

       Thurston

        Likert

       Rank-Order

       Check-list

       Semantic Differential

  Measurement Methods

       Self-Reports

       Others' Reports

  Measurement Techniques

  Modes of Administration

Am I crazy or is that a lot of gum? Any-who, for this weeks posting I would like you to think about the different types of questions we ask. I would like all of you to select an are of research and develop a question of definition, fact, value, & policy.

  For example, I am interested in studying motivations for using MP3 players. A question of definition would be, what is an MP3 player. A question of fact would be, do more than 50% of Kent State students own an MP3 player? A question of value would be, is it rude to walk into a classroom with your MP3 player on? A question of policy would be, should MP3 players be allowed to be worn during Kent State examinations?

  Enjoy the warm weather (along with rain) we are supposed to get this weekend.

January 30

Hey class,

This week in class we discussed;

Characteristics of Research

What all Communication Scholars have in Common

The Model of Research

Paradigms

Basic vs. Applied Research

Theories

 Building

 Evaluating

For posting this week, let's continue to work on our conceptual and operational definitions. I would like you to pose a question of a relationship between two variables. Then give conceptual and operational definitions for both variables.

Ex- Due to the problem solving needed in modern video games, gamers are more likely to excel in mathematical skills than non gamers.

Variable 1- Gamers

Conceptual- Individuals who engage in the act of playing electronically simulated games  

Operational- Individuals who admit to playing an average of 5 or more hours a week of video games on any platform

Variable 2- Mathematical skills

Conceptual- The comprehension of the logical nature and structure of geometry, logic, probability, algebra, and statistics.

Operational- Any individual who scored above 650 on the mathematics section of the SAT or 19 on the ACT's

January 22

Good work in class today. I really enjoyed our class discussions on "what is wrong with this study."  Today in Class, we discussed;

Characteristics of Bad Research

Different Epistemologies

     Personal Experience

     Intuition

     Authority

     Tradition, Custom, & Faith

     Magic, Superstition, & Mysticism

Two different types of Research

     Proprietary

     Scholarly

Research

For this weeks posting, I would like you to select one of the above Epistemologies and give an example from your own life. In class, I used the example of personal experience and my belief that everybody is Catholic. Try to come up with your own unique experience. Remember to leave your name after your posting so I can give you credit.