Wednesday, September 19

Good work in class this week all. We covered some challenging material and got through it. I really like how some of the class discussion is going. We can all learn from each other. Here is what we covered this week.

Conceptual v. Operational Definitions
Operational definitions as Adequate, Accurate, and Clear
Quantitative v. Qualitative Measurement
Levels of Measurement (Nominal, Ordinal, Interval, and Ratio)
Types of Scales (Thurston, Likert, Rank Order, Check List, & Semantic Differential)
Measurement Methods (Self Reports, Others, & Behavioral Acts)
Measurement Techniques (Questionnaires, Interviews, & Observation)
Question Order Effects
Modes of Administration

Question for posting: I would like you to pick a topic you would like to study and develop two questions. One question should be measured at the nominal or ordinal level and the other question should be measured at the interval or ratio level. For example;

I am interested in the public opinion toward O.J. Simpson. Question 1.) Do you think the juice committed the crime in Las Vegas (yes) or (no). This is a nominal question. Question 2.) How long of a sentence do you think the juice will receive if he is convicted (number of years). This is a ratio question.

Don't forget to type out your practice questions for Monday

Monday, September 17

Hello class. Don't worry about posting today. I was going to have you post questions for each level of measurement, but I think we ran into some trouble with that today. Lets look over our notes and start of class Wednesday with some questions.

Wednesday, September 12

Great work in class today. I appreciate the questions and interaction. Here is what we covered this week.

Basic v. Applied Research
Deductive v. Inductive Theory Building
Evaluating Theories (Explanation, Predict, Control, Heuristic, Communicative, & Inspiration)
The Process of Basic Communication Research
Hypothesis v. Research Question
Independent Variable v. Dependent Variable
Types of Questions we Ask (Definition, Fact, Value, & Policy)

Question for thought: I would like you to select two related variables you would be interested in studying. I would then like you to develop a Research Question and a Hypothesis between those variables. Also, identify the independent and dependent variables.

For Example, I am interested in studying the relationship between cities people live in and watching post-season baseball. A Research question would be, "Is there a relationship between the size of a city somebody lives in and the amount of post-season baseball they watch?" A Hypothesis would be, "Cities that have a professional baseball team in the post-season will watch more games than cities' whose professional baseball team did not make the post-season." The IV is city (size or team making the playoffs v. not making the playoffs) and the DV is number of post season games watched.

Two weeks down, way to go! This week in class (aka today) we discussed;

The Characteristics of Research
What All Communication Scholars have in Common
The Model of Communication Research
Different Paradigms (Naturalists v. Positivists)

For Posting; I want you to develop a research question and discuss how both positivists and naturalists might study the same question. For example;

I want to study the influence of slasher films (sweet horror movies) on males aggressive behavior. The Positivists would use an experiment. They would bring men into a lab and let half of them watch hours of slasher films and the other half to watch stand up comedy. Then I would allow all of them to pick different video games to play. If slasher films do influence violence, then those who watched those movies should pick more violent video games to play than those who watched the comedians.
The naturalist would visit fan webpages of slasher films and attempt to chat with individuals. They would ask questions about their aggressive feelings after watching films. Because naturalists believe in multiple realities, an experiment would not work because you need to understand the reality of each individual.

I know this a tough one gang, give it a shot. As long as effort is there, full credit.