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CS2008
FUNDAMENTALS OF RESEARCH
Module Objectives:
You will be introduced to basic principles and methods of social research. Skills acquired upon completion of this course include being able to decipher and evaluate scholarly/social scientific research, to conduct basic empirical research and to improve analytical thinking. These skills are important for communication students. Even if you do not intend to be a researcher, you will still need to know enough to use other peoples research for decisionmaking and for your own work. In other words, research is essential to someone who wants to be a responsible professional. Like it or not, we are exposed to research findings all the time (e.g. poll results in the news). Without some background in research, we may not be able to judge the veracity of the reports. The course material also serves as essential basic foundation for those who pursue graduate study or careers in research.
Course Assessment:
10% Lecture Panel, attendance and participation 10% Assignments 10% Quizzes 20% Term Paper o The paper will consist of identification of research problem, literature review, generation of research questions and a research design. A detailed guide will be distributed. 50%: Final Exam o The final exam will consist of multiple choice questions and a variety of other question formats requiring brief answers, in addition to an essay that will require advance preparation and background research.
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and choose a method to investigate (methodological or ideological) within their means decision making. Major Decisions to make:Approach Objective Social scientists assume a real world that can be agreed upon Common traits e.g. loyalty found in all people Used to predict human behaviour Subjective Phenomenologists and ethnographers try to understand peoples subjective world
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Sample How many is enough to be accurate? Which size is suitable for my purpose / goal? Affected by resource constraints (time, attitude of informants) Data Majority Wins, part of a democracy. In reality, its not an either/or situation, but a blend of 2 ways to solve a problem
Reporting Different ways to writing research People have set of values that they subscribe to
Large Gives numbers and knowledge Doesnt mean Understanding Predict happening, more people, closer to consensus Quantitative Qualitative Best truth is the Truth is listening to most widely stories that accepted participants tell us Get numbers to Interviews find trend Get words, Yet, unable to descriptions, but no capture more turning to numbers complex / subtle interpersonal things Triangulation: using multiple methods providing multiple perspectives to ensure a good fix Objective Subjective Scientific, e.g. Researchers use using APA style for qual. Language of writing. their informants Dont matter how I Using a few think participants to show how they feel Social scientists use hard stats to Involved researchers report and interpret use I in writing Dispassionate E.g. I lived with researchers use Thomas and his two neutral language children for 3 months and we formed a E.g. Subjects were warm social bond recorded on video and their facial Accuracy enhanced expressions by including personal subsequently experiences and reactions Accuracy maximized by lack of subjective contamination
Involved Action Research Specifically to improve lives Engaged contributor to society Small Find out how people feel Goal is not about generalization, but to get in-depth info
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Survey and rate SCI Students Not to be part of it I have a trend in mind, I devise an experiment to test if its true
Observe daily life of SCI students Ask them how long they take to dress up / their activities Observe other schs students and compare Researchers report is subjective cos they report from the participants perspectives
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Objective Reality FUNCTIONALIST Rational behavior, social units based on consensus the ability to assess some kind of tangible social reality. RADICAL STRUCTURALIST
Subjective Reality INTERPRETIVE Communication must be understood from the individual (subjective) perspective. RADICAL HUMANIST Conflict and difference but - focus on the symbolic ways difference is maintained.
Scenario: Group of students drinking coffee and wrestling with their individual academic workloads.
Induction (FORM) / ITFT" Reasoning from Observation form Theory to explain observation Deduction (FROM) From Theory defining Observation to test theory Abduction From an observed effect reason out possible causes. [This results in HYPOTHESES] I dont know why its happening, but it could be because of (a hunch) Obs: My son keeps peeing, but what causes him to pee? Possible cause: Drinking too much water leads to peeing in bed (Hypothesis) Action: Dont drink anything 2 hours before bed
I see something happening, and I want to develop an explanation for it. Obs: Gender clustering guys tend to sit with guys; vice versa Theory: Students have greater comfort among peers of same gender Action: See which theory best explains the phenomenon
I have a theory about this, I want to test this out in real life. Theory: Women are more likely to discuss grades than men Obs: A test; record the no. of times the word GPA appears in a convo for both sexes. Action: If frequency in women > men, my theory is supported.
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One further step: find a way to see which induced theories are correct Requires prior confidence that observations are enough and accurate
IF #1: True for all students? IF #2: True for all times? Appropriate Sampling Deduction is better than induction, because deduction leads to a specific observation to test hypothesis or statement about the relationship I expect to find. Deduction
Induction All beans from this bag are white These beans (oddly) are white These beans are from this bag (Theory to explain Obs)
All beans from this bag are white Beans are from this bag This bean must be white (Observation to test theory)
Abduction (Educated Guess, but not be an observation, might be a hunch) Deductive reasoning is NOT always functionalist, because in research, there can be a mixture of inductive & deductive. Interpretive research is usually inductive but not absolutely.
Description
Descriptions of what I am interested in (quantitative & qualitative) Qualitative makes compelling read, but still leaves people asking why
Explanation
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Prediction
Control
Interpretation
Criticism
Gives greater credibility to explanations Yet, doesnt account for external factors (like bad internet at home) To manipulate consumer behavior E.g. to watch a show, to buy a product, to open a mail In another persons shoes From the POV of others Reporting results of my research in the language of my research participants Understanding and explaining how comm is used to exercise and maintain power in groups, org and societies
easiest way to organize grp proj over coffee. [Housing status] Set an experiment for equal no. of off-campus students see if more people at caf are campus residents. E.g. If you make your mail shape unusual, then people will open it E.g. Meeting up for coffee what does it really mean? (Getting hooked? Relaxing? Discussing work? etc) In Org comm, does the org structure hinder or facilitate progress of certain groups st within (males, females, 1 year students, minority races)
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Nomothetic approach E.g. Advertising / Audience research, to find rules that predict advertising, marketing successes. (What kind of TV commercial styles attracts sales from TV audiences)
Ontological questions: addresses nature of human comm and what is it we really observe when we observe it. E.g. To what extent do we make real choices? Is it really a choice to go to school? (We cant really choose, we mostly go cos we have to).
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#7 Hypotheses
Hypotheses: Making Predictions Hypothesis (H): statement about a relationship between variables
Two-tailed hypotheses (Non-directional) Relationship between 2 variables, but no direction specified Relationship + Direction (Already Predicted) No relationship between variables H1: There is a relationship between involvement in video games and academic performance. H2: As time spent in playing video games, academic performance decreases. H0: There is no relationship between involvement in video gaming and academic performance.
#8 Research Questions
When preliminary research is insufficient to give certainty for predictions, use research questions (RQ).
Open-ended RQ Asks simply if there is a relationship between variables Focuses on direction of relationship RQ1: Is there a relationship between involvement in video games and academic performance? RQ2: Does academic performance decline as involvement in video gaming increases?
Closed-ended RQ
RQs good for exploratory studies in absence of evidences. Open-ended RQ Close-ended RQ Relationship (Hypothesis)
+ evidence
+ more evidence
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and therefore, their research methods. Research a systematic process of asking and answering questions about human communication. Researchers specialize by: interest area research method(s).
Research methods reflect: Researchers interest area Researchers assumptions about the nature of human communication.
Epistemological assumption
Ontological assumption
World View
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3.3 Ethics
Classic Ethic Positions Judeo-Christian: Do to others what you wan others to do unto you Kant: Behavior is valid if applicable unto universal rule Utilitarianism: Small sacrifice justified for greater good Veil of Ignorance: Blinding ourselves to the roles (researcher or participant) in the research Contemporary (Formal) Codes of Ethics Professional standards of behavior for researchers E.g. Nuremberg Code, Declaration of Helsinki, Belmont Report
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Info can be relevant but not of academic quality, or vice-versa. So my research must have BOTH. Must focus on communication.
V Relevant X Not of Quality E.g. National Enquirers report about communicating with aliens not of scholarly merit X Irrelvant V Of Quality E.g. New England Journal of Medicines research not relevant to corporate rhetoric
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RQs and Hs narrow the purpose statement (specific topic and goals of a research) and become major signposts for readers.
Qualitative researchers Ask > one central question and several subquestions begin questions with words such as how or what and use exploratory verbs, such as explore or describe pose broad, general questions to allow the participants to explain their ideas focus initially on one central phenomenon of interest. The questions may also mention the participants and the site for the research. Quantitative researchers RQs inquiry about relationship among variables Does _________ (theory) explain the relationship between _________ (independent variable) and _________ (dependent var), controlling for the effects of _________ (independent var)? Hs predictions of expected rsn among variables There is no significant difference between _________ (independent var) on _________ (dependent var). Write either RQ or H Include variables categorized into groups for comparison; independent and dependent variables are measured separately Proposals RQs Formal statement of research H H are predictions about outcomes of results:o Alt H: specifying the exact results to be expected (more or less, higher or lower of something) o H0 (null form): indicating no expected difference or no relationship between groups on a dependent variable Researcher writes independent variable(s) first followed by dependent variable(s) Begin with descriptive questions followed by the inferential questions that relate variables or compare groups.
Central Qsn: broad question that asks for an exploration of the central phenomenon or concept in a study.
Descriptive Qsn How do the students rate on critical thinking skills? A descriptive question focused on the independent variable Inferential Qsn Does critical thinking ability relate to student achievement? An inferential question relating the independent and the dependent variables
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05 Sampling
Sampling: process of selecting individual units for study. Not practical to collect data from every individual in a population. Sampling can be either nonprobability or probability sampling. Sample size determined by homogeneity of population and level of confidence.
Not randomly sampled. Chosen by researchers judgment, so may be biased. Dependent on willingness and ability of others to identify people to me.
Volunteer Sampling
Findings will be biased since I have no idea what nonvolunteers will say.
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Systematic Sampling
Multistage Cluster Sampling e.g. randomly select housing units randomly select floors randomly select units
Findings may be affected If pattern exists in original population which matches the sampling interval Potential bias at every stage, cos no two stage types (e.g. states, towns, city blocks) are equal result in over/under representation.
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Internet Sampling
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Advantage of numbers:Able to discriminate accurately Able to generalise To see if there are real differences between groups Allows us to generalize Large figures gives us more confidence Easy to input responses as number choices than essay replies
Easy to process
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Coding (subbing words for computer numerals 0, 1) is still nominal measures NOT numbers Dont measure anything Can only generate percentages Indicate level of progression One category has more than the previous Still vague and imprecise hard to quantify how much more Assuming equal intervals between points on a scale Common in quantitative rsh Have a true zero, referring to absence of that attribute Top of NOIR hierarchy, since they allow us to use most sophisticated statistical tools Can also be percentages
e.g. of ordinal measures Freshmen, sophomore, junior, senior, first, second, third
E.g. Class attendance, going to movies can be zero, as in never happened Copy from Photo.
NOIR is relevant because some attributes can only belong to one NOIR category. E.g. Sex is nominal, only 1 (male) OR 0 (female), no 0.74 (??). can only be classified, not computed.
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Reliability without Validity is useless. Testing Validity (am I measuring what I want to measuring):Content Validity Looks OK Face Validity: as seen by the lay person Need to find the right people to ask questions Construct Validity Theoretically OK Convergent Validity: a close rsn to similar measures e.g. identification, loyalty, commitment Test on coolness of Sg should correspond to test on happiness of Sgpreans Divergent Validity: should not show relationship to dissimilar measures e.g. high on loyalty, low on individuality Criterion validity Tests OK Concurrent Validity: score on one measure to correlate highly with other measures e.g. anger on test A will correlate with anger in test B
Expert / Panel Validity: as seen by more knowledgeable insiders like comm scholars Preferred since its passed peer approval.
Predictive Validity: predict real world outcomes e.g. High GPA predicts success in high school
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Respondents to decide between the two concepts, where their opinion lies
More difficult to do Must pretest words (to see if they are really the opposite of each other)
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07 Qualitative Research
Communication researchers use both quantitative and qualitative methods because human interaction is more complex and intricate than can quantified with measuring devices. Qualitative research methods are sensitive to social constructs, and explore social phenomena thru emphasis on empirical, inductive and interpretive approaches. Studies the communication environment of recipients, allowing us to explore social phenomena.
Includes participant observation, interviews, focus groups, narrative analysis and ethnography. Discourse (naturally occurring talk or gesture) is captured in the form it is originally in (no change).
Subjectivity the interpretive research processes used to make the subject of interpretation meaningful Opposed to common definition of being individualized. Inter-subjectivity the social accomplishment of how people co-construct and co-experience the interaction of social life and their rules for it).
All Qua. Research methods: Interest: All have theoretical interest in human communication process Context: All treat study of comm. as socially situated human actions and artifacts Subjects: All use human investigators as primary research instrument Medium: All rely on textual, written forms for coding data
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Unlike quanti. reports that talk about causality (what causes what), Qualitative reports suggests mutual simultaneous shaping (everything influences everything else) impossible to identify specific causality Interaction is non-directional cannot say what causes what quantitative way of dissecting events into parts is inappropriate. All qua. Research methods: Treat human interaction as data Have researchers there in person to observe or obtain detailed records of interaction Participants are natural actors in their settings
Qualitative research has a process with a beginning, middle and end, but it is more cyclical then linear researchers need to return to research literature and refine their design and topic (iterative).
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Researchers use triangulation (use of various methods to bring credibility to their findings):
Data triangulation Using various sources (e.g. survey data, interviews, focus groups) Using several data sources Using various researchers / evaluators greater confidence in findings since results are not dependent on a single person Reseachers from various disciplines work together They can question each others bias and perspectives
Investigator triangulation
Interdisciplinary triangulation
Qualitative studies are structured around an overall RQ. Qua. RQs: start with how or what explain, seek, explore, describe a process are worded nondirectionally (e.g. X affect, X influence, V play a role) Reference the research site (context)
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E.g. Micro >> Mid >> Macro Direct quotes >> Interaction process >> Org norms A book >> TV genres >> Cultural values Some qua. studies focus on the same level of evidences.
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Threats to credibility:Inaccurate or incomplete data Problem of our interpretation Threat to Theoretical Validity Selection Bias / Reactivity Bias Inability to make audio or video recording (Skewed by our own perception or knowledge), or interpretation of others (different people see and think differently) Solution: listen to participants POV, see if can justify the differences btw ppl Data that do not support my finding Solution: need to analyze them, not dismiss them Selection Bias: when certain data stands out to me Reactivity Bias: when participants interaction becomes affected by presence of (e.g. after knowing that Im the researcher, will they react differently?)
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08 Surveys
Survey: series of formatted questions delivered to a defined sample of people, expecting their responses immediately or very soon. Questionnaires: specific set of questions that respondents answer.
Trend
Measure same items over time but draw different samples from population each time New people may differ in People are replaced should opinion. some drop out of study Same group of individuals sampled over time High attrition rate, group No changes in people gets smaller over time composition over time Groups of people defined by a common event (e.g. grad class of 2011) Measure a dependent and independent variable at 2 points in time Tells us about causality
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Dichotomous
Intermediate Category
E.g. I am willing to:__ Go filming __ Pick up trash __ Fly a kite __ Make a cake E.g. Strongly agree, agree, neutral, disagree, Strongly disagree
E.g. Chinese should not be included in the University curriculum E.g. Does it seem impossible or not that pigs cannot fly?
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Internet
8.8 Pretesting
If it can be misunderstood it will be.
Aesthetics and design of questionnaire Logic and flow of wording. Words specific meaning(s)
Construct Validity: test using convergent (e.g. Good must tally with Kind) and discriminant validity (e.g. Good must be inverse to Bad).
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Ethnography: study of human behavior (observe, describe and interpret) How + What Level of involvement?
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Sensitivities Structure
People scared of camera, women afraid to talk to men etc. Rshr merely records answers Rshr asks some questions to allow further elaboration Rshr starts with generic questions Unstructured Funnel: Broad to Specific Order of questions Inverted Funnel: Specific to Broad Funnel or Inverted Funnel Descriptive: Overview of everyday occurrences Structural: Relationships among terms that informants use Contrast / Ranking: Explain differences / similarity / importance of informants concepts
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10 Experiments
Experiments: manipulating one variable to see if another variable changes as a result. Its more than just asking (as in surveys), but to try them out in practice.
A must first exist, only then B can be affected Experiments can capture change in variable thru time (surveys cannot)
Any changes to A must change B at the same time Still not enough to conclude causality (other factors might influence B)
Strength: can identify variables with causal relationships, and find out the direction of causality Weakness: Artificial, mental condition different in experimental states (ecological isomorphism) dont resemble real life
Need a control To remove all other possible variables from experimental design To be sure only treatment variable itself is causing change Control Groups: Not exposed to any experimental variable Use 2 groups, but place only 1 group in a control environment (isolate it no treatment variable)
If control group changes something else is causing change Still cannot conclude, since characteristics in one group (as compared to another) may cause the results need random assignment
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If more than 1 characteristic in a group factors other than experimental variable could cause the change. Cannot remove these variables cos we don't know what they are. Random assignment: equal chance of any peculiarity appearing in both experiment and control groups. Random assignment =/= random sampling. Since unknown factors now influence both groups equally, we can eliminate them out.
Two-Group Random Assignment Pretest-Posttest Design R O1 X O2 + Control R O1 O2 Non-pretest rd 3 (Ctrl) Group R X O2 Non-pretest, Non-variable th 4 (Ctrl) Group R O2 Same as 2-Grp Pretest-Posttest Individuals are now randomly assigned (R)
All other factors can occur equally in both groups Any changes resultant must be reasonably assumed as due to experimental variable to eliminate possibility of pretest results O1 affecting posttest results O2 O1 is removed Group has no pretest, but will go thru X and be observed at posttest O2 Group of randomly assigned individuals who simply has posttest O2
+ Control
Non-pretest, Non-variable th 4 (Ctrl) Group R O2 Make sure only pretest and variable influence experiment
R X O2 Make sure pretest does not influence results Solomon Four-Group Design
To determine specific influence of a variable Time-series Analysis: to see if results will hold thru time. R O1 O2 O3 O4 X O5 O6 O7 O8
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Latent vs manifest content: latent deals with measuring a concept, manifest deals with measuring variables that operationalize a concept.
E.g. Cannot count patriotism as a concept because its latent / abstract. But we can count the frequency of the word patriotism.
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E.g., H1: Alcohol and tobacco products will differ from pharmaceuticals in frequency of occurrence in comic strips. Decide how many different instances of a unit to be included in the universe Can narrow down the scope of universe Universe narrow down sampling frame (list from which to draw specific samples) comic strips, wherever they come from - books, websites, newspapers Refine by deciding, say, you only want strips featuring human characters
3. Sample universe of content 4. Select units for coding (5 types) Decide what units to sample
This is narrowed universe the sampling frame Define how frequent is the systematic sampling E.g. yearly systematic sampling, monthly sys sampl. Physical: occupy observable space in print media or time in audiovisual media. Syntactical: units of language Referential Propositional Thematic E.g. 1 entire comic strip or individual panels in a strip?
5. Develop coding scheme 6. Assigning occurrences of a unit to a code in coding scheme 7. Count occurrences & report their frequencies
E.g. words, sentences visual content, wording Refer to a person/event Structures stories and dramas Broad topics within a structure Coding sheet-recording frequencies of appearance. Categories cannot overlap and no unit can be coded twice For things that don't fit anywhere, might have to create generic category for them. E.g. Beer, Aspirin, Cigar Identify word references Assign each occurrence of refers to Substance a unit in the sample to a code in coding scheme For any analysis involving multiple coders, code a no. of units as trial run. Chi-square test tells us Not very informative, so whether distribution of have to supplement with occurrences varies additional information significantly by type of user like conditions and types. or by setting. Extra info goes into an additional column on coding sheet.
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Conversation analysis
Ratio analysis
Semiotics analyses
Narrative analyses
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Focuses on systems of meaning and how particular labels/concepts are developed and strengthened through use of language Ways in which communication establishes, reinforces and maintains power structures in society. Marxist criticism examine content for hidden messages that reinforce ideology of system (e.g. management in a company) Feminist criticisms assess content from a woman's perspectives
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necessary for standard survey and experimental designs need to make known beforehand the Hypotheses / RQs, identify people sampled, methods and review literature
necessary for projects have no initial hypotheses / RQs or specific research tools group write copious notes arranges notes into categories as research progresses thinking about the project itself shapes the final paper
Most research fall between the 2 extremes. We should have our basic stuff like literature reviews, basic RQs and a sampling description etc.
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answers WIIFM (whats in it for me) when writing need to be timely and relevant news format, news style
e.g. a study on cross-cult comm a story on how to date someone from another culture
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