A QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS APPROACH TO A+ IN COM
312 EXAM.
Intro to research methods (section 1)
Research
the process of asking questions and systematically obtaining answers
What do we focus on in communication research?
focus is the message
message
a set of verbal, written, or nonverbal cues
Why do we conduct research?
to overcome limitations of ordinary (non-systematic) human inquiry about
communication
What is public vs. private (proprietary) research?
Public research: universities receive a significant portion of their funding from state
governments and other public sources
Private research: universities typically rely on private donations, endowments, and
tuition to fund their research
- usually kept confidential and may be protected by patents, copyrights to maintain
exclusivity and secrecy
What are the steps in the research process?
Quant researchers start with the theory, what can i do to push this area of research
forward?
1. proposition to test (question)
2. review the literature
3. hypotheses
4. method to test it
5. data collection
6. analysis
7. present at conference/publication
Human Inquiry, how do we come to agreement?
, - authority
- tradition
- observation
- first hand experience
errors in human inquiry
- inaccurate observations
- overgeneralization
- selective observation
- illogical reasoning
- premature closure of reasoning
- mystification: confusion
What is science?
a way of learning and knowing about the world
- follows certain steps
- empirical: relies on empirical evidence gained through experimentation or the
collection of first-hand data
- theoretical: develop new theories and hypotheses to explain natural phenomenon
Rigorous scientific research
The research process (section 2)
research process
1. proposition to test (question)
2. review the literature
3. hypotheses
4. method to test it
5. data collection
6. analysis
7. present at conference/publication
researching ideas
formulating ideas
- unambiguous
- involve two variables
312 EXAM.
Intro to research methods (section 1)
Research
the process of asking questions and systematically obtaining answers
What do we focus on in communication research?
focus is the message
message
a set of verbal, written, or nonverbal cues
Why do we conduct research?
to overcome limitations of ordinary (non-systematic) human inquiry about
communication
What is public vs. private (proprietary) research?
Public research: universities receive a significant portion of their funding from state
governments and other public sources
Private research: universities typically rely on private donations, endowments, and
tuition to fund their research
- usually kept confidential and may be protected by patents, copyrights to maintain
exclusivity and secrecy
What are the steps in the research process?
Quant researchers start with the theory, what can i do to push this area of research
forward?
1. proposition to test (question)
2. review the literature
3. hypotheses
4. method to test it
5. data collection
6. analysis
7. present at conference/publication
Human Inquiry, how do we come to agreement?
, - authority
- tradition
- observation
- first hand experience
errors in human inquiry
- inaccurate observations
- overgeneralization
- selective observation
- illogical reasoning
- premature closure of reasoning
- mystification: confusion
What is science?
a way of learning and knowing about the world
- follows certain steps
- empirical: relies on empirical evidence gained through experimentation or the
collection of first-hand data
- theoretical: develop new theories and hypotheses to explain natural phenomenon
Rigorous scientific research
The research process (section 2)
research process
1. proposition to test (question)
2. review the literature
3. hypotheses
4. method to test it
5. data collection
6. analysis
7. present at conference/publication
researching ideas
formulating ideas
- unambiguous
- involve two variables
