SENIOR PROJECT NOTES -- Dr. Joan E. Aitken

Tentative syllabus is here: http://www.park.edu/syllabus/list.asp

Weekly meeting or update required in person, by phone, or by email. If by email, attach week’s work as a Word document. Bring this booklet to face-to-face meetings.  Expectations for students, http://onlineacademics.org/Guidelines.html

Library tutorial: http://onlineacademics.org/LibraryTutorial/  APA tutorial: http://onlineacademics.org/APA.html

Core assessment due Monday of week 12.

Senior Project (Thesis)

Finish on time! Due Week 12!

SENIOR PROJECT (THESIS) OVERVIEW

 

This page is my gift to you!

- Dr. Aitken

 

 

 

I will give you a free hardcopy of this material. Please bring the hardcopy to your weekly meetings with me. To search, use Ctrl F or your computer's search function.

 

I have to turn in attendance each week, which means you need to check in with me orally face-to-face, by phone message, in eCollege, or by email by Friday of each week. Briefly tell me what you're doing and what questions you have. Send updates of your written work.

Dr. J. E. Aitken, Professor, Communication Arts
229 Copley, 8700 NW River Park Drive, Parkville, MO 64152. If you have questions or problems, please contact me. Office or message:
(816) 584-6785

 

Textbooks

 

Required::

  • APA (2001). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association. 5th ed. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

  • Lipson, C. (2005). How to write a BA thesis: A practical guide from your first ideas to your finished paper. Chicago: University Of Chicago Press. ISBN-10: 0226481263 ISBN-13: 978-0226481265

Library tutorial: http://onlineacademics.org/LibraryTutorial/ 

APA tutorial: http://onlineacademics.org/APA.html

 

Course webpage (handout information): http://onlineacademics.org/CA%20491/

 

Additional Materials:

Dr. Aitken's Tutorials & Course Info: APA Style Information - Course Expectations & Guidelines for Students - Grading - Submitting Assignments

Dr. Aitken's Related Pages: CA Blog - Research, Thesis, or Project Blog - OnlineAcademics.Org - Undergraduate Major - Thesis/Project Tips

In addition, I recommend the Purdue Owl, click here.

Grading

 

 

Semester One Grading:

Weekly meeting or update with professor. 20%

Hardcopy of survey of literature with a minimum of 30 sources due Monday of week 8: 30%

Hardcopy of final project proposal due Monday of week 12: 50%

Extra credit revision to raise grade due Monday of week 15.

 

Semester Two Grading:

Weekly meeting or update with professor. 20%

Hardcopy of project draft due Monday of week 8: 30%

Hardcopy of final project due Monday of week 12: 50%

Extra credit revision to raise grade due Monday of week 15.

 

More information about grading click here.

 

Late materials not accepted, click here.

Grading Rubric for Semester One Proposal (Missing elements will require a rewrite meeting all criteria by Monday of week 15 of semester one.

  1. Review of literature synthesizes 10 peer-reviewed, communication journal articles relevant to the topic.

  2. Proposal lays out plan for research.

  3. Research methodology is directly tied to the purpose and should yield a rich data source. 

  4. Professional-level vocabulary used. 

  5. Meets all General Tests of Evidence: (1) Is there enough evidence offered? (2) Is the evidence clear and meaningful? (3) Is the source clearly and accurately cited? (4) Is the evidence the most recent? (5) Is the evidence typical? (6) Is the evidence internally consistent? (7) Is the evidence relevant? 

  6. Project focus is clear, thoughtful and imaginative, sources are smoothly integrated and persuasively support the project focus, sequence of topics is smooth with a convincing rhetorical pattern, and there are no grammatical errors. 

  7. Proposal contains all proposal components: Introduction, Review of Literature, Research Methodology, copy of measure, reference list in APA style. 

  8. APA style followed for citations and reference list.

 

Grading Rubric for Semester Two Project is located in the syllabus, here.

Course Description:

 


You need to take the two sections back-to-back. This course may not be taken before senior year. It is a capstone course in which the student designs a practical project aimed at publication in a commercial newspaper or magazine (or broadcast outlet), researches the project, completes the writing (or broadcast production), and may offer it to the appropriate editors. 3:0:3

 

SEMESTER ONE PROPOSAL

Write your proposal, which is your plan. Define the topic and problem. Write a survey of literature using 3-5 conceptual threads.  Cite and reference 20 peer-reviewed scholarly research articles. Write the research method you plan to use (e.g., survey). Submit your proposal plan week 12.

 

SEMESTER TWO PROJECT

Conduct your survey and write up the results. Update, synthesize, and rewrite. Finalize and submit week 12.

 

READ 2 REQUIRED TEXTBOOKS

 

Learning Outcomes:

 
  1. To design an original research project that examines a specific area within the communication discipline.

  2. To clearly and concisely state the goals of the project and the questions to be explored.

  3. To provide an overview of the scholarly literature in the area of inquiry.

  4. To select an appropriate methodology to gather data that addresses the research questions.

  5. To critically examine the data and draw appropriate conclusions that are consistent with the evidence.

Course Principles:

 

COMMUNICATION RESEARCH STRATEGIES.
1. Studying Communication.
2. Searching the Communication Literature.
3. Using the Internet for Communication Research.
4. Using Computers to Search Electronic Databases.


COMMUNICATION RESEARCH SOURCES.
5. General Sources.
6. Access Tools.
7. Communication Periodicals.
8. Information Complications.


COMMUNICATION RESEARCH PROCESSES.
9. Designing the Communication Research Project.
10. Writing Research Papers.
11. Preparing Research Projects.
12. Conducting a Research Study.

 

Core Assessment:

 

The core assessment consists of a two-semester, five part research project containing a Introduction, Review of the Literature, Research Methodology, Results and Discussion, and Directions for Future Research.

Link to Class Rubric

 

Submit ontime by week 6 (8 week session) or 12 (16 week session):  http://onlineacademics.org/Guidelines.html#Course_Assessment_Due_Date

 

eCollege Login

 

If we have several people enrolled, you can use the discussion/post area of eCollege/eCompanion to submit your weekly progress reports and brainstorm with other people in the course. To access your course online, login here: http://parkonline.org/ with your OPEN password. If you have forgotten your User ID or Password, or if you need assistance with your PirateMail account, please email helpdesk@park.edu or call 800-927-3024. If eCollege doesn't work correctly, you need to contact eCollege. For technical assistance with the Online classroom, email eCollegeHelpDesk@parkonline.org or call the helpdesk at 866-301-PARK (7275).

 

Departmental Philosophy

 

 

Colleges and universities are not designed to be vocational schools. Unlike trade schools that prepare students for a specific career (e.g. auto repair, hair dressing), the four-year college/university is dedicated to educating citizens for social, political, and economic life. Some classes that may not be perceived as “relevant” (i.e., direct application to a career) are relevant to the future of the student as an effective member of society. If the sole emphasis is on “getting a job,” the immediate goal may threaten the broader issue of what jobs might exist in the future. A person who is narrowly trained to do a job today may be out of a job tomorrow. Over specialization may result in the specialty becoming obsolete in the long run. The Communication Theory and Human Relations graduate is prepared not only for entry-level jobs, but also has the skills sought for middle management positions. Jobs in human resources, training and development, staff development, public relations, sales, or management are potential career choices. Others may choose to pursue additional study in graduate schools.

 

The final project will be graded using a rubric developed by Dr. Steve Atkinson for evaluating the Writing Competency Test (WCT). Some minor modifications have been made to adapt the rubric to the specific assignment.

The final project will be evaluated using the following four criteria:

Focus

An "A" is awarded to a project whose controlling idea seems not only clear but particularly thoughtful or imaginative.

A "B" indicates a focus that is clear and sustained throughout but that may not be especially original.

A "C" indicates satisfactory competence: the focus is clear but commonplace or conventional.

"D" and "F" projects lack focus.

 

PROJECT ORGANIZATION

 

 

A research project looks like this:

1. This is what I've been thinking about. (theory)

2. This is what other people have said about what I've been thinking about. (review)

3. This is what I think I would find if I looked to test my ideas. (hypotheses)

4. By the way, when I say "X," I mean this and that. (operationalization)

5. This is my plan for looking. (design)

6. These are the kinds of people, places, and things I am going to look at. (sample)

7. This is what I found out. (findings)

8. This is what the findings mean. (analysis)

9. This is how what I found relates to the ideas I had at the beginning. (conclusion)

10. Given all this, I think we should look at . . . . (implications)

 

Format for Writing and Organizing Your Research Proposal and Project

Use underlined words as headings to indicate sections in your paper. “APA number” refers to the section in the APA manual, which describes what this section should contain. Use your spell and grammar check. Number pages. Double-space everything.

APA 1.06 Title Page

Use a descriptive scholarly title, which clearly explains the paper’s content—NOT an attention-getter. Give your name, Park University, date.

APA 1.07 Abstract (100 -150 word summary of the question, method, and results)

APA 1.08 I. Introduction

This is the background to the problem. 

A. Research question.

1. A brief history of interest in the area.

2. Specify unresolved issues, theoretical questions, and/or social concerns.

3. Rationale for the study.

B. Review of Literature. A review of literature is an examination of key peer-reviewed journal articles on the topic. Theory Building (Group information according to ideas, NOT according to research articles. This section is NOT an annotated bibliography). Please use subheadings to generally describe each idea.

1. Paragraphs about first idea from review of literature.

2. Paragraphs about second idea from review of literature.

3. Paragraphs about third idea from review of literature.

C. Problem Statement -- Drawing from the literature review of 20-50 sources, explain the ideas you plan to investigate. Include the following:

1. Identify variables (dependent and independent variables).

2. Delineate the research problem to explain the relationships expected among variables (research questions or hypotheses).

APA 1.09 Method

1. Description of Method

a. Describe why the research method (e.g., survey research) is used.

2. Instruments or measures

a. Operational definitions of dependent and independent variables

b. Instrument – rationale for the measure to be used (e.g., questionnaire, focus group, interview).

3. Participants and procedures

a. Selection of subjects (i.e., who and how to get them -- sampling procedure).

b. Explain how materials will be distributed.

c. Describe how data will be collected.

d. Describe how data will be analyzed.

APA 1.10 Results

APA 1.11 Discussion

You can use the word “I” in this section, but still use correct writing style. Write a paragraph on each of the following.

· State a specific theory you have created to explain and predict interpersonal communication.

· Explain the implications of your results.

· Identify and describe the most important features of interpersonal communication related to your topic.

· Analyze the communication in a relationship (a case study of real or simulated interpersonal communication).

· Explain how the features of the concept studied interact and what happens in interpersonal communication as they do.

· Discuss intercultural communication research and differences in values and communication and how that affects relationships.

· Offer an understanding of what the interpersonal communication related to your topic is and how it is subjectively experienced by individuals.

· Assess your interpersonal communication strengths and weaknesses according to interpersonal communication theory and research.

· Predict what will happen in the future, and define ways you could control future interpersonal communication events related to the topic. Remember, a good theory helps you to predict.

· Develop an action plan to improve weak areas of interpersonal communication skills.

· Discuss relevance of three of the following topics: Mental process in communication, perception, content, amount of communication, interpersonal and task behaviors, norms, conflict, creativity, touch, distance, time usage, manipulation of environment, intervention, attitude change and opinions, and how communication fosters attraction, productivity and leadership. Analyze perceptions of others through interviews or survey. You can do this face-to-face or through surveymonkey.com

APA 1.13 References (emphasize quantitative, peer-reviewed articles in the field of communication and leadership). Each reference listing will be cited in your final proposal and each citation in your final proposal will be in the reference list.

APA 1.14 Appendix (e.g., measure or unpublished test and its validation, the printout of results from surveymonkey.com).

 

DEADLINES Tentative Schedule for Term or SEMESTER ONE (adapted from Dr. Guo-Ming Chen)

 

Overview Semester One

APA Reading Assignment

Lipson Reading Assignment

Assignment Due

Due Monday as hardcopy or in face-to-face meeting in my office.

Meet with me each and every week!

Week 1

Step 1 Find a topic.

 

Ch 1

Tell me your topic and general problem.

Week 2-3

Step 2 Define the problem.

Ch 1

Ch 2

 

Week 4-8

Step 3 Write a survey of peer-reviewed research literature.

Ch 2, 3, 4

Ch 3 & 4

Required face-to-face progress meeting with me week 4 & 8. Hardcopy of survey of literature due week 8

Week 9

Step 4 Clarify the problem statement based on peer-reviewed journal articles on the topic.

 

Ch 7

 

Week 10-11

Step 5 Write the research method you plan to use.

 

Ch 8-12

 

Week 12 Submit the proposal.

Ch 5

 

Required face-to-face progress meeting with me. Hardcopy of the proposal due now!

Week 13-15 Contemplate how you will complete the proposal.

 

Ch 13-17

Pick up your paper week 13. Monday is final date to revise the previously submitted proposal for a higher grade.

Monthly meetings with class or professor for brainstorming and progress report. Schedule an hour appointment.

 

Weekly update or report to Dr. Aitken regarding your progress (in person, by phone, email, or eCollege). This update is required to receive "Present" attendance for the week.

 

PROPOSAL CONTENTS

A proposal is a plan for the research project. In other words, what will you do and why? Based on what previous research in the field? Due Week 12 (numbers below relate to sections in your APA manual).

 

Title Page (see APA Publication Manual part 1.06) The word “communication” should appear in the title of the Senior Project.
Abstract (see 1.07) is a summary of your project in 100 words.
I. Introduction (see 1.08)
A. Problem.
B. Theory Building (Review of Literature)

  1. First idea from review of literature.

  2. Second idea from review of literature.

  3. Third idea from review of literature.

II. Method (see 1.09)
 

References (see 1.13)

Emphasize peer-reviewed articles in the field of communication and leadership. Each reference listing will be cited in your final proposal and each citation in your final proposal will be in the reference list.

 

Appendix (see 1.14) (e.g., measure or unpublished test and its validation).

You might want to examine this site of advice about the thesis process at Gonzaga.

 

 Step 1 Find a topic.

Week 1 Topics in Communication Research -- Finding research ideas.

 

Write a senior thesis prospectus (proposal). Include an appropriate survey of literature for your proposal using peer-reviewed scholarly articles from the field of communication studies.

Design a study, discuss your ideas with others, write and revise the proposal. Prepare this proposal in steps, submitting a hardcopy draft week 8 and final draft week 12.

 

A substantive proposal is typically a minimum of ten pages, with a minimum of 5 pages reviewing the literature, and at least 20 peer-reviewed, scholarly, communication and leadership articles cited and referenced.

 

You will find specific organizational and writing guidelines in your APA Publication Manual Chapter 1 (available at any library).

 

ADDITIONAL EXPLORATION

There are many interesting websites available on the topic of writing effective research proposals. You may want to explore one or more of the following.

Consider these University of Michigan guidelines

Here is a general organization you may want to follow, click here.

Based on this Michigan State University guideline, you probably thought of an idea in a previous course and now enter the preparing the proposal stage, click here. Your proposal will probably contain the following elements: Elements of the Research Proposal - U Calgary.

You may also want to review Common Pitfalls

If you learn well by example, here are some Professional Writing proposals from the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth, click here.

If you are considering action research, this site may be helpful, click here.

Preparing for Communication and Leadership Research

 This course attracts a range of students--people working on an additional degree in communication, people with other majors who are unfamiliar with communication studies, and people just starting the program. So, we will begin with a refresher or review about the field of communication. This information may help you think about a topic you want to explore in the course. The main assignment for the course will be the design of a hypothetical experimental study in communication and leadership. Hopefully, this review will help you conduct the review of literature and contemplate the topic you will actually study in your graduate thesis of project. Let's brainstorm about our field!

 

Adapted from a National Communication Association presentation by
Bill Balthrop, University of North Carolina—Chapel Hill

Jim Gaudino, Executive Director, NCA

Scott Poole, Texas A&M University

Ellen Wartella, University of Texas--Austin

 

Communication and Leadership Research

  • Focuses on how people use messages to generate meanings within and across various contexts, cultures, channels, and media.

  • Encompasses studies of private and public as well as individual and mass communication. 

  • Examines communication processes and their effects.

Modern Communication Research

World War II and Post-War Era

Concerns with attitude formation and change

Emergence of social and behavioral science approaches

 Late 20th Century

Concerns with mass communication, communication policy, and media

Concerns with new communication technologies, cultural approaches

 

Communication Research Areas

Communication Studies: Scientific and critical research on human communication, including interpersonal, organizational, public, and intercultural communication and communication in various social, cultural, and political contexts. Leadership studies can be a broad field that fits into this area.

Mass Communication and Media Studies: Research on media institutions, media texts, media effects, and how media are used to produce and transform culture.

Speech and Rhetorical Studies: Research focused on political and social rhetoric, audience analysis, argumentation, rhetorical criticism, and rhetorical theory.

Telecommunication Studies: Research on the development, use, regulation, and effects of telecommunication technologies, including radio, television, Internet, and telephony.

 

Communication research is carried out in academic programs with school and department titles such as:

  • Communication

  • Communication and Leadership

  • Communication Studies

  •  Information Studies

  • Journalism

  • Mass Communication

  • Media Studies

  • Speech Communication

  • Public Relations

  • Significant areas of communication research include

  • Audience analysis

  • Communication and public policy

  • Family communication

  • Health communication

  • Instructional communication

  • Intercultural communication

  • Interpersonal communication

  • Leadership studies

  • Legal communication

  • Media economics

  • Media effects

  • Media literacy

  • New communication technology

  • Nonverbal communication

  • Organizational communication

  • Persuasion and social influence

  • Political and social rhetoric

  • Risk communication

  • Visual communication

Communication scholars from discipline-based departments conduct major research projects with colleagues in such fields as:

  • Art and Design

  • Advertising

  • Business

  • Cultural Studies

  • Educational Leadership

  • English

  • Environmental Science

  • Ethnic and Women’s Studies

  • Health

  • Information Systems

  • Linguistics

  • Political Science

  • Sociology

  • Psychology

Communication research employs a wide range of methodologies, including all types of quantitative and qualitative social scientific research methods as well as humanistic and critical/cultural approaches:

  • Analysis of dynamic processes

  • Computational modeling

  • Content and textual analysis

  • Critical and cultural analysis

  • Discourse analysis

  • Ethnographic research

  • Ethnography (field observation)

  • Experimental research (including controlled experiments)

  • Feminist methods

  • Historiography

  • Mathematical modeling and simulations

  • Network analysis

  • Rhetorical criticism

  • Survey research

 Step 2 Define the problem. Week 2-3

 

Formulate a research question or hypothesis. You actually might want more than one research question or hypothesis. For ideas, click here.


Write operational definitions of key terms including the inde pendent and dependent variables you will use in your hypothetical experimental research proposal. The independent variable is what you are studying. One of the major goals of science is to find causal relations. Seek to set up your study showing cause-and-effect statement concerning the relation between X (
independent variable or cause) and Y (dependent variable or effect). For ideas about writing operational definitions, click here.

 

Introduction – This is the background to the problem.

  1. A brief history of interest in the area.

  1. Specify unresolved issues, theoretical questions, and/or social concerns.

  2. Rationale for the study.

A theory is an attempt to explain or represent some aspect of reality. Theories are abstract. They are rich enough to create hypotheses that can be tested and found to be either valid or invalid. A theory must be capable of generating testable hypotheses.

 

As you write, tell us why the research is interesting in itself, interesting because it has some qualities; It links to other ideas, or it provides a novel way of looking at something. Needs to be as objective as possible.

 

The point of operationalization is to let the reader know what you mean by key concepts.

 

By the end of the conceptualization, it should be clear what you think. Now you need only operationalize the concepts that clarify what it is you are going to do.

 

Operationalizations are designed to allow a member of your audience to understand what it is that you actually did. You operationalize not so that people will agree with your understanding of a concept but so they may know what you are talking about, regardless of whether they would operationlize it in a similar fashion.

 

Hypotheses and research questions are rules for looking for something. In the hypothesis, tell us what you expect to find. If your ideas are not formulated in such a way that you can generate clear hypotheses, you can use research questions instead. Research questions and hypotheses are ways of letting your reader know exactly what you are looking for.

 

The design has to be clear enough that if someone wanted to replicate your work, it would be possible to do so. You'll want to tie behavior to the research ideas.

Your ideas have to be linked to the appropriate literature. Your operationalizations have to be plausible. And your research design has to be capable of generating answers to the question you are asking.

 

Linked Resources


Air University Sampling and Surveying Handbook

Cognitive Aspects of Survey Methodology: Building a Bridge Between Disciplines: Report of the Advanced Research Seminar on Cognitive Aspects of Survey Methodology [online book]

Evaluation Cookbook


Know Your Audience: a Practical Guide to Audience Research

Listener Survey Toolkit

The Little Handbook of Statistical Practice, by Gerard E. Dallal

Marketing Research and Information Systems
, by I.M. Crawford

Methods in Behavioral Research, by Paul C. Cozby [site includes support materials, but not complete text]

The Qualitative Methods Workbook, by David W. Stockburger

Questionnaire Design and Analysis Activities, by Allison Galloway

Questionnaire Design and Analysis: A Workbook by Alison Galloway [excellent source]

Research Methods, 3rd edition, by Anthony M. Graziano and Michael L. Raulin [site includes support materials, but not complete text]

Research Methods Knowledge Base by William M. Trochim [excellent source]

Sampling: A Workbook, by Alison Galloway

Simple Data Measurement: A Workbook, by Alison Galloway

The Whole Art of Deduction: Research Skills for Allied Health Scientists by Rodger Marion

 Step 3 Write a survey of peer-reviewed literature. Week 4-8

 

  1. Review of the Literature -- This is a survey of the theory and research related to the problem. It should provide the following:

  1. Define key variables.

  2. Critique and summarize prior research. This is a review of how the variables have been

studied and includes results, conclusions, and weakness.

  1. Establish the basis for your study, which isolate issues that merit further research.

Some professors say never use the first person pronoun. The point of the rule is to force writers to think in general terms, outside of themselves.

A review of literature is conducted for a number of reasons:

To find out (and incorporate) the most current theoretical thinking

To place a question within a scholarly context

To find out (and build on) the results of recent (and historical) empirical research.

To see how variables have traditionally been operationalized

To find, borrow, and build on the research designs of others

 

In short, the review of the literature allows you to put your ideas into a scholarly context in order to clarify them and to allow you to build on what is already known. This section provides the knowledge and information required to move your ideas to the point where they can be tested empirically.

 

Find 3-5 key ideas that are threads throughout your review of research literature on your topic. Organize your ideas around those threads. Be sure to use parenthetical citations to cite the source of all information--quoted or paraphrased--and include your APA reference list. Include an APA reference list of 30-50 scholarly, peer-reviewed journal articles you plan to use in the project. Your survey of literature draft should synthesize the articles you read into about 5 key ideas relevant to your project. Here is a tutorial to explain how to conduct this research: click here.

 

I recommend you select ALL peer-reviewed SCHOLARLY COMMUNICATION articles you've found in Communication and Mass Media Complete (EBSCO). Remember, some of the articles you find may turn out to be irrelevant to your work, so extras are helpful. If you have a narrow topic, you will need to broaden the search to include relevant theoretical ideas.
 

This expansion of the previous two submissions may be quite rough, but it should be an emerging proposal that will evolve over the upcoming weeks. Clearly incorporate information from course readings regarding your experimental design. Remember, you will want to set up a hypothetical experimental research design in your proposal to demonstrate that you understand the principles of this course. At the very least, the application exercise will help you think through your topic and learn course concepts. All the journal articles you read should be relevant to your MA theist or project topic so that you can use that information in the future no matter what your final design! Remember to indicate your dependent and independent variables. You may also want to submit your rough draft of your experimental design proposal to Smarthinking or the Writing Center for tutoring feedback. Make revisions.

 

If any of the steps from week 1-3 were missing earlier, incorporate them together in this rough draft of the experimental research proposal draft this week.

Submit to unit dropbox. This assignment cannot be submitted late.

 

Example Journals in Communication

  • Argumentation

  • Argumentation & Advocacy

  • Communication Education

  • Communication Monographs

  • Communication Quarterly

  • Communication Research

  • Communication Studies

  • Communication Teacher

  • Communication Theory

  • Critical Studies of Media Communication

  • European Journal of Communication

  • Health Communication

  • Human Communication Research

  • Journal of Applied Communication Research

  • Journal of Communication

  • Journal of Family Communication

  •  Journal of Health Communication

  • Journal of Media Economics

  • Journalism and Mass Communication

  • Media Studies Journal

  • Philosophy and Rhetoric

  • Political Communication

  • Quarterly Journal of Speech

  • Rhetoric and Public Affairs

  • Rhetoric Society Quarterly

  • Rhetorica