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This week's assignments. TOP PRIORITY: Complete this week's graded Core Assessment-related Assignment
Week 1--Unit 1 Learning Activities Learning Activities are options for the Discussion Board. Note your professor has latitude about participation requirements, grading, and weight of grades.
Learning activity photos are from Microsoft Front Page or as marked. When Internet links have changed, search for your own comparable sites. |
Pat has to conduct a content analysis as original research for a paper on the topic: "Communication Technology for the Gifted Child." Pat has to create a reference list for his review of literature, which is due in tomorrow's communication class. Pat is tired, feels worn out, and is looking for shortcuts. Pat thinks for a few minutes and realizes there are at least the following options.
QUESTION FOR DISCUSSION What should Pat do? Maker, C. J., & Schiever, S. W. (2005). Teaching models in education of the gifted (3rd. ed.). Austin, TX: Pro-ed.
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Objective: To use a quantitative table in problem solving.
Generally, mathematics in college math classes focuses on calculation. Mathematics in the social sciences, however, focuses on interpretation. In communication studies, you need to know how to use software that will calculate and show you results. Then you need to take the next inferential reasoning step to interpret the results.
Research suggests that students in social sciences such as communication studies "need practice expressing verbally the quantitative meanings of both problems and solutions. They need to be able to write fluently in complete sentences and coherent paragraphs; to explain the meaning of data, tables, graphs, and formulas; and to express the relations among these different representations" (Sheen, 2007, p. 12).
Steen, L. A. (2007, November). How mathematics counts. Educational Leadership, 9-14.
Thus, in this section you will have a puzzle designed to challenge your logic and inference-making. We'll start with a Sudoku, which requires you to grasp data on a table in multiple directions. How to do Sudokus: Directions
Strategies to work Sudokus, click here or click here.
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Watch the video. If the links don't work, find one of your own. What is the research question for the experiment? What are the independent and dependent variables? Week 1: Here is an example about surfing with dynamite. Mythbusters - click here. Research question: Can dynamite produce a surf-able wave? Independent (cause) or X variable is the explosion. Dependent (effect) or Y variable is the wave. Or search the Internet for another Mythbusters experiment. |
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Experiment at Home--Two Household Items Experiments to Get Us
Thinking. Please do this at home.
Learning Connection:
How can you make this demonstration a scientific experiment? “The scientific method attempts to explain the natural occurrences (phenomena) of the universe by using a logical, consistent, systematic method of investigation, information (data) collection, data analysis (hypothesis), testing (experiment), and refinement to arrive at a well-tested, well-documented, explanation that is well-supported by evidence, called a theory.”
Melting Experiment
Experiment/Prediction: Will ice melt faster in plastic, Styrofoam, wood, glass, or metal. Rank the speed of melting you predict.
You will need
Bowls (glass, metal, Styrofoam, wood, and plastic) or a flat, thick
piece of plastic or wood. I used a cutting board from the
kitchen, or
a heavy, metal pot or pan
ice cubes. Actually, I prefer using scoops
of ice cream.
To control for variables, ice needs to be about the same size and the
items you place the ice cubes on need to be the same temperature.
Procedures
Place both the cutting board and the pot on a flat
surface. Touch the surface of both, noticing if they feel warm or cool.
You will probably find that the metal feels cooler than the cutting
board. Then place an ice cube on each surface, and watch carefully to
see what happens.
Most people would expect that since the metal
felt cooler, the ice on the metal would melt more slowly. Instead, the
ice on the cutting board just sits there, while the ice on the metal
surface quickly melts. Why?
The answer will also explain why the metal felt cooler in the first
place. Metal is a good conductor of heat, providing a quick, easy
pathway for the energy to flow. On the other hand, the cutting board is
a poor conductor of heat.
When two objects touch, heat energy
will move from the warmer one to the cooler one. How fast the heat moves
depends on the temperature difference, and how well the objects conduct
heat. The greater the difference, and the better the materials conduct
heat; the faster the heat will move.
That is why the metal felt
cooler. Actually, both the metal and the cutting board were room
temperature, but the metal is a better conductor of heat.
It pulled
heat away from your finger faster, causing your finger to feel cooler.
With the ice cubes, the process was reversed. Heat moved from the warmer
surfaces of the metal and the cutting board to the colder ice. With the
cutting board, the surface touching the ice was quickly cooled to a
temperature near the temperature of the ice. At that point, the process
slowed down, because the cutting board is a poor conductor.
With
the metal, as the heat moved into the ice, more heat was conducted in to
replace it. The process continued, and the ice melted quickly. Some
companies sell special defrosting plates, that are supposed to defrost
food very quickly. They are simply metal plates. You can do the same
thing with a metal pan.
The same thing will happen with other
cold things, which is why you should not serve ice cream in a metal
bowl.
Directly Quoted Source:
http://www.wsta.net/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=965
Use pennies, nails, and a few simple household ingredients to explore some of the properties of metals:
Materials
20-30 dull pennies
1/4 cup white vinegar
1 teaspoon salt (NaCl)
1 shallow, clear glass or plastic bowl (not metal)
1-2 clean steel screws or nails
water
measuring spoons
paper towels
Experiment:
What do you think will happen if you put the pennies in the vinegar and salt mixture?
After sitting in the solution, what do you think will happen after you take the pennies out and let them sit for a few days?
Predict what you think will happen before going further.
Procedures
Pennies in Solution
Pour the salt and vinegar into the bowl.
Stir until the salt dissolves.
Dip a penny halfway into the liquid and hold it there for 10-20 seconds. Remove the penny from the liquid. What do you see?
Dump the rest of the pennies into the liquid. The cleaning action will be visible for several seconds. Leave the pennies in the liquid for 5 minutes.
Proceed to 'Instant Verdigris!'
Pennies get dull over time because the copper in the pennies slowly reacts with air to form copper oxide. Pure copper metal is bright and shiny, but the oxide is dull and greenish. When you place the pennies in the salt and vinegar solution, the acetic acid from the vinegar dissolves the copper oxide, leaving behind shiny clean pennies. The copper from the copper oxide stays in the liquid. You could use other acids instead of vinegar, like lemon juice.
Verdigris
Note: You want to keep the liquid you used to clean the pennies, so don't dump it down the drain!
After the 5 minutes required for 'Shiny Clean Pennies', take half of the pennies out of the liquid and place them on a paper towel to dry.
Remove the rest of the pennies and rinse them well under running water. Place these pennies on a second paper towel to dry.
Allow about an hour to pass and take a look at the pennies you have placed on the paper towels. Write labels on your paper towels so you will know which towel has the rinsed pennies.
While you are waiting for the pennies to do their thing on the paper towels, use the salt and vinegar solution to make 'Copper Plated Nails'.
Rinsing the pennies with water stops the reaction between the salt/vinegar and the pennies. They will slowly turn dull again over time, but not quickly enough for you to watch! On the other hand, the salt/vinegar residue on the unrinsed pennies promotes a reaction between the copper and the oxygen in the air. The resulting blue-green copper oxide is commonly called 'verdigris'. It is a type of patina found on a metal, similar to tarnish on silver. The oxide forms in nature as well, producing minerals such as malachite and azurite.
Nails
Place a nail or screw so that it is half in and half out of the solution you used to clean the pennies. If you have a second nail/screw, you can let it sit completely immersed in the solution.
Do you see bubbles rising from the nail or the threads of the screw?
Allow 10 minutes to pass and then take a look at the nail/screw. Is it two different colors? If not, return the nail to its position and check it again after an hour.
The copper that coats the nail/screw comes from the pennies. However, it exists in the salt/vinegar solution as positively charged copper ions as opposed to neutral copper metal. Nails and screws are made of steel, an alloy primarily composed of iron. The salt/vinegar solution dissolves some of the iron and its oxides on the surface of the nail, leaving a negative charge on the surface of the nail. Opposite charges attract, but the copper ions are more strongly attracted to the nail than the iron ions, so a copper coating forms on the nail. At the same time, the reactions involving the hydrogen ions from the acid and the metal/oxides produce some hydrogen gas, which bubbles up from the site of the reaction - the surface of the nail or screw.
Quoted directly from http://www.exploratorium.edu/science_explorer/copper_caper.html
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Complete the course pretest--without studying. Online students can discuss eCollege's information on the student descriptive statistics. What are descriptive statistics for the pretest? For example, to calculate a mean: Access PowerPoint with answer: http://onlineacademics.org/CA517/Practitioner/
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Practitioner's
Work--Pretest
Without studying, please take the Course Pretest by Friday. We will discuss the test results data under practitioner's work.
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If you have the APA publication manual, you can skim that: APA (2001). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association. 5th ed. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. If not, you can find APA information online until your manual arrives: Purdue OWL: click here or APAStyle.org click here are favorites. Strunk and White Elements of Style, here. You can also use the Dr. Aitken's APA tutorial linked from the course home.1. Abbreviations 2. The Abstract 3. Academic style 4. Active voice 5. Unbiased language 6. Capitalization 7. Citations 8. Comma 9. Communication focus 10. Communication & Mass Media Complete (EBSCO) 11. Organize by ideas 12. Peer-reviewed 13. Plagiarism 14. Avoiding Pronouns 15. Punctuation after parens 16. Quotations 17. Reference list 18. Research question 19. Research sources 20. Sentence structure 21. Tenses 22. Thesis statement 23. Transitions 24. Using colon 25. Using semi-colon
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1
Journal--Peer-reviewed Experimental Research Article in
Communication.
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Park University has excellent online scholarly
databases appropriate for undergraduate and graduate research and
study. Please use scholarly, peer-reviewed journal articles for your
work in this course. You can access the library's EBSCO
Communication and Mass Media Complete here:
http://www.park.edu/library/ Journal articles from Communication and Mass Media Complete (EBSCO) are PDF files, which require Adobe. Adobe is a free and safe download: Go to http://www.adobe.com/ You may have difficulty opening PDF files online, so I recommend you right click to download to your computer, then open from there.
Monk. A., Fellas, E., & Ley, I. (2004, September-October). Hearing only one side of normal and mobile phone conversations. Behavior and Information Technology, 23 (5), 301-305.
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1
News--Communication and Leadership Research News
OSU Research news, click here. Year-Round Schools Don't Boost Learning, Study Finds
The Leadership Challenge:
We're excited about having students from St. Petersburg in our courses!
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This week's assignments.
TOP PRIORITY:
Complete this week's graded
Core Assessment-related Assignment Week 2 - Unit 2 Learning Activities Learning Activities are options for the Discussion Board. Note your professor has latitude about participation requirements, grading, and weight of grades.
Learning activity photos are from Microsoft Front Page or as marked. When Internet links have changed, search for your own comparable sites. |
In CA 517, Pat puts together a proposal outline and review of literature for the capstone experience. To make it quick, Pat simply copies each journal article author's written abstract material and pastes the words in Pat's review of literature. Then Pat adds the references to his reference list.
Kohlberg (2008) suggested that there are six levels of moral motivation. They are indicated from the lowest level to the highest level. Consider each example.
1. "Punishment by another" (p. 10).
The professor discovers the plagiarism. Pat earns an "F" for the final grade in the course.
2. "Manipulation of goods, rewards by another" (p. 10).
Pat cannot get any faculty to agree to be on the capstone experience (thesis, project, or reflection) committee because based on their experiences, they don't think Pat can be trusted. The faculty know they cannot in good conscience sign off on a capstone experience because they are afraid Pat's content may be stolen or falsified.
3. "Disapproval by others" (p. 10).
Pat boasts to other students in the program about plagiarizing on the CA 517 proposal. Pat says it doesn't matter that the abstracts were copied: "I didn't even use those sources. I just made up the proposal content based on my experiences."
One of the other students says, "You better hope no one here is in the armed services, where they agreed to an honor code."
Another student wonders, "So does that mean we should turn Pat in?"
4. "Censure by legitimate authorities followed by guilt feelings" (p. 10).
The professor discovers the plagiarism and turns Pat over to the Park University Graduate School for disciplinary action.
5. "Community respect and disrespect" (p. 10).
In another class, Pat walks into a room and hears other students talking about Pat' plagiarism and fabrication in CA 517. One student says, "How can they allow someone like that to stay in a program about leadership?" Suddenly, everyone in the room looks at Pat and stops talking.
6. "Self-condemnation" (p. 10).
Pat feels badly about this flagrant violation of academic integrity--plagiarism and fabrication--and lack of respect for the people in the Communication and Leadership Master's program, but doesn't know what to do.
QUESTION FOR DISCUSSION What do you think about each consequence of plagiarism and fabrication behavior? What conclusions can you draw from your own relevant experiences? What are other possible consequences? Kohlberg, L. (2008, 1963 Reprint). The development of children’s orientations toward a moral order. Human Development, 51(1), 8-20. doi: 10.1159/000112530 |
Quantitative
Logic
Objective: To use quantitative logic in problem solving.
Making Logical Inferences
The communication team at Park University has a diverse group of talented people. As team leader, you need to figure out if new assignments and skills match well. Figure out who is doing what and if you should re-assign tasks.
Eduardo, Betty, Bart, Shaniqua, and Rong have new work assignments (in no particular order) of Blog-moderator, F2F-sales, Report-writer, Supervisor-advertising, and Speech-writer. These five new assignments should be coordinated with certain skills (again, in no particular order), which are Presenter, Persuader, Writer, Researcher, and Networker. From the clues given, try to determine what are the skills and the new assignments for each person and decide if reassignments s.
1, No new assignment begins with the same letter as that of the person’s name who has that assignment.
2. The Report-writer is not Bart's new assignment or Shaniqua's new assignment.
3. The Speech-writer and the person who has the Researcher skill both have names beginning with the same letter.
4. Neither Eduardo's new assignment nor Betty's new assignment is also the Persuader, nor is the Supervisor-advertising also the Persuader.
5. Bart's new assignment and the Networker are not assigned to be Supervisor-advertising or Speech-writer.
6. Rong's skill is not a Writer.
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Skill Presenter |
Persuader |
Writer |
Researcher |
Networker |
New Assignment Blog-moderator |
F2F-sales |
Report-writer |
Supervisor-advertising |
Speech-writer |
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Betty |
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Bart |
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Shaniqua |
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Rong |
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New Assignment Blog-moderator |
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F2F-sales |
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Report-writer |
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Supervisor-advertising |
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Speech-writer |
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Strategies for Solving:
1. Work through each item one by one.
2. Go back and think about what each item implies about other items.
3. Work through the list again.
4. When you obtain the answer for one item, you can cross out the other choices horizontally and vertically.
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Watch the video. If the links don't work, find one of your own.
Here is an example Mythbusters - click here. Research question: Can dynamite produce a surf-able wave? Independent (cause) or X variable is the explosion. Dependent (effect) or Y variable is the wave. |
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Household
Items Experiment.
Experiment to Engage: Slime
Learning Connection:
How can you make this demonstration a scientific experiment? “The scientific method attempts to explain the natural occurrences (phenomena) of the universe by using a logical, consistent, systematic method of investigation, information (data) collection, data analysis (hypothesis), testing (experiment), and refinement to arrive at a well-tested, well-documented, explanation that is well-supported by evidence, called a theory.”
To make this an experiment, you may try combining ingredients in different order or quantities to change the outcome. Or, you may try throwing the slime at different kinds of things, while speculating what will happen.
Procedures
From
Anne Marie Helmenstine, Ph.D.,
Difficulty: Easy
Time Required: 15 mins
Pour the glue into the jar. If you have a big bottle of glue, you want 4 oz or 1/2 cup of glue.
Fill the empty glue bottle with water and stir it into the glue (or add 1/2 cup of water).
If desired, add food coloring. Otherwise, the slime will be an opaque white.
In a separate, mix one cup (240 ml) of water into the bowl and add 1 teaspoon (5 ml) of borax powder.
Slowly stir the glue mixture into the bowl of borax solution.
Place the slime that forms into your hands and knead until it feels dry. (Don't worry about the excess water remaining in the bowl.)
The more the slime is played with, the firmer and less sticky it will become.
Have fun!
Store your slime in a zip-lock bag in the fridge (otherwise it will develop mold).
Use white glue, such as Elmer's brand. Most 'school glues' do not have the correct composition.
Don't eat the slime - it isn't especially toxic, but not good for you either!
Slime cleans up pretty easily. Remove dried slime after soaking with water.
borax powder
water
4 ounce (120 ml) glue
teaspoon
bowl
jar or measuring cup
food coloring (optional)
measuring cup
Practitioner's
Work.
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Unit 2
Purpose: What is your conflict style and is
there a difference between our hypothetical groups?
Withdrawing Forcing Smoothing Compromising Confronting
_____ 1. _____ 2. _____ 3. _____ 4. _____ 5.
STEP 2: CALCULATE
You decide what kind of statistical test according to the type of data and
groups. Here is a useful chart to help in deciding which test: In this case, use a Chi-square because you have two groups using nominal (category by name) data. Use SPSS or one of the many online pages to calculate Chi Square, such as here or here. Need more practice? See Hypothetical Scenario 2 Scroll down for data presented in a contingency table.
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CALCULATE in SPSS, Excel, other statistical program, or online
calculator.
You'll need a Chi-square table to interpret the results
Practitioner's Work answer http://onlineacademics.org/CA517/Practitioner/
"I love the taste of success, particularly in statistics and cookies," she said.
Self-check
test or game. None. Everyone: ANSWER THIS WEEK OR NEXT,
depending on your progress. Watch Deal or No Deal, if available
on NBC this week or next if you missed it. Apply the concept of
probability and regression toward the mean.
Weekly
Overview Questions.
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Facts--no opinions--please. Use your
textbook or lecture materials to answer your assigned overview question.
1. What is science?
Theory is parsimonious (brief, tight).
Theories are tentative explanations. Each theory is evaluated
empirically to determine how well it predicts new findings. Theories can
be used to guide a research plan by generating testable hypotheses and
to organize facts obtained from the testing of these hypotheses.
23. Write an operational definition for a
construct, such as communication apprehension, leadership, or
intercultural communication competence.
24. Write an example independent and dependent variable
that might be used in a study about computer-mediated communication.
26. How might
case study research be use in WWW research?
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Peer-reviewed
Experimental Research Article in Communication.
Access
through EBSCO
You can access the library's EBSCO Communication and Mass Media Complete here: http://www.park.edu/library/ You need a PDF reader from http://www.adobe.com/
If you find an experimental or quantitative research, peer-reviewed communication article clearly relevant to your research proposal (core assessment), you may want to write your in-depth review on that article instead of this article. If that is the case, please give this article a more cursory read so you can simply discuss this article: What are the theory, design, and results of this research? Is this pure experimental research? Exactly what is the hypothesis?
Shaeffer, E., Krosnick, J., Langer, G., &
Merkle, D. (2005). Comparing the quality of data obtained by
minimally balanced and full balanced attitude questions.
Public Opinion Quarterly, 69(3), 417-428.
Database Abstract: "When measuring attitudes with questions
that offer dichotomous, mutually exclusive response options,
researchers can ask "fully balanced" questions (which fully
state both competing points of view) or "minimally balanced"
questions (which fully state one viewpoint and only briefly
acknowledge the second viewpoint). The two studies reported
here explored whether the greater efficiency of the latter
approach brought with it reductions in the quality of the
data obtained. Two
experiments embedded in national sample surveys showed
that minimally balanced and fully balanced attitude
questions yielded similar distributions of responses and
that responses to the two question forms were equivalent in
terms of concurrent validity. These studies suggest that
greater efficiency can be achieved via minimal balancing at
no cost in terms of data quality."
Theory: Various
scholars, including the meta-analysis Question-balancing by
Narayan and Krosnick (1996) formal balancing of questions
reduced bias. Minimal balancing of questions--should or
should not--minimizes the number of words in the question
and may be a valuable questioning approach.
Design: The authors conducted two experiments using
an ABC/Washington Post poll using computer-assisted phone
interviews of 1000+ people to examine question wording.
Results: The authors cannot reject the null
hypothesis, but results suggest minimal question balancing
may works better than other approaches.
What are the theory, design, and results of this research? Is this pure experimental research? Exactly what is the hypothesis?
Communication
and Leadership Research News
Study Finds More Women Publishing Communications Research
The Leadership Challenge:
St. Petersburg
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This week's assignments.
TOP PRIORITY:
Complete this week's graded
Core Assessment-related Assignment Week 3--Unit 3 Learning Activities Learning Activities are options for the Discussion Board. Note your professor has latitude about participation requirements, grading, and weight of grades.
Learning activity photos are from Microsoft Front Page or as marked. When Internet links have changed, search for your own comparable sites. |
Lynn prepares a detailed protocol for a study. The study and protocols are approved by Park University's Institutional Review Board. When Lynn asks people to sign the consent forms, two of the first three refuse to sign and Lynn decides that if no one is asked to sign the form, no one will refuse. Lynn knows that no one will ask to see the forms, and if they do, Lynn can use different pens and handwriting to fill them out. QUESTION FOR DISCUSSION What choices does Lynn have? What are the possible consequences of Lynn' decision?
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Quantitative
Logic 1
Objective: To visualize quantitative data and explain the potential for using a graphing calculator in graduate research.
Explore a graphing or plotting calculator: 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 Have fun! How might you use something like this in your graduate studies? Statistics 1 Graphing Calculator Use - More Ideas
Quantitative
Logic 2
Objective: To determine your quantitative learning style preference so you can work to increase your skills in the weaker style.
Answer the questions on this test.
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Watch the video. If the links don't work, find one of your own. What is the research question for the experiment? What are the independent and dependent variables? Week 3: Mythbusters Ask A Ninja |
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Household
Items Experiment.
Learning Connection:
How can you make this demonstration a scientific experiment? “The scientific method attempts to explain the natural occurrences (phenomena) of the universe by using a logical, consistent, systematic method of investigation, information (data) collection, data analysis (hypothesis), testing (experiment), and refinement to arrive at a well-tested, well-documented, explanation that is well-supported by evidence, called a theory.”
Battery, size C
Piece of aluminum foil, about 4 inches by 12 inches
Lightbulb from a flashlight
See if you can put those materials together to light the bulb WITHOUT reading further.
Procedures
Fold aluminum foil several times to make a strip 12 inches long and about 1/2 inch wide
Set the battery on one end of the strip
Hold the metal base of the lightbulb to the other end of the battery
Touch the metal base of the lightbulb with the aluminum foil strip
The bulb will light up
The aluminum foil strip makes a path for the energy in the battery to follow
The energy follows the path and lights up the bulb
Try different sizes of batteries
Try stacking two batteries together
Try touching the strip to different places
Practitioner's
Work.
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Take the measure or read the unit's "Practitioner" scenario, calculate the problem through SPSS or an online calculator, and interpret the data. Discuss your answer. Scenario 1:
Step 2: Online students can go to the
"Discuss/Post," select the unit, use the dropdown box to access "Practitioner's
Work," and calculate the problem using a t-test: If you want more practice, you can try Scenario 2 and number crunching (t-test). Ker linger & Lee has information on running t-tests on page 331.
Practitioner's Work answer
http://onlineacademics.org/CA517/Practitioner/
"I'm just so curious about bugs and statistical solutions," Tiny explained.
Photo source unknown.
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Deal
or No Deal.
Deal or No Deal.
Watch this game, then discuss probability and levels of confidence.
Probability is a measure of how likely it is that some
event will occur; a number expressing the ratio of favorable cases to
the whole number of cases possible; "the probability that an unbiased
coin will fall with the head up is 0.5"
Regression Toward the Mean: In statistics, regression
toward the mean is a principle stating that of related measurements, the
second is expected to be closer to the mean than the first. Regression
toward the mean is a statistical phenomenon which causes outcomes to be
more likely to fall toward the center of a statistical distribution.
Overview
Questions.
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The purpose of the Overview Question is to summarize factual information from the textbooks, course tutorials, or course materials in eCollege. No opinion please. Each student is assigned a number for the term, which corresponds to the question you are assigned to answer
1. Interview a person in the field who actually conducts research. You might interview the person by phone, in-person, or email. What advice does the person have for students learning how to conduct research. 2. Find any concept from this week's content and apply the concept to a real or hypothetical situation in organizational communication and decision-making. You may want to apply the concept to your particular research proposal. 3. What is probability and how is the principles used in communication research? 4. What is sampling? 5. How can you select a random number? 6. What are some different kinds of samples? 7. What is data? 8. Describe research interpretation and analysis. 9. Quantitative data come in two general forms, which are what? 10. What do U, N, and n mean? 11. What are reliability and validity? 12. What are some key concepts regarding measurement in research? 13. How many people should be in a sample? 14. What is sampling error? 15. Discuss the laws of chance. 16. Suppose you are answering a multiple choice question, where you don't know the answer. There are four choices--a, b, c, d--so what is the probability of you guessing the right answer? Suppose you can eliminate response b; what is the probability of guessing the right answer? Suppose you look up the answer on the Internet; what is the probability of guessing the right answer? 17. What does p mean?
18. At work, which salary is of most
interest and why?
19. Talk about the mean, median, and mode in
these pictures:
20. Explain at least one of these symbols.
Source:http://www.southalabama.edu/coe/bset/johnson/studyq/sq7_files/image002.jpg
21. Look through these flashcards for statistical
symbols. What statistical symbols do graduate students need to know when
reading communication research?
http://www.proprofs.com/flashcards/cardshow.php?cardid=5146&quesnum=3
http://www.uncp.edu/home/marson/360_basic_symbols.html 23. Discuss your project or thesis idea you have. How will select a valid sample? 24. Discuss probability and playing the lottery and scratch games. 25. What do you think is the most difficult concept in this unit? Define the concept and give an example from communication research.
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Peer-reviewed
Experimental Research Article in Communication.
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You can access the library's EBSCO Communication and Mass Media Complete here: http://www.park.edu/library/ You need a PDF reader from http://www.adobe.com/
Heerwegh, D. (2005). EFFECTS OF PERSONAL SALUTATIONS IN
E-MAIL INVITATIONS TO PARTICIPATE IN A WEB SURVEY. Public
Opinion Quarterly, 69(4), 588-598.
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Communication
and Leadership Research News
The Leadership Challenge: The Ken Blanchard Companies Corporate Issues Survey
Business (52)
Managers/Executives/Administrators (39)
Employee/Individual Contributors/Members/Adults (13)
Secondary Education (99)
Managers/Executives/Administrators (6)
Teachers (20)
Principals/Superintendents (73)
Health Care (31)
Managers/Executives/Administrators (28)
Employee/Individual Contributors/Members/Adults (3)
Government/Public Sector (14)
Managers/Executives/Administrators (12)
Employee/Individual Contributors/Members/Adults (2)
Not-for-Profit/Community Based (14)
Managers/Executives/Administrators (11)
Employee/Individual Contributors/Members/Adults (3)
Religious (9)
Employee/Individual Contributors/Members/Adults (3)
Priests/Pastors (6)
St. Petersburg 
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This week's assignments.
TOP PRIORITY:
Complete this week's graded
Week 4--Unit 4 Learning Activities Learning Activities are options for the Discussion Board. Note your professor has latitude about participation requirements, grading, and weight of grades.
Learning activity photos are from Microsoft Front Page or as marked. When Internet links have changed, search for your own comparable sites. |
Part A. Leslie finds a measure that is perfect for the proposed study. The measure is validated, has high reported reliability, and has a copyright. Although there's supposed to be a charge for each person who uses the measure, none of the faculty have asked about that part. Leslie runs off copies and considers handing them out to the participants. Part B. When Leslie runs the pre and post test data, Leslie discovers that there was no significant difference. By fudging a little on the results, Leslie can show a significant difference and probably be able to publish the study's results. QUESTION FOR DISCUSSION What choices does Leslie have? What are the possible consequences of Leslie's decision?
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Objectives
The learner will:
Calculate the mean, median, mode, and range.
Discuss the concepts with peers in the online discussion thread.
Welcome to my office! We have been talking about the mean, median, mode, making estimations and inferences, and range. For our purposes, we have used this kind of information to talk about testing data. We will start with some definitions then use a concrete example to illustrate. You can find definitions in your glossary or online, for example.
Mean: The most widely used measure of location. The sum of all observations divided by the number of observations. Sample means are symbolized by
(x(bar)).
Median: The “middle value” if the data are listed in rank order. If there are two central values (n even) then the median is simply the average of these. The median is a useful statistic when we are dealing with highly skewed data.
Mode: The most commonly observed value (or set of values) in a data set. For continuous variates we cite the modal class (or classes). The mode is a useful characteristic when we wish to quote the most “fashionable” observation.
Range: The difference between the highest and lowest values. Perhaps the simplest measure of dispersion in data, but by definition, it is strongly influenced by extreme untypical values.
Outlier: A data point that is an "unusual" observation and likely should be discarded. Note: The median is less affected by outliers than is the mean. An outlier is a number that is far apart from the rest of the data; an extreme value either much lower or much higher than the rest of the values in the data set. Outliers are known to skew means or averages. Many researchers will remove outliers to increase the accuracy of their calculations.
I want you to estimate the number of raisins in one of these boxes.
As a researcher, the more information you have, the better chance you can predict or hypothesize correctly. In this case, begin with an estimate. Number your paper from 1-7, then record your answers. When you finish, post your answers and talk with other students on the Discussion Board.
1. Write down how many raisins you think are in the box. After you have an estimate, scroll down to the next picture.
Now, based on the number of raisins you seen in the end of the box, do you want to revise your estimate. You can scroll up, but not down.
2. What is your estimate of how many raisins in the box? When you have written down your estimate, scroll down to the next step.
Here are the estimates from several people.
20
29
30, 30
40
70 (Outlier)
Answer the following questions. If you need a reminder, you can look up the meaning of these words in the course glossary.
1
. What is the range?2
. What is the mode?3
. What is the median?4
. What is the mean?
Now look at the actual number of raisins in the two boxes.
5
. How many raisins are in the box?
As it happens, the outlier of 70 actually brought the estimation to be pretty accurate regarding raisins.
Imagine that the data are test results, however. The problem with the outlier is it can screw the data. If we remove the score of 70 and recalculate, we have the following:
20
29
30, 30
40
The person who received the high score of 70 points probably came into the test knowing information the other students didn't know. You would be more accurate in determining the class knowledge by removing the outlier. Now the results are
Mean = 29.8
Median = 30
Mode = 30
When you look at these descriptive statistics, you have a more accurate view of the students' test performance.
Go to the Discussion Board to talk about this learning activity.
How did your estimate compare to the actual results?
Are you learning what you need to learn to read communication research?
Describe a problem in communication. How can mathematics help you solve that problem?
Discuss this quote by a math professor: "Statistics are like a light pole to a drunk. They just provide support. Illumination has nothing to do with it. The research adds the illumination by deciding what number to use and what they mean."
NEED MORE PRACTICE?
Here are some practice problems with answers: http://lessons.ctaponline.org/~cdenton/pretest1.key.htm
NEED
MORE ADVANCED WORK?
You are already
familiar with this kind of information regarding test scores.
·
Remember the pretest you took. Interpret the class results. What do you predict would happen if students completed the posttest week 1 of the course?·
This week?·
Week 8?·
In this course you have a pretest, treatment (instruction), and a posttest.Hypothesis: After using multiple learning strategies, student knowledge of experimental research will increase.
Independent variable: CA 517 learning strategies.
Dependent variable: Student knowledge.
Operational definition of learning: Student knowledge: Answers on the CA517 pre-post test.
Course Pretest Results
Based on the readings so far, you should be able to look at this data a make sense of it.
Highest Score: 9 pts. (90%)
Lowest Score: 4 pts. (40%)
Range: 5 pts.
Mean: 6.23 pts.
Median: 6 pts.
Mode: 6 pts.
Difficulty (Mean P-Value): .62
Standard Deviation: 1.59
Semi-Interquartile Range: 1
Number of Respondents: 13
Number of Questions: 20
Points Possible: 10 pts
Frequency Distribution: 9 pts. 2 (15.38%) 92.31
7 pts. 3 (23.08%) 73.08
6 pts. 4 (30.77%) 46.15
5 pts. 2 (15.38%) 23.08
4 pts. 2 (15.38%) 7.69
Quantitative
Logic 2
Probability is an obvious and simple subject; it is a baffling and complex subject. It is a subject we know a great deal about; it is a subject we know nothing about. Kindergartners and philosophers can study probability. It is dull; it is interesting. Such contradictions are the stuff of probability. The probability of an event is the number of favorable cases divided by the total number of (equally possible) cases (p = probability).
View the content of this video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mff6uPddUbw Then discuss probability and why is it important in communication research. When research is significant at the .05 level, what does that mean?
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Watch the video. If the links don't work, find one of your own. What is the research question for the experiment? What are the independent and dependent variables? |
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Practitioner's
Work.
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Due Unit or Week 4 Practitioner's Work
Scenario 1 Research question: Is there a difference among students of different communication major year in school in their leadership motivation.
Operational definition: Leadership motivation is the
score motivation to lead others according to the score on Mind Tools
Leadership Motivation Assessment Measure.
Scenario 1: Imagine that we have two groups. A B C D
Access PowerPoint with help and answer: click here.
If you need more practice, you may want to try
Scenario 2
ANOVA:
click here.
Practitioner's Work answer http://onlineacademics.org/CA517/Practitioner/
"I hate it when I mess up near the end!" Fluffy yelled.
Photo source unknown.
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Overview
Questions.
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Answer factually based on texts, readings,
or course materials. Avoid opinion please.
3. A student who is a fan of daytime talk shows wants to
determine if the way a woman dresses influences men's behavior. She
plans to attend two bars on a single night. In one bar she will dress
provocatively and in the other she will dress in a business suit. Her
dependent variable is the number of men who approach and talk to her.
What ethical problems are there in this study design?
Here's an example by Michael D. Mann, Ph.D., Department
of Physiology and Biophysics, University of Nebraska Medical Center:
click here.
6. What is one way of controlling variance.
7. What are
"nots" for the ethical scientist?
8. What are American Psychological Association
(APA) guidelines for ethical research?
9. What is research design?
10. What is
11. What are the two basic purposes of research design? 12. What are essential principles of good research design? 13. How will you control for extraneous variables in your project/thesis proposal? 14. Why use experimental groups? 15. When matching is used, is that a substitute for randomization? 16. Go to Dr. Aitken's IRB tutorial. What are a few key principles you need to know before doing your MA project or thesis? http://onlineacademics.org/IRB/ 17-18. Go to the Protecting Human Research Participants Certification site. The process will take about 3 hours. Select a key principle from chapter one to explain to other students. 10-21. Go to the Protecting Human Research Participants Certification site. The process will take about 3 hours. Select a key principle from chapter two to explain to other students. 22-25. Go to the Protecting Human Research Participants Certification site. The process will take about 3 hours. Select a key principle from chapter three to explain to other students.
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Peer-reviewed
Experimental Research Article in Communication.
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You can access the library's EBSCO Communication and Mass Media Complete here: http://www.park.edu/library/ You need a PDF reader from http://www.adobe.com/
Sicilia, M., Ruiz, S., &
Munuera, J. (2005). EFFECTS OF INTERACTIVITY IN A WEB SITE.
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Household
Items Experiment.
Learning Connection:
How can you make this demonstration a scientific experiment? “The scientific method attempts to explain the natural occurrences (phenomena) of the universe by using a logical, consistent, systematic method of investigation, information (data) collection, data analysis (hypothesis), testing (experiment), and refinement to arrive at a well-tested, well-documented, explanation that is well-supported by evidence, called a theory.”
From Robert
Krampf's Experiment of the Week: - #482 Burning Steel
To try this, you will need:
steel wool
pliers
matches or a lighter
a bowl of water
Before you read further or do the experiment, do you think the steel wool will burn? If you think yes, how long will it burn? Will it burn twice? What will be left if it burns? *WARNING* This experiment involves the use of fire. Burning steel is VERY hot, and can easily set fire to other materials. BE SAFE. You may want to do this over a sink with water. I've had colleagues complain about the smell, so you may want to try this outdoors.
Procedures
Light the steel wool.
Stop here until after the experiment------------------
The steel burns, giving off quite a bit of heat in the process, but it
does
not burn for long. Notice that the steel does not burn up. The strand
that
is left behind does not look like rust, but it is now made up of iron
oxide.
Understanding the Science
How can steel burn? Well, usually it doesn't. To understand why the
steel
wool burns, think about starting a campfire. What would happen if you
held
a match under a large log? Would that set the log on fire? No. The match
does not give off enough heat energy to get the wood hot enough to burn.
But, what would happen if you held the match under a small twig? The
smaller
piece of wood catches fire easily.
The same idea applies to the steel wool, but there is more than just
heat at
work. Even with a tremendous amount of heat, steel usually does not
burn.
The other difference is the amount of oxygen available. In a large piece
of
steel, only the surface is in contact with oxygen. Most of the steel in
inside, where the oxygen cannot reach. With the thin strand of steel
wool, all
the steel is near the surface, and near the oxygen. That availability of
oxygen allows the steel to burn.
So we see that when steel combines with oxygen, either slowly or
quickly, it
always gives off energy in the form of heat. Even more interesting is
that
if we measure the energy given off by both rusting and combustion, we
will see
that we get the same amount of energy from each. The speed of the
reaction
is different, but the total amount of energy is the same.
You may also find it interesting that after the steel burns, it weighs
more
that it did originally. When wood, paper, etc. burn, much of their
carbon
combines with oxygen to form carbon dioxide, which mixes with the air.
For
those substances, the remains after burning will weigh quite a bit less
than the
original material. With iron or steel, all the original material stays,
as
well as the oxygen that it bonded with. The fact that metals gain weight
when
they burn played an important role in the discovery of oxygen's role in
the
burning process.
Communication
and Leadership Research News
You might want to view a television program or film about organizational communication or leadership (e.g., Apprentice, CEO Exchange on PBS, BBC's The Thick of It, or a concept discussed on a news program). Describe a way designing an experimental study to test an idea presented.
The Leadership Challenge: C02 Partners Core Values Study by Michael T. Neiss
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This week's assignments.
TOP PRIORITY:
Complete this week's graded
Core Assessment-related Assignment Week 5--Unit 5 Learning Activities Learning Activities are options for the Discussion Board. Note your professor has latitude about participation requirements, grading, and weight of grades.
Learning activity photos are from Microsoft Front Page or as marked. When Internet links have changed, search for your own comparable sites. |
Sam has a the study's proposal, method, and forms all approved by the IRB. When Sam begins working with subjects, some slight changes are needed to make the procedures work right. Sam doesn't want to start over and obtain the IRB approval on everything. QUESTION FOR DISCUSSION What choices does Sam have? What are the possible consequences of Sam's decision?
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Week
5 Quantitative
Logic 1
Objective: To plan your MA project or thesis strategy.
The core assessment for this course is a proposal for your MA project or thesis. You may or may not decide to run an experiment, but hopefully you definitely will do a project or thesis on the topic you are using for the proposal for this course.
As you can see from how rapidly this course is flying by, you will need careful planning to complete your thesis or project on time. You will want to have at least one term--probably more--in between the term you propose your thesis or project and the term when you complete your thesis or project. For a thesis, because of all the requirements and deadlines for the Graduate School, you need to have your thesis completed by week 1 or 2 of the final term of enrollment. You don't want to get stuck paying for additional enrollment hours. You may find it helpful to look at Dr. Aitken's page for students she advises on the project, http://onlineacademics.org/CA700/ and thesis, http://onlineacademics.org/CA797/ .
You also need to be sure to meet the Graduate School Deadlines for applying for graduation.
Apply for graduation now, https://www.park.edu/registrar/gradapp/diploma.aspx
DEADLINE for August completion or December Commencement: April 1
DEADLINE for May Commencement: November 1
You may want to talk with your advisor about your project, do advance planning, and receive oral approval IN ADVANCE. You will want to have a clear idea of the nature of your project BEFORE enrolling in the course so you can complete the project well before the end of the one 8-week term.
For this week's Quantitative Logic 1 Discussion Board, post your schedule for applying for graduation, enrolling in project or thesis hours, and graduation date.
Week
5 Quantitative
Logic 2
Dr. Noe has 10 black gloves and 6 brown gloves in his closet. He blindly picks up some gloves from the closet. What is the minimum number of gloves Dr. Noe will have to pick to be certain to find a pair of gloves of the same color?
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You can access the library's EBSCO Communication and Mass Media Complete here: http://www.park.edu/library/ You need a PDF reader from http://www.adobe.com/
Bangerter, A., & Oppenheimer,
D. (2006). Accuracy in detecting referents of pointing
gestures unaccompanied by language. Gesture, 6(1),
85-102.
Genie: A Question of Ethics
Can language be learned at any time or is there a specific window of
opportunity for learning? Consider the research on language
acquisition--a key area of investigation in communication
studies--regarding Genie. Genie spent her childhood isolated from people
and chained to a potty chair. When found, researchers sought to teach
her to communicate. Although this is a case from the 1970s, it is a
powerful one for discussing many elements of the research process.
What
constitutes experimental research?
Is this
a case of experimental research?
Should
Genie have lived with scientists conducting the research?
What
does the research teach us about categorizing and analyzing
observation?
Did the
researchers get caught up in the research process and fail to have
findings?
How
generalizable is case study research?
What is
the value of experimenting on people?
What
are the ethics of experimentation in this case?
You can rent or check out from your library the Nova video called
Secret of the Wild Child. Consider the ethics of this disturbing
case. Here are some related links of interest.
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Watch the video. If the links don't work, find one of your own. What is the research question for the experiment? What are the independent and dependent variables? Week 5: MythBusters...bike face plant (short) and Mythbusters - Bike Drafting | Video | GenSpot Or |
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Household
Items Experiment.
Learning Connection:
How can you make this demonstration a scientific experiment? “The scientific method attempts to explain the natural occurrences (phenomena) of the universe by using a logical, consistent, systematic method of investigation, information (data) collection, data analysis (hypothesis), testing (experiment), and refinement to arrive at a well-tested, well-documented, explanation that is well-supported by evidence, called a theory.”
Source Anne Marie Helmenstine, Ph.D.,
empty compressible plastic bottle - no lids
water
dishwashing detergent
baking soda
vinegar
food coloring (optional--I don't use it because it can stain.)
Experiment: You will be combining the ingredients above. What do you think will happen?
Procedures
Difficulty: Easy. I do this outdoors. You might want to use a poncho or wear old clothes and shoes.
Time Required: Mere Minutes
First, you need bottles for everyone. The classic 2-liter bottle is nice because it's compressible and holds a large volume. Gatorade bottles are also good because they have wide mouths, so it's easier to recharge the bottle. I use glass jars.
Fill each bottle most of the way full of warm water and add a squirt of dishwashing detergent.
Gather the rest of the materials you will need: lots of vinegar and baking soda and food coloring if you want colored bubbles. Be advised: adding food coloring could result in staining of clothing and other surfaces.
Add some baking soda to the bottle (couple of tablespoons or so). Put your hand over the bottle opening and shake it up to get the detergent water all sudsy. Drip a bit of food coloring onto the suds.
Note: if you add the food coloring before shaking the detergent water, then the dye will go into the water and the bubbles will be clear. If you add the coloring just prior to adding the vinegar then the bubbles will be deeply colored (which also increases the staining potential).
Pour in some vinegar. This starts the reaction. Feel free to give the bottle a little squeeze to help things along. Do NOT seal the bottle with a cap or lid. That basically makes a baking soda bomb, which is dangerous.
You can recharge the reaction with more baking soda and then more vinegar. If at any time you feel like shaking up the bottle only do this with your hand over the opening and never cap or seal the bottle.
Avoid getting the mixture into your eyes or mouth. If eye contact occurs, rinse the solution out. Don't drink the contents of the bottle.
Avoid contact with unreacted vinegar or undiluted dishwashing detergent. Both can irritate skin and mucous membranes.
Weekly
Overview Questions.
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Use information from your textbooks or the course materials. No opinions please. Give factual information—avoid opinion—based on course readings and course materials. 1. What are sampling procedures in qualitative research?
What is standard error? What is the Central Limit Theorem? What are different types of hypotheses? What are the five basic steps of hypothesis testing? What do you need to know to select the correct statistical test? What are the four types of scales of measurement? Discuss how you might use statistics in your MA proposal/thesis?
24. Statistics are used to summary large sets of data. Give an example
where statistics could be misleading when used to evaluate a single
person, company, or group.
25. Explain how laypersons and statisticians differ in
their concept of the word error.
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Communication
and Leadership Research News
The Leadership Challenge: A Comparison of the Leadership Practices of Key Administrators in Non-Profit Human Service Organizations With those of Key Administrators in For-Profit Businesses
Practitioner's
Work.
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Variables HCALoyalty HCAPer LCALoyal LCAPer
Scroll down for the same information in different format.
Practitioner's Work answer http://onlineacademics.org/CA517/Practitioner/
If you need more practice. Scenario 2 and number crunching (correlation). correlation: click here.
"I see I got another problem correct!" Smiled the snowdog.
http://www.americanfamilydogtraining.com
St. Petersburg
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This week's assignments.
TOP PRIORITY:
Complete this week's graded
Week 6--Unit 6 Learning Activities Learning Activities are options for the Discussion Board. Note your professor has latitude about participation requirements, grading, and weight of grades.
Learning activity photos are from Microsoft Front Page or as marked. When Internet links have changed, search for your own comparable sites. |
Tim submits all the information needed to the IRB regarding using human subjects. It looks like the IRB will pass the request, but they don't meet over the summer, so they won't decide until Fall. Tim is supposed to graduate at the end of the summer session. QUESTION FOR DISCUSSION Should Tim go ahead and begin collecting data? What choices does Tim have? What are the possible consequences of Tim's decision?
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Quantitative
Logic 1
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Teacher: |
You appeared for quizzes in 10 topics in the Measuring Leadership course, and your average marks on them were 82. |
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Student: |
How did I fare overall on the quizzes in Measuring Leadership? |
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Teacher: |
Well, your average for the Kouzes and Posner Model the Way quiz and Kouzes and Posner Inspire a Shared Vision quiz is 74. |
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Student: |
So, how was my performance in the remaining quizzes? |
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Teacher: |
I am sure you can figure that out for yourself. |
Can you help the student find his average marks on the remaining
quizzes?
Quantitative
Logic 2
What are the next 4 numbers in the
series:
75, 150, 225, 300, ____, _____, _____
6
Household Items Experiment.
Learning Connection:
How can you make this demonstration a scientific experiment? “The scientific method attempts to explain the natural occurrences (phenomena) of the universe by using a logical, consistent, systematic method of investigation, information (data) collection, data analysis (hypothesis), testing (experiment), and refinement to arrive at a well-tested, well-documented, explanation that is well-supported by evidence, called a theory.”
Warning: I do this outdoors. You might want to use a poncho or wear old clothes and shoes.
Source Anne Marie Helmenstine, Ph.D.,
Chemical volcanoes are classic projects for science fairs and chemistry demonstrations. The mentos and diet soda volcano is similar to the baking soda volcano, except the eruption is really powerful, capable of producing jets of soda several feet high. It's messy, so you might want to do this project outdoors or in a bathroom. It's also non-toxic, so kids can do this project.
Difficulty: Easy
Time Required: chemical volcano takes a few minutes to set up and erupts for a few seconds
First, gather your supplies. You can substitute another candy for the Mentos, such as M&Ms or Skittles, but ideally you want candies that stack into a neat column with minimal space between them, have a chalky consistency, and barely fit through the mouth of a 2-liter bottle.
Similarly, you could substitute normal soda for diet soda. The project will work just as well, but the resulting eruption will be sticky. Whatever you use, the beverage has to be carbonated!
First, you need to stack the candies. The easiest way to do this is to stack them in a test tube narrow enough to form a single column. Otherwise, you can roll a sheet of paper into a tube just barely wide enough for a stack of candies.
Place an index card over the opening of the test tube or end of the paper tube to hold the candies in the container. Invert the test tube.
Open your full 2-liter bottle of diet soda. The eruption happens very quickly, so set things up: you want the open bottle - index card - roll of candies so that as soon as you remove the index card, the candies will drop smoothly into the bottle.
When you're ready, do it! You can repeat the eruption with the same bottle and another stack of candies. Have fun!
roll of mentos candies
2-liter bottle of diet soda
index card
test tube or sheet of paper
a mop for cleanup
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6 Mythbusters
Watch the video. If the links don't work, find one of your own. What is the research question for the experiment? What are the independent and dependent variables? |
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6
Peer-reviewed Experimental Research Article in Communication.
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You can access the library's EBSCO Communication and Mass Media Complete here: http://www.park.edu/library/ You need a PDF reader from http://www.adobe.com/
If you find a quantitative research, peer-reviewed communication article clearly relevant to your research proposal (core assessment), you will want to write your in-depth review on that article. If that is the case, give this article a more cursory read so you can simply discuss this article: Complete if time or needed to make up for earlier assignment.
Burgess, D. (2005). What motivates employees
to transfer knowledge outside their work unit?.
Journal of Business Communication, 42(4),
324-348. |
Communication
and Leadership Research News
Leadership Challenge: Leadership Practices in Family Support Programs
6
Overview Questions.
|
1. What is the major purpose of statistics?
2. What is a normal probability curve?
3. What is one way you can try to determine if the statistics in a
research article are appropriate to the design? "A statistical technique that can determine whether the groupings of cases on one variable are related to the groupings of cases on another variable (e.g., Are high performers more likely to be experimental subjects than control subjects?)" click here. "A statistical test to determine the similarity of the number of occurrences being investigated to the expected occurrences. The symbol for chi-square is χ2" click here.8. What is a t-test? Compared group averages. "The t-test assesses whether the means of two groups are statistically different from each other." click here. 9. What is a Pearson r? Shows relationship between two variables. For example, as communication apprehension increases, communication competence increases. "The Pearson r, also known as the Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient, is used to calculate the degree to which two variables are related, either inversely or directly." click here. Use your higher order thinking skills. Select one important concept from this unit. Use higher order thinking skills to evaluate, apply, or interpret how the concept may be useful in your thesis or project.
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6
Practitioner's Work.
|
Take the measure or read the unit's "Practitioner" scenario, calculate the problem through Excel or SPSS or an online calculator, and interpret the data or an online source. Discuss your answer.
Purpose: (d) To give the student practice determining what type of statistical test should be used based on the level of data and type of group(s).
Scenario 1:
Step 2: Read the Experimental Study Case (situation): We work out an arrangement with Donald Trump regarding communication and leadership training for our graduate students. Unfortunately, he can't accommodate everyone, but he can take 20 students in the Park program. We use a random table of numbers to select 20 students to join the Apprentice program. We want to know if students who participate in the Apprentice program and take the Park courses become better leaders than those who only take the Park coursework. We pretest all the students with Johnson's Proverbs Leadership Test (1981), with the hope the students will develop the collaborating style at the end of the program. We also give the Hemispheric Dominance Inventory Test to determine whether or not there's a relationship between hemispheric dominance and effective leadership. To make sure we have a practical measure of leadership effectiveness, we look at how many people have received at least one promotion by the end of five years. The results are in this table:
Step 3: Answer the following
questions. This practice case would make a good final exam question. (grin) Hopefully you can synthesize what you've learned and apply the information to this case. You may want to use SPSS Statistics coach, this website click here or this chart may help you select the type of statistical test you need. At this point, you should be able to answer the questions without me providing any answer. Good luck!
Practitioner's Work answer http://onlineacademics.org/CA517/Practitioner/
"I'm getting so I can solve anything!"
Photo source unknown.
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This week's assignments.
TOP PRIORITY:
Complete this week's graded
Unit 7 Learning Activities Learning Activities are options for the Discussion Board. Note your professor has latitude about participation requirements, grading, and weight of grades.
Learning activity photos are from Microsoft Front Page or as marked. When Internet links have changed, search for your own comparable sites. |
Quantitative
Logic 1
Objective: To interpret a research data.
Communication apprehension research typically uses scales and statistics
to analyze data.
Richmond, V.P. (1990). Communication in the classroom: Power and
motivation. Communication Education, 39(3), 181. Retrieved June 11,
2008, from Communication and Mass Media Complete database
Examine this table and explain some aspect of what the data means.
Quantitative
Logic 2
Objective: To interpret a research data.
Read this article about Kouzes and Posner Leadership Practices, click here. Interpret the meaning of this table.
Quantitative Logic
3
Objective: To interpret a research data figure.
Read this article. You can find it through the library's online database (Com & Mass Media Complete) or here.
Boyle, M., Schmierbach, M., Armstrong, C., Cho, J., McCluskey, M., McLeod, D., et al. (2006, June). Expressive responses to news stories about extremist groups: A framing experiment. Journal of Communication, 56(2), 271-288.
What inference can you draw from the figure?
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Mythbusters
Watch the video. If the links don't work, find one of your own. What is the research question for the experiment? What are the independent and dependent variables? Week 7: Mythbusters water heater or find your own. |
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\
Household
Items Experiment.
Learning Connection:
How can you make this demonstration a scientific experiment? “The scientific method attempts to explain the natural occurrences (phenomena) of the universe by using a logical, consistent, systematic method of investigation, information (data) collection, data analysis (hypothesis), testing (experiment), and refinement to arrive at a well-tested, well-documented, explanation that is well-supported by evidence, called a theory.”
Procedures
Source: Anne Marie Helmenstine, Ph.D.,
Difficulty: Average
Time Required: Overnight
Cut a pipe cleaner into three equal sections.
Twist the sections together at their centers to form a six-sided snowflake shape. Don't worry if an end isn't even, just trim to get the desired shape. The snowflake should fit inside the jar.
Tie the string to the end of one of the snowflake arms. Tie the other end of the string to the pencil. You want the length to be such that the pencil hangs the snowflake into the jar.
Fill the widemouth pint jar with boiling water.
Add borax one tablespoon at a time to the boiling water, stirring to dissolve after each addition. The amount used is 3 tablespoons borax per cup of water. It is okay if some undissolved borax settles to the bottom of the jar.
If desired, you may tint the mixture with food color.
Hang the pipe cleaner snowflake into the jar so that the pencil rests on top of the jar and the snowflake is completely covered with liquid and hangs freely (not touching the bottom of the jar).
Allow the jar to sit in an undisturbed location overnight.
Look at the pretty crystals!!! You can hang your snowflake as a decoration or in a window to catch the sunlight :-)
Tips:Borax is available at grocery stores in the laundry soap section, such as 20 Mule Team Borax Laundry Booster. Do not use Boraxo soap.
Because boiling water is used and because borax isn't intended for eating, adult supervision is recommended for this project.
If you can't find borax, you can use sugar or salt (may take longer to grow the crystals, so be patient). Add sugar or salt to the boiling water until it stops dissolving. Ideally you want no crystals at the bottom of the jar.
string
wide mouth jar (pint)
white pipe cleaners
borax (see tips)
pencil
boiling water
blue food coloring (opt.)
scissors
Practitioner's
Work.
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Purpose:
Assignment: Find a peer-reviewed experimental research article in communication, which uses a measure. Take the measure so you understand that element. Describe the measure and your results. Analyze the statistics used in the research. Exactly what was used, why, with what result? Attach a PDF copy of the article to your submission.
"So, how are your observational skills at this point in the course?" asked Coolbert.
Photo source unknown.
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Weekly
Question.
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Unit 7 ?: The Summit Facts only please. Take information from the textbooks and course materials.
1. Why are interviews expensive?
Photo Copyright Joan Aitken
7. What is a focus group?
9. What is a test?
11. What are some types of scales?
16. How might the researcher determine
reliability and validity in observation research?
19. What is potential weakness(es) of
observational rating?
21. Look on the Internet to see what SPSS
is and give a brief explanation. "A statistical technique that can determine whether the groupings of cases on one variable are related to the groupings of cases on another variable (e.g., Are high performers more likely to be experimental subjects than control subjects?)" click here. "A statistical test to determine the similarity of the number of occurrences being investigated to the expected occurrences. The symbol for chi-square is χ2" click here.24. What is a t-test? Compared group averages. "The t-test assesses whether the means of two groups are statistically different from each other." click here. 25. What is a Pearson r? Shows relationship between two variables. For example, as communication apprehension increases, communication competence increases. "The Pearson r, also known as the Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient, is used to calculate the degree to which two variables are related, either inversely or directly." click here.
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Peer-reviewed
Experimental Research Article in Communication.
You can access the library's EBSCO Communication and Mass Media Complete here: http://www.park.edu/library/ You need a PDF reader from http://www.adobe.com/
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Communication
and Leadership Research News
Leadership Challenge: A Case Study Exploration of Leadership, Communication, and Organizational Identification
Go for it! http://www.myspacespells.com
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This week's assignments.
TOP PRIORITY:
Complete this week's graded
Unit 8 Learning Activities Learning Activities are options for the Discussion Board. Note your professor has latitude about participation requirements, grading, and weight of grades.
Learning activity photos are from Microsoft Front Page or as marked. When Internet links have changed, search for your own comparable sites. |
Quantitative
Logic 1
Objective: To interpret a research data table.
Read this article. You can find it through the library's online database (Com & Mass Media Complete) or here. Interpret Table 1.
Boyle, M., Schmierbach, M., Armstrong, C., Cho, J., McCluskey, M., McLeod, D., et al. (2006, June). Expressive responses to news stories about extremist groups: A framing experiment. Journal of Communication, 56(2), 271-288.
Journal of Communication ISSN 0021-9916RESEARCH ARTICLE
What inference can you draw from the table?
Quantitative
Logic 2
Objective: To interpret a research data.
Read this table about Kouzes and Posner Leadership Practices Inventory norms. Interpret the table.
Practitioner's
Work.
|
Purpose: Find a peer-reviewed experimental research article in communication, which uses a measure. Take the measure so you understand that element. Describe the measure and your results. Analyze the statistics used in the research. Exactly what was used, why, with what result. Attach a PDF copy of the article to your submission.
"I love it when I when people talk calculations!" said the Easter bunny.
Photo source unknown.
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Weekly
Question.
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Extra credit, but these look like great post-test or comprehensive exam questions.
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Peer-reviewed
Experimental Research Article in Communication.
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You can access the library's EBSCO Communication and Mass Media Complete here: http://www.park.edu/library/ You need a PDF reader from http://www.adobe.com/
Please use an experimental research article in communication studies of your choice. Complete if time or needed to make up for earlier assignment.
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Household
Items Experiment.
Optional
Learning Connection:
How can you make this demonstration a scientific experiment? “The scientific method attempts to explain the natural occurrences (phenomena) of the universe by using a logical, consistent, systematic method of investigation, information (data) collection, data analysis (hypothesis), testing (experiment), and refinement to arrive at a well-tested, well-documented, explanation that is well-supported by evidence, called a theory.”
From Anne Marie Helmenstine, Ph.D.,
Burning Money Chemistry Demonstration
You will combine alcohol and water and soak a dollar bill in the money. What do you think will happen?
Procedures
This is a neat 'magic trick' that illustrates the process of combustion, the flammability of alcohol, and the special qualities of the material used to make currency.
Scientific Concept behind Burning Money
A combustion reaction occurs between alcohol and oxygen, producing heat and light (energy) and carbon dioxide and water.
C2H5OH + 4 O2 -> 2 CO2 + 3 H2O + energy
When the bill is soaked an alcohol-water solution, the alcohol has a high vapor pressure and is mainly on the outside of the material (a bill is more like fabric than paper, which is nice, if you've ever accidentally washed one). When the bill is lit, the alcohol is what actually burns. The temperature at which the alcohol burns is not high enough to evaporate the water, which has a high specific heat, so the bill remains wet and isn't able to catch fire on its own.
After the alcohol has burned, the flame goes out, leaving a slightly damp dollar bill. Source.
Here is what you need to perform the burning money demonstration:
dollar bill (higher denomination if you're brave)
tongs
matches or a lighter
salt (or one of these chemicals if you want a colored flame)
solution of 50% alcohol and 50% water (you can mix 95% alcohol with water in a 1:1 ratio, if desired)
Communication
and Leadership Research News
Leadership Challenge: Mother and Leadership: Bridging the Chasm
St. Petersburg
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Example
Discussion Rubric CA517 |
Program Goal | Course Goal | Mastery .5 points |
Lacks Standards Expected of Social Scientific Inquiry and Integrity |
| Prepared by reading and doing assignments in advance. | Read and conduct research and apply the principles to their own organizations. | Conduct a review of literature. | Clearly shows knowledge of week's
readings material. Shows learning about quantitative research. Helps peers in the learning process. Open-minded to research-based, creative problem-solving. |
Comments lack understanding of week's
readings, research, or writing. or Trouble adapting to the course environment. or Procrastinates or makes peers carry this student's share of work. or Fails to prepare for class. or Inhibits class productivity. |
| Substantive posts. __/ .5 points |
Develop a framework for ethical conduct in contemporary organizations. | Identify and explain basic principles and terminology used in quantitative research. | Shows analytical depth. Applies reading material. Provides multiple comments in discussion. Takes responsibility for learning. Shows encouragement & respect. Focus on problem-solving. Shows scientific objectivity. |
Comments/posts are shallow or flippant. or Blames others for problems. or Blames others for lack of learning. or Lacks integrity. or Complains about difficulty of learning the material. |
| Posts/comments are fact
based. __/ .5 points |
Apply research skills to resolve organizational issues and improve decision-making. |
Analyze and evaluate research quality as a social scientist
(e.g., method, design, ethics, statistical tests).
Follow standard APA style. |
Cites sources. Uses peer-reviewed sources or text materials. Avoids opinion. Open-minded to communication theories. |
Opinionated comments cannot be
substantiated by peer-reviewed research. or Fails to admit mistakes or misinformation. or Complains about following course, APA, IRB, or University expectations. |
| Positive interaction with
others.
__/ .5 points Total __/ 2 points |
Provide a forum for the exchange of ideas between students and organizational leaders concerning the requirements to achieve excellence. | Analyze and evaluate research quality as a social scientist. | Responds with knowledge. Shows rhetorical sensitivity. Helpful toward peers. Shows discussion leadership. Responds with depth to at least two other students. Shows warmth and dynamism. |
Fails to show discussion leadership. or Fails to work well with some people in the class. or Lack of respect toward faculty or students. or Thinks is better than others. or Fails to listen well. |
Quantitative
Logic
![[MeanMedianMode2.jpg]](http://bp0.blogger.com/_E9IJpjA-9VQ/RzP-Sg5pzoI/AAAAAAAAAF8/Kb1CWE1N6dQ/s1600/MeanMedianMode2.jpg)
Purpose:
