Instructor:	Timothy Stephen
Office:	SS335
Office hours:	by appointment
phone:	please use email
email:	as given in class
course web site:	http://www.cios.org/courses/methods/index.htm

This course introduces basic concepts in research methodology. It also examines concepts of professionalism --- what it means to be a professional in the field of communication.

For those aiming for the PhD, an examination of the research process is inseparable from a focus on professionalism since the principal professional activity of PhDs is the collection, summarization, critique, and interpretation of information gathered through defensibly systematic procedures. The Doctor of Philosophy is a "knowledge-producing" degree that requires mastery of the rules for producing and analyzing high quality, competitive information from which it is possible to argue effectively about matters of practice, policy, and theory. Without skills in this area, it is unlikely that one will contribute meaningfully to the processes of argument that advance one's discipline.

In addition, those seeking careers in education require research skills since educational assessment and course evaluation are two of the most common areas in which basic research methods are applied. As a result of this class you'll be better prepared to evaluate your students, to evaluate your own performance as an instructor, to judge the limitations of common modes of evaluation, and to know when data are being interpreted correctly or incorrectly by others.

The MA is sometimes described as a "knowledge-using" degree. However, an MA also requires competence in the research process since it is impossible to make effective use of an item of knowledge without the ability to evaluate the circumstances under which the knowledge was obtained. There are key questions that should always be raised about the foundations of any important item of information with which one must work. Without knowledge of those questions and how to pursue answers to them, one is more likely to find oneself used by information (e.g., wolfing down oatbran; blowing money on wrinkle creams and magnet therapy; living in terror of power line radiation or microwave/cell phone emissions; suffering a daily colonic; etc.) than to be able to make use of information.

In addition, for professional masters students there is an important link between research skills and career advancement. Training in research may be a key factor in advancing from entry--level to positions of higher organizational responsibility. Most questions of organizational policy rest on assessments of the foundations of facts (e.g., how well the company is performing, which company procedures are effective and which aren't, etc.). Hence, knowledge of research procedures is required to engage effectively in policy-generating debate, and, of course, in product and marketing assessment. To gain facility in the research process is to know how to argue from data, how to formulate decisions (e.g., about a marketing strategy or a product design or an information campaign) based on empirical evidence, and to know when someone is making inappropriate, inaccurate, or unsupportable claims and to enable oneself to effectively challenge or dispute them.

The greater part of our course will treat issues in research and the analysis of data. In recognition of the diversity of students' backgrounds and career interests, topics have been selected that are reasonably generic and foundational. For example, issues such as validity, reliability, sampling, and research design are relevant in all approaches to research --- quantitative, qualitative, bibliographic, etc. We will also study scale construction and the design of tests and measures, issues in research design, and if we have time we will overview techniques of interviewing and introductory participant observation. Expect to become familiar with a set of commonly used introductory statistical tools (e.g., frequency analysis, graphing, correlation, t-tests), to obtain an overview knowledge of other procedures, and to become familiar with the basics of the SPSS system for data analysis.

Texts

Baxter, L., and Babbie, E. (most recent edition). The basics of communication research. Belmont, CA: The Wadsworth Publishing Company.

Tests

There will be two written exams. The date of the first exam will be announced in class at least one week prior to the exam. The last exam is scheduled by the university. Please check the calendar on the UAlbany web site at once to anticipate and avoid conflicts. You must attend both exams.

Grading

As a member of a graduate course, expect to take considerable responsibility for the direction and quality of your own learning. You are expected to complete projects on time, to take responsibility for speaking up when you have questions and ideas, to contribute to a spirit of cooperative learning within the class, and to demonstrate significant investment in the projects that you undertake. It is not acceptable to miss class, arrive late, or attend unprepared for discussion and it will not be possible to pass the course with better than a C grade if you do.

Grading will be based on the following system: tests (60%); evidence of commitment to learning, involvement in discussion, preparation for class (15%); other assignments (25%).

1. Course Topics in Approximate Order

Foundations for knowing
Theory and models
Criteria for evaluating theory
Relationship of theory to research
Inductive and deductive approaches
Common errors in reasoning
The discipline of communication
Areas of research in the field
Role of theory and research
Qualitative and quantitative approaches
Nomothetic and idiographic approaches
Hypotheses and research questions
Bibliographic and library resources
Structure and style of research projects and reports
Operationalization: Approaches to measurement
Domain sampling and the construction of tests and measures
Common methods of scale construction
Reliability and validity
Empirical study of reliability and validity in tests and measures
Basic descriptive statistics
Measures of central tendency, statistical notation
Distributions, shapes and features
Identifying and graphing outliers
Measures of dispersion and variability
Introduction to SPSS
Significance tests
Statistical evaluation of reliability and validity of tests and measures
Introduction to correlation
More on correlation and interdependence -- independence, suppression, and net suppression in data
Controlling for variables with partial correlation
Sampling
Power
Type 1 and Type 2 error
Experiment design
The analysis of group differences using the t test
Oneway analysis of variance
Overview of extended GLM procedures in advanced analytic techniques
Special topics in design and measurement as time permits and as relevant to class projects: participant observation, cluster analysis, Q methodology, ethnomethodology, conversation analysis, etc.

2. Major Assignments (due dates will be given in class)

Assignment: Identify key concepts in areas of specialty within the field. Where did these concepts comes from? How have these concepts been measured? Identify an area of personal interest and propose hypotheses and/or research questions.

Group assignment: Presentation of bibliographic background for group research project. project leading to statements of hypotheses or research questions

Group assignment: Construction of a measure of a construct of interest

Group assignment: Descriptive analysis of data from group measure

Group assignment: Reliability analysis of data from group measure