Reading...
Play button
Play button
Use LEFT and RIGHT arrow keys to navigate between flashcards;
Use UP and DOWN arrow keys to flip the card;
H to show hint;
A reads text to speech;
123 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
|
Research (Broom & Dozier definition)
|
controlled, objective, and systematic gathering of info for the purposes of describing and understanding
|
|
|
Research (Seitel definition)
|
another name for listening in public relations work
|
|
|
Research (Keyton definition)
what is research? |
process of asking questions and finding answers
“A systematic investigation, including research development, testing and evaluation, designed to develop or contribute to generalized knowledge” |
|
|
3 Purposes of Research
|
- describe a process
- determine causes of - explain cause and effect - predict what will happen if action is or isn't taken |
|
|
Benefits of Research for the Researcher
|
- helps you evaluate what publics want by measuring attitudes
- identify opinion leaders - makes you efficient - achieves credibility - achieves 2 way communication (feedback) - expose potential trouble spots - gives you a new angle |
|
|
What are the 2 kinds of research?
|
qualitative & quantitative
|
|
|
Characteristics of Qualitative research
|
qualitative research features no numbers.
|
|
|
Examples of Qualitative research
|
in-depth interview, focus group
|
|
|
advantages of qualitative
|
more detailed info
|
|
|
disadvantages of qualitative
|
local, individual answers do not represent large groups accurately
|
|
|
What must communication have in order to fit the modern definition?
|
shared meaning
|
|
|
dyadic communication
|
interpersonal communication
|
|
|
intrapersonal communication
|
person's internal thoughts and decisions
|
|
|
organizational communication
|
communication between and within organizations
|
|
|
mass communication
|
communication through a medium such as internet, radio, or newspaper.
|
|
|
What is primary research good for?
|
unique questions that have not been previously answered
|
|
|
direct communication
|
also called hypodermic needle or magic bullet theory.
|
|
|
indirect communication
|
mass comm message communicated between audiences
|
|
|
opinion leader
|
has direct influence over an audience
|
|
|
4 types of research questions
|
definition, fact, value, policy
|
|
|
Questions of definition
|
define a subject before you can understand or apply it. Both qualitative and quantitative research can be used.
|
|
|
Questions of fact
|
how much, how many. counting/measuring. quantitative
|
|
|
Question of value
|
how well? Evaluation. Qualitative
|
|
|
questions of policy
|
"what should we do with what we know?"
-application |
|
|
qualitative vs. quantitative
|
- one is no inherently better
- method which best helps answer the research question should be used |
|
|
qualitative and quantitative similarities
|
- rely on empirical evidence
- provide useful info for describing, understanding, and explaining - needed to develop complete picture of communication |
|
|
quantitative
|
uses numbers, participants randomly selected, removes some context, relies on formal logic.
|
|
|
qualitative
|
uses descriptions, participants carefully selected, deep context, interpretive frame
|
|
|
Types of qualitative sampling
|
snowball sampling, network sampling, purposive sampling
|
|
|
snowball sampling
|
asking participants for referrals
|
|
|
network sampling
|
seek individuals who fit profile
|
|
|
purposive sampling
|
Seek individuals who meet criteria
|
|
|
Developing Research Purpose Statements and Research Questions
|
- create thesis (the purpose is to..)
- write as many relevant research questions as possible - rank research questions by importance - underline variables in each question - does purpose statement reflect all underlined variables? - rewrite purpose statement to concisely reflect all values |
|
|
ways of observing people
|
in-depth interview, focus groups, participant observation
|
|
|
Focus Group
|
interview with more participants at once
|
|
|
Characteristics of Focus Group
|
many participants
some control less expensive |
|
|
Topical order
|
Organize by main topics and emphasizes the relationship of the issues to the main problem
|
|
|
Chronological order
|
Organizes by historical progression in terms of time
|
|
|
problem-cause-solution order
|
organizes so that the review moves from a problem to a cause to a solution
|
|
|
general to specific
|
examines broad-based research first and then focuses on specific studies
|
|
|
known to unknown
|
Examines current literature about the problem and then identifies at the end what still is not known
|
|
|
comparison/contrast
|
shows how research studies are similar to and different from each other
|
|
|
specific to general
|
tries to make sense out of specific studies so that general conclusion can be drawn
|
|
|
Content analysis
|
- systematic, objective, and quantitative method for researching messages
- Use coding system to count the number of times that specific words or themes appear in a document |
|
|
Quantitative content analysis
|
denotative
|
|
|
Qualitative content analysis
|
connotative, themes and implications
|
|
|
Steps to conduct analysis
|
- lit review
- decide what kind of content to analyze - decide what categories to count (units of analysis=things that are counted) - write up categories (how to define categories? What kind of scale?) - Select the documents (wich ones and what kind) - coding into categories (validity (is the measurement acurate), reliability (same results every time)) |
|
|
Quantitative content categories
|
- word or symbol
- character - stated themes/topics - time/space - values - implications |
|
|
Rules for Quantitative content categories
|
- reflect purpose of research
- be exhaustive - be mutually exclusive - be truly independent and different from one another |
|
|
4 types of measurement
|
nominal, ordinal,
|
|
|
nominal
|
labeling
|
|
|
ordinal
|
arranging objects in order (ranking)
|
|
|
interval
|
measuring at even intervals
|
|
|
ratio
|
interval with an absolute zero (weight, income, etc.)
|
|
|
2 classes of measurement type
|
continuous, categorical
|
|
|
Categorical
|
Nominal, Ordinal
|
|
|
Continuous
|
Ratio, Interval
|
|
|
Likert Scale
|
A series of item statements that are reacted to on a continuum of predesignated responses
(example: "I like cheese - strongly agree/neutral/strongly disagree"). Equal interval property is not guaranteed |
|
|
Advantages/Disadvantages of Likert Scale
|
adv: Can be constructed quickly
Easy to follow dis: May not really be interval People may not respond well to preset categories |
|
|
Semantic Differential numbers
|
Numerical rating. On a set scale.
Bipolar continnuum (two extremes. ex: rate 1-10. 10 being attractive and 1 being ugly) |
|
|
Adv/Dis of Semantic Differential
|
Advantages:
Respondents won’t be stumped by pre-written categories Disadvantages: Harder to fill out = more errors Have to complete in person (no phone surveys, only mail or f-2-f) |
|
|
How to measure test validity
|
Face validity
Content validity Criterion-related validity Construct validity |
|
|
Measures of Central Tendency
|
Mean, Median, Mode
|
|
|
Measures of Dispersion
|
Range (dis: overly sensitive to maximums and minimums), deviation, variation, standard variation
|
|
|
deviation
|
raw score - mean
|
|
|
variation
|
find deviation, square it, add them.
|
|
|
standard variation
|
average deviation from the mean
|
|
|
Population and Sample: Population
|
(Universe):
All the people who possess a particular characteristics of interest |
|
|
Population and Sample: Element
|
one unit from population
|
|
|
Population and Sample: Sample
|
A subgroup selected from a population or universe.
A set of elements that form a subset of population |
|
|
Simple random sampling
|
Requirement: A complete list of the population
Steps 1. Assign numbers to each population member 2. Randomly select numbers (using random number table or computer programs) |
|
|
Systematic random sampling
|
every nth number of the population
|
|
|
Stratified sampling
|
population divided into groups, then sampled from each group representative of their population percentage.
|
|
|
non-probability sampling
|
Convenience
Volunteer Purposive Quota Network |
|
|
convenience sampling
|
people selected by availability
|
|
|
volunteer sampling
|
people volunteer for the study
|
|
|
Main advantage of surveys
|
generalizable
|
|
|
Five questions to start survey process
|
what you're studying. target audience, method of selection, measure of accuracy, type of survey
|
|
|
longitudinal
|
Trend (Diff. people over time)
Panel design (Same people over time) Cohort trend design (Diff. people over time, but they have to meet certain characteristics) |
|
|
telephone surveys
|
better response rate than mail. Problems: call screening, equipment, trained interviewers
|
|
|
mail surveys
|
cheapest, lowest response rate, anonymity issues
|
|
|
Dillman’s 5-stage method of conducting mail surveys
|
One week in advance: Pre-notice letter
Mail survey packet with cover letter One week later: Thank-you letter/reminder to respond Two-to-four weeks later: Replacement survey packet with cover letter One week later: Contact respondent for final plea |
|
|
person to person
|
detailed questions, better response rate, richness of data, most expensive, little anonymity,
|
|
|
questionairre construction parts of a questionairre
|
Introduction
Body of questions Demographic information Concluding statement |
|
|
questionairre introduction
|
introduces questionairre, emphasizes at-will participation and confidentiality.
|
|
|
questionairre body
|
instructions, transitions
|
|
|
questionairre conclusion
|
thanks, repeat reward offer
|
|
|
information to include in survey report
|
Type of survey
Dates of survey Who conducted survey Number of attempted contacts Number of completed surveys Response rate Error rates (sampling error and measurement error) Actual questions used (appendix) Descriptive statistics for each question |
|
|
survey problems
|
bias
|
|
|
Questionnaire writing tips
|
closed ended questions, but not yes or no. pretest. no jargon. reward.
|
|
|
presentation
|
outline procedures, strengths/weaknesses, suggestions, conclusion
|
|
|
factors influencing search engine results
|
Factors influencing results: size of database, how often updated, its search capabilities
|
|
|
search engine differences
|
Search speed
Search interface design Ways they display results Amount of help you get |
|
|
subject-specific search engines
|
examples: WebMD, Wall Street Journal
|
|
|
Portal Sites
|
Indexes of subject categories
Maintained by humans (browsing?) Less results, but more relevant results (ex: yahoo, msn) |
|
|
Validity of info
|
Date
Author or sponsor |
|
|
Meaningful Inquiry
|
Theory-driven
|
|
|
Deductive Research Model
|
Theory drives research
|
|
|
The Inductive Research Model
|
Theory is derived from research
|
|
|
Communication Styles Questionnaire
|
Developed to help discover preferred communication style(s) by Peter Honey and Alan Mumford
Also referred to as the Learning Styles Questionnaire Taking the Communication Style Questionnaire Takes about 10-15 minutes If you disagree with a statement, mark it with an If you agree, mark it with a check mark Most items are behavioral and describe actions a person may or may not take Designed to probe strength of four learning styles: Activist Reflector Theorist Pragmatist Generally looking for a high score in one dimension Moderate to high scores typically occur on more than one dimension |
|
|
Student motivation scale
|
Beatty and Payne (1985)
Christophel (1990) Student engagement and motivation 2-part survey |
|
|
Locus of Control
|
The Locus of control is an instrument designed to determine whether individuals believe their behavior is under their control
|
|
|
Rhetorical Sensitivity
|
Idea of rhetorical sensitivity first discussed in 1972 by Roderick Hart and Don Burks.
Hart and Burks created the RHETSEN scale to measure peoples attitudes toward communication. Found to have sufficient reliability and validity Pretty intricate scale that can measure so many different variables to be compared.. Age, sex, major, political views, living environment, career, etc. “Rhetorical sensitivity is a particular attitude toward encoding spoken messages. It represents a way of thinking about what should be said and, then, a way of deciding how to say it.” |
|
|
Communicator Style Questionnaire
|
50 Statements
Scale: 5=YES! (strongly agree) 4=yes 3=? (I’m not sure) 2=no 1=NO! (strongly disagree) 10 subscales Subscales Dominant Animated Attentive Dramatic Contentious Precise Relaxed Open Friendly Impression Leaving |
|
|
correctly identify the assumptions and ‘code’ that underlie the scientific method, including the idea of ‘parsimony’
|
*Steps in the Scientific Research Process
Find a topic of interest Create a hypothesis or research question Apply your own reasoning and experience Design/conduct the research Analyze/interpret your data |
|
|
communication theory is connected to communication research
|
*
|
|
|
distinguish between basic/pure research as well as inductive/deductive approaches
|
*
|
|
|
conceptualization and operationalization
|
* Conceptualization: forming an idea about what needs to be studied
Inspiration is everywhere! Operationalization: the process of determining observable characteristics of a concept or variable |
|
|
identify and distinguish between research questions and hypotheses
|
* Preferred when little is known about a communication phenomenon
Used if previous studies report conflicting results Used to describe (rather than test) communication phenomena Hypotheses are always tentative Hypotheses must be/have: Simply stated (single sentence) At least two variables Variables clearly stated Nature of relationship/s predicted/stated clearly Testable |
|
|
explain, and identify examples of, one-tailed and two-tailed hypotheses
|
* One-tailed/directional…we have an educated guess/prediction about how the relationship works, and want to test it.
For instance: H1: As instructor teaching style becomes more personal, student satisfaction with a course will increase. Two-tailed/nondirectional…there is some kind of relationship, but we can’t yet predict which way the relationship ‘works.’ |
|
|
identify and distinguish between independent and dependent variables
|
*Manipulating/varying/or considering but not changing this variable is assumed to result in change in other variables
Variable of primary interest; the one that is influenced/changed by IV |
|
|
the four principles of the Belmont Report
|
* Applications
Informed Consent Information Comprehension Voluntary Assessment of Risks & Benefits Selection of Subjects Beneficence Respect for persons and their autonomy Justice |
|
|
reliability; internal validity; external validity; face/criterion/construct/content validity
|
*construct
content - |
|
|
unidimensional and multidimensional approaches to measuring variables, and to identify examples of each
|
*
|
|
|
least one way to assess or establish reliability
|
* split-half test
interrater test |
|
|
establish internal validity, as well as at least one common problem researchers encounter with internal validity
|
Use of control groups
Environmental controls Longitudinal research (history, sleeper effect) Accounting for sensitization Appropriate data analysis problems: Hawthorne effect Self-selection bias Statistical regression Mortality |
|
|
correctly identify and explain at least one type of randomized sampling
|
*systematic with a random start
|
|
|
hypothesis and null hypothesis; also between Type I and Type II error
|
*Implicit complementary statement to the research hypothesis
States no relationship/difference exists between variables |
|
|
example of a part of an SPSS printout, be able to offer an interpretation of the data being presented
|
*
|
|
|
criteria
|
Curiosity
Confirmability Compassion Cost Cupidity Conformity |
|
|
questions
|
Questions of definition (effectiveness of print vs. online ads)
Question of variable relations (gender and perceived leadership) Questions of value (value of peacemaking communication) Questions of policy (social norming campaigns on drinking) |
|
|
research in the news
|
oreo-- addictive properties
|
|
|
quantitative v qualitative
|
Quantity is the unit of analysis
Amounts (‘how much’) Frequencies (‘how often’) Degrees (‘to what extent’) Values (‘what is important’) Intensity (‘how strongly do you feel’) Uses statistics for greater precision and objectivity Usually follows a deductive model |
