Mass Comm Final Exam

Front 1

Chi-square tests

Back 1

inferential statistical tests for non-parametric data

Front 2

Coding

Back 2

the process of assigning meaning to some communication behavior, message, or observation

Front 3

Degrees of freedom (df)

Back 3

a correction factor in inferential statistics that allows you to predict one outcome by holding another constant; (n – 1)

Front 4

Descriptive research

Back 4

a method of gathering information in such a way as to paint a picture of what people think or do

Front 5

Epistemology

Back 5

the study of how we come to know things. It deals with how individuals and groups come to believe what they believe. Includes tenacity, authority, intuition, and science

Front 6

Humanistic

Back 6

one of two dominant approaches to communication research, uses rhetorical-historical-critical approaches to research

Front 7

Inferential statistics

Back 7

statistical analysis that test if the results observed for a sample are indicative of the population; the presentation of information that allows us to make judgments whether the research results observed in a sample generalize to the population from which the sample was drawn

Front 8

Median (Md)

Back 8

a parametric statistic, a measure of central tendency, the 50th percentile or midpoint of all responses

Front 9

Mode (Mo)

Back 9

a parametric statistic, a measure of central tendency, the most frequently occurring response; a variable may be multi-modal – have more than response that is responded to equally

Front 10

Operational definition

Back 10

(1) defines variables with such specificity and concreteness that they make scientific research possible; (2) specifies the procedures the research uses to observe the variables; both the independent and dependent variables require operational definitions

Front 11

Participant-observation

Back 11

a qualitative research method that directly involves the researcher in the research process as both participant in the communication event and observer of that event

Front 12

Population

Back 12

a group of people, objects, events, or things that a researcher is interested in studying that share some characteristics; a universe in content analytic or rhetorical-critical studies

Front 13

Questionnaire

Back 13

a measurement instrument that contains the exact questions and measures an interviewer uses to survey through the mail, in person, or by telephone

Front 14

Range

Back 14

a parametric statistic, a measure of central tendency, the difference between high and low sources

Front 15

Response rate

Back 15

from survey methodology, the number of participants actually reached who complete an interview

Front 16

Standard deviation

Back 16

a parametric statistic, a measure of central tendency that tells us how dispersed the data points are from the mean.

Front 17

Statistics

Back 17

the branch of applied mathematics that provides the tools to summarize, organize, and analyze the results of a quantitative study

Front 18

Survey

Back 18

an in-depth project, seeking to understand why people differ in their descriptions of perceptions of an event

Front 19

Poll

Back 19

describes how or what participants think and is usually fairly short

Front 20

Variables

Back 20

an attribute we can think of that is changeable, that varies

Front 21

Frequency distribution

Back 21

the number of responses that fall in a category in a nonparametric analysis; can be analyzed a s numbers, percentages, or proportions

Front 22

Coefficient of contingency

Back 22

statistic that provides a relative measure of magnitude of the relationship between variables on a 0.00 to +1.00 scale

Front 23

SPSS

Back 23

Statistical Package for the Social Sciences – statistical program available for the personal computer, the most modern program