CMN 228 - Research Methods in Communication

1. Explain how research methods are used to study communication behavior.
2. Explain how to plan, design, and conduct communication research using appropriate methodology.
3. Demonstrate principles and techniques of qualitative methods of communication research.

1. Conceptualizing Communication Research
   1. Introduction to the research culture
      1. Importance of knowing research methods
      2. Making claims and offering evidence
      3. The research process
   2. Ask questions about communication
      1. Define communication research
      2. Areas of communication research
      3. Basic versus applied communication research topics
      4. Research questions and hypotheses
   3. Find, Read, and Use Research
      1. Reasons for reviewing previous research
      2. Read scholarly journal articles
      3. Write a literature review
2. Plan and Design Communication Research
   1. Observing and designing communication variables
      1. Measurement theory
      2. Measurement methods
      3. Measurement techniques
   2. Design a valid communication research
      1. Measurement validity
      2. Measurement reliability
      3. Sampling
   3. Research ethics and politics
      1. The politics of academic research
      2. Ethical issues involving research participants
      3. Ethical decisions involving research findings
   4. Methodologies for Conducting Communication Research
      1. Survey Research
      2. Textual analysis ( narrative, conversational analysis)
      3. Naturalistic inquiry (ethnography, interviewing)
3. Analyzing and Interpreting Data
   1. Describe data
   2. Infer from data
   3. Appropriate uses of the techniques
   4. Re-conceptualizing communication research
   5. Discuss research findings
   6. Identify limitations of the research
   7. Suggest future research