ComSt 404: Senior Seminar
Dr. Mark V. Redmond
Office: 338 Carver Hall
Office Hours: MW 2-3, TTh 11-12 & by appointment
Fall 2015
Phone: 294-0183
Email: mredmond@iastate.edu
Homepage: www.public.iastate.edu/~mredmond
COURSE DESCRIPTION: Students will engage the process of identifying an original question related to
human communication and developing their own unique data-driven research projects to answer the
question. The intent of this course is to apply the skills and understanding of communication that you have
acquired in the Communication Studies program to exploration and discovery of knowledge. While not
intuitively obvious, the skills developed and practiced in this course really do apply to a variety of
professional activities that you are likely to perform throughout your careers.
The course is taught as a collective independent study and as such you will be exploring in-depth a
communication studies issue with specific interest and appeal to you. As with an independent study, you are
responsible for meeting deadlines and balancing your workload throughout the term. Waiting until due dates
to accomplish tasks usually results in poor and unsatisfactory performance (bad grades). The course is
conducted in a seminar format - - each student is expected to actively participate as a speaker and listener.
Students have the responsibility of presenting information to each other, and in actively exploring the
information presented by others.
Course Objectives: The overall objective of this course is to act as a capstone course which utilizes and
assesses the sum and substance of what you have learned in the communication studies program.
Specifically you will be expected to:
1. Generate inventive and provocative questions concerning communication.
2. Apply divergent, convergent and evaluative cognitive skills.
3. Synthesize and evaluate a divergent body of research and theory literature.
4. Develop a literature-based research proposal.
5. Develop, conduct, analyze, evaluate and report on a research project designed to test your
hypotheses or research questions.
6. Publically present your study results in a clear, concise and informative manner.
Communication Research Paper: Each student or pair of students will submit a final communication
research paper which includes the following elements: introduction-- rational and definitions; literature
review and synthesis in support of a proposed hypothesis or research question; a description of the research
design/methodology, data results and analysis, concluding discussion (including implications, weaknesses,
and future directions). The following assignments are designed to guide you in an orderly fashion through
each of the steps needed to successfully develop your final research paper:
A. List of possible research questions.
B. List of five possible sources/references.
C. Bibliography of 10 likely research articles (include a brief statement of each article’s relevance).
D. Written summary of 2 relevant research articles (done twice).
E. Oral progress report given to the class.
E. Theory building/research article review.
F. Hypothesis/Research Question section of the paper.
G. Student-instructor meetings to discuss research proposal.
H. Research design proposal/methodology (instruments and proposed data collection).
I. Student-instructor meetings to discuss and perform statistical analysis of data.
Each final research paper is to include at least 10 separate (15 for teams), fully referenced research
articles as sources incorporated in the paper (they are not to simply be filler, but to be a substantive part of
your paper). The successful papers that fulfill the requirements generally average between 20 and 25 pages.
You are to double space, use 1-inch margins and follow APA style. You should include an abstract and a
reference section. Copies of the all cited sources or links to those sources must be submitted in addition to
the final paper. You are also to attach the graded theory building paper, hypothesis/RQ paper, and research
design proposal/methodology.
Research Papers Are Graded Against the Following Criteria:
1. The degree to which the research paper format was successfully and fully followed.
2. Quality of your literature review and synthesis. (Quality of the theory development).
3. Adequate review of relevant literature. Sufficient support. Appropriateness of the material used.
4. Strength of the arguments and logic supporting the hypothesis or research question.
5. Explanation of results and quality of discussion including weaknesses.
6. Explanation, detail, and completeness of thoughts.
7. Organization, clarity of writing, APA style, clarity of ideas, correct grammar, etc.
Poster Presentation: Each student or team is to create a poster presentation on their research project which
will placed on display in a public forum open to all majors and faculty the week before finals. You are to
provide oral summaries and answer questions as people visit your poster.
Attendance & Research Meetings
In lieu of some class days, throughout the semester you will have one-on-one meetings with your instructor or TA to
discuss your project. You are expected to make and keep your scheduled meeting time. When you come to our offices
for your scheduled meeting, you are expected to show us evidence that you have been working on your project. If you
come unprepared for our meeting you may be excused without an opportunity to reschedule. Examples of coming
unprepared include but are not limited to: (1) arriving late, (2) showing up without completed tasks, or (3) not taking
notes or having questions prepared in advance. We strongly advise each of you to take full advantage of these
scheduled meetings as they are designed to ensure you get the maximum amount of help from us with respect to
shaping your research project.
Course Methodology and Policies
Dyadic Teams or Individual: You have an option to work on the research project with one other student as
a dyadic team. Here are the following guidelines for those choosing to work in a dyad:
1. One research paper will be presented.
2. Both members are required to contribute equally to the project.
3. Both members are required to have a total understanding of the research project (this includes all
relevant articles, research procedures, etc.)
4. Any partner in the dyad can choose to unilaterally dissolve the team at any time during the term. You
are to notify me immediately of any such dissolutions.
5. If a team is dissolved, each member is then expected to complete and submit the research project
individually.
6. Each member of a dyadic team will meet individually with me. Failure of either team member to
knowledgeably and appropriately respond to my questions will result in immediate dissolution of
the team with each member then acting individually to complete the project.
7. Additional rules for dyadic teams may be added as needed anytime during the semester.
Late Assignments: Points will be deducted for lateness proportionate to how late the assignment is turned
in. Late assignments will be placed at the bottom of my work pile which will jeopardize your opportunity to
gain critical feedback before the next assignment becomes due.
Completing Work: All assignments must be completed and passed (D- or better) in order to pass the
course.
Use of Human Subjects: All students are expected to understand the ethical issues and requirements related
to conducting any research using human subjects. This issue was covered in ComSt 203 and will be
discussed briefly in 404. However, if you feel unsure about the restrictions and protocols, please review
them at: https://phrp.nihtraining.com/users/login.php. Your research study is expected to comply with all
requirements governing the use of human subjects. The following is a brief explanation from ISU’s Office
of Responsible Research on participant consent for student research studies conducted for a class project:
All projects conducted under this policy involving human participants must be preceded by a disclosure of the following information
to the respondent. If an Informed Consent Document is used, these points must be included in that document:
1.
The student identifies him/herself as an ISU student who is performing the activity to fulfill a course requirement, and the course
is specifically identified.
2.
The name and contact information for the supervising faculty member to contact for questions is provided.
3.
The persons who have access to the individual data and/or summarized results are specified (e.g., instructor only,
company/organization/agency).
4.
Participants are informed that their participation is completely voluntary, that they can skip any questions they do not wish to
answer (e.g., for surveys, interviews, focus groups, etc.), and that they can stop participating at any time.
5.
The disclosure should not state that the project has been approved by the ISU IRB.
Plagiarism: PLAGIARISM EITHER INTENTIONAL OR ACCIDENTAL WILL RESULT IN A
FAILURE IN THE COURSE AND ADDITIONAL DISCIPLINARY ACTION. All ideas or material
that not are not your own MUST be appropriately referenced. It is your responsibility to know how to
appropriately reference sources. Ignorance of correct referencing methods is not an acceptable excuse. A
variety of on-line resources are available (see my website for links to some).
SEE ME IF YOU HAVE ANY UNCERTAINTIES.
Attendance and Participation. You are expected to be on time and present. The seminar format of the
course provides an interactive forum from which to learn from me and from your fellow students but requires
everyone’s attendance and participation. You are expected to come prepared and to provide helpful
feedback to others. Missing class or scheduled meetings will seriously jeopardize your ability to
successfully conduct your study and complete the research project, and will negatively impact your final
grade. You should talk with me should this policy pose a problem for you.
Grading: (The numbers indicate points for each assignment)
Bibliography of 10 likely research articles
50 points
Research articles summaries (2 @ 50 each)
100
Theory building/research article review.
100
Hypothesis/RQ section of the paper.
50
Methodology/design proposal including measures
50
Poster Presentation
50
Final Research Paper
400
GRAND TOTAL
800 pts.
Final Grade Scale :
100-93% = A
89-87 = B+
92-90 = A86-83 = B
82-80 = B79-77 = C+
76-73 = C
72-70 = C-
69-67 = D+
66-63 = D
62-60 = D59- 0 = F
Tentative Calendar
This calendar is intended to provide a general framework for the course timeline by indicating tentative
deadlines and activities and are likely to change. You are responsible for knowing what is expected on any
given day. Italicized activity entries indicate that we are not meeting as a class on that given day.
Date
Activity/Deadlines
Aug 25 T Discussion of the course, of the research process, brainstorming topics.
27 Th Three research topic ideas due for each student. Discussion and examination of topics.
Sep
1 T 3 potential citations for each research topic due. Select, revise, finalize research topic
3 Th (self-directed work/office visits)
8 T Bibliography of at least 10 likely research articles due.
10 Th Summary of 2 relevant articles due (continue search for additional articles).
15 T
(self-directed work/office visits)
17 Th Second summary of 2 additional articles due. Discussion of integrating articles.
22 T Class progress reports. Discussion of theory building/research review.
24 Th (self-directed work/office visits)
Oct
29 T (self-directed work/office visits)
1 Th Theory building/research article reviews due. Discussion of hypotheses/RQs.
6 T Finalizing hypotheses or research questions. Discussion of research design and ethics
8 Th Research design options discussed and developed. Instrument development.
13 T
14 W
15 Th
16 F
Hypothesis/RQ section of paper due.
Student-Instructor Interviews and discussion of tentative methodology
Student-Instructor Interviews and discussion of tentative methodology
Student-Instructor Interviews and discussion of tentative methodology
20 T Finalization of research design and materials. Discussion of data analysis.
22 Th Research Design Proposal/Methodology due
27 T (self-directed work/office visits)
29 Th Designs revised; data collection plans finalized (if not already done).
Nov
3 T Collection of data. (Office appointments)
5. Th Collection of data. (Office appointments)
10 T
11 W
12 Th
13 F
Collection of data and preparation of data for analysis
Data analysis (Office appointments)
Data analysis (Office appointments)
Data analysis (Office appointments)
17 T Making sense of your data; writing up your data analysis.
19 Th Constructing research posters and delivering a poster presentation.
Thanksgiving Break
Dec
1 T Final research paper preparation discussion and planning.
3 Th (self-directed work/office visits)
8 T (self-directed work/office visits)
10 Th Poster Presentations
Final Research Papers submitted by 11:00 AM, Monday, Dec. 14th
COMMUNICATION RESEARCH PAPER GUIDELINES
I. Introduction and Rationale:
A. Introduce the topic or issue to be investigated.
B. Discuss the reason the issue is worthy of study. What is the value in examining it? Why important?
Why study it? (PROVIDE EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT YOUR CLAIMS)
II. Define key terms, concepts and the problem to be addressed.
A. A review of relevant conceptualizations, discussing strengths and weaknesses of them.
B. Present the conceptual definition you are advocating. Provide sufficient explanation.
You may wish to argue for a definition different from anyone else's but derived from others.
III. Literature review/theory building:
This review represents "theory building" in that you are attempting to develop and focus on a particular
research question or hypothesis. You should try to identify from the literature that which supports your
direction, and discuss contrary points of view and their weaknesses. The purpose of the review is twofold:
1. Surveying relevant and applicable literature to provide a base of understanding the concepts.
2. Developing arguments that support your research question/hypothesis.
There are at least two ways to approach this section (and they are not mutually exclusive):
A. ORGANIZED BY ARTICLE: Review and inter-relate each study in a comprehensive manner
a. Describe the theory and method used by the authors.
b. Use transitions from article to article; INTEGRATE THE ARTICLES.
c. Discuss strengths/assets and weaknesses or limitations.
d. Be critical of other research (particularly design flaws and sources of invalidity).
B. ORGANIZED around the CONCEPTS and/or THEORIES:
a. Draw relevant supporting information from the articles (specifically the research findings)
focusing on the particular concept being discussed.
b. Provide comprehensive reviews of the theory and method used by the authors.
Either approach should lead to the development of a hypothesis/hypotheses or the posing of a research
question (s). For the hypothesis, it is important to discuss the expected relationship between your variables,
and to provide sufficient support that that is the relationship to be expected. Present this in the form of
dependent, independent variables, and intervening variables.
IV. Research Design/Methodology
Explain the research plan (how you obtained participants, the instructions given and tasks taken) and
provide support for your choices (cite previous research that used similar methodology). Explain the
operationalization of your concepts and variables (how you measured them—include cited information any
instruments or measures incorporated in your study). Provide a copy of your informed consent form,
measures, surveys, etc. in an appendix.
For qualitative studies this section includes explanation of the method to be incorporated including
the process of getting participants, issues of objectivity, plans for triangulation or other means of insuring
cross-validating of material. Citation of material that supports the process you used needs to be included.
Additional instructions on qualitative method and what to write up will be covered as needed.
V. Results:
Provide a brief set of demographics about the participants (number, sex, age, and any other relevant
information).
Discuss each hypothesis or research question, the statistical test used (with a rationale for the test)
and the results. Indicate whether the hypothesis was confirmed or what answer is provided for the RQ.
Include graphs and tables within the body of the text.
VI. Discussion: Discuss the degree to which your hypothesis was confirmed or research questions
answered. Discuss the value and applicability of your findings. Discuss limitations and weaknesses of the
study. Discuss implications for future research.
VII. References.
A list of all articles cited within your paper following appropriate APA style.
VIII. Appendix (these are in addition to the typical 20-25 page total for the paper from the above elements)
--Consent forms
--Measures and instruments
--Graphs, etc.)
Additional Notes: