Comm 350: Investigating Communication
Fall 2013
MWF 11:00-11:50
Hepner Hall 130
Contact information:
Lecturer: Dr. Chuck Goehring
Office: Comm 235
Office hours: MW 12:30 – 2:00 and by appointment
email: cgoehrin@mail.sdsu.edu (email is the best method to contact me)
TA: Amber English
Email: amber.english817@gmail.com
Office: PSFA 463
Office hours: M 12:30-1:30; W 9:50 – 10:50
Goals and expectations:
This class is designed as an overview of the major “ways of knowing” about communication used by
the discipline. Any scholarly discipline presumes the existence of certain accumulated assumptions,
principles, and practices that form research paradigms within which the legitimacy of knowledge in the
discipline is judged. This course examines the many methods by which the communication discipline
investigates phenomena and generates reasoned conclusions. This examination proceeds with an eye
toward understanding the purposes, applications, advantages, and disadvantages of these methods.
Emphasis is placed on facilitating a broad conceptual understanding of these methods rather than an indepth understanding of their more technical implications. Learning outcomes will be assessed through
exams.
Our learning outcome goals are as follows:
 Identify the basic methods used to make knowledge claims about communication behavior;
 Understand the implications of methodological choices in studying communication;
 Comprehend the basic steps involved in conducting typical forms of communication research;
 Discover the conceptual nature of abstraction and propositional thinking;
 Become familiar with the process of library-based research and scholarly documentation.
 Gain knowledge of research ethics and be able to identify plagiarism.
Required texts:
Merrigan, G. & Huston, C. L. (2009). Communication research methods (2nd ed.). New York:
Oxford.
Available for sale and rent at the university bookstore, as well as KB Books.
Blackboard and email:
We will be utilizing the University Blackboard system extensively throughout the semester. You log
into the system with your Red ID and PIN at http://blackboard.sdsu.edu. All of the students enrolled
in this course will automatically be entered on the Comm 350 course. I will communicate with the
class through Blackboard announcements and email sent from the Blackboard site, so make sure that
you have your current email address on file with the University.
I reserve the right to make changes in the assignments, expectations, delivery, and content of this
course as needed, assuming adequate prior notice is provided to students through class
announcements.
It is exclusively your responsibility to become aware of, and/or obtain, any materials or
announcements missed in class due to your absences, or become aware of any changes to course
syllabus or assignments and their due dates announced in class.
Attendance Policy:
Attendance is not required (except on exam days and on guest speaker days), but is strongly
recommended. Any unexcused absence on exam day will result in a letter grade reduction per school
day starting from the day of absence. Excuses are recognized for personal illness serious enough to see
a physician (and thus, warranting an appointment slip, diagnosis or prescription record, etc.), family
crisis, or participation in school-related activities (and thus, warranting an official notification from the
activity coordinator). The latter requires that prior arrangements be made. The former two are more
credible with notice on the day of absence, and personal conference as soon as possible thereafter.
Exams cannot be given early for any reason. Record the dates of your exams NOW, and plan travel
schedules accordingly.
Respect
You should come to class, arrive on time, and be attentive while in class. Classes will start on time.
Those of you who choose to arrive late, sit in the back and fall asleep, talk amongst yourselves during
lecture, or otherwise create a disruption of classroom process may be asked to leave. The use of cell
phones, and/or laptops/tablets, not directly related to the course and its instructional objectives,
materials, or contents (e.g., using social media or Facebook for conversation, correspondence,
emailing, texting, tweeting, or other activities) is distracting to myself and your fellow students and
will not be tolerated.
You may not audiotape, video-record, or take photographs in this class without prior permission.
Course assignments:
The following assignments will comprise your grade in the class:
 EXAMINATION #1:
50 points
o 50 questions; Covers Chapters 1, 3, 4, 5, 6
 EXAMINATION #2:
75 points
o 50 questions, Covers Chapters 2, 7, 8, 10
 EXAMINATION #3:
100 points
o 50 questions, Covers Chapters 12, 13, 14, 15
 APA EXAM:
15 points
o After lectures and reading on APA style, students will take a 15 question quiz on Blackboard.
 PLAGIARISM TUTORIAL
10 points
o After several discussions and readings on plagiarism, you are asked to take a tutorial on
plagiarism through the SDSU library. Students will receive 10 points for completion.
 FILM(S) DISCUSSION
25 points
o Students will be asked to view several short films, then respond to question prompts on a Forum
Discussion Board on Blackboard. Students will receive points based on their engagement with
the questions.
 GUEST SPEAKER ATTENDANCE 25 points
o There will be at least 3 guest speakers talking on different methods they use. In order to assure
an audience, attendance at these events will be noted.
Exams
Exams are objective format (multiple choice), covering text, lecture, and any handouts or readings
assigned. Review sheets will be made available two weeks prior to each exam. ParSCORE answer
sheets and pre-sharpened No. 2 pencils are your responsibility on exam days. Exams are subjected to
extensive item analysis. Items that are overly difficult, not discriminating, or unreliable are adjusted
accordingly. There will be no curving of test grades once items have been adjusted. All exams require
the ParSCORE answer form No. 289. Students without the appropriate answer sheet will not be
permitted to take the exam. Please make sure to bring IDs to the exam.
The first exam is scheduled for Friday, September 27. The second exam is scheduled for Friday,
November 1. The third exam will be administered during the final day of class prior to finals:
Monday, December 16. The APA Exam is a blackboard exam to be taken anywhere you have
internet access, and is scheduled for Friday, October 18 during class time.
***Do not make plans of any kind during our class time on these days. The exam dates are nonnegotiable and will not be changed for any student except in the case of University sanctioned
reasons. Under no circumstances should you plan your travel during our exam***
Please note that exams in this class will not be returned. However, you are welcome to make an
appointment to see and review your exam. All exams will be destroyed at the end of the following
semester.
Grade scale
Grades are based on a total point system. Numbers are approximate.
94% +
90-93%
87-89%
84-86%
80-83%
77-79%
74-76%
70-73%
67-69%
64-66%
60-63%
59% -
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
A
AB+
B
BC+
C
CD+
D
DF
Extra Credit
Because the School of Communication seeks not only to distribute knowledge through teaching, but
also generate it through original research, and because participation in such research provides
important insights into this process of knowledge generation (one of the main goals of this course),
students in this class will be allowed up to 10 extra credit points during the semester, out of the total
number of points available, based on participation in School of Communication authorized research
projects. Points will be provided upon evidence of completed participation, with 2 points for each
half-hour of research participation. Students will be able to sign in and locate eligible research
projects at the following site: https://sites.google.com/site/commsdsuresearch/
THE ACADEMIC DISHONESTY POLICY OFTHE SCHOOL OF COMMUNICATION
Plagiarism is theft of intellectual property. It is one of the highest forms of academic offense because in
academe, it is a scholar’s words, ideas, and creative products that are the primary measures of identity and
achievement. Whether by ignorance, accident, or intent, theft is still theft, and misrepresentation is still
misrepresentation. Therefore, the offense is still serious, and is treated as such.
Overview:
In any case in which a Professor or Instructor identifies evidence for charging a student with violation of academic
conduct standards or plagiarism, the presumption will be with that instructor’s determination. However, the
faculty/instructor(s) will confer with the director to substantiate the evidence. Once confirmed, the evidence will be
reviewed with the student. If, following the review with the student, the faculty member and director determine that
academic dishonesty has occurred, the evidence will be submitted to the Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities.
The report “identifies the student who was found responsible, the general nature of the offense, the action taken, and a
recommendation as to whether or not additional action should be considered by the campus judicial affairs office .” (CSSR
Website[1]).
[1] http://www.sa.sdsu.edu/srr/academics1.html
Intellectual Property:
The syllabus, lectures and lecture outlines are personal copyrighted intellectual property of the instructor, which
means that any organized recording for anything other than personal use, duplication, distribution, or profit is a
violation of copyright and fair use laws.
Proper source attribution
Proper attribution occurs by specifying the source of content or ideas. This is done by (a) providing quotation
marks around text, when directly quoted, and (b) clearly designating the source of the text or information relied
upon in an assignment.
Specific exemplary infractions and consequences:
a. Reproducing a whole paper, paragraph, or large portions of unattributed materials (whether represented by: (i)
multiple sentences, images, or portions of images; or (ii) by percentage of assignment length) without proper
attribution, will result in assignment of an “F” in the course, and a report to Student Rights and Responsibilities.
b. Reproducing a sentence or sentence fragment with no quotation marks but source citation, or subsets of visual
images without source attribution, will minimally result in an “F” on the assignment.
Self-plagiarism
Students often practice some form of ‘double-dipping,’ in which they write on a given topic across more than one
course assignment. In general, there is nothing wrong with double-dipping topics or sources, but there is a
problem with double-dipping exact and redundant text. It is common for scholars to write on the same topic
across many publication outlets; this is part of developing expertise and the reputation of being a scholar on a
topic. Scholars, however, are not permitted to repeat exact text across papers or publications except when
noted and attributed, as this wastes precious intellectual space with repetition and does a disservice to the
particular source of original presentation by ‘diluting’ the value of the original presentation. Any time that a writer
simply ‘cuts-and-pastes’ exact text from former papers into a new paper without proper attribution, it is a form of
self-plagiarism. Consequently, a given paper should never be turned in to multiple classes. Entire paragraphs,
or even sentences, should not be repeated word-for-word across course assignments. Each new writing
assignment is precisely that, a new writing assignment, requiring new composition on the student’s part.
Secondary citations
Secondary citation is not strictly a form of plagiarism, but in blatant forms, it can present similar ethical
challenges. A secondary citation is citing source A, which in turn cites source B, but it is source B’s ideas or
content that provide the basis for the claims the student intends to make in the assignment. For example,
assume that there is an article by Jones (2006) in the student’s hands, in which there is a discussion or
quotation of an article by Smith (1998). Assume further that what Smith seems to be saying is very important to
the student’s analysis. In such a situation, the student should always try to locate the original Smith source. In
general, if an idea is important enough to discuss in an assignment, it is important enough to locate and cite the
original source for that idea. There are several reasons for these policies: (a) Authors sometimes commit citation
errors, which might be replicated without knowing it; (b) Authors sometimes make interpretation errors, which
might be ignorantly reinforced (c) Therefore, reliability of scholarly activity is made more difficult to assure and
enforce; (d) By relying on only a few sources of review, the learning process is short-circuited, and the student’s
own research competencies are diminished, which are integral to any liberal education; (e) By masking the
actual sources of ideas, readers must second guess which sources come from which citations, making the
readers’ own research more difficult; (f) By masking the origin of the information, the actual source of ideas is
misrepresented. Some suggestions that assist with this principle:

When the ideas Jones discusses are clearly attributed to, or unique to, Smith, then find the Smith
source and citation.

When the ideas Jones is discussing are historically associated more with Smith than with Jones, then
find the Smith source and citation.

In contrast, Jones is sometimes merely using Smith to back up what Jones is saying and believes, and
is independently qualified to claim, whether or not Smith would have also said it; in such a case, citing
Jones is sufficient.

Never simply copy a series of citations at the end of a statement by Jones, and reproduce the reference
list without actually going to look up what those references report—the only guarantee that claims are
valid is for a student to read the original sources of those claims.
Solicitation for ghost writing:
Any student who solicits any third party to write any portion of an assignment for this class (whether for pay or
not) violates the standards of academic honesty in this course. The penalty for solicitation (regardless of
whether it can be demonstrated the individual solicited wrote any sections of the assignment) is F in the course.
Specific exemplary infractions and consequences

Course failure: Reproducing a whole paper, paragraph, or large portions of unattributed materials
without proper attribution, whether represented by: (a) multiple sentences, images, or portions of
images; or (b) by percentage of assignment length, will result in assignment of an “F” in the course in
which the infraction occurred, and a report to the Center for Student Rights and Responsibilities
(CSRR2).

Assignment failure: Reproducing a sentence or sentence fragment with no quotation marks, but with
source citation, or subsets of visual images without source attribution, will minimally result in an “F” on
the assignment, and may result in greater penalty, including a report to the CSRR, depending factors
noted below. In this instance, an “F” may mean anything between a zero (0) and 50%, depending on the
extent of infraction.

Exacerbating conditions--Amount: Evidence of infraction, even if fragmentary, is increased with a
greater: (a) number of infractions; (b) distribution of infractions across an assignment; or (c) proportion
of the assignment consisting of infractions.

Exacerbating conditions--Intent: Evidence of foreknowledge and intent to deceive magnifies the
seriousness of the offense and the grounds for official response. Plagiarism, whether ‘by accident’ or ‘by
ignorance,’ still qualifies as plagiarism—it is all students’ responsibility to make sure their assignments
are not committing the offense.

Exceptions: Any exceptions to these policies will be considered on a case-by-case basis, and only
under exceptional circumstances.
HOWEVER, THERE ARE NO EXCUSES ALLOWED BASED ON IGNORANCE OF WHAT CONSTITUTES
PLAGIARISM, OR OF WHAT THIS POLICY IS
Incompletes
Each incomplete creates extensive problems for professors and students, so they will be permitted only
when students have experienced serious unforeseeable emergency or dire personal/family crisis past
the official drop date. An incomplete is not provided because the course or your schedule is too
difficult or because you did not manage your time sufficiently.
Comm 350 Daily Schedule – Fall 2013
Day
Date
Topic
Reading
Assignment/Activity
M
8/26
Syllabus Review/Course best
practices
Read syllabus thoroughly
Buy the Book! Log into
Blackboard
W
8/28
Introduction to the discipline &
the text
Foreword (Spitzberg)
Course overview; text
overview
F
8/30
Chapter 1
Chapter 1 (pp.
M
9/2
Labor Day – No class
None
W
9/4
What the !@#$ is a Paradigm?
Chapter 3
F
9/6
Paradigms II
Chapter 3
M
9/9
Making Claims
Chapter 4
W
9/11
Making Claims II
Chapter 4
F
9/13
What Counts as Data?
Chapter 5
M
9/16
Communication Data
Chapter 5
W
9/18
Warrants for Research
Chapter 6
F
9/20
Warrants for Research II
Chapter 6
M
9/23
Section 1 wrap-up
W
9/25
Exam Review
Review Sheet (available on BB)
F
9/27
Exam #1
Reread Chs 1, 3, 4, 5, 6 and review sheet
M
9/30
Research Ethics
Chapter 2
W
9/30
Plagiarism
Additional Readings (available on BB)
F
10/4
Ethics films
Stanford Prison Experiment, Milgram, etc.
M
10/7
Survey Research
Chapter 7
W
10/9
Survey research II
Chapter 7
F
10/11 TBD
Relax
Bring scantron (F-289)
View at home
Guest speaker(?); Film
Discussion assignment
due.
Day
Date
Topic
Reading
M
10/14 APA Style
W
10/16
F
10/18 APA Exam
M
10/21 Experimental Research
Chapter 8
W
10/23 Experimental Research II
Chapter 8
F
10/25
Descriptive stats and hypothesis
testing
Chapter 10
M
10/28
Descriptive stats and hypothesis
testing II: Electric Boogaloo
Chapter 10
W
10/30 Exam Review
Review Sheet
F
11/1
Exam #2
Reread Chs. 2, 7, 8, 10 and review sheet
M
11/4
Conversation Analysis
Chapter 12
W
11/6
Conversation analysis research II
Chapter 12
F
11/8
CA
M
11/11 Veteran’s Day – No class
None
W
11/13 Ethnographic Analysis
Chapter 13
F
11/15 Ethnographic Analysis
M
11/18 Ethnography
W
11/20 No Class - NCA
F
11/22 No Class - NCA
M
11/25 Rhetorical Criticism (traditional)
W
11/27 Rhetoric cont.
F
11/29 Thanksgiving Break – No Class
M
12/2
Rhetorical Criticism (interpretive)
Chapter 14 (265-275)
W
12/4
Critical Studies
Chapter 15 (277-285)
F
12/6
Critical Studies cont.
M
12/9
Critical Studies cont.
W
12/11 Exam Review
Review Sheet
M
12/16 Exam #3 (10:30 – 12:30)
Reread chs. 12, 13, 14, 15 and review sheet
APA Style II: Return of the
Citation
Assignment/Activity
Additional Readings (available on BB)
Overview + sample questions
No class
Blackboard Exam (15
Questions)
Deadline for completion of
library plagiarism tutorial
Bring scantron (F-289)
Guest speaker
Relax
Guest speaker
Chapter 14 (256-265)
Eat Leftovers
Chapter 15 (286-293)
Bring scantron (F-289)