RESEARCH PROJECT AND PAPER The goal of the project and paper is for you: 1) to experience in groups the process of reviewing the literature and designing and conducting your own study, and 2) to learn individually to write a research report and critically evaluate strengths and weaknesses of research methods based on the experience with your study. OVERVIEW You will work in a small group (3-4 people) to design and conduct a simple study about a communication topic (some example topics that would be suited to a simple study appear on GauchoSpace). You will decide as a group which topic to study and whether it would be appropriate to conduct a survey or an experiment to investigate your topic. You and your group members (with some guidance from your TA) will together research the literature, propose hypotheses/research questions, select a design, construct measures, and collect and analyze data. You will then, ON YOUR OWN, write an 8 - 9 page paper describing what your study was, what the findings were, and what were the methodological strengths and weaknesses. SPECIFICS Part I – The Project: WITH YOUR GROUP, you must do the following: Step 1) Find at least two empirical studies in academic journals that will provide you with some background on your topic and that will help you develop the hypotheses and research questions for your study. EVERY topic has relevant literature to find (if you find none, you’ll need either to switch topics or be more creative in your use of the studies that are there!) Step 2) Develop at least two hypotheses (i.e., two different predictions, involving different variables) that you will attempt to test in your study. Your hypotheses MUST be based on the literature (i.e., the empirical studies that you find!). In other words, you must provide justification from the scientific literature for what you are predicting! You may also include a research question for some additional variables that you would like to include/investigate as part of your study. Step 3) Develop a research design that helps you test your hypothesis (i.e., a survey or experiment). -Steps 2 & 3 may be done simultaneously, as your design should be guided by the hypotheses you would like to test. Some designs are better suited to certain questions/hypotheses than are others. For example, if you want to examine the relationship between texting and relationship closeness, a survey might be appropriate, whereas if you want to know the effects of texting on perceptions of relational messages, you would most likely conduct an experiment. Step 4) Construct measurement instruments (e.g., questionnaire items) and gather other materials you will need (e.g., experimental manipulations, stimulus videos, etc.). When deciding how to construct your measures, remember to consider how you will later analyze them (i.e., how will you know if your hypothesis was supported or not?). Step 5) Collect data. Much of this can be done mid-quarter during your discussion section, as many of you will serve as each other's subjects, filling out each other's surveys and participating in each other's experiments. This means that you will need to bring copies of your surveys and questionnaires, etc., to the relevant sections in order to collect data. Often it is also necessary to collect data outside of section, particularly for those studies that need more male subjects or non-student populations. REMEMBER TO FOLLOW THE “RULES FOR 88 PROJECTS” document!! Step 6) Compile data and interpret results. You are encouraged to analyze your data statistically (i.e., see if your data produce significant differences between group means or significant correlations between variables). However, you are not required to use statistics (i.e., you may “eyeball” your data in order to compare means, etc.). Your TA will help you identify what type of analysis is appropriate for your study, but most likely you will either compute means (averages) for your scale items and compare the means, or you will compute simple correlations among your variables. Part II – The Paper: ON YOUR OWN, you will write a paper that should have FIVE sections in this order: ABSTRACT The abstract is one succinct paragraph in which you summarize your entire study in no more than 250 words. It should include the study’s basic purpose, method, results, and conclusion. It is best to write this part last, after you have written the rest of your paper and can pull out the key points. INTRODUCTION (note that this section doesn’t actually get its own labeled heading like the others do) In this first section, you should introduce your topic, review the literature (the two or more empirical studies), and state your hypotheses and any additional research question(s). As you review the literature, be sure that for each empirical study you briefly summarize what the study did and describe the main findings that are relevant to your own study (do not just pull quotes from the article!). Use the studies to provide justification for your hypotheses and/or background for your research questions. It is important to explain why you are making your prediction(s) and posing your question(s). METHOD In the Method section, you should describe specifically what you did in your study. Using the appropriate subheadings for your particular study (e.g., sample, procedure, measures, etc.), you should describe the overall design, participants, procedure, and variables (including how they were operationalized/measured). If you combined several items into a scale for a particular DV, then describe that in this section too. You don’t need to write out every single item in the text of your paper, but give a couple example items and then direct your reader to the appendix for the rest (be sure include as an appendix a copy of any questionnaires or other materials you used). The content of this section will likely be very similar for all the members of your group, but the writing should be in your own words! RESULTS In this section you should briefly report what kind of data analysis you did (e.g., you computed means on your DV for the different IV groups, or you computed a correlation between your IV and DV scales), and then report the resulting data. In other words, report differences in mean scores between people in different groups or experimental conditions (e.g., on question X., men on average scored 5.2 while women scored 6.8), or report r values for correlations between variables, etc. You may find that tables or graphs are useful ways of presenting means and/or percentages. DISCUSSION This is the most important section! Here you need to interpret your findings and critique your study. First, what can you conclude on the basis of your findings? In other words, were your hypotheses supported (and if you posed a research question, what was the answer)? Do the findings relate or not relate to the previous research you examined (and why or why not, do you think)? NOTE that your actual results (what you found) DO NOT AFFECT your grade—it’s what you SAY about your results, etc., that matters! Second, what were the STRENGTHS and WEAKNESSES of the methodological decisions you made in your study? What effect(s) do you think your design, your sample, and/or your measures had on your results? Note that different issues are important to discuss in this section depending on what kind of study you did (experiment or survey). For example, proper sampling is more important for surveys, whereas proper random assignment is more crucial for experiments. Refer back to your lecture notes or the appropriate textbook chapter to review the specific issues relevant to your type of study. Some issues you may want to consider here are: operationalization (e.g., How might your definitions/measures have affected your results?); internal and/or external validity (e.g., How well are you able to make causal statements [if you are trying to]? How well are you able to generalize beyond your sample or to other settings/conditions?). The best papers will be ones that discuss the most relevant issues and that provide the most interesting insight and thorough use of course material. Finally, suggest ways in which the study could be improved upon or supported further by future research (e.g., better definitions, other methods for addressing the topic). See next page for important rules and tips about format, writing style, grading, late papers, etc.… REQUIREMENTS AND POLICIES FORMAT: The paper should be 8 – 9 pages of text (counting the Abstract page, but NOT counting title page, references, graphs/tables, or appendices). It should be typed, double-spaced, page-numbered, with roughly 1" margins and Times 12 pt font. Note that Word’s default settings (and probably also those of other programs, such as Pages) are usually wrong for this assignment (margins too big, font too small, extra line spaces inserted after paragraphs, etc.), so you’ll need to change your settings! Follow the “88 paper format template” posted on GauchoSpace for how to format each section of your paper (it includes lots of advice as well!). Note that your name should only appear on the title page, and only on the printed version; your name should appear nowhere else, as your TA will be grading “blindly.” WRITING STYLE: Your goal is to show that you have learned the principles of this course and that you can use the language of this course in appropriate and meaningful ways! You are reporting on your research as though it were a “real” study, so you should sound like a social scientist. Try to avoid “I/we” language and other ways of sounding too colloquial/casual. But don’t just throw in big words or convoluted sentences to try to sound “academic” either, as this usually ends up just not making sense. The goal is to present your study and your critique of your study with CLARITY and AUTHORITY. APA STYLE CITATIONS and PLAGIARISM: Since this assignment requires you to make good use of the thoughts, writings, and work of others, proper citations are essential. Your paper must follow APA style for citations within the text of your paper, as well as for your reference list. You will find some guidelines for APA style in your reader, you will likely also have an APA style exercise in section, and you are encouraged to follow the example you see in most communication or psychology journal articles. Plagiarism will result minimally in a zero grade, and will likely also result in a failing grade in the course and further disciplinary action. Be especially carefully not to “borrow” from another student’s paper, as this is also plagiarism (whether or not specific words have been changed). I strongly suggest that you do not even READ a portion of one your group member’s papers (even just for “ideas”), as it is very difficult to word things differently once you’ve seen how someone else has done it. Although the project was designed and conducted as a group, the WRITING of the paper (including the ideas) must be entirely YOUR OWN! TURNING IN PAPERS: You are required to submit on GauchoSpace, by the due date and time, an electronic version of your paper (saved as a WORD .doc or .docx file). See the GS “88 Research Paper Dropbox” (under the RESEARCH PROJECT/PAPER tab) for instructions. Unless your TA tells you otherwise, you are ALSO required to turn in at lecture a hard copy version of your paper on the designated due date (see syllabus and course schedule). Emailed versions of papers are NOT acceptable (unless by emergency arrangement with your TA). Late papers are penalized 5 points off per day (slightly fewer if late but still same day as due date). Always keep a file/copy of your paper for your records, and remember that it is your responsibility to see that your TA receives your paper. In cases of serious emergency, you must notify your TA and Professor Mullin immediately, and we will proceed from there, depending on the severity and verifiability of the emergency. Note also that if you do not turn in the research paper, you will fail the course (regardless of your other scores), and you will not be permitted to take the final exam. GRADING: Remember first that your actual results (whether your hypotheses were supported or not) DO NOT DETERMINE your grade; it’s what you SAY about your results that matters. Your score will be based on how well your paper shows the following: ability to express an accurate and thorough understanding of your study, of course material, and outside research; depth and effectiveness at articulating and supporting your criticisms; clarity and authority in writing style and organization; and excellent execution of the assignment. We evaluate these qualities by comparing your paper to others, not to some “ideal” objective we have in mind for the paper. This is because each TA may have a different ideal in mind, so it is the actual set of papers submitted that tells us what level of excellence is achievable. After years of experience with Comm 88 papers, I can tell you that we usually see a very high level of achievement indeed, so it is a mistake to think that if you just “do what the assignment asks” you will get a good grade. Doing the assignment is the minimum, and usually results in an “average” grade (i.e., in the “C+” range). To lift your grade above average, you will need to use the language of the course convincingly, show sophistication in your thinking, and apply and integrate course concepts with clarity, depth, and insight (especially in the discussion section) – this is what the high achieving papers tend to do. I wish you much success with your project and paper!
