COMM 250
Study Aid for Final Exam
Fall, 2002
The final exam is “comprehensive” and will consist of between 50 and 100 objective questions – multiple choice, true/
false, and possibly matching. Some questions will require you to recognize terminology and definitions, others will
integrate different concepts together, and others will require you to apply the concepts of research methods to hypothetical
research scenarios.
The final exam will cover material from:
 Our books: FBK1-15 and BCW1-15
 Supplemental Readings SR1-5 (though you will not be tested on SR3)
 APA Style (proper text citations and reference formats only) - there WILL be questions about errors in specific APA
(in-text) citations and/or references
 Lectures and in class team exercises (ITEs)
What and how to study:
Because the FBK book contains so much, most of this document is devoted to highlighting the most important topics from
FBK. But note:
 This does not mean that I will ask about everything listed below.
 It also means that the exam will not necessarily be limited to the material below.
 It is a pretty good guide to the bulk of the material, however.
 Note that although objective questions primarily require recognition of material (not recall), I’ve worded your task in
terms of the behavior required to ensure mastery of the content – e.g.: “Be able to explain . . .”
 If you are, in fact, “able to explain,” then you will surely recognize the correct answers on the exam.
Beyond FBK:
I am not enumerating all the topics of importance covered in the rest of the course. You should, however, be able to tell
what is important in these other course components. Some clues as to what I consider important can be seen in my
behavior:
 Topics covered in more than one place
 Topics I lectured about in depth
 Topics that were the focus of assignments in and out of class
 Topics covered on the RATs and practice RATs (I’ve “re-activated” the practice RATs so you can go on WebCT and
take them again – though the final records of who took them before each RAT have already been entered in the grade
book)
For example, you can guess that I consider certain topics important because I stressed them in class on in the extra readings
this semester:

The nature of concepts, theories, and paradigms/paradigm shifts

Evaluating source credibility

Research ethics and the Belmont Report

Correlation & causality

Epistemology, axiology, and ontology

The nature of intellectual development

Guidelines for designing good survey items/questions

The fundamentals of developing arguments and supporting them with evidence (BCW book)
You will NOT be tested on:

The readings on Making Teams Work 1-4 (on my web site)

Reading SR3 (the online reading re: survey research)
I hope this is helpful. Below are the important components from each of the FBK chapters.
Dr. Finn
FBK 1
1. Be able to explain the fundamental difference between everyday ways of knowing and research
(pp. 8-17).
2. Know the six characteristics of research (pp. 13-17).
3. Be able to explain at least one difference (and two for methodology) between the positivistic and naturalistic
paradigms with regard to the ontological, epistemological, axiological,
methodological, and rhetoric
assumptions (pp. 17-20).
4. Be able to distinguish research from pseudoresearch (pp. 21-26)
FBK 2
1. Be able to explain one or two differences between an information-exchange perspective and a meaning-based
or constitutive perspective of communication (pp. 27-28).
2. Know the definition of communication we adopt in this course – “people exchanging messages through
channels within a context” (p. 28). Note Dr. Finn has a shorter definition: “shared meaning.”
3. Be able to explain what makes something a Communication project, as opposed to a Psychology or Sociology
project, and how non-communication variables can be made relevant to communication. In addition, be able
to identify the four types of studies (Person-->Message, Message-->Person, Context-->Message, and
Channel-->Message) (p. 28).
4. Be able to explain the difference as well as the relationship between basic and applied communication
research (pp. 30-38).
5.. Be able to identify the three primary audiences to which researchers attempt to justify the significance of
their study (pp. 38-39).
6. Be able to differentiate a research question from a hypothesis (pp. 39-43)
7. Be able to define and identify common, everyday examples for the following terms: variable, ordered
variable, nominal variable, independent variable, dependent variable (pp. 40-43).
8. Be able to construct a research question and a research hypothesis (one-tailed) for both a nominal and an
ordered independent variable (pp. 43-46).
9. Be able to explain (and give an example of) an interaction effect (p. 46)
FBK 3
1. Know the difference between primary and secondary research reports (pp. 50-56).
2. Be able to identify some of the strengths and weaknesses of conducting Internet research (pp. 61-66)
3. Know the major headings of a typical quantitative scholarly journal article (pp. 66-69)
4. Define/explain the concept of meta-analysis (p. 71)
5. Be able to construct an appropriate bibliographical entry for a journal article as described in the American
Psychological Association publication manual (pp. 75-77).
FBK 4
1. Explain the difference between a conceptual definition and an operational definition (pp. 81-82). (A
conceptual definition defines a term with regard to other abstract ideas, whereas an operational term
describes its observable characteristics.) Be able to give an example of each type of definition for the same
word.
2. Explain the difference between quantitative and qualitative measurements (pp. 83-85).
3. Know the four levels of measurement (nominal, ordinal, interval, and ratio) and all their characteristics. Be
able to give a common, everyday example for each level (pp. 85-94). (Note: You do not need to know the
specific types of interval scales, such as Likert, Semantic Differential, and Thurstone.)
4. Explain the difference between unidimensional and multidimensional concepts (pp. 94-95)
5. Identify the 3 operational procedures researchers use (self-reports, others' reports, and behavioral acts), and
one strength and one weakness of each (pp. 95-99).
6. Identify one or two relative advantages for interviews and questionnaires (p. 103).
FBK 5
1. Identify another word for validity, and know the difference between internal validity and external validity (pp.
109-111).
2. Identify another word for reliability, and explain the relationship between validity and reliability (pp. 111).
3. Know the differences between the three types of validity (content, criterion-related, and construct) (pp. 116118)
4. Know the three general types of threats to internal validity (threats due to how research is conducted, research
participants, and researchers, as well as all the specific threats that comprise these types (pp. 119-125).
5. Identify the three issues that affect external validity (sampling, ecological validity, and replication) (pp. 125139).
6. Know what is meant by a census, random sample, and nonrandom sample. Identify the most important
characteristic of a sample. Know the four types of random samples and five types of nonrandom samples (pp.
125-133; this could be asked about either in a matching exercise or by giving you an example and asking you
to identify which type of sample it is).
FBK 6
1. Define the term "ethics" and "research ethics" (pp. 140-141).
2. Be able to discuss the strengths and problems associated with institutional review boards (pp. 147-148)
3. Identify the four general ethical guidelines for the treatment of research participants (pp. 146-161).
4. Explain the difference between anonymity and confidentiality (pp. 155-157).
FBK 7
1. Be able to explain the fundamental purpose of experimental research (to establish causation between
variables) (pp. 169-171).
2. Know the 3 requirements for inferring causality between an independent and dependent variable (p. 170-171).
3. Be able to explain why control is so important in experimental research (pp. 171-183)
4. Know the difference between random sampling and random assignment (p. 176 for random assignment) as
well as the difference between random assignment and pretests (pp. 176-178)
5. Explain the fundamental difference between a pre- quasi-, and full experimental design with regard to
ascertaining whether two groups (e.g., one that receives an experimental treatment and one that does not)
start off equivalent. What do these three types of experiments do that are different (pp. 182-183, Figure 7.2,
p. 165)?
6. Explain what is meant by a main effect and an interaction effect and be able to identify an example or two
(pp. 190-191).
FBK 8
1. Explain the basic purpose of survey research (p. 198): to describe the characteristics of a population based on
answers from respondents of that population.
2. Identify the three applied uses of survey research (political polls, market research, and evaluation research)
(pp. 198-202).
3. Explain the correlational nature of survey research and which of the three criteria for establishing causation
(from experimental research, chapter 7) survey research meets most easily (pp. 202-204).
4. Explain the difference between cross-sectional and longitudinal survey designs (pp. 208-209).
5. Identify the general guidelines for phrasing of effective questions in survey research (pp. 212-213), and the
specifics provided by your instructor in class.
FBK 9
1. Define the term "textual analysis" (p. 225): The method communication researchers use to describe and
interpret the characteristics of a recorded or visual message.
2. Know the third purpose—unique in comparison to the other methods—of textual analysis (pp. 225-227): In
addition to describing communication behavior and relating it to other variables, some textual analysts (e.g.,
rhetorical critics) also critique or evaluate communicative behavior.
3. Understand that one strength of textual analysis is that it is a relatively nonreactive research methodology.
That is, textual analysis is relatively free from contamination by the research procedure because it generally
relies on texts that have already been produced (p. 228).
4. Be able identify a research study with regard to whether it uses rhetorical criticism, content analysis,
interaction analysis, or performance studies (pp. 229-255). (Note: You do not need to know any specific
types of rhetorical criticism.)
5. Identify the three general, interrelated questions asked by rhetorical critics (p. 231)
6. Know the five steps in conducting a content analysis (pp. 239-243): Selecting texts, determining the unit of
analysis, developing content categories, coding units into categories, and analyzing the data.
7. Know the three criteria for developing valid and reliable categories in content analysis (pp. 241-243):
Categories must be mutually exclusive, equivalent, and exhaustive.
8. Understand the difference between a focus on strategies and structure in interaction analysis (pp. 244-245).
FBK 10
1. Define and explain the purpose of naturalistic inquiry (pp. 257-258)
2. Know one common assuming guiding naturalistic inquiry (pp. 258-259)
3. Differentiate the four types of naturalistic inquiry (ethnography, ethnomethodology, critical ethnography, and
autoethnography) (pp. 259-262)
4. Explain in general terms the flow of naturalistic inquiry (pp. 262-264)
5. Differentiate the four roles an observer can assume in ethnography (complete observer, observer-participant,
participant-observer, or complete participant) (pp. 267-269)
6. Explain how naturalistic interviews differ from survey interviews with regard to purpose and selection of
interviewees (pp. 273-276)
7. Be able to explain one of the interview methods used in naturalistic communication research (pp. 277-280)
8. Be able to explain one qualitative data-analytic technique (pp. 282-384)
9. Be able to explain one or two types of tales told in the reporting of naturalistic communication research (p.
284)
FBK 11
1. Identify the two types of statistical data analysis (descriptive and inferential) (pp. 291-292)
2. Explain the difference between measures of central tendency and measures of dispersion (pp. 292-301)
3. Know the difference between the mode, median, and mean (pp. 292-296)
4. Know the difference between variance and standard deviation.
5. Be able to explain the concept of standard scores and an advantage that they have over raw data (pp. 301-304)
FBK 12
1. Identify the two purposes of inferential statistics (estimation and significance testing) (p. 315)
2. Explain the assumption of the normal distribution (pp. 316-318)
3. Explain in general terms the process of inferring from a random sample to a population (pp. 319-323)
4. Explain the difference between the confidence level and the confidence interval (pp. 320-321)
5. Explain the logic underlying hypothesis testing (e.g., testing and accepting/rejecting the null hypothesis as
being similar to judgments made in a criminal trial) (pp. 325-329).
6. Explain what a finding at the .05 level of significance means (pp. 327-328)
FBK 13-14
1. Be prepared to identify the statistical procedure that is most appropriate to use given particular type of data.
(This probably will be done as a matching exercise.) The statistical procedure to know are: (A) One-Variable
Chi-Square Test; (B) Two-Variable Chi-Square Test; (C) t-test; (D) One-Variable Analysis of Variance
(F-test); (E) Factorial Analysis of Variance (F-test); (F) Pearson Product Moment Correlation; and (G) Linear
Regression.
2. Understand the following things about correlation: linear versus nonlinear relationships (pp. 357-359);
positive versus negative relationships (pp. 357-358); the strength of the correlation coefficient (pp. 359-360),
the difference between correlation and causation (pp. 265-366); and the purpose of the Coefficient of
Determination (pp. 367-368).
3. Know how to conduct a t-test and draw inferences from it (much like you have already been asked to do).
FBK 15
1. Identify the three things to examine in the discussion section of an article (pp. 381-395): Interpreting the
meaning of research findings, identifying the limitations of research, and suggesting future research
directions.
2. Differentiate substantive (statistical) significance from practical significance (pp. 381-382)
3. Identify a common limitation due to internal validity threats and one due to external validity threats (pp. 389394).
That’s about it. :)
See you at the exam.