C:\DATA\COURSES\C509SP96\C509SP96.SYL
January 31, 1996
COMMUNICATIONS 509 (Section Code 11022)
SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH IN COMMUNICATIONS
Spring 1996, W 7:00 pm - 9:45 pm, H-223
Tony Rimmer, Office: H-324B, 773-3271/3517 w, 731-8758 h.
Office Hours: W 2-4 p.m., F 3-5 p.m., and by appointment
"When you cannot express it in numbers your knowledge is of a
meagre and unsatisfactory kind." (Kelvin, cited by Kuhn,
1977)1
"Statisticians are still regarded as living in a world of their
own and possessing very few human attributes." (Kendall,
1976)2
"...
Nature appears vacillating, coy, and ambiguous in her
answers. She responds to the form of the question as it is
set out in the field and not necessarily to the question in
the experimenter's mind; she does not interpret for him; she
gives no gratuitous information; and she is a stickler for
accuracy." (Fisher, in Box, 1978)3
"No aphorism is more frequently repeated in connection with field
trials, than that we must ask Nature few questions, or,
ideally, one question at a time.
This writer is convinced
that this view is wholly mistaken. Nature, he suggests, will
best respond to a logically and carefully thought out
questionnaire; indeed, if we ask her a single question, she
will often refuse to answer until some other topic has been
discussed." (Fisher, 1926)4
"No phenomena are causal; all phenomena are contingent, and the
problem before us is to measure the degree of contingency,
which we have seen lies between the zero of independence and
the unity of causation. That is briefly the wider outlook we
must now take of the universe as we experience it." (Pearson,
1892)5
"The
person who must have certitude, who cannot embrace
conclusions tentatively, should not be engaged in social
scientific research." (Glenn, 1977)6
1Thomas
S. Kuhn, 1977. The Essential Tension: Selected Studies in
Scientific Tradition and Change. Chicago: The University of
Chicago Press.
Footnotes 1 through 4 cited in Tankard
(1984).
2Maurice
G.
Kendall,
1976.
"Statisticians--Production
and
Consumption." The American Statistician. 30:49-53.
3Joan
Fisher Box, 1978. R.A. Fisher: The Life of a Scientist. New
York: John Wiley & Sons.
4R.A. Fisher, 1926. "The Arrangement of Field Experiments," in
R.A. Fisher (ed.), Contributions to Mathematical Statistics.
New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
5Karl Pearson, 1982. The Grammar of Science. 3rd ed. 1911, New
York: Macmillan.
6Norvall D. Glenn, 1977. Cohort Analysis. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
p.17.
CATALOG DESCRIPTION
Prerequisites:
Comm 410, Comm 500 and classified status.
Social scientific research design and analysis and the study of
communication processes and effects. Graduate seminar.
RANGE OF COURSE
To develop familiarity with a range of research designs and
statistical techniques which might help focus methodological
questions regarding a quantitative thesis or project topic. The
class is primarily concerned with data analysis (number-crunching,
if you will) as it relates to the testing of ideas and theory.
We learn by doing data analyses.
Issues of research design and
data collection will be addressed insofar as they pertain to the
testing of theory. We will also be concerned about ethical issues
in quantitative research.
STATISTICS REVIEWED
With regard to number crunching, we will range through three
levels of analyses: univariate, bivariate, and multivariate. Or
looked at another way, we will work with nominal, ordinal and
interval/ratio-level data and we will work to develop an
understanding of the appropriate "time, place and manner" for each
measurement level in a research design.
We're trying to position ourselves to think backwards from a
planned study's outcome. Presumably we want to explore or make a
certain point in a study.
What outcome and evidence will best
make this point? Take a deep breath, then read on ...
First we'll need a general question to study.
Given the
resources available what evidence will we need to resolve this
question?
When we know the evidence we need, we'll know the
method (survey? experiment?) we'll need, and the tests we'll need,
and when we know the tests we need we'll know the number of
subjects we'll need, and when we know the tests and numbers of
subjects we need we'll know the level of data measurement we need
to meet the demands of the tests in order to deliver the outcome
we're working towards (whew ...). With this knowledge we can then
frame our data collection instrument (question wording and order)
to deliver the level of measurement our tests need from the
appropriate number of subjects, in order to make the point we want
the study to make sufficient to meet the client's requirements.
Administratively we need to be concerned with question and budget
development, research design, data collection, data entry and
analysis, final reporting and publication.
Add to this ongoing
monitoring, evaluation, and
interim reporting and we probably
should have included a second budget review with the client before
the study goes into the field (and another midway through data
collection when we realize we're running out of money faster that
we're collecting data!).
We will work with the following
indicates non-parametric test):
analysis
techniques
(*
1.
Univariate: frequencies and their associated summary and
descriptive statistics, including graphic displays (e.g.,
barcharts, histograms, pie charts, stem and leaf displays,
boxplots, probability and spread-level plots), runs* test
(for randomness), one-way chi square* (goodness of fit), and
the Kolmogorov-Smirnoff normality test.
2.
Bivariate: graphic displays of line, scatter plots, and
tables, viz., crosstabulation/contingency table (two-way)
analysis and its associated statistics (chi-square test of
independence, and its measures of association), Levene's
homogeneity
of
variance
test,
t-test
and
MannWhitney/Wilcoxon*
test,
correlations
(Pearson's
r
and
Spearman's
rho*),
index
development
(including
factor
analysis and reliability testing), oneway analysis of
variance and the Kruskal-Wallis* test.
3.
Multivariate: three-way crosstabulation, classic analysis of
varaince (ANOVA), simple and multiple regression.
SOFTWARE PACKAGES
We will be using the Statistical Package for the Social
Sciences, PC-DOS version (SPSS/PC+ V5.0) to do our analyses, in
conjunction with the word processor WordPerfect Version 5.1, and
the spreadsheet Quattro-Pro. The Computer Center PS2 lab in MH-44
("CCL") has been reserved from Week 3 through the semester. From
Week 3 on we will meet for the first hour or so of the class in
the classroom, and then move to the lab for the rest of each class
session. Out-of-class help is available, too. The Social Science
Research Center offers walk-up consulting help in H-512 through
the week and weekends (with payment of their lab fee!). SPSS/PC is
also available on computers in the two writing labs in the
Department of Communications (H-326A and H-326B).
Note that if you use on-campus facilities outside the CCL you
will need to acquire the appropriate computing id.
To help us keep in touch with each other, and to promote an
E-Mail mentality we will develop an electronic mail system via the
CSU E-Mail system.
You will be able to mail each other and me
and we will try venturing out-of-state on the Internet as well.
This might help us a lot in out-of-class problem solving. More of
this around Week 3 when we get into computing.
VISITORS/VISITING
From time to time we will have visitors drop by to talk
about:
a.
Quantitative masters theses and projects.
b.
Current quantitative research in various communication
areas.
c.
Professional careers in communications research.
We will also try and visit a survey research site, the CSUF
Social Science Research Center's polling organization.
COURSE COMPONENTS
As a rough guide the course will try to develop as one might
develop a research study, with the following sections:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
The idea
The literature review
The research questions and/or hypotheses
The design of the instrument and the description of method
The data collection
Data analysis
Results/Conclusions
Report writing and publication
TEXTS
It is nigh on impossible to identify a text which will take
us beyond our Comm 410 texts, be they Wimmer and Dominick (4th
ed., 1994), Babbie's latest edition (1992), Stempel and Westley
(1989), Tan (2d ed., 1985).
It would seem to be better to use
these texts in a "recommended" role, where we use them to review
and clarify issues. Three books are required:
1.
There will be a collection of readings, questionnaires and
codebooks compiled by the instructor and offered at College
Copy 'n Print, 337 N. State College Blvd, 992-2679.
Bring
this to each class.
2.
To help us cope with the stats and the software:
Marija J. Norusis, 1991. The SPSS Guide to Data Analysis for
SPSS/PC+, 2d ed.. Chicago, IL: SPSS, Inc. ("Norusis")
3.
To walk us through the data analysis process:
Michael S. Lewis-Beck, 1995. Data Analysis: An Introduction.
Sage
University
Paper
Series
on
Quantitative
Applications in the Social Sciences, No. 103, Thousand
Oaks, CA: Sage. ("Lewis-Beck")
Those recommended:
1.
A simple communications statistics book by Williams (1992):
Frederick Williams, 1992. Reasoning With Statistics: How to
Read Quantitative Research. Fort Worth, TX: Harcourt
Brace Jovanovich. 4th ed. "Williams"
2.
A communications research handbook:
R.B. Rubin, A.M. Rubin, and L.J. Piele, 1993. Communication
Research: Strategies and Sources (3rd ed.). Belmont,
CA: Wadsworth.
3.
An SPSS/PC+ manual:
Marija J. Norusis, 1992. SPSS/PC+ Base System User's Guide,
Version 5.0. Chicago, IL: SPSS, Inc., or its SPSS/PC+
for Windows equivalent. "SPSS/PC Manual."
Other occasional readings, questionnaires and codebooks will
be distributed in class or loaded on the Computer Lab (CCL)
network.
From time to time we may refer to the following texts (see
bibliography for full citations): Babbie, 1992. The Practice of
Social Research; Broom and Dozier, 1990. Using Research in Public
Relations: Applications to Program Management; Emmert and Barker,
1989. Measurement of Communication Behavior; Stempel and Westley,
1989.
Research Methods in Mass Communication; Tan, 1985. Mass
Communication Theories and Research;
Singletary, 1994. Mass
Communication Research: Contemporary Methods and Applications.;
Tankard, 1984. The Statistical Pioneers;
Wimmer and Dominick,
1994, 4th ed., Mass Media Research: An Introduction; Zeisel, 1985.
Say it With Figures.
OTHER MATERIALS
1.
You will need at least two 3½" double-sided, high-density,
floppy disks (i.e., 2S-HD).
We will refer to one as your
"logon" disk, and the other as your "master" disk. You will
be able to store files and documents on the latter.
2.
A simple (I mean SIMPLE!) calculator will be helpful in class
to help resolve questions as they arise. All we need beyond
the basic arithmetic functions is a square root function.
Square, percentage, and some memory is helpful.
DATA SETS
To give some focus to the course, and to help us understand
how the research process proceeds, our class assignments will work
primarily with two data sets that the instructor is presently
developing research with: the Brody/Rimmer 1995 Vietnamese survey
and the Stanford 1992 Election Panel Study. Last Spring the class
worked with a Gallup/Times-Mirror 1987 (TM87) national survey--we
will review the publication the instructor developed in c;ass this
semester.
We will also work with some locally developed thesis
data sets which are presently in development (e.g., Cande Larson's
mail survey of public access cable systems; Mu-Chen Chang's survey
of MBA programs), or from past graduate thesis research (e.g.,
Cropp, 1990). If your research interests are outside these types
of data then I encourage you to develop your research proposal and
research paper with other data sets.
I have the following data sets available for our class
research. Of course, you are welcome to bring other data sets to
the party which might be more appropriate to your field of
interest.
I welcome additions to the data collection--we are
particularly weak, for example, in advertising data.
If you
provide your own data, be aware that it might take us some time
and effort to prepare such data sets for analysis.
Data collection is probably beyond us this semester. I have
volunteered our services to the Social Science Research Center to
assist in one of their projects so there may be a call on our time
and expertise (for credit? Naah...).
Available data sets:
1.
"Vietnamese Survey" (1995). A telephone survey executed in
Vietnamese (n=175) of Orange County Vietnamese comunity.
Designed and executed by the Department of Communications
faculty members Jeff Brody and Tony Rimmer in July, 1995.
Explores tolerance for civil liberties and media role's in
this issue.
2.
"Stanford Data"--A "statewide" (350 respondents, with an
Orange County component) of a four-wave (March, June,
October, November, 1992), telephone panel study of some 2,500
registered voters regarding their communication and mass
communication
behaviors
through
the
general
election
campaign.
The study was designed and coordinated out of
Stanford University--CSUF Comm 410, 515 and 509 students
collected the Orange County data. Bryan Denham's 1993 thesis
came from these data.
3.
Yih-Ling Liu's (February 1995) content analysis of two weeks
of Chinese-language newscasts from Los Angeles international
TV station (Ch.18).
English language transcripts and
codebooks are available! ("Yih-Ling's data").
4.
"Cross Channels" (1993)--80 mail questionnaires evaluating
"Cross Channels," the newsletter of the Long Beach chapter of
the Red Cross. Part of Sheryl Smith's 1994 masters project
evaluating "Cross Channels". ("Sheryl's data")
5.
"Accreditation Survey" (1993). 224 responses to mail survey
of communications programs regarding their perceptions of,
and trends in, mass communications education, administration,
and accreditation. ("Hynes data")
6.
"Minority Public Relations Practitioners" (1993).
A
national mail questionnaire evaluating minority public
relations
practitioners'
perceptions
of
their
career
prospects.
138 respondents. Teresa Mastin's 1993 thesis
data. ("Teresa's data")
7.
"Radio Station Popularity" (1993)--Terry Wedel's 1994(?) CSUF
thesis data. 559 respondents' opinions about their favorite
Southern California radio stations.
Data designed to test
theory about the dynamics of radio station popularity. This
study was funded by a 1992-3 $2,000 NAB Research Grant.
("Wedel data")
8.
"General Social Survey, 1993 and 1991."
An annual,
nationwide face-to-face survey of some 1500 respondents. The
GSS has a (very!) basic set of mass media use questions and
an extensive set of social and lifestyle questions. CSUF has
GSS data from 1972 to 1995 in a cumulated file.
9.
"Letters to the Editor"--A September-November 1992 content
analysis of letters to the editor in the Los Angeles Times
and the Orange County Register collected by graduate student
Joan Wakeling for her Comm 515 (Media and Politics) research
project.
Joan was interested in comparing issue v. horserace coverage in the letters. ("Wakeling data")
10.
"Times Mirror" (1987).
A national probability sample of
face-to-face interviews with some 4,200 respondents done by
the Gallup Organization for Times Mirror. Times Mirror has
published material from this (and others in this series of
surveys) under the series title "The People, The Press &
Politics."
See, in particular, Norman Ornstein, Andrew
Kohut, and Larry McCarthy (1988), The People, the Press, &
Politics, Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley. (PC).
Karen von
Elten (CSUF MA, 1991) used this data set for her thesis, and
Rimmer (1996, in press) further developed Karen's topic.
11.
"Fullerton Cable TV" -- City of Fullerton Cable Television
Survey (1991).
A telephone survey of 1100 cable TV
subscribers (n=878) and nonsubscribers (n=251) in the city of
Fullerton, CA.
The study was executed by the CSUF Social
Science Research Center.
The study's focus is that of an
advisory to the City with regard to the performance of the
cable franchiser.
12.
"Cropp Data" -- A 1990 mail survey of newspaper editors
developed by CSUF masters graduate Fritz Cropp.
The 166
respondents (news, sports and business editors) reported
their perceptions of public relations practitioners on a
variety of attitudinal scales.
From Fritz Cropp's 1991
thesis.
13.
"Anaheim 1990", "Anaheim 1988", "Anaheim 1986".
Three data
sets (600-1200? respondents each) developed by Dr. Trotter in
his Comm 410 classes for the city of Anaheim. Many questions
are common to all the data sets.
Data test respondents'
perceptions of the quality of city services and through what
channels they get their information. Mass communication use
variables are included. The 1988 survey is reported in The
Citizens Respond...:1988 Citizen Survey. City of Anaheim
Public Information Office, July 1988; the 1990 survey in City
of Anaheim Citizen Survey '90, City of Anaheim Public
Information Office, August 1990.
14.
"Santa Ana Image Study I" (1987), and II (1989) -- 251 (1987)
and 500 (1989) Santa Ana residents answer questions designed
to test their perceptions of the image of the city they live
in. Has a mass media component insofar as 1987 respondents
were asked to rate how important they thought various media
and interpersonal behaviors were in developing their
perception's of the city's image.
1989 respondents also
supplied media use (newspapers and TV) data.
Project
investigators, Richard Serpe and Tony Rimmer.
15.
"CSUF Image Study" (1988).
A public relation audit
coordinated by Dr. Rayfield (now retired) for CSUF.
Mail
questionnaires polled respondents in various university
constituencies regarding image and service perceptions of the
university.
16.
"Asian-American Journalists" (1987) -- a mail survey Dr.
Trotter did for the Asian-American Journalists Association.
Many questions parallel those of the "American Journalists
Study."
17.
"Indiana Election Poll" -- A 1986 telephone survey in
Bloomington, Indiana which surveyed respondents' opinions on
a variety of political issues.
The survey was designed to
allow the exploration of a variety of political communication
theories.
18.
"American Journalists Study" (1985) -- a nationwide survey of
newspaper and broadcast journalists (and with data on their
employing organizations) testing them on a variety of
personal and professional issues. Published as the book The
American Journalist by David Weaver, Cleveland Wilhoit, and
Richard G. Gray (1986).
This study is presently being
updated by Weaver. Perhaps we can acquire the latest round
of data this semester?
19.
20.
"ASNE MORI Data" (1984-5) -- a nationwide, 1600 respondents,
media credibility study sponsored by the American Society of
Newspaper Editors (ASNE). Conducted by MORI Research, Inc.
of Minneapolis, Minnesota, and published by ASNE as Newspaper
Credibility: Building Reader Trust, (April 1985).
Complements APME MORI study with many questions common to the two
studies.
"APME MORI Data" (1985) -- a nationwide, 1300 journalistrespondents, media credibility study sponsored by the
Associated Press Managing Editors (APME). Conducted by MORI
Research, Inc. of Minneapolis, Minnesota, and published by
APME as Journalists and Readers: Bridging the Credibility
Gap, (October 1985).
21.
"Communication Careers" (1983).
A survey of some 335
California Community College students testing perceptions of
five communication career areas.
Study coordinated by Dr.
Rayfield. A report of one aspect of the study is in: Robert
E. Rayfield and Tom Pasqua, 1985. "California Community
College Student Attitudes
on Communication Career Fields."
Community College Journalist 13:8-11, Fall.
22.
The CSU system has access to a myriad of census data and data
sets from other national polling institutions, primarily
through our membership of the ICPSR data consortium.
Of
particular interest are:
a.
The ongoing California Poll, executed by the Field
organization.
Questionnaires/codebooks are in the
library.
b.
The 1972-1995 General Social Survey (GSS) compilation.
c.
The
1972-1995
National
Election
Studies
(NES)
compilation.
OBLIGATIONS
A.
TALKING:
This class is a seminar. This means we talk, formally and
informally. Talk is a "gradable" commodity.
B.
PAPERS:
1.
SHORT PAPERS: (TBA, say, two to five pages typed, doublespaced, excluding output, attachments)
There will be a
series of short papers called for on a regular (weekly, yet?)
basis. They will usually involve the development, analysis,
interpretation, and reporting of data.
2.
RESEARCH PROPOSAL: (say five pages?) Around mid-semester a
research proposal will be called for.
It will propose a
research project (which could be developed into your research
paper or even a project/thesis proposal). A format for this
will follow later.
3.
RESEARCH PAPER:
(say 20 pages?)
Due at the end of the
semester. A significant piece of research (arising from your
research
proposal?)
which
proposes
an
interesting
question(s),
develops
hypotheses
from
the
literature,
analyzes a data set to test the hypotheses, and reports and
interprets the findings.
C.
MIDTERM EXAM: It will likely be a two-week(?) take-home open
book exam involving two or three essays and the analysis and
reporting on some data.
There is no final exam.
The
research paper will be preoccupying us at that point in the
semester.
GRADING
Grades will be assigned on the following basis:
Class presentations and discussion...........10%
Short papers.................................40%
Midterm......................................20%
Research paper...............................30%
100%
#
TENTATIVE CLASS SCHEDULE
WEEK 1:
Wed Jan 31: Class Organization:
CLASS: Class introductions
Syllabus discussion
Class Address List
Visitor: Lisa Harrison (Comm 509, Spring 1994)
a.
Cause and Effect (CAUSEFX.HDT) and the problem of
that third variable (THIRDVAR.HDT)
WEEK 2:
Wed Feb 7: The Research Process:
CLASS: Studying v. Understanding relationships--viva theory.
Norusis, Ch.6; Lewis-Beck pp.1-18.
WEEK 3:
Wed Feb 14: Questionnaires, Coding, Data Entry; Begin
Computing: Norusis, Ch. 7
WEEK 4: Wed Feb 21: Descriptive Statistics/Data Displays:
CLASS:
Levels of Measurement; Descriptive statistics;
Displays; Determinism
Norusis,
Ch.8,9,13
(and
browse
earlier
chapters
on
introduction to computing)
LAB: Descriptive Statistics and Graphing (Quattro Pro):
WEEK 5: Wed Feb 28: Inferential Statistics; Univariate--Goodness
of Fit (Runs Test, Kolmogorov-Smirnoff Normality Test; Chi
Square Goodness of Fit Test)
Univariate goodness of fit--against:
a.
a theoretical distribution (K-S normality test)
b.
an objective reference distribution (chi-square)
WEEK 6:
Wed Mar 6: Crosstabs--Two and Three Way:
CLASS: Reading crosstabs and interpreting their statistics:
LAB: Two and Three-way Crosstabs
WEEK 7:
Wed Mar 13: Midterm; Index/Scale Construction:
CLASS: Why indexes? Constructing indexes (Additive --Spy;
Multiplicative -- Loftus), ... ?
Rimmer (1993). "On Indexes and Scales." (GUTTMAN.HDT)
LAB:
COMPUTE; Additive and multiplicative scaling, midterm
analyses
WEEK 8:
Wed Mar 20: More on Indexes; Reliability and Validity;
Correlation and Factor Analysis; Research Proposal; System
Files:
CLASS: Reliability and Validity
LAB: Test index reliability, RELIABILITY
Assign Midterm: (Take home? Two essays and a data analysis/
reporting exercise?). Due 5 p.m., Friday, Week 10.
WEEK 9:
Wed Mar 27:
Research Proposal: The Literature Review:
Lab Catchup:
CLASS:
LAB: Lab Catchup? (Index building -- correlations and factor
analysis - the AEJMC index/Mastin indexes)
ASSIGN: Research Proposal
(Spring Recess: April 1-April 5, Campus open)
WEEK 10: Wed Apr 10: Reviewing the Research Proposal; Content
Analysis; System Files (again); MEANS:
CLASS: Research Proposal Midterm Progress?
Content Analysis (Tankard et al, 1979).
LAB: Content Analysis -- "General Content Analyzer" (GENCA)
and "Word Frequency Analysis" (WDFREQ) and their
associated manuals.
DUE: Midterm, due Friday.
WEEK 11: Wed Apr 17: T-TEST; and other measures of difference:
CLASS:
LAB: T-TEST
DUE: Research Proposal
WEEK 12: Wed Apr 24: The Experiment; ANOVA; Catchup:
CLASS: The Experiment and the field experiment; ANOVA
LAB: ANOVA: ONE-WAY (turn in output)
WEEK 13:
Wed May 1:
Correlation; Introduction to Multiple
Regression:
CLASS: Correlation:
LAB: Correlation, PEARSON CORR (turn in output)
WEEK 14: Wed May 8: Multiple Regression:
CLASS:
Multiple Regression
LAB:
Regression task (see part A, REGRESSN.LIS, turn in
output)
WEEK 15: Wed May 15: Regression II; Catchup; Publication; Report
on final research papers:
CLASS:
Publication, journals, conventions; Reports on final
research paper
LAB: Catchup
Fri May 17:
Last day of class instruction.
Wed May 22: Final Exam day. Research paper turned in to
Tony's faculty mailbox by 5 p.m.
##
REFERENCES (in master syllabus)
(END)