J614 Lab Schedule
Spring 2010
Emily Vraga
Teaching Assistant
Email: ekvraga@wisc.edu
Office Hours: Thursday 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. and by appointment
Office: 5007 Vilas Hall
Lab section e-mail addresses:
Tuesdays, 1:00-2:15 p.m.
Tuesdays, 2:30-3:45 p.m.
Wednesdays, 2:30-3:45 p.m.
Wednesdays, 4:00-5:15 p.m.
4041 VILAS – Lab 1 — journ614-301-s10@lists.wisc.edu
4041 VILAS – Lab 2 — journ614-302-s10@lists.wisc.edu
4017 VILAS – Lab 3 — journ614-303-s10@lists.wisc.edu
4011 VILAS – Lab 4 — journ614-304-s10@lists.wisc.edu
Week 1: No Lab
Week 2: Opinion Trends I
Lab intro
Project overview
Assignment overview
Research questions
Opinion poll data sources
Reviewing literature (scholarly journal search)
Project: group assignment, discuss relevant opinion topics
Week 3: Opinion Trends II
Playing with opinion data
Plotting opinion trends
Describing opinion trends
Assignment: Response paper 1 due in lab
Week 4: Content Analysis
Content analysis overview
Project: discuss media explanation for the opinion trend
Project Assignment: Opinion trend paper due in lab
Week 5: Sampling
Sampling (sampling procedures/decisions)
In-lab presentation of opinion trends (10 minutes for each group)
Mini assignment 1: Presentation slides or handouts for the presentation (Group project)
Mini assignment 2: Proposal for content analysis (Individual project)
Week 6: Content Measurement
Content measurement (units of analysis, variables, validity and reliability)
Mini assignment 3: Media prediction + two relevant scholarly journal articles for each group
member (Group project)
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Week 7: Media and Opinion Trends I
Focused discussion of media influence on opinion change over time
Project: continue to work on media explanations for the opinion trend
Week 8: Media and Opinion Trends II
Project: Designing content study (sampling procedures, coding categories)
Project Assignment: Media prediction paper due in lab
Week 9: Coder Training
Establishing reliability
Project: Coder training
Assignment: Response paper 2 due in lab
Week 10: Theories of Media Effects on Opinions
Special summary session
Compare theories of media effects
Assignment: Content exercise due in lab (Individual project)
Week 11: Spring Break!!!
Week 12: Content Analysis and Opinion Trends
Project: discuss findings and relate them to opinion trends
Week 13: Preparing for Presentation
Making presentation slides
Project: Discuss conclusions and implications of research
Project assignment: Content analysis work
Week 14: In-lab Presentation
Each group gives practice run of presentation
Mini Assignment 4: Abstract for the presentation (Group project)
Week 15: No Lab
Extended office hours for all students who have questions about anything related to the class
Selected groups give their presentation to the whole class
Assignment: Each group uploads presentation slides to learn@uw by 6 pm Monday of week 15
Week 16: Exam Review and Preparation
Selected groups give their presentation to the whole class
Exam review
2
Assignment Schedule
Week
Group Project
Individual Project
Reaction Paper
One 1/19
Two 1/26
Three* 2/2
Reaction paper 1
Four* 2/9
Opinion Trend Paper
Five 2/16
Mini Assignment 1
Six 2/23
Mini Assignment 3
Mini Assignment 2
Seven 3/2
Eight* 3/9
Media Prediction Paper
Nine* 3/16
Reaction Paper 2
Ten* 3/23
Content Exercise
Eleven 3/30
Twelve 4/6
Thirteen* 4/13
Content Analysis Work
Fourteen 4/20
Mini Assignment 4
Fifteen 4/27
Presentation Slides
(Monday, 6:00 P.M.)
Sixteen 5/4*
Seventeen
Final Exam (2:45 P.M., May 14, 2010)
3