Data Models in Communications

Catalog description

The purpose of this course is to further students' understanding and application of complex data analytic techniques in communications research and related disciplines. Topics of importance to the discipline will be covered using applied, hands-on, and contextualized approaches. These topics will focus on the analysis of covariance structures, including extensions of multiple regression, path analysis, measurement structures, and structural equation modeling. Additional issues in alternate semesters may include such topics as hierarchical linear modeling, network analysis, or meta-analysis. This course will stress an applied focus, addressing frequently encountered issues and questions arising in common experimental and correlational contexts. Additionally, students will become familiar with commonly used software employed in the analysis of data. Examples will drawn from and will illustrate frequently employed approaches in such areas as advertising, telecommunications, new technologies, media effects, public relations, political communication, computer-mediated communication, and gaming studies, among other.