Communication Research

Catalog description

An introduction to the logic and methods of social science research as it is employed to study topics in communication. Students will be introduced to key principles of social scientific reasoning, including aspects of concept explication and effective measurement, evaluation and demonstration of causality, and reliance on empirical data. Topics include effective question wording, ethical treatment of research participants, experimental research designs, sampling and survey research, content analysis, interview, and projective techniques. In addition, students address key ideas in statistical analysis, including principles of inference, common descriptive statistics, and widely used tests of both bivariate and multivariate relationships. Presentation of this material includes training in effective use of appropriate statistical software. Based on this training, students should be able to contribute to sound research on communication-related topics in both the academic and professional environments.