EMAC6372 - Fall 2011

Cuihua Shen 1

EMAC6372: Approaches to Emergent Media and Communication Fall 2011 [Draft as of August 22, 2011 - Subject to Revision] Course Information Instructor: Class location: Time: E-mail: Office Location: Office Hours: Course Website: Cuihua (Cindy) Shen, Ph.D. ATEC 1.202 Wednesday 7:00 - 9:45pm cuihua.shen@utdallas.edu ATEC 1.610 Wednesday 6 - 7pm & by appointment http://elearning.utdallas.edu

All course-related information will be posted on the eLearning website (eLearning.utdallas.edu). Students may contact me via email or in-person. Please begin your email subject heading with EMAC6372 to ensure my prompt attention. I try to respond to student emails within 24 hours Monday through Friday. Important course-related information such as announcements and reminders will be primarily communicated to students via email. Students are required to check their UTD email at least twice a week. Students are responsible for seeking help from the IT help desk (assist@utdallas.edu or call the UTD Computer Helpdesk at 972-883-2911) if they have problems accessing their UTD email accounts, and from eLearning help center if they have problems accessing eLearning website (eLearning tutorial here: http://www.utdallas.edu/oee/distance/resources/handouts/webct_tutorials.html).

Course Description This course introduces the basic set of knowledge and skills required to do good research in emerging media and communication. The concepts, strategies, methods, and skills that you will acquire in this course should help you: 1) understand the implications and limitations of research reported by others, and 2) propose, design, conduct, analyze data from, write-up, and publish research in your chosen area of inquiry. Lectures will focus on the conceptual aspects, such as developing research questions, building proper measurements, sampling, designing methods, and analyzing data. The lab sessions will give students extensive opportunity to become familiar with the SPSS software package and experience at conducting the various types of analyses reviewed in the class. Perhaps most important, students will work in teams to work , putting into practice the theorizing, design, instrumentation, and possibly, analysis skills acquired throughout the class. The written report will be prepared in accordance with the professional criteria specified in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.). Thus, this course is designed to provide both a broad overview of the research process and practical experience in conducting research.

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Course materials The Practice of Social Research (12th edition), by Earl Babbie (2009) (PSR; required) o Note: The 11th edition is also acceptable but page numbers may be different from what are listed in the syllabus. Using SPSS for Windows and Macintosh (6th edition), by Samuel. B. Green and Neil. J. Salkind (2010) (USPSS; required) Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (6th edition), by the American Psychological Association (2010) (APA; required). All required books are available for purchase at: Off Campus Books (http://www.offcampusbooks.com) 561 W. Campbell Road, #201 Richardson, TX 75080 972-907-8398 In addition, electronic copies of supplemental course materials (such as readings and PowerPoint slides) will be posted to the course website.

Evaluation of Performance Examination I Examination II Final examination Research project Assignments Final presentation Complete research paper Participation and attendance This course uses the following grading scheme: A 93% or higher A90%-92% B+ 87%-89% B 83%-86% B80%-82% C+ 77%-79% C 73%-76% C70%-72% D+ 67%-69% D 63%-66% D60%-62% F 59% or lower 12% 12% 16% 50% (15%) (10%) (25%) 10%

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Examinations There will be 3 examinations for this course, and they generally hold the following format: 8 to 15 multiple choice questions (about 20% of the examinations points); 5 to 8 fill in the blanks or short answer questions (about 15% of the points); 5 to 8 analysis questions (about 65% of the points). The latter examinations may be cumulative in part. In general, no more than 20% of the later examinations will test materials covered in prior examinations. The purpose is not to impose excessive burdens on you during examinations; the purpose instead is to highlight the interlinked nature of many decisions we make in designing research methods: decisions made in the earlier phases of the study will shape the available options in the studys later phases.

Research Project The research project is meant to give you the experience of conducting research in an abbreviated and meaningful way. The end deliverable for this project is a paper (about 12-18 pages long, double-spaced). Your classroom exercise and workshop sessions will focus on getting this project done. The project requires both individual and group effort: for certain parts you will work on your own; for other parts you will work in a team with one or two other people (in other words, project teams may consist of two or three people). In rare circumstances and only with instructors approval, you may choose to work individually, but the grading standard remains the same regardless of the size of the project team. There are significant penalties for late delivery (e.g., half of possible score). This is not because I am vindictive, but because I want to encourage behavior that contributes to success, namely punctual delivery of assignments.

Participation and attendance in class For participation, come to class prepared to discuss and ask questions about the material. Asking a question or contributing to the discussion counts as participation. Keeping silent does not. To earn the full score, you must participate in every session. If you participate in about half of the sessions, you earn 50%. My general impression across the semester may modify that score. You are allowed one unexcused absence from the lecture without penalty. Thereafter, each unexcused absence costs 1% of the total grade. Having four unexcused absences costs 4% of the final score (i.e., a 90% drops to 86%). Absences beyond the fourth open the possibility that you may fail the course. Arriving past five minutes to class is considered poor form, and will incur a penalty (half that of absences).

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Academic Integrity The faculty expects from its students a high level of responsibility and academic honesty. Because the value of an academic degree depends upon the absolute integrity of the work done by the student for that degree, it is imperative that a student demonstrate a high standard of individual honor in his or her scholastic work. Scholastic Dishonesty, any student who commits an act of scholastic dishonesty is subject to discipline. Scholastic dishonesty includes but is not limited to cheating, plagiarism, collusion, the submission for credit of any work or materials that are attributable in whole or in part to another person, taking an examination for another person, any act designed to give unfair advantage to a student or the attempt to commit such acts. Plagiarism, especially from the web, from portions of papers for other classes, and from any other source is unacceptable and will be dealt with under the universitys policy on plagiarism (see general catalog for details). This course will use the resources of turnitin.com, which searches the web for possible plagiarism and is over 90% effective. Withdrawal from Class The administration of this institution has set deadlines for withdrawal of any college-level courses. These dates and times are published in that semester's course catalog. Administration procedures must be followed. It is the student's responsibility to handle withdrawal requirements from any class. In other words, I cannot drop or withdraw any student. You must do the proper paperwork to ensure that you will not receive a final grade of "F" in a course if you choose not to attend the class once you are enrolled. Incomplete Grade Policy As per university policy, incomplete grades will be granted only for work unavoidably missed at the semesters end and only if 70% of the course work has been completed. An incomplete grade must be resolved within eight (8) weeks from the first day of the subsequent long semester. If the required work to complete the course and to remove the incomplete grade is not submitted by the specified deadline, the incomplete grade is changed automatically to a grade of F. Disability Services The goal of Disability Services is to provide students with disabilities equal educational opportunities. Disability Services provides students with a documented letter to present to the faculty members to verify that the student has a disability and needs accommodations. This letter should be presented to the instructor in each course at the beginning of the semester and accommodations needed should be discussed at that time. It is the students responsibility to notify his or her professors of the need for accommodation. If accommodations are granted for testing accommodations, the student should remind the instructor five days before the exam of any testing accommodations that will be needed. Disability Services is located in Room 1.610 in the Student Union. Office hours are Monday Thursday, 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., and Friday 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. You may reach Disability Services at (972) 883-2098.

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Guidelines for documentation are located on the Disability Services website at http://www.utdallas.edu/disability/documentation/index.html Course Schedule (check eLearning site for the most updated schedule)

Week 1 Aug 24, 2011

Introduction and overview Developing researchable questions Assignment for next week: Get textbooks; Finish readings

Week 2 Aug 31, 2011

Science and ways of knowing; Building good measures; levels of measurement. PSR Ch. 1, pp. 4-10 (looking for reality), 10-19 (foundations of social science, variables), 21-23 (induction, deduction); Ch. 2, pp. 32-33 (paradigms), 46-53 (theory, hypotheses, operationalization, observation); Ch. 4, pp. 98-104 (units of analysis) Ch. 5, pp. 125-138 (conceptualization). Ch. 5, pp. 139-150 (operationalization, levels of measurement); Ch. 6, pp. 161-164 (indices and scales), 178-181 (Thurston, Likert, semantic differential scales). Due: Initial description of research topic and questions (individual) Assignment for next week: Organize for project; Define research topics and questions; Search for prior research.

Week 3 Sept 7, 2011

Surveys Avoiding plagiarism; How to write an article summary

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PSR, Ch 4, pp. 106-112 (time dimension); Ch. 9, pp. 254-267 (guidelines for crafting questions, questionnaire construction), pp. 270-273 (via mail), pp. 279-281 (via telephone), pp. 281-285 (via new technologies), pp. 285-287 (comparison of distribution techniques); pp. 287-288 (strengths and weaknesses of surveys). APA Ch.1 Writing for the behavioral and social sciences Due: Initial results of search for existing research (individual) Assignment for next week: Choose research topic and research questions as teams; Search and review existing research

Week 4 Sept 14, 2011

Guest lecture: Using library resources Experiments PSR Ch. 8, pp. 231-250 (experiments). Due: Article summary 1 (individual) Assignment for next week: Continue search and review of existing research; Start building measurements.

Week 5 Sept 21, 2011

No class (Oxford Internet Research Conference) Review for Examination 1 Due: Article summary 2 (individual) Assignment for next week: revise research questions and hypotheses

Week 6 Sept 28, 2011

Examination 1 How to write an integrated literature review Refining research questions How to look for and use existing measurements APA Ch.2 Manuscript structure and content

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Due: Revised research questions and hypotheses (team); Integrated literature review (individual) plus copies of original source articles highlighted showing segments drawn from. Assignment for next week: Look for designs and measurements you can use.

Week 7 Oct 5, 2011

Measurement reliability and measurement validity Relationships and causation; rival hypotheses Making valid claims and threats to validity

USPSS Lesson 38 Item analysis using reliability procedure PSR, Ch. 5, pp. 150-157 (measurement reliability and validity); Ch. 4, pp. 94-98 (criteria for causation). Due: Initial draft of operationalizations, including manipulation of variables (if applicable), measurements, researcher protocols, etc. (team) Assignment for next week: Work on project Week 8 Oct 12, 2011 Human subjects; Institutional review processes Guest lecture: IRB application at UT Dallas APA Ch. 1 Writing for the behavioral and social sciences The Belmont Report (http://ohsr.od.nih.gov/guidelines/belmont.html) USPSS Unit 2 Creating and working with data files Due: Final draft of operationalizations, including manipulation of variables (if applicable), measurements, researcher protocols, etc. (team). Assignment for next week: Work on project IRB protocol

Week 9 Oct 19, 2011

External validity and sampling

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PSR Ch. 7, p. 188-189 (introduction), pp. 196-200 (sampling bias, representativeness, element, population, random selection, parameter), pp. 200-206 (sampling distribution, sampling error), pp. 208-211 (populations and sampling frames). pp. 211-222 (simple random, systematic, stratified, multi-stage cluster sampling) Due: IRB protocol (team)

Assignment for next week: Work on project

Week 10 Oct 26, 2011

Non-probability sampling Operationalizations Review for Examination 2 PSR Ch. 7, pp. 192-196 (non-probability sampling)

Assignment for next week: Collect data

Week 11 Nov 2, 2011

Examination 2 Descriptive statistics

PSR Ch. 14: pp. 426-433 (univariate analysis, distributions, central tendency, dispersion, discrete vs. continuous variables). USPSS Unit 5 Creating variables and computing descriptive statistics

Assignment for next week: Set up data file; Start to run descriptive analysis Week 12 Nov 9, 2011 Hypothesis testing Inferential statistics: t-tests

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USPSS Unit 6 t test procedures Assignment for next week: t-test; work on project

Week 13 Nov 16, 2011

Inferential statistics: Correlation

USPSS Unit 8 Correlations, regression ad discriminant analysis procedures USPSS Unit 10 Nonparametric procedures Due: Revised literature review & methods (team) Assignment for next week: Correlation and Chi-square; work on project Week 14 Nov 23, 2011 Inferential statistics: Chi-square Regression Review for Final Examination Assignment for next week: work on project Week 15 Nov 30, 2011 Team presentations

Week 16 Dec 7, 2011

Final Examination Due: Complete research paper (team)

Acknowledgment: Some of the syllabus content and course materials have been adapted from similar courses taught by Dr. Ben Lee and Dr. Peter Monge.