Almeida_COMM490

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Course SyllabusFayetteville State UniversityCollege of Arts and Sciences

Department of Performing and Fine ArtsCOMM 490 Mass Communication Theory and Research

Spring Semester 2012

I. LOCATOR INFORMATIONInstructor: Dr. Jeanie Almeida

Course # and Name.: COMM 490 Course Name: Mass Communication Theory & Research

Semester Credit Hours: 3 Room, Bldg.: LSA 130

Day/Time Class Meets: MWF: 10-10:50 Office Location: 206 Telecom Center

Total Contact Hours for Class: 45 Office Hours: M:11-12, 1-6; W: 11-12, 1-4

E-mail Address:[email protected] Office Phone: 672- 2031

FSU Policy on Electronic Mail: Fayetteville State University provides to each student, free of charge,

an electronic mail account ([email protected]) that is easily accessible via theInternet. The university has established FSU email as the primary mode of correspondence

between university officials and enrolled students. Inquiries and requests from students

pertaining to academic records, grades, bills, financial aid, and other matters of a confidential

nature must be submitted via FSU email. Inquiries or requests from personal email accounts are

not assured a response. The university maintains open-use computer laboratories throughout the

campus that can be used to access electronic mail.

Rules and regulations governing the use of FSU email may be found athttp://www.uncfsu.edu/PDFs/EmailPolicyFinal.pdfIn case FSU must close for an emergency during the semester, instruction will continue using Blackboard

II. COURSE DESCRIPTION

The development of mass communication theory is studied with attention given to the emergence of

major paradigms of theory including the development of process and effects perspectives, the

development of social learning perspectives, the development of uses and gratifications perspectives,

and the development of critical and cultural perspectives.

III. Disabled Student Services: In accordance with Section 504 of the 1973 Rehabilitation Act and theAmericans with Disabilities Act (ACA) of 1990, if you have a disability or think you have a disability toplease contact the Center for Personal Development in the Spaulding Building, Room 155 (1st Floor);

910-672-1203.

IV. TEXTBOOK

Rubin et al. (2006). Communication Research. 6th Edition. Sengage Learning.

Lecture Notes (E. Almeida)Posted on Blackboard.

V. STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES
mailto:[email protected]://www.uncfsu.edu/PDFs/EmailPolicyFinal.pdfmailto:[email protected]://www.uncfsu.edu/PDFs/EmailPolicyFinal.pdf


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Upon the completion of this course, the students will be able to:

(1) Demonstrate an understanding of different theoretical approaches towards

the study of mass communication including:

(a) mass society theory

(b) the limited effects tradition

(c) moderate effects tradition

(d) critical and cultural theories

(2) Demonstrate an understanding of the history of mass communication theory and research.

(3) Demonstrate an understanding of different methodologies for the study of communication

including the experimental method, survey methodologies, and modern qualitative approaches.

(4) Use a variety of media sources including newspapers, documentaries, radio and television

news and informational programs as foci for media criticism

(5) Design and implement an original research program to be written up as a research paper to be

presented to the Communication faculty at the end of the semester.

VI. EVALUATION CRITERIA

Grades will be determined using the University grading scale:

A=90-100B=80-89C=70-79D=64-72

F=Below 64

GRADE DISTRIBUTION

Research Paper 75%Statement of Research Problem 10%Literature Review 15%Description of Methodology 10%Results of Research 15%Analysis of Results 10%Conclusions 5%Bibliography 5%

Research Presentation 5%%Midterm Exam 25%

Total Points 100%

VII. COURSE OUTLINE WITH ASSIGNMENT SCHEDULE

Date Wk Topic Assignment

1/9 1 Course overview, assignments


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1/11, Introduction to Mass Communication Theory Lecture notes, Ch. 1

1/13 Lecture notes, Ch. 2

1/16 2 Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday

1/18 Research methodsContent analysis

1/20 Intro to Mass Comm Theorywrap up Lecture notes, Ch. 2

1/23 3 Mass Society Theory Lecture notes, Ch. 3

1/25

1/27 Research methodsDiscourse analysis

1/30 4 Propaganda Theories Lecture notes, Ch. 4

2/1

2/3 Instructions for paper

2/6 5 Normative Theory Lecture notes, Ch. 5

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2/10 Instructions for Paper

2/13 6 Limited Effects Theory Emerges Lecture notes, Ch. 6

2/15

2/17 Instructions for Paper, APA style

2/20 7 Middle Range Theory Lecture notes, Ch. 7

2/22 Take Home exam posted. Statement of Research Problem due.

2/24 Literature Review due.

2/27 8 Take Home Exam due. Lecture notes, Ch. 8

2/29 Challenging the Dominant Paradigm

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3/3-3/9 9 Midterm Break

3/12 10 Emergence of Critical/Cultural Perspectives Lecture notes, Ch. 9

3/14 Methodology section due

3/16

3/19 11 Media and Audiences Lecture notes, Ch. 10

3/21

3/23


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3/26 12 Theories of Media, Culture and Society Lecture notes, Ch. 11

3/28

3/30 Results section due

4/2 13 Trends in Mass Communication First Drafts can be turned in for4/4 Research Presentations review and criticism.

4/6 Research Presentations

4/9 14 Research Presentations First Drafts can be turned in for

4/11 Research Presentations review and criticism.


4/16 15 Research Presentations First Drafts can be turned in for

4/18 Research Presentations review and criticism


4/23 16 Research Presentations Final Paper Due for graduating

4/25 Research Presentations seniors.

4/27 Last Day of class Final Research Paper Due

VII. ACADEMIC SUPPORT RESOURCES

Students are encouraged to avail themselves of the services of the Writing Clinic to improve their

writing. Students are also urged to use the services of Reference Librarians for their second theory

paper. No excuses will be accepted for being unable to find original articles or books either in ChesnuttLibrary or on Inter-Library Loan which the Librarians will be glad to help you with.

VIII. COURSE REQUIREMENTS/STUDENT RESPONSIBILITIES

Research Paper (75%) Students will design and implement one original research project whichthey will have the entire semester to complete. The student may choose among four methodologies:survey research, content and interaction analysis, rhetorical criticism and conversation analysis. If astudent wants to use another research methodology, they must discuss this with me and obtain my

permission. The course is set up so we cover these four methods before the midterm.

Generally, research is done in stages. The first stage is to construct a Research Problem which involvescreating research questions in which we are interested. We have to have good reasons for doing researchas it is time-consuming (and the pay is usually minimal). Therefore, you should spend some timethinking about communication problems in which you are very interested and then narrow your topic toone which can be research during the semester. Write this up as your Statement of Research Problem(10% of your grade, 1 page).


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The next step is to decide what Methodology to use to study your research question. Methodologies varyin terms of the research questions you can use them to study: some methodologies are good for studyingsome questions and some are good for studying others. The methodology you choose will affect the typeof data you obtain and might necessitate changing your research question. Thats why Ive assigned thesetwo written assignments together. Write this up as Description of Methodology, (10% of your grade, 1-2pages).

Next you want to do a Literature Review to see what has already been done on your topic. The worstthing that can happen at this stage is to find out that someone has already researched your particularquestion. You would have to modify your research question so that you are doing something new orabandon your research question altogether and design a new research project. Sometimes by reading theliterature on your topic you get ideas and methods for researching your problem so its often a good ideato conduct your Literature Review at the same time as your designing your research problem.

Be sure and finish this first part of your research paper on time as you will need time to implement yourresearch. You will need time to conduct your research and you should get started on it as soon as I handback your edited papers. I will edit your short papers for you and also let you know if you have to makechanges in your research question and methodology. Write this up as Literature Review, (15% of your

grade, 1-3 pages).

After youve conducted your research, you write up a Results section. In this section, you write down thebasic raw data that youve obtained, include charts or tables if need be. Its a good idea to have charts ofyour data. They can be ordinary frequency counts, where you have counted the number of timessomething has occurred, whether it is the number of females who are criminals in one week of Law andOrder, CSI, and Cold Cases on television (as compared to the number of males), the number of timescharacters in six movies used profanity, a list of the occupations of main characters on major soapoperas, the number of times African Americans were described in front page articles on six majornewspapers in the U. S. for a week (as compared to Caucasians), etc. etc. In this section, you describe thecategories that you used to complete your analysis. Descriptions of categories are especially important ifyou chose to do a qualitative analysis. Write this section up as Results of Research (15% of your grade).Several pages including charts.Then you write up an analysis section. In this section, you write your interpretations of the data youvecollected. So, you move from the data to more general concerns and interpret what the data means interms of communication processes, language use, social relations, political and cultural issues, etc. Hereis where you answer the research questions that you set for yourself in the statement of research problem.For example, if your research question was to analyze whether women, young people and old peopletended to be victims in crime shows, as compared to men, aged 30 to 60, in your analysis you would statehow your data answered this question. Write this section up as Analysis of Research (10%) of your grade(approximately 2-3 pages although it can be longer depending on your data).

Finally, you write your Conclusion. The Conclusion should not be long. It should summarize the majorconclusions of your paper which are in the results and analysis section. It should also answer the basicresearch question or problem which you introduce your paper with in the Research problem section.Conclusion should be to 1 page (5%).

Bibliography. All the work you described in your Literature Review and Methodology should be listed inyour bibliography. The bibliography should follow your conclusion and be entitled Bibliography.Other items that might go into the bibliography would be television programs you describe, movies yourdescribe and newspaper articles you describe as part of your research. The bibliography should be done


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in APA style. You can look up APA style in the library although I will be going over it in class as well.Familiarizing yourself with APA style is good preparation for advanced study at graduate school or atechnical institute. (APA=American Psychological Association.) Your bibliography should contain atleast 10 academic references, at least eight of which should be from your literature review, and at leasttwo from your methodology section. (5%)

Research Presentation (5%) During the last three weeks of class, students will present the results of their

research to the class.

Examinations (25%)- One exam will be given in this class, a midterm exam. The exam will probably be atake-home exam but it will require a thorough understanding of the text and my lectures on the text.

Use of BlackboardMy lecture notes will be posted on Blackboard so that you can follow my lectureswhich are not in the textbook. The take home midterm exam will also be posted on Blackboard.

Attendance

As this is an advanced class and only once a week, it is essential that students attend class regularly and

contribute to discussion. Reading the material in advance, writing down notes on the reading from

which to make contributions, and raising thought-provoking questions about the material are

practices that create a stimulating and intellectually challenging climate. These are the hallmarks of

rewarding seminar experiences. You are allowed one excused absence per semester. Students who

interfere with the functioning of the class by talking during both lecture and class discussion,

talking on their cell phones, talking while other students are attempting to talk to me, will have their

grade dropped by one letter grade if it is continual and Ive asked you several times to be quiet,

listen, and learn.

IX. TEACHING STRATEGYThe course will be set up as an advanced seminar. Readings will be assigned every week and members

of the class will discuss the readings. In a sense, the instructor will function as a moderator and guide as

well as a participant in ongoing class discussions. The two papers will function as opportunities for

students to acquire and develop a level of mastery in analysis on theoretical and methodological

perspectives which are current within the field of communication on selected topics.

X. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Edwards, D. (1997). Discourse and Cognition. London: Sage.

Griffin, E. (2000). A First Look at Communication Theory. Boston: McGraw-Hill.

Frey, L., Botan, C., Friedman, P., & Kreps, G. (1991) Investigating Communication: An Introduction tomResearch Methods. Englewood Cliffs, N. J. : Prentice-Hall.

Kaye, B. K. & Medoff, N. J. (1999). The World Wide Web: A Mass Communication Perspective.Mayfield Publishing Co.


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Kress, G. (1997). Rethinking Writing: Rethinking the Paths to Literacy. London: Routledge.

Littlejohn, S. J. (1996). Theories of Human Communication. Boston: Wadsworth Publishing Company.

Silverman, D. (1997). (Ed.) Qualitative Research: Theory, Method and Practice. London: Sage.

Wetherell, M., Taylor, S. & Yates, S. J. (2001). Discourse as Data. London: Sage Publications.

Wetherell, M., Taylor, S. & Yates, S. J. (2001). Discourse Theory and Practice: A Reader. London:

Sage Publications, pp. 3

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Almeida_COMM490