Transcript Week3_track - Personal.psu.edu

2007 Fall_COMM 420_Week 3(1) @ NY
Research Methods in AD/PR
COMM 420
Section 8
Tuesday / Thursday 3:35 pm -5:30 pm
143 Stuckeman
Nan Yu
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2007 Fall_COMM 420_Week 3(1) @ NY
Humanistic Approach
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Rhetorical
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Historical
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How human communicate with each other and
how to influence others through communications.
What happened in the past, historical events.
Critical
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Making value judgments about communication
events, speeches…etc.
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2007 Fall_COMM 420_Week 3(1) @ NY
Qualitative methods
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Rhetorical-historical-critical research
uses qualitative methods.
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Focus group
In-depth interviews
Participant observation
……
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2007 Fall_COMM 420_Week 3(1) @ NY
Video
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Qualitative Research: Methods in Social
Sciences
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Distributed by INSIGHT MEDIA
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Qualitative research
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Qualitative research “involves in-depth,
case-oriented study of a relatively small
number of cases, including the single
case study. Qualitative research seeks
detailed knowledge of specific cases,
often with the goal of finding out ‘how’
things happen (or happened).” (Ragin,
Nagel, & White, 2004, p.10)
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2007 Fall_COMM 420_Week 3(1) @ NY
Qualitative methods
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“Researchers who use qualitative
methods often try to interpret the
meanings to be found in communication
exchanges. They may look at individual
examples of communication research,
rather than searching for patterns that
run across individuals” (Reinard, 2007,
p15).
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2007 Fall_COMM 420_Week 3(1) @ NY
Example--qualitative research
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Case of “Soda Fridge Pack”
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Soda sales went down. Why?
Researchers followed families from supermarket
and watching them how to load the soda in to
refrigerators.
People buy several packs but only load a few into
the refrigerator.
They found out the reason that the original cubeshape carton didn’t fit the refrigerator’s space.
“Fridge Pack” was then made and it worked!
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2007 Fall_COMM 420_Week 3(1) @ NY
Characteristics of
qualitative research
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Concern the questions of facts and
value – “the world as it ought to be.”
Subjective view
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Answers to research questions normally
affected by the personal views of the
researcher.
Focusing on specific communication
events, especially events in the past.
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More examples of
qualitative research
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http://www.pointforward.com/index.html
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2007 Fall_COMM 420_Week 3(1) @ NY
Scientific Approach
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Scientific research uses quantitative
methods.
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Survey
Experiment
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Testing relationship between variables.
Research data are in numbers.
Summarize trends, predict pattern.
Scientific research is to test theory.
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2007 Fall_COMM 420_Week 3(1) @ NY
Video
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Quantitative Research: Methods in the
Social Sciences
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Distributed by INSIGHT MEDIA
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2007 Fall_COMM 420_Week 3(1) @ NY
Fundamental goal of
scientific research
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The purpose of basic communication research
is to increase our knowledge about
communication phenomena by testing,
refining, elaborating theory. (Frey, Botan, &
Kreps, 2000, p.32)
The basic aim of science is theory. (Kerlinger,
1986, p.8)
We do science to determine how theories
should be modified to better describe and
explain the process under investigation.
(Hayes, 2005, p.4)
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2007 Fall_COMM 420_Week 3(1) @ NY
Functions of theory
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Tell researchers what to study, what to
observe.
Describe/explain relationship between
variables.
Prediction
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If X occurs, then Y follows.
If X changes, then Y changes, too.
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2007 Fall_COMM 420_Week 3(1) @ NY
Characteristics of
scientific research
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Concern the questions of facts
Objective view
Answers to research questions only
affect by the data collected.
Replicable
Focusing on current situations of
communication behavior.
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2007 Fall_COMM 420_Week 3(1) @ NY
More examples of
quantitative research
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http://www.betaresearchny.com/html/news.htm
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