UNDERSTANDING RESEARCH DESIGN & STATISTICS IN MASS COMMUNICATION
Covers fundamental thinking skills necessary for the critical evaluation and presentation of arguments in mass communication, especially those based upon quantitative information. Introduces generic logic and quantitative reasoning concepts through analysis and discussion of specific cases drawn from research reported in the mass media (e.g., health and business news, public opinion polls), research on the media (e.g., the impact of media violence), and research for the media (e.g., audience research). Logical and quantitative reasoning skills will be improved through a variety of "hands on" projects.
Prerequisites & course information
Requisites: Junior standing Course Designation: Core GenEd - Social & Behavioral Science Breadth - Social Science Level - Advanced L&S Credit - L&S Liberal Arts and Science Grad 50% - Counts toward 50% graduate coursework requirement Repeatable for Credit: No Last Taught: Spring 2025 Learning Outcomes: 1. Gain a sense of the methodological issues involved in the construction and design of mass communication research studies, giving them the ability to critically evaluate the various types of reliability and validity. Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad 2. Understand how to analyze and interpret survey data in mass communication research contexts (e.g., confidence intervals, t-tests, correlations, etc.) using various programs (e.g., Excel, R). Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad 3. Critically evaluate and summarize information related peer reviewed mass communication research articles. Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad 4. Communicate effectively through written reports, oral presentations and discussion on topics in mass communication. Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad 5. Critically evaluate ideas from different sources, integrating (or contrasting) different communication theories, deriving new testable hypotheses, developing variations on theoretical models or other ideas such as contingent conditions or mediating factors important in mass communication research. Audience: Graduate Learning Outcomes: 1. Gain a sense of the methodological issues involved in the construction and design of mass communication research studies, giving them the ability to critically evaluate the various types of reliability and validity. Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad 2. Understand how to analyze and interpret survey data in mass communication research contexts (e.g., confidence intervals, t-tests, correlations, etc.) using various programs (e.g., Excel, R). Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad 3. Critically evaluate and summarize information related peer reviewed mass communication research articles. Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad 4. Communicate effectively through written reports, oral presentations and discussion on topics in mass communication. Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad 5. Critically evaluate ideas from different sources, integrating (or contrasting) different communication theories, deriving new testable hypotheses, developing variations on theoretical models or other ideas such as contingent conditions or mediating factors important in mass communication research. Audience: Graduate
Sources
- Course catalogue ↗2026-2027