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COURSE: | Mass Communication 6110 (Quantitative Research Methods) |
TEXT: |
SPSS Career Starter |
INSTRUCTOR: | Dr. Larry Burriss, Ph.D., J.D. |
OFFICE: | Comm 258 |
PHONE: | 615-898-2983 (office) |
615-898-5682 (fax) | |
615-957-9753 (home) | |
E-Mail: | LBURRISS@MTSU.EDU |
Dr. Burriss is a professor in the School of Journalism, a former president of the MTSU Faculty Senate and a former member of the Tennessee Board of Regents. He has served as dean of the college of mass communication and director of the School of Journalism. He received his bachelor's and master's degrees from The Ohio State University, where he majored in broadcast journalism. He also has a master's degree in human relations from the University of Oklahoma.
Dr. Burriss received his Ph.D. in communication from Ohio University, where he minored in law, and his J.D. from Concord Law School.
He is particularly interested in issues dealing with new technology and with government-media relations.
Dr. Burriss has worked in both print and broadcast news, and in public relations. He has published extensively in professional research journals, as well as in popular magazines.
He was a lieutenant colonel in the Tennessee Air National Guard, where he was the director of public affairs. He served in Mali, Bosnia, Somalia, Central America, England and Germany.
Dr. Burriss enjoys travel, reading, and was ranked 3rd in the Tennessee Division, American Fencing Association.
"Hmmmm," you may be saying to yourself. "Our entire grade is based on a term paper and something called 'IRB Form'?" Well, yes and no. You see, this "term paper" as you so disparagingly call it, has to be a publishable piece of research. That means it has to have certain clearly defined parts that meet certain clearly defined standards. It has to have research questions and null hypotheses linking at least one dependent variable to at least one independent variable. It has to have an exhaustive literature review. It has to have a plan for gathering data and then a plan for statistical analysis of the data. Then it has to have a conclusion and suggestions for further research. Oh, and did I mention all of this has to be in written form, in the correct style for the journal to which you will submit your article?
One of your biggest concerns is probably with the phrase "statistical analysis." Well, we are NOT going to put red and blue balls in a box and figure out the probability of drawing out one that matches your mother's hair color. What we will do is gather data and then use the SPSS statistical package to analyze that data. SPSS provides clearly defined procedures for analyzing data. All you do is type in your numbers then click on "analyze" and you're done. Well, it's not really quite that easy, but it's really quite simple if you just think about what you are doing and why you are doing it.
At this point you may be saying (wailing, actually), "But I don't know how to do any of that stuff!" Correct! You don't! That's what we're going to learn in the class. The course is conducted on a "learn-by-doing" paradigm. That is, you will conduct a legitimate media research project, and much of the class lectures/discussions will focus on the process of doing that research.
Each student will carry out either a content analysis or an analysis of available data. That is, you will use various statistical techniques to analyze a series of dependent and independent variables. But before you get to the stats you must gather data. And before you gather data you must develop a research question and a null hypothesis. But before you do that must see what has already been done in relation to your topic.
So, what we're going to do is approach the course from two directions at once: data gathering and data analysis. Each week we will spend time discussing methods of data collection and methods of data analysis. How we do that will depend, to a certain extent, on your projects.
Now, what's this "IRB" thing? Briefly it is a form in which you describe how you are going to deal with human subjects. Although we will not be using human subjects in this class, it is still important you know what you can, and can't do with, to or for research subjects. So, before you begin gathering your data, assume you are gathering the data from real people, and fill out the form as appropriate.
So, for those of you who need a road-map with clearly defined directions, here is what you will be turning in:
Research questions and null hypotheses | |
Literature review and journal report | |
Data gathering method and IRB | |
Data | |
SPSS Command file | |
Data analysis | |
Conclusions and suggestions for future research |
By enrolling in this course, you are indicating your recognition and acceptance of your responsibility to read, understand and meet the course requirements set forth, both in written and spoken form, and that you will not be exempted from these requirements because of ignorance, negligence or contradictory advice from any source.
Plagiarism, cheating and other forms of academic dishonesty are prohibited. Students guilty of academic misconduct, either directly or indirectly through participation or assistance, are immediately responsible to the instructor of the class. In addition to other possible disciplinary sanctions which may be imposed through the regular institutional procedures as a result of academic misconduct, the instructor has the authority to assign an F or a zero for the exercise or examination; or to assign an F in the course. If the student believes he or she has been erroneously accused of academic misconduct, and if his or her final grade has been lowered as a result, the student may appeal the case through the appropriate institutional procedures.
If you have a disability that may require assistance or accommodation, or if you have a question related to any accommodations for testing, note takers, readers, etc., please contact me as soon as possible. Students may also contact the Office of Disabled Student Services (898-2783) with questions about such services.
Week
|
Date
|
Turn in
|
Reading/Discussion
|
1
|
Jan. 17
|
Introduction. Content analysis. | |
2
|
Jan. 24
|
Data collection methods. Statistical methods. | |
3
|
Jan. 31
|
||
4
|
Feb. 7
|
Discuss research projects | Ethics. Qualitative methods. |
5
|
Feb. 14
|
Available data. | |
6
|
Feb. 21
|
Null hypothesis. Research Question. Background | Data analysis. |
7
|
Feb. 28
|
Introduction to SPSS. | |
8
|
March 6
|
FALL BREAK
|
|
9
|
March 13
|
Literature review and journal report | chi-square test, t-test |
10
|
March 20
|
Spearman rank order correlation | |
11
|
March 27
|
Description of sample and IRB form | Pearson Product Moment Correlation |
12
|
April 3
|
Oneway Anova | |
13
|
April 10
|
Chapter 7. Survey research. | |
14
|
April 17
|
SPSS command and data files | Chapter 8. Longitudinal research |
15
|
April 24
|
Chapter 9. Experimental research | |
16
|
May 1
|
Completed project |