Term
| Explain how arguments frame your research: |
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Definition
| arguments use evidence to take a stand on an issue and directs the aim of your research. |
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Term
| Explain how analysis is used in secondary research |
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Definition
| analysis uses evidence to support a perspective on a topic. To analyze means to break a topic or concept down into its parts in order to inspect and understand it, and to re-structure those parts in a way that makes sense to you. |
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Term
| Explain how you determine the credibility of the sources you read |
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Definition
Who is the author? How recent is the source? What is the author's purpose? What type of sources does your audience value? Be especially careful when evaluating Internet sources!
-Peer-reviewed: Reviewed by other experts in the field of study. Peer reviewed material is considered more academically reliable than work that has not undergone this process. |
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Term
| Explain the three parts of any argument as identified by Toulmin: |
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Definition
Claim: the argument. What is trying to be proved. Ex:You should buy our tooth- whitening product.
-Data: Offered to support the claim. Ex: Studies show that teeth are 50% whiter after using the product for a specified time.
-Warrant: Why it is relevant. Is the assumption on which the claim and the evidence depend. Another way of saying this would be that the warrant explains why the data supports the claim Ex: People want whiter teeth. |
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Term
| Explain the basic purpose of writing a paper |
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Definition
| : we write papers and give talks mainly to impress others, gain recognition, and get promoted. |
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Term
| Explain what you can do to paraphrase effectively and avoid plagiarism |
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Definition
| Reword what you find by more than 50% |
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Term
| -Explain when you have to cite sources |
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Definition
| Whenever you use Ideas, theories, or research that directly influenced your work. Key background information, support or dispute your theory, or offer critical definitions or data. Document all facts and figures that are not common knowledge. |
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Term
| Explain when to use direct quotes and when to use block quotes and the formatting differences between them |
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Definition
| Direct quote: less then 40 words, block quote: more then 40 words. |
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Term
| Explain why research is important to you: |
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Definition
| It is important because You will be either a researcher or a consumer of research. |
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Term
| Define “theory” and explain the difference between theories in general and scientific theories: |
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Definition
| Theories are are sets of organizing principles that help researchers describe and predict events. General- making a claim about the knowledge they have of a particular phenomenon. Scientific- allows testable hypotheses to be generated from the theory. |
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Term
| Explain the advantages and disadvantages of quantitative research in relation to qualitative research: |
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Definition
| the findings from the sample under study will more accurately reflect the overall population from which the sample was drawn. However, some of this data is not very deep in terms of actual findings. |
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Term
| Explain the two broad ethical responsibilities of researchers AND which one YOU think is more important: |
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Definition
The researcher’s relationship to participants as it affects collection, interpretation, and reporting of data. Individual costs versus the “common good”.
-Scientific responsibility for following established guidelines and conducting research that will yield knowledge worth knowing |
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Term
| Explain the three ethical principles in The Belmont Report - think bridge BRJ |
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Definition
| a) beneficence (researches must secure the well-being of their participants and maximizing possible benefits), b) respect for persons, and c) justice (there must be fairness in the delivery of benefits |
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Term
| Explain the concept of informed consent and be able to identify when it does not occur. |
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Definition
| Informed consent means that the researchers must get the participants approval and affirmation to continue with that study. It does not occur when the participant is anonymous and behaving in a naturalistic way or in a natural environment. |
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Term
| Define population and understand the difference between population and sample: |
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Definition
| Population is the universe of people to which the study could be generalized. Sample is the subset of people from the population who will participate in the current study. POPULATION -> S. FRAME -> SAMPLE |
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Term
| Understand the relationships between sampling frame and sample: |
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Definition
| Sampling frame refers to the eligible members of the population for a study. |
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Term
| Explain generalizability and its relationship with representative samples |
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Definition
| Generalizability- how much, how well, or how closely the findings from the current sample apply to the entire population. Representative sample- a group that is similar to a larger population. |
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Term
| Explain probability (random) sampling |
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Definition
| Each member of the sampling frame has an equal chance of being chosen to participate in the study. |
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Term
| Describe the 4 different types of random sampling and explain why cluster sampling is the one that may actually occur in real life: think SISTSYC |
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Definition
Simple random sampling: picking a certain number of participants out of the total number of possible participants in the sampling frame.
-Stratified random sampling: selecting participants based on their membership in a particular subgroup or stratum.
-Systematic sampling: researcher moves through the sampling frame list and selects one out of every fixed number of entries.
-Cluster sampling: randomly selecting or assigning groups of people, rather that individuals, based on membership in a group, geography, or some other variable. Most likely to occur in real life because not easy to obtain a list of the entire population. |
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Term
| Define sampling error and why it is related to sampling size |
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Definition
| error or estimation error is the error caused by observing a sample instead of the whole population. The larger the sample relative to the population, the less error or bias |
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Term
| Describe the different types of nonprobability samples: |
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Definition
Out of convenience- selecting people for your research who are available.
-Volunteer sample- selecting those who volunteer.
-Snowball sample- core participants are asked to identify others who might be eligible to participate.
-Network sample: Similar to snowballing, solicits individuals who fit a specific profile. Ex: an instructor ask you to give a questionnaire to somebody you know that works as a manager.
-Quota sample: You get a certain number of respondents that fit the characteristics of your subgroups/categories. |
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Term
| Describe the advantages and disadvantages of experimental research: |
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Definition
| Advantage- degree of control, Disadvantage- nature of experiment may be very unlike what people actually experience in the real world. |
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Term
| Describe the difference between experiments and quasi-experiments: |
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Definition
| : Experiments are in a lab setting where everything can be controlled. Quasi-experiments falls somewhere between naturalistic observation and experimental research. Involves conducting an experiment, in a real-life setting, without the benefit of a random assignment of participants to conditions or other controls. |
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Term
| -Explain what is a manipulation check and when it is used: |
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Definition
| A manipulation check is something we build into the study design to tell us how well we did. Most manipulation checks are incorporated directly into the study design. EX: clicking of the pen |
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Term
| Explain the advantages of longitudinal design |
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Definition
| by using the same people over time, one can be quite confident that the independent variable is at least partly causal on the dependent variable. |
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Term
| Explain why descriptive cross-sectional designs are the most common in communication studies. |
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Definition
| This type studies several different groups of people of different ages to see whether age differences exist in the behavior or attitude being studied."Japple" study. It is the most efficient way to establish the age at which certain social and psychological factors occur. |
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Term
| Explain what is a variable: |
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Definition
| is a construct that can take on two or more distinct values. |
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Term
| Explain what is an operational definition (operationalization) and how it is different from a variable: |
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Definition
| : is used to capture the meaning of the abstract concept they are trying to measure. Defines how a variable will be measured or assessed. |
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Term
| Explain the different types of variables (called data in book): Think NOIR |
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Definition
Nominal: Discrete response alternatives, A ≠ B, ex: Did you vote in the last election (yes, no)
-Ordinal: Response alternatives increasing/ decresasing in value (ordered responses), A>B>C, Ex: What is your highest level of education? (Less than high school, high school graduate, some college, college graduate)
-Interval: Response alternatives increasing/ decreasing in equal increments, A>B>C where the distance between A and B is the same as between B and C, Ex: Achievement test such as ACT.
-Ratio: Measure contains an absolute zero, If A=2B, then B actually possesses half the quantity as A (and A contains two time the quantity as B), Ex: Physical measurements; agricultural production measures. |
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Term
| What is the Likert scale? |
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Definition
| : is a type of response alternative in which participants indicate their degree of agreement with a stated Attitude or judgment. Ex: A marriage between two people of the same gender should be legal.” Responses could be- Strongly agree, agree, neutral, disagree, and strongly disagree. |
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Term
| Explain the concept of validity: |
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Definition
| is about truthfulness. A measure shows validity if it actually measures what it claims (or is intended) to measure. |
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Term
| Explain the concept of reliability |
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Definition
| : is about consistency. It is the extent to which a measure yields the same scores across different times, groups of people, or versions of the instrument. |
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Term
| Be able to identify and interpret Cronbach’s alpha (α) in an article |
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Definition
| is the most common way to assess the reliability of self-report items. It measures the degree to which the items in an instrument are related. Maximum value of 1.0. Closer to 1.0 reflects stronger relationship between test items. Also shows that the better you did on one test signifies that you might do just as well on a test in the like and vise versa |
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Term
| Explain the main problem of using self-reports to collect data: |
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Definition
| the researcher must rely on the participants’ reports of their own attitudes, perceptions, or memories. People have a self-serving bias, a tendency to report their behaviors and attitudes in a positive light. |
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Term
| The difference between a non-scientific “theory” and a scientific theory is that… |
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Definition
| A scientific theory allows for the development of testable hypotheses. |
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Term
| The difference between research questions and hypotheses is that hypotheses are... |
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Definition
| more precise and specific predictions based on theory. |
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Term
| The difference between quantitative research and qualitative research is that qualitative research… |
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Definition
| is better if you want to have a richer understanding of the phenomena under study. |
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Term
| According to the Belmont Report, researcher must address three ethical issues: Respect for persons, beneficence, and justice. Beneficence is achieved when... |
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Definition
| the well-being of research participants is protected |
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Term
| You are conducting an experiment and you plan to teach one group of student valuable skills, while the other group will not receive any training on the topic. You are worried about submitting your IRB application, so as that group completes your study, you will give those people a chance to attend the same training course as a benefit of participating in the study. What ethical consideration are you most clearly acknowledging? |
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Definition
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Term
| From largest to smallest, the correct order regarding sampling is: |
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Definition
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Term
| Generalizability is the extent to which... |
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Definition
| findings from a sample can be extended to the population |
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Term
| Convenience and snowball samples are types of: |
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Definition
| nonrandom aka non-probability sampling |
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Term
| Random sampling means that all members of the sampling frame: |
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Definition
| have equal chance of being selected. |
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Term
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Definition
| the degree to which a sample differs from population characteristics. |
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Term
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Definition
| Produces data that are examined by statistical tests, includes and Ind/dependent variable, and most often occurs in a lab or another natural environment controlled by the researcher |
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Term
| Experiments are different from quasi-experiments because in experiments... |
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Definition
| the researcher controls manipulation of the independent variables. |
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Term
| A benefit of quasi-experiments over experiments is that quasi-experiments… |
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Definition
| are based on real-life settings. |
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