COM200 UILG TMA 27 April Final PDF

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Unit Information and Learning Guide...

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COM200 Communication Research Unit Information and Learning Guide T2 2021

This information should be read in conjunction with the online learning materials which can be found on your MyUnits page.

Unit Coordinator Dr Yingchi Chu College of Arts, Business, Law and Social Sciences Phone: 9360 2993 Email: [email protected]

© Published by Murdoch University, Perth, Western Australia, December 2020

This publication is copyright. Except as permitted by the Copyright Act no part of it may in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or any other means be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or be broadcast or transmitted without the prior written permission of the publisher.

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Contents Unit information Information about the unit Contact details How to study this unit Resources for the unit Study schedule Assessment

4 5 6 8 9 10

Learning guide Module One

Module Two

Module Three

Module Four

Module Five

Module Six

Introduction to Formal Research Session 1: Research Process Session 2: Theoretical Paradigms

15 17

Reviewing the Literature Session 3: Developing a Research Topic Session 4: Annotating the literature

19 21

Quantitative Approach Session 5: Sampling and Measurement Session 6: Survey Research

23 25

Qualitative Approach Session 7: Interpretation and Observation Session 8: Field Research

27 29

Critical Approach Session 9: Semiotic Analysis Session 10: Discourse Analysis

31 33

Ethics and Proposal Session 11: Research Ethics Session 12: Research Proposal

35 37

Appendices (Marking criteria)

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Information about the unit Welcome to: COM200 Communication Research

Unit description Communication Research introduces students to some of the most commonly used research methods in the Social Sciences, including quantitative, qualitative, and critical approaches. The unit offers new skills that assist students in developing conceptual thinking, and progressing from knowledge consumption to knowledge production. These skills include acquiring and reviewing information literacy, discovering knowledge gaps, developing methodological frameworks, and formulating research proposals. By the end of the term students should be able to demonstrate a sound knowledge of communication research, and competently engage with scholarly research in the areas of Communication Disciplines.

Prerequisites COM100 Thinking Communication or equivalent.

Learning outcomes for the unit On successful completion of the unit you should be able to: 1. Demonstrate awareness of global trends in communication research and a sound grasp of research ethics, principles and conventions in various communication disciplines; 2. Design communication research projects by applying relevant concepts and theoretical frameworks; 3. Identify appropriate research methods for different research projects; 4. Demonstrate a sound degree of information literacy; 5. Gather and interpret research data through quantitative and qualitative methodologies; 6. Apply principles of interpretation to the analysis of communicative texts; 7. Engage in life long research in independent and collaborative, self-reflective, critical and creative production of knowledge.

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Graduate attributes developed in the unit This unit will contribute to the development of the following Graduate Attributes. • Communication • Critical and creative thinking • Independent and lifelong learning • Global perspective • Interdisciplinarity • In-depth knowledge of a field of study • Research ethics This unit was designed and written by Dr Yingchi Chu in November 2020.

Contact details Unit Coordinator Name: Dr Yingchi Chu Email: [email protected] Room: 450.3.059 Building Phone: +61 8 9360 2993

Tutor/Lecturer contact details You will be notified who your tutor/lecturer will be at the beginning of the teaching period. The tutor/lecturer will provide you with their contact details.

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How to study this unit COM200 is offered in both modes: online and on-campus. In either mode, four major learning activities are distributed over three learning phases: Pre-tutorial/workshop, Tutorial/workshop, and Post-tutorial/workshop. Students are required to read the essential chapters of the textbook and journal articles before the tutorial, participate in tutorial activities, conduct library research, and complete homework after the tutorial or workshop. 1) Complete the required readings before the tutorial/workshop It is essential to familiarise yourself with learning materials before the tutorial. This gives you an advantage in comprehending what will be presented and discussed in the tutorials. It also gives you more time to ponder questions, and more room to be critical and selfreflective in your learning. 2) Participate in tutorial/workshop exercises You will be required to do lots of exercises, especially reading and analysing research papers. Some preparation exercises are needed before the tutorial, and some reviewing exercises to be completed after the tutorial. As the learning content of the unit is about research methods, hands-on exercises on each method are pedagogically crucial. Only once you have completed these exercises will you be able to discover hidden problems and issues, as well as ways of overcoming hurdles. Please prepare and bring your questions and answers to the tutorial for discussion. Also, be active in tutorial activities. Some of the tutorial exercises are designed to be collaborative and interactive. They are aimed to give you opportunities to lead, and learn from, your peers by posing questions, clarifying queries, and outlining principles or key points. The online forum will be the place where we can share our ideas in greater depth. Please bear in mind, forum discussion forms part of tutorial exercises assessment.

3) Library Research Library research is essential in this unit. It is the most consistent research activity you will be engaged in throughout the term. You are expected to do more intensive library research than for other units. Library research will familiarise you with standard research procedures in your own academic discipline, where to find the relevant literature in your field, as well as how to access specific, required information. Always do your library research via Murdoch library first. As students, you have privileged access to lots of free online scholarly journals.

Contact time 6 x 3.5 + 1 x 3 hours of virtual classroom (via Collaborate LMS) or on-campus

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Time commitment As this is a 3-credit point unit, you are expected to spend an average of 10.5 hours per week (or 150 hours overall throughout the semester) on this unit. Apart from tutorial attendance, COM200 also requires you to spend an additional 16 hours fortnightly, which is eight hours per week studying for this unit. This includes comprehending the weekly required readings, listening to the online sessions, preparing for and completing session exercises and assessment tasks.

Attendance requirements You are required to attend all the tutorials either online or on-campus. Failure to participate in three tutorials without adequate explanation may result in a fail for the unit.

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Resources for this unit To undertake study in this unit, you will need: • COM200 Unit Information and Learning Guide (this document) (Contains details of the unit content, weekly readings, assessment and marking criteria.) •

Textbook Weerakkody, Niranjala. 2015. Research Methods for Media and Communication. 2nd ed. South Melbourne: Oxford University Press. (Please note the digital version of the textbook is available via Murdoch University Library)

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Recommended Wisker, Gina. 2019. The Undergraduate Research Handbook. 2nd ed. UK: Macmillan International Higher Education & Red Globe Press.

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MyUnitReadings (Links available on LMS) Include weekly required readings and study materials.

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Study and Assessment Schedule Session

Topic

1

Module One: Introduction to formal research Research process

2

Research paradigms

3

Module Two: Reviewing the Literature Discovering a research topic

4

Annotating the literature

5

Module Three: Quantitative Research Sampling and Measurement

6

Survey Research

7

Module Four: Qualitative Research Interpretation and observation

8

Field research

9

Semiotic analysis

10

Discourse analysis

11

Research Ethics

12

Research Proposal

Assessment Ongoing tutorial contribution (15%)

Annotated bibliography (25%) Monday, 21 June 2021

Module Five: Critical Approach

Module Six: Ethics and Proposal

13

The date for the final exam (20%) is scheduled by the University

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Research proposal (40%) Friday, 6 August 2021

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Assessment Assessment for this unit is conducted in accordance with the Assessment Policy.

Schedule of assessment items Assessment item

Description

Ongoing tutorial contribution Annotated bibliography Research Proposal

Discussion & forum posts 1,000 – 1,200 words 2,000 words

Final Exam

800 to 1,000 words

Aligned Learning Outcomes 1,2,3,4,5,6

Value

Due

15%

Continuing

1, 3, 4

25%

Mon, Session 6

1, 5, 6

40%

Fri, Session 13

1, 2, 6

20%

During exam period

Assessment details The assessment components are designed to fulfil the learning outcomes of this unit. • Tutorial exercises: Comprehension of concepts and methodologies • Annotated Bibliography & Research Proposal: Application of research knowledge and research methods; • Final exam: Application of research principles, ethics and methods.

1. Tutorial exercises

15%

This assessment item consists of tutorial exercises both during and after the tutorial. Tutorial tasks have various formats, including discussions of research papers, composing mini-research projects, conducting library research, and as well as contributing to online forum questions. Your consistent participation in the tutorial discussion and project design, and quality contribution to the online forum questions after the tutorial are crucial for this assessment.

2. Annotated bibliography (1,000 – 1,200 words)

25%

Select three scholarly journal articles in your chosen research areas in the Communication discipline. Write an annotated bibliography of these articles. Your

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review of each article should identify rationales, research findings, research paradigms, theoretical perspectives and methodological approaches. You should also discuss how these articles relate to your research area, and how they help you formulate your own research questions. Instructions: 1. Identify a research area you are interested in: for example, online advertisement, political cartoons, media ownership, international communication, or sports journalism. 2. Conduct relevant library research. Survey relevant journals in your research area. Most likely you will find that your area is too broad. And if so, you should narrow it down to a manageable research topic by carefully studying selected titles and abstracts of journal articles. Once you have settled on a suitable topic, select and study the three most relevant journal articles on your research topic. Download the articles and identify their rationales, research questions, findings, theoretical perspectives, and methodological approaches. 3. Excerpt or highlight your findings. In your own words, succinctly describe research rationale, questions, claims, theoretical perspectives, and methodological approaches of each article. Add two paragraphs of your critical assessment of these articles and describe how these articles are assisting you in formulating your own research questions. Your annotated bibliography should include the following: A title o Annotated bibliography or your research question. Introduction (100 words) o Outline of your annotated bibliography Body (900 to 1,000 words: about 300 words for each review) o Under each title, describe the research rationale, research questions, theoretical positions, methodologies, and findings in your own words. Critically assess the strengths and limitations of the articles and how they relate and contribute to your development of research questions. Conclusion (50 to 100 words) o Summarise the main points of your annotated bibliography. References o Minimum: 6 sources, including references on research skills; o You can use either Chicago Style Sheet, APA, or MLA, but you must be consistent in your choice of style both in the in-text referencing and the Bibliography.

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3. Research Project (2,000 words) 40% Based on your annotated bibliography and research question(s), design a formal research proposal. The proposal should contain the following headings: • Title • Abstract (100 words) • Introduction (context, the rationale/heuristic value of the study) • Statement of the problem/research questions/hypotheses (provide two research questions or two hypotheses for your study) • Theoretical perspectives/research paradigms used • A mini-literature review (about five scholarly journal articles) (between 300 to 500 words) • Proposed methods of data collection (1,000 words) o Indicating the population, sample/s sampling method/s to be used, types of variables, their relationships to be examined, types of measurements used, the proposed interview questions, or/and texts to be studied, etc. as relevant to your methodology. • Ethical issues involved • Limitation (100-150 words) • References An informed research proposal relies on thorough research of the relevant literature and a well-developed research methodology. Please note that your writing should be succinct, cogent and persuasive. 4. Final Exam

20%

This one-hour online open book examination consists of two short-answer questions. Each question requires you to write about 300 to 500 words. The purpose of the final examination is to assess your comprehension of generic knowledge of research principles, methods, theoretical paradigms, as well as research ethics.

Assignment submission All written assignments are to be submitted electronically via the unit Learning Management System site. Assignments should not be submitted to your tutors directly, either in hard-copy (including by post) or via email, except in exceptional circumstances, and then only by specific prior

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arrangement. This is to avoid any issues arising from student work being misdirected or misplaced. Please make sure you submit your work in a format that is compatible. You must submit your assignment as a single file. Your assignment should be in MS Word, not PDF or any other format. To avoid confusing your work with that of others, you must use a filename that follows the convention: Unit Code, Assignment, your surname, your first initial and your student number. E.g. COM200LitRevSmithL20134535 for student Lucy Smith, or COM200ResProjSmithL20134535. Please ensure that assignments are in 12 point Arial, Calibri, or Times New Roman font; double spaced; have a line between each paragraph and a minimum margin of 3cm. It is mandatory that students keep a copy of all assignments. Please ensure that all written assessments submitted through LMS have the following: •

• •

A title page with: o unit name and code o your name and student number o word count o reference style used (please use APA 6th edition, Chicago author-date 16th edition or MLA 7th edition) Page numbers Header or footer with: o your name o assignment name

Unit policy on extensions and penalties For all assignments with a specific deadline, the following policy on extensions applies: • Extensions are available only in exceptional circumstances. Time pressure due to work in other units or the requirements of part-time jobs do not constitute grounds for an extension. • Requests for extensions should be submitted to your tutor and will only be considered if they are made before the deadline for the submission of the assignment. • If you are unable to submit an assignment on time due to medical or other unavoidable personal reason/extenuating circumstances, then you will be required to submit appropriate medical certification or other documentation to your tutor in order to avoid a penalty for late submission.  • Unless an extension has been obtained before the deadline from your tutor, late submissions will be subject to a penalty of 10% of the assignment mark per day. • Assignments submitted more than 10 days after the due date without an extension will not be accepted.

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Learning Guide Introduction This Learning Guide contains information on how to study each session, including: • • • • •

Introductory information Learning outcomes Resources required for the session Key concepts Workshop questions

Each session of this unit has an Introduction, letting students know the central theme of the session, and what the lecture will be about. I strongly advise that you complete the essential readings before the workshops. Please pay particularly careful attention to the Key Concepts. Likewise, it is essential that you attend carefully to the readings for workshop activities, in particular to the concepts and methods introduced, as well as to the analysis of research projects.

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Module 1: Introduction to Formal Research Session 1: Research Process Introduction This introductory session has two aims. First, it provides you with information about how to best study the unit. Second, it introduces the notion of formal research, with the focus on research process, ways of knowing, types of research, types of theories, as well as types of epistemologies. The study of method has at its core the question How do we know what we know? The study of ‘how we know’ is called epistemology’; and the study of ‘what we know’ is called ontology. The two, epistemology and ontology, are always closely related. That is why we often pose a question to researchers, ‘how do you get to this conclusion?” Method as ‘mode of investigation’ is based on the insight that different sources of knowledge affect the way we investigate and interpret phenomena. Start with Chapter One “The Research Process” by Weerakkody, where the author introduces us to basic knowledge in research, types of research, as well as ‘ways of knowing’. The chapter also presents a few challenging ideas such as the connections between epistemology, theoretical approaches, and research methods. Our tutorial will be devoted to comprehending these ideas. Furthermore, these ideas will become clearer once we deal with research methods. To prepare for ...