Comm Theory Final Exam

Question 1

Cultivation Theory

Answer 1

• Television shapes viewers’ perceptions of reality, exaggerating violence or stereotypes.
• Apply: Analyze media consumption on teenagers.

Question 2

Genderlect Styles

Answer 2

• Men and Women communicate differently.
• Apply: Men focus on status, Women focus on connection.

Question 3

Uses and Gratification

Answer 3

• People seek media to satisfy specific needs like entertainment
• Apply: social media is used for connection while news outlets satisfy the need for info.

Question 4

Spiral of Silence

Answer 4

• People are not likely to express opinions if they see they are in the minority due to fear of isolation.
  -Online discussions lack opinions in political topics

Question 5

Face Negotiation Theory

Answer 5

• How people manage their self-image during conflict by cultural norms
• Apply: cultures emphasize self-face; collectivistic cultures prioritize other-face or mutual-face.

Question 6

Framing

Answer 6

• Media focuses on events shaping audience interpretation
• Apply: News frames issues like climate change can impact public opinion and policy support.

Question 7

Cross-Tabs

Answer 7

-Tool used to examine the relationship between two variables by displaying them in a table

Question 8

Mean

Answer 8

-What It Means: The average of a dataset.
-For Communication: Helps summarize trends, like the average time participants spend on social media.

Question 9

Median

Answer 9

-What It Means: The middle value in a sorted dataset.
-For Communication: Useful when data are skewed, such as studying median hours spent in online forums.

Question 10

Mode

Answer 10

-What It Means: The most frequently occurring value in a dataset.
-For Communication: Indicates popular preferences, such as the most common communication app used.

Question 11

Standard Deviation

Answer 11

-What It Means: Measures how much data varies from the mean.
-For Communication: Indicates variability in responses, such as how consistently people perceive media messages.

Question 12

Frequency

Answer 12

-What It Means: The number of times a value appears in a dataset.
-For Communication: Shows how often behaviors occur, like how many participants check their email daily.

Question 13

Chi-Square

Answer 13

-What It Means: to determine whether there’s an association between two variables.
-For Communication: Useful for analyzing relationships in survey data, such as whether different age groups prefer different communication platforms.

Question 14

Descriptive Statistics

Answer 14

-Summarizes and organizes data in a meaningful way.

Question 15

Inferential Statistics

Answer 15

• Allow researchers to make conclusions about a population based on data from a sample.

Question 16

Variance

Answer 16

-What It Means: Measures the spread of data points around the mean.
-For Communication: Shows diversity in responses, like variability in how different demographics interpret advertisements.

Question 17

(P-Value)

Answer 17

-What It Means: Indicates whether results are likely due to chance (p < 0.05 is typically significant).
-For Communication: Ensures findings, such as media effects, are reliable and not random.

Question 18

N value

Answer 18

-What It Means: The sample size in a study.
-For Communication: Affects the reliability of conclusions, as larger samples generally improve the validity of communication research.

Question 19

T-test

Answer 19

-What It Means: Compares the means of two groups to see if they are statistically different.
-For Communication: Used to compare group differences, such as evaluating whether men and women differ in their use of persuasive language.

Question 20

ANOVA (Analysis of Variance)

Answer 20

-What It Means: Tests the differences among means of three or more groups.
-For Communication: Helps examine group differences in communication patterns, like comparing cultural groups’ nonverbal behaviors.

Question 21

Correlation

Answer 21

-What It Means: Measures the strength and direction of the relationship between two variables.
-For Communication: Indicates relationships, such as how increased social media use correlates with decreased face-to-face communication.

Question 22

Report Formats

Answer 22

-What It Means: A common format for research reports: Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion.
-For Communication: Provides a structured way to present findings, such as media analysis or survey data, in academic papers.

Question 23

Publishing Results

Answer 23

-What It Means: Sharing research in academic journals, books, or open-access platforms.
-For Communication: Ensures that findings, like communication strategies or media effects, contribute to the broader field.

Question 24

Conference Presentation

Answer 24

-What It Means: Summarizing and sharing research at academic events.
-For Communication: An opportunity to disseminate communication studies findings, gather feedback, and collaborate with others.

Question 25

Visualizing Research

Answer 25

-What It Means: Using visuals like graphs and tables to present data clearly.
-For Communication: Simplifies complex data for better understanding, such as illustrating trends in social media usage.