EXAM #1 Flashcards
WEEK 1
What is the definition of communication?
Communication is a social process in which individuals employ symbols to establish and interpret meaning in their environment
Social coms
involving humans and their interactions
Process coms
ongoing, dynamic, and unending
Symbols
arbitrary representations for things, ideas, events, or phenomena
Intrapersonal
talking to yourself, “voice” in your head, verbal rehearsal
Interpersonal
communication between two or more people (dyadic comm is two people only)
Family communication
Friendship communication
Relational communication
Ordinary ways of knowing
Things you know, things you don’t know, and things you know you don’t know
Ordinary ways of knowing examples
Some ordinary ways of knowing
Authority
Tradition
Intuition
Experience
Others?
Problems with the ordinary ways of knowing
Inaccurate observations
Limited memory; bias
Selective observations
Confirm what we already “know”
Overgeneralizations
Illogical reasoning (ice cream & crime)
Possible solution: scientific inquiry
Defintion of Research
A systematic process of asking questions and finding answers
“Investigation or experimentation aimed at the discovery and interpretation of facts, revision of accepted theories or laws in light of new facts, or practical application of such new or revised theories or laws”
Research is scientific inquiry
Two components of being scientific
Rationalism (logic)
Knowledge through reasoning
Using theory to guide research
Empiricism (observation)
Knowledge through observation
Scientific inquiry involves the combination of empiricism and rationalism
What does scientific inquiry strive for
Objectivity – you take efforts to remove personal bias from your research.
Observability – you gather empirical data about the phenomenon of interest.
Testability – repeated observations test theoretical claims.
Replicability – you can repeatedly observe the phenomenon of interest.
Parsimony –simple explanations are preferred to complex ones.
Clarity – you write and argue in a manner that is lucid, avoiding unnecessary complication.
Goals of scientific inquiry
Explain
Predict
Control
The scientific method
Theory: proposed explanation
Hypotheses: predictions, based on theory
Observations: empirical, objective, and controlled collection of data
i.e., testing the hypothesis
Generalizations: extrapolations from our sample to the population
Give credit when using
Another’s idea, opinion, or theory
Facts, statistics, graphs, etc.
Quotations of spoken or written words
Paraphrases of spoken or written words
When you quote
Place the passage in quotation marks
Document source
Unacceptable paraphrase
ORIGINAL: “Health communication scholars are well-positioned to aid in the mitigation of and response to climate change and its health effects” (Chadwick, 2016, p. 782)
UNACCEPTABLE PARAPHRASE: Health communication researchers are positioned well to help slow down and respond to climate change and the health effects of climate change.
Why was that unacceptable?
Writer only changed:
A few words and phrases
Order of original words (or sentences) remains the same
Writer failed to cite source
Would still be unacceptable even if cited the source
Objective and credible
Sources that do not have a particular position on the issue (e.g., newspaper reports, scientific orgs, )
NOT: advocacy org, lobbyist orgs, your friend, or a social media influencer
Peer reviewed
Sources that have been subjected to rigorous review by other researchers
Only found in articles in certain types of journals
Be able to recognize a definition or example of backtracking.
Be able to recognize the four criteria for assessing website quality.
Be able to accurately cite sources both in-text and in reference lists.
Know how to differentiate an empirical journal article from other types of journal articles.
*“Empirical article” means it is based on some form of data, typically statistical. There are other types!
Outline of imperial article
Introduction
Rationale
Literature review
Method
Results
Discussion
Limitations
Future directions
References
Know when it is appropriate to use hypotheses versus when to use research questions.
Is there a lot of literature on this topic?
Can you make a reasonable prediction about how the variables you’re interested in will be related?
If NO—then use a research question.
If YES—then use a hypothesis.
Be able to recognize a definition or example of a research question.
A question that explores the relationship between two or more concepts.
RQ1: Will X cause Y?
RQ2: Is there a relationship between A & B?
RQ3: Are groups with a strong positive sense of identity less likely to insult other groups?
Be able to recognize a definition or example of a hypothesis.
Statement of the proposed relationship between the variables in your study
H1: As P increases, Q will increase.
H2: There is a relationship between M and N.
H3: Groups with strong positive identity are less likely to insult other groups
Usually is sufficient research on the subject to feel somewhat confident in your prediction
One tailed directional hypothesis
Predicts specific nature or direction of the relationship
Identifies how one variable affects another
Ex: As X increases, Y decreases
Ex: As non-verbal warmth increases, liking of the person increases
Two tailed non-directional hypothesis
Two-tailed (non-directional)
Predicts a difference or a relationship, but not the specific nature or direction of the relationship
Predicts that one variable affects another, but does not predict how
Ex: there is a relationship between X and Y
Ex: There is a relationship between conflict style and satisfaction with college roommate
Shyness predicts communication apprehension
Relationship or difference?
One-tailed or Two-tailed?
Relationship
One-tailed
Independent voters are more likely to vote than democrats or republicans.
?????
Null hypothesis
States that there is no difference between or relationship among the variables
EVERY hypothesis has a hidden null hypothesis
This is what we actually test in science