Application Exercises

Chapter specific application exercises will help you think about research design in practice or have you explore a relevant resource.

Exercise 1: Identifying Your Interests

In practice, research is often an intersection of topic interest and the appropriate method(s) for that topic. Use the fol­lowing checklist to identify your broad topic interests and the types of research that most appeal to you.

 

Context

Mass media and social media

Organizations

Groups

Interpersonal

Other (name it)

Data Collection

(a) Count behaviors or media content.

(b) Observe behaviors.

(c) Interview and listen.

Reason for Research

(a) Get practical results that can be used.

(b) Get results that test ideas and theories.

Relationship to Research Participants

(a) Observe objectively from a distance.

(b) Engage closely with people.

Focus of Research

(a) Study large numbers of people or media.

(b) Study a few people or media in depth.

Level of Research

(a) Study messages at “face value.”

(b) “Unpack” hidden meanings behind messages.

 

Exercise 2: Finding Your Worldview

As discussed in this chapter, all researchers bring to their research a worldview or basic assumptions about human communication and therefore how best to study and report it.

This exercise is an opportunity for you to explore and identify your own worldview. Following are a number of state­ments about human behavior and ways of understanding it formatted as polar opposites. Think through each pair of statements and put a check mark on the line next to the statement with which you most agree. If you cannot decide, put a check mark in the middle column (B).

When finished, total the number of check marks for each column. If you have the most check marks in column A, you have a Worldview I perspective; if most marks are in column C, you have a Worldview II perspective. Having the most marks in column B suggests that you see advantages to both perspectives or have yet to take a position. In this case, you might try the exercise again, this time forcing yourself to select from either column A or column C. Review this chapter for a discussion of each worldview and its implications for research.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

       A

      B

 

      C

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

People are basically alike.

 

 

 

 

Each person is unique.

 

 

 

 

 

 

People are predictable.

 

 

 

 

People are not predictable.

 

 

 

 

 

 

It is possible to make generalizations about human behavior.

 

 

 

 

It is not possible to make generalizations about human behavior.

 

 

 

 

 

 

People’s behavior is determined by events and circumstances.

 

 

 

 

People’s behavior is determined by the choices and decisions they make.

People live in an objective world that makes sense to any observer.

 

 

 

 

People live in an objective world that makes sense only to the individual.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Human communication is best understood by examining one aspect at a time, in depth.

 

 

 

 

Human communication is best understood by examining all aspects simultaneously, or holistically.

The best understanding of human communication comes from keeping an objective distance from participants.

 

 

 

 

The best understanding of human communication comes from getting as close as possible to participants.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The most accurate reports of human communication come from quantitative methods such as surveys and experiments.

 

 

 

 

The most accurate reports of human communication come from qualitative methods such as interviews and observations.

The best understanding of human communication comes from reports written in the scholarly language of research.

 

 

 

 

 

The best understanding of human communication comes from reports written in the language of the research participants.

TOTALS

 

 

 

 

 

             Worldview I                                                                                              

 

 

 

Worldview II

 Exercise 3: Starting From Published Research

This exercise anticipates the bibliographic research discussed in Chapter 4.

1. Find an area of interest from the list of interest groups to be found at either the International Communication Association or the National Communication Association, listed below under “Scholarly Organizations.”

2. Use your academic library to search for recent research using the name of the interest area as your search term.

3. Read two or three of the scholarly articles you find interesting. What further research do these articles suggest is needed? Typically, these suggestions will be in the “discussion” section of the article. Having read the articles, what further research do you see as necessary?

HINT: For example, look at the International Communication Association’s list of divisions and interest groups and select “Interpersonal Communication.” Go to an academic database such as “Communication & Mass Media Complete” (www.ebscohost.com/academic) and search for articles with “interpersonal communication” in the title and/or the abstract.

Exercise 4: Pew Research Center Internet, Science & Tech Project

Go to the Pew Research Center Internet, Science & Tech Project website at www.pewinternet.org and click on “Publications” to get a list of Pew research projects. What projects appear dated enough that they should be updated? What projects suggest a research gap that needs to be filled? For example, you should find a 2015 Pew report titled “U.S. Smartphone Use in 2015.” Can you find projects focused on, for example, workgroups, religion, and social media or couples and social media?