This course is a general introduction to research methods most commonly used in the Communication discipline. Students will learn how to identify, understand, and appropriately employ a variety of quantitative and qualitative research methods. Students will learn how to critically analyze and evaluate journal articles from Communication and related disciplines. This course will prepare students to complete research projects and use scholarly writing in future courses as well as in their careers. This course is quite similar to the COMM 3500 Research Methods Communication Research Methods course taught in CLAS, however, given the age, experiences and aspirations of the Adult Undergraduate Program students, a special effort will be made to provide a focused application to the organizational setting.
Prerequisite(s): Sophomore standing and COMM 2301 Communication Theory.
COMM 3500 Research Methods (4 hours)
This course is designed to help students understand, use, and evaluate the quantitative, qualitative, and rhetorical methods Communication scholars employ to investigate and write about their scholarship. Application of each method will be achieved via a semester-long case study conducted at a Lincoln nonprofit organization. Additionally, by reading a variety of social scientific research articles, students will understand how operational definitions, theories, research questions and hypotheses, a literature review, and data analysis work together to support written research reports or proposals. The semester will culminate with an original scholarly research report using appropriate APA style. This report will also be presented in a public forum.
Prerequisite(s): Sophomore standing and COMM 2300 Communication Theory (may be taken concurrently) or permission of instructor.
(Normally offered each fall semester.)
Archway Curriculum: Essential Connections: Writing Instructive
COMM 2301 Communication Theory (3 hours)
This course is intended to serve as a general introduction for majors and interested students to the theories and research questions investigated by social scientists interested in the processes of human communication.
Prerequisite(s): Sophomore standing.
