CJT
665: QUANTITATIVE COMMUNICATION RESEARCH METHODS
The purpose of this course is to introduce the graduate student to
the important and multiple points of view concerning quantitative
research methodology in communication today. The course is both an
advanced refresher course in basic research methods and an advanced
course in underlying assumptions of social scientific inquiry and
the logistics involved in implementing various research designs. Topics
covered include: assumptions in social scientific research; the relationships
among theory, methods, and results; problems inherent in causal inference;
testing for group differences; crosstabulations and tests of non-independence;
correlation, regression, and multiple regression; measurement, conceptualization,
reliability, validity, and scale construction; experimental and quasi-experimental
design; sampling, survey design and implementation; meta-analysis;
and comparing research designs and methods.
The primary emphasis will be on theoretical research, i.e., research
whose goal is the formulation and/or testing of theories of communication
in a variety of contexts. However, for those of you will a less theoretical
orientation, what you learn about research in this course will be
highly useful in a wide variety of applied research contexts (e.g.,
advertising research, marketing research, public relations research,
public health research, program evaluation, etc.)
The majority of the course will be concerned with quantitative research
methods and associated statistical problems. “Number crunching,”
however, will not be emphasized. Rather, we will focus on achieving
a thorough understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of experiments
vs. surveys, various kinds of experiments and survey designs, and
different methods of statistical analysis. The approach to statistical
methods will be both conceptual and practical: conceptual in the sense
of understanding how a particular procedure works and the kinds of
information it yields about the phenomena under study; practical in
terms of recognizing the conditions and situations in which this procedure
may be most fruitfully applied. In the final stage of the course you
will be asked to apply these different kinds of knowledge in developing
a research proposal.
CJT
771: Special Topics in Health Communication
We will read both classic and up-to-date works on models of health-related
behavior, including the Health Belief Model, Stages of Change perspective,
the theories of Reasoned Action and Problem Behavior, the Extended
Parallel Process Model, and Social Learning Theory, discussing development
of the models, similarities and differences, strengths and weaknesses,
and suggestions for future model development. Then, we will look at
the extent to which the models explain behavior and behavior change
empirically, and how useful they may be (or not be) in the development
of primary and secondary prevention interventions, including those
implemented within clinical practice. Behaviors to be discussed will
include HIV-related risk behaviors, licit and illicit substance use,
eating practices, exercise, and other heart disease- and cancer-related
behaviors.
