COMM 250 Agenda - Week 13 Housekeeping RAT6 – Today RP2 – Graded & Returned to You Today Finn’s Peer Evaluation Form Lecture Naturalistic Inquiry (A Bit More about) Experiments

Overall Peer Evaluation Rate Your Teammates Do NOT Rate Yourself Total Points = 10 “times” # of Teammates You Can’t Give Everyone the Same Score Use Whole Numbers; Make Sure They Add Up! This is a Secret Ballot No Talking or Comparing Scores Place Rating Sheets Face Down Staple or Clip Them Together

Naturalistic Inquiry The Basic Motives: Understanding and Explanation What makes people tick? Why do they believe what they believe? How do their beliefs translate into some behaviors and not others? What are the political consequences of their beliefs and actions? How do they affect others or the society as a whole?

Assumptions of the Traditional “Scientific” Approach Determinism Objective Reality, Objective Science Human behavior (DVs) is caused by (objective) social attributes & social forces (IVs). The Task  Determine which attributes or forces cause or shape specific social actions or behaviors. Example  Studies of the “Glass Ceiling”

Missing from the “Scientific” Approach? What does the “Glass Ceiling” mean, experientially? What is the experience of women in large organizations? What is it like to be a woman in a large organization? What daily experiences add up to a sense of frustration or alienation? Imagine the benefits, to a researcher, of talking with, and getting to know, women who work in large organizations.

Assumptions of Naturalistic Research No assumption of determinism, objective reality, objective research Human action is not guided by objective social forces. What people do depends upon what they perceive, upon their internalized understanding of their social world. “Human behavior is guided and patterned by the meanings that are created by communities and held by individuals."

Four Assumptions Naturalistic Inquiry 1. What people say and do are the result of how they interpret and understand their social world. (It’s a Question of Ideology and Worldview.) 2. These ideologies are socially constructed. (We are socialized into a particular way of looking at ourselves and the social world.)

Four Assumptions Naturalistic Inquiry 3. Different communities/societies impose different “senses” onto the same social reality. (Loggers versus environmentalists in the Pacific Northwest.) 4. Different Ideologies/Worldviews carry different political implications. (Researchers should pay attention to the political implications of their consultants’ worldviews.)

The Goals of Naturalistic Inquiry Understanding peoples’ social world and social actions from THEIR point of view. What social experiences make up an individual’s or community's reality? And how do people "make sense" of their reality? How does this "sense" guide their actions? What are the social and political implications of their actions, ideologies, and worldviews?

The Practice of Naturalistic Research Immersion in Social Settings Being There. Listening: Immersion in Language and Informants’ “Way of Speaking.” Immersion in Natural Settings What practices and rituals make up the daily life of this social community? What ideologies about the world inform and animate these daily rituals? Discovery through breaking the rules. Immersion in Language The language informants use holds vital clues re: how they interpret their world. The stories they tell… The metaphors they use…

Naturalistic Research: A Journey of Discovery The researcher journeys into new, unknown, or misunderstood social terrain. The researcher immerses her/himself in the ideologies and practices that distinguish this social terrain. The researcher tries to interpret and make sense of this social reality, from the subjects’ (consultants’) points of view.

Review: Variables of Interest Independent – influences another variable IV = “Predictor” variable Dependent – variable influenced by another DV = “Outcome” variable Control – variable one tries to control for Could “keep constant,” balance across groups, or extract in the statistical analysis Control Var = “Concomitant” variable

Extraneous Variables Intervening Var – explains relation bet IV, DV “The  a Person’s Comm Competence (CC) (the IV), the  the Salary (the DV).” Since Competence, per se, doesn’t get you $, “Job Function” is an Intervening Var.

Extraneous Variables (continued) Confounding Var – obscure effects “Surpressor” Var. reduces the effect of an IV CC could  # of Friends, but also  difficulty of chosen job, which in turn  time for friends. “Reinforcer” Var. increases the effect of an IV CC could  # of Friends, but also  # of events one attends, which in turn would further  # of friends. Lurking Var – explains both IV and DV Perhaps the var “Extroversion” affects both CC and # of Friends.

Exercise Which is the Most Important Variables to control for when comparing the ability of groups to reach decisions using video conferencing vs. audio conferencing ? 1. Outside noise 2. Quality of connection 3. Face to face 4. Gender 5. Blindness and/or deafness

Review: Experimental Research Experimenters Create Situations... to Control Variables (in order to...) to Attribute Observable Effects to the IV; that is... to Infer Causality Control by Exposing Subjects to an IV Manipulating (exposure to) an IV (the “Active Var.”) Observing (exposure to) an IV (the “Attribute Var.”) Control by “Ruling Out" Initial Differences Random Assignment Pretests