1. COMM 250 Agenda - Week 3 Housekeeping Form Teams Implicit and Explicit Course Agreements Setting Grade Weights Lecture In-Class Team Exercise 1 - Paradigms Quantitative & Qualitative Research Theoretical vs. Applied

2. Setting Grade Weights Purpose Students Determine Grade Weights to Ensure Buy-in with Course Objectives & Deliverables Instructions Each team makes 2 decisions: 1. The split of Grade Percentages: Proportion Devoted to Individual, Team, & Helping Behavior 2. Within the “Individual” Component: the Percentage for I-RATs vs. Percentage for Final Exam A representative from each team negotiates until the CLASS reaches consensus today.

3. In-Class Team Exercise # 1 1) Two rounds of “Name Calling!” N o written deliverable 2) Paradigms & Paradigm Shifts Deliverable: list 6 major paradigm shifts in society (List Both the “Old” and “New” Paradigms) Additional Team Work Choose a team name Plan TP1: Meet before Tues. (Hemlock works) Plan TP2: Peer Evaluation P&C

4. Types of Research Research based in Positivism Objective World Quantitative Methods Researcher is a Dispassionate Observer Research based in Naturalism Subjective World Qualitative Methods Researcher is Part of the Research Also, Theoretical vs. Applied Research Theoretical – Done to Further Science, Knowledge Applied – Done to Achieve Some Tangible Outcome

5. The Philosophy of Science Epistemology – the Study of Knowledge FBK: “relation of researcher to the topic” Positivists: independent (objective knowledge) Naturalists: interdependent (subjective) What is the Nature of Knowledge? Is some/all knowledge “absolute?” Is some/all knowledge “relative?”

6. The Philosophy of Science Ontology – the Study of “Being” FBK: “the nature of reality” Positivists: the world is objective Naturalists: the world is subjective What is the nature of “Being” ? Beings as Passive: S-R Psychology, SMCR Communication Beings as Active: Constructivism, Cognitive Psychology

7. The Philosophy of Science Axiology – the Study of Values FBK: “the role of values” Positivists: science can be “value-free” Naturalists: science is always “value-laden” What are the nature of “Values?” Values – Are there objective values? (Is there “Truth” with a capital “T” ?) Values – or subjective, depends upon who is deciding the values

8. 4 Types of Variables Independent – influences another variable IV = “Predictor” variable Dependent – variable influenced by another DV = “Outcome” variable Control – variable one tries to control for Either: “keep constant,” balance across groups, or extract in the statistical analysis (aka a “concomitant” variable) Extraneous – variable not studied/interested in But it has some impact on the IV–DV relationship

9. 4 Levels of Variables Nominal – simply categories for classification; the “numbers” assigned are meaningless Political Party, Gender, County Ordinal – levels are in a rank order US News’ Top 100 Grad Schools; Letterman’s Top Ten List Interval – numbers are meaningful, no “true zero” a 7 Point Scale, Fahrenheit or Celsius Temperature Ratio – numbers are meaningful, a “true zero” Height, Weight, Kelvin Temperature