Communication 390: Research Methods & Design

Getting Started

acarr@csusm.edu (Allison Carr) — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 14:40:31 -0700

The purpose of this guide is to familiarize you with the best resources for research in communication.

Identify broad topic - Click here for help focusing your topic.
Conduct pre-resarch to narrow your topic
Write a thesis/argument - Keep in mind, this will change throughout the course of your research. You may have to revise your argument or thesis statement as you research and understand your topic better. Click here for help writing a thesis.
Conduct a literature review - Your literature review should cover the scholarly research on your topic. Be sure to start early - you may need to order articles through Interlibrary Loan, which can take up to two weeks.
Write your paper
Cite your sources - Using APA style, cite direct quotes, summaries and paraphrases in the text of your paper, and provide a bibliography or works cited list of all the materials used in your paper. Why cite? Check out this tutorial from UCLA.

Literature Review

acarr@csusm.edu (Allison Carr) — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 19:34:54 -0800

Example literature review

What is a literature review?

A literature review is not research, it is a review of the research that has been done on your topic.

A literature review is NOT just a summary, but a conceptually organized synthesis of the results of your search. It must

organize information and relate it to the thesis or research question you are developing
synthesize and critically analyze the results comparing and contrasting their findings
identify controversy and themes that appear in the literature

Check out these sites for more help understanding literature reviews

Tips on conducting research for a literature review

Use bibliographies and reference pages of articles to direct your research. You may start to see some trends with the people who are writing about your topic. Check the bibliography for more articles about your topic.
Use the authors who you have found to be writing on your topic as starting points. Look for additional articles, and rebuttals, retractions or responses to their research.

Use this chart to track articles you read for your literature review: (html) (doc)

Search Strategy

acarr@csusm.edu (Allison Carr) — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 11:45:06 -0800

For your searches to yeild the best results, select the main concepts in your statement, find synonyms or alternative terms, and use AND and OR to connect them appropriately.

Be flexible with your searches.
Review the descriptors or subjects used in the articles you find.
Use the tools for limiting or expanding your search.
Read the HELP screens

EXAMPLE:

THESIS	Even though most people vote their gut rather than their brain, political ads should be about issues not emotions because we need to know what the various perspectives on the issues are and because emotional ads can backfire.
MAIN CONCEPTS	political advertising emotional appeal electoral campaigns
Alternative TERMS	Political Advertising, Television in Politics Persuasion, Influence, Political psychology Political campaigns, Communications in politics, Elections
SEARCHES	Political Advertising OR Television in Politics OR Communications in politics Persuasion OR Influence OR Political psychology Political campaigns OR Elections

Library Databases for Communication

acarr@csusm.edu (Allison Carr) — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 11:28:20 -0800

Journal articles provide you with the latest research in your field. The research databases below will provide you with both scholarly and popular journal articles in communication.

What's the difference between scholarly and popular articles?

Most Useful

Database	Full Text	Coverage	Scholarly
Communication & Mass Media Complete Provides abstracts and full text for more than 200 communication journals.	+	1950→current	some
Linguistics and Language Behavior Abstracts (LLBA) Provides abstracts of articles from about 2,000 journals (published worldwide), coverage of recent books, book review citations and dissertation listings.		1973→current	all
Academic Search Premier Our most popular database. Covers a wide array of subjects with full text for nearly 1,850 scholarly journals, including more than 1,250 peer-reviewed titles.	+	1984→current	most

Also Useful

Database	Full Text	Coverage	Scholarly
ERIC A national database of education literature, including reports and journal articles.		1966→current	some
PsycINFO Available via EbscoHost: A comprehensive international database of psychology, covering the academic, research, and practice literature in psychology from over 45 countries in more than 30 languages.	+	1887→current	all
Sociological Abstracts Provides access to the latest international findings in theoretical and applied sociology, social science, and political science.		1963→current	all

APA Style Guide

acarr@csusm.edu (Allison Carr) — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 11:07:47 -0800

As you write your paper, you'll need to cite passages and ideas from the sources you've found. Check with your professor which style is preferred for this assignment.

Documenting Sources for the Social Sciences (Diana Hacker)
From Research and Documentation Online, this site offers help on writing in-text citations, list of references and the manuscript format.

apastyle.org
Produced by the APA, this site contains a wealth of information about APA citation style. It is not a replacement for owning the Publication Manual, though.

Publication manual of the American Psychological Association. 5th ed. Washington, DC : American Psychological Association, 2001.

Library Copies (BF76.7 .P83 2001)