Scientific research in communication

In the Readings chapter on scientific research in communication, we reviewed some common research methods employed in the study of communication. Which communication research technique examines the structure of a social system based on the patterns of communication that exist among its members?

network analysis

Dr. Jones is a researcher who studies interpersonal relationships and is currently planning a study on jealousy between relational partners. One of the challenges she faces in planning her research is deciding on an appropriate way to measure jealousy. Which research term best describes the issue confronting Dr. Jones?

operationalization

Which research term describes the specific procedures used to measure the concepts or variables in a study, and often involves finding a way to measure something that might initially seem to be intangible or abstract?

operationalization

The total set of all individuals who meet a specified set of criteria is referred to as the:

population

Which concept refers to an assessment of the consistency of a measure used in scientific research?

reliability

Those who take part in a research investigation by filling out a survey, participating in an experiment, etc. are:

research participants

A carefully constructed query that precisely specifies the goals of a research effort is referred to as a:

research question

The notion that the findings of scientific research should be presented openly in public forums like conference presentations and journal articles reflects which property of scientific inquiry?

scientific inquiry is an open process

Research investigations that make use of previously collected sets of data are known as:

secondary data analysis

Which limitation of commonsense understanding mentioned in our discussion of scientific research refers to our tendency to distort or idealize our notions about the world in favor of our own perspective?

self-bias

Which of the general research methods used by communication scholars is used to question large numbers of people regarding variables of interest and typically involves sampling?

survey research

Which of the following statements about survey research is FALSE?

surveys are typically used to establish causal arguments

One unfortunate misunderstanding regarding science is:

that notions of science are often confused with its famous practitioners or the tools of its practice

In a general sense research or inquiry may be defined simply as:

the process of asking questions about the world around you and getting answers to those questions

Attempting to connect individual pieces of knowledge and information about various phenomena together in such a way as to provide meaningful understanding and explanation is the goal of:

theory

In scientific usage, the term theory refers to:

a framework for organizing knowledge and planning research

In class lecture, we stated that scientific knowledge could be considered credible because:

a. scientific research is empirical b. scientific research subject to empirical testing c. scientific knowledge is self-correcting and improving over time d. science is an open process

The perspective that knowledge should be founded on observation is known as:

an empirical perspective

The CATPAC program developed by UB Communication Professor Dr. Joeseph Woelfel for content analysis of text uses algorithms drawn from:

artificial neural technology

A definition which specifies the meaning of a concept in an abstract sense is known as a(n) :

conceptual definition

When the focus of a research investigation is a new phenomenon, and previous research and scholarship is scant, one useful tactic might be to:

conduct preliminary observation to gain potential insight via informal observation and reflection

Which step of the research process involves determining how to make the observations necessary to answer the research question at the core of the investigation?

constructing research methodology

Which communication centric research method utilizes actual content and allows for the systematic and repeatable study of media or other messages via standardized procedures?

content analysis

Science can be defined as a systematic process of inquiry that generates:

credible knowledge

Observations which are systematically collected and recorded are known as:

data

Which research method involves the use of a highly controlled situation in which a researcher can manipulate and measure the impact of variables of interest while attempting to hold constant or control for any extraneous factors?

experiments

Although the understanding of communication we gain by virtue of our everyday experience as human communicators—often described as commonsense understanding—has immense practical value, it also has some significant limitations, including all of the following EXCEPT:

generated systematically

A prediction about the relationship between the variables in a study (e.g. individuals who are risk-aversive are expected to sign-up to become organ donors at a lower rate than individuals who are risk-takers), which is then subsequently tested by the research study is known as a:

hypothesis

Which limitation of commonsense understanding refers to the frequent tendency for such knowledge to differ from person to person and situation and situation to situation?

inconsistency

In social science, variables are generally defined as any factor, aspect, or characteristic of an individual, object, or social system which can change in its specific value. Which type of variable is presumed to influence the value of other variables?

independent variables

Due to the difficulty of gaining access to an entire population, most research investigations collect data from a research sample—a subset of the population from which data is collected and used to draw inferences about the entire population. Which criteria did we suggest should be met by a research sample?

it should be of sufficient size AND it should be representative of the larger population

Which of the following basic terms used in network analysis was defined as the connections (typically based on communication) between each member of the social system and the other members?

link