communication question

Assignment 1 – Final Research Paper Proposal – Week 2 (worth 10% ofthe final grade)
For your final project, you will use a mass communication theory to
investigate a media effect(s) and write a 6-8-page, double-spaced, APAformatted paper. For the first step of that assignment, you will choose a
research question from among those listed below and write a 2-page
research topic proposal essay or memo to your instructor in which you
justify your topic choice.
Review the following list of research questions carefully. Use Google
Scholar to learn more about those topics that interest you. Then,
select one research question to investigate for your final paper*:
1. Do negative political campaigns affect democracy?
2. Did social media disrupt the gatekeeping theory in the 2016 U.S.
presidential election by bypassing or replacing the legacy mass
media?
3. Are the perceptions of candidate traits shaped by the media?
4. Do established mass communication theories still apply in a digital
democracy?
5. How can communication and persuasion be used in the modern
political campaign to influence reasoning voters?
6. Does the proliferation of information sources cause or contribute
to the polarization of political views in the U.S. news media?
7. How does reliance on social media for news and information
affect news consumers’ perspectives on the world?
8. Do emerging trends in audience segmentation have the potential
to affirm or destabilize a democracy?
9. What is the emerging relationship between social media and
agenda-setting theory?
10.
How does the self-selection of news and information affect
political views?
11.
What is the emerging relationship of social media and the
two-step flow of information, and how might that be affecting
U.S. candidate and voter behaviors?
12.
What is the role of campaign advertising in a social media
world?
13.
How has social media use by U.S. political candidates
evolved over time?
14.
Is competition from an increasing number of alternative
news and information technologies and sources in the United
States causing, contributing to, or accelerating bias in U.S. news
content?
15.
How do political candidates seek to affect the media to
frame issues to their advantage?
16.
How are the internet and social media affecting the roles of
U.S. television, radio, newspapers, and magazines as gatekeepers?
17.
How are media ownership patterns affecting news and
information about U.S. politics and government?
18.
Select one of the following areas:
o
o
o
o
o
o
News reporting
Political campaigning
Public relations
Marketing and advertising
News and information consumption
Media economics
and analyze the impact that the internet has had on one of the
following mass communication theories or set of related mass
communication theories:
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
agenda-setting
spiral of silence
theories of perception
cultivation
hegemony
framing
standpoint
uses and gratifications
muted group
ethnography
McLuhanism
symbolic interaction
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
diffusion of innovations
active audience
semiotic democracy
filtering
bias
media system dependency
mean world syndrome
propaganda
* Your instructor may assign your topic. Your instructor also may permit
students to pursue a research question not in this list. Check with your
instructor first before you begin any work.
Once you have investigated the research questions and decided which
one you want to pursue, write the 2-page research topic proposal essay
or memo to your instructor in which you include the following
elements:
1. Re-state the research question that you want to pursue;
2. Explain why the question interests you;
3. List at least 5 things you already know about the topics-;
4. List at least 5 things you need to find out about the topic and
5. State what your proposed thesis or position statement will be on
that topic.
Your thesis must take a position on the research question that you
select based not on personal experience, but rather on what you know
or learn about your topic from Googling it in Google Scholar or from
readings in the classroom’s Course Resources. Be sure to include APA
citations and an APA Reference page in your paper.
Instructions
Week 3: Assignment 2 – Mass Communication Theory Literature Review
(Worth 15% of your course grade.)
Your final research paper for this class must be related to mass communication
theory. For this assignment, you will conduct a relevant literature review to discover
the mass communication theory that you will use in your final paper. In your
literature review, you should also discuss the pros and the cons of each resource
against the other resources you include.
•
•
•
Begin by using the university library’s Encyclopedia of Communication
Theory to investigate mass communication theories that may relate to your
paper’s research question.
Once you have reviewed the theories, select one mass communication theory
that appears to be related to your paper’s research question.
Using UMGC’s library resources, locate three academic journal articles about
your theory. This resource can help you find academic journal articles in our
library’s collection. You will need these journals for your final paper.
Academic journal articles are reports of previous research on your topic area
published in journals for an academic field. Academic journals ARE NOT books,
business, trade, or general circulation magazines, newspaper articles, or information
found on general websites. The “scholarly journals only” One-search function on the
library’s Research Guide for COMM 302 web page can help you find academic
journals appropriate for your topic.
•
Based on what you learn, write a 2-page
, double-spaced essay in which
you explain how the mass communication theory that you have chosen relates
to your final paper’s research question.
Do not merely summarize the three articles about the theory that you
selected. Instead, synthesize what you learned by giving enough information
about each article (e.g., its purpose, its study results, how it explains a mass
communication behavior or media effect, etc.) so that readers will understand
your argument for how/why using the article would inform and support your
use of the theory in your final paper for this class. You will be graded on your
argument, not on your ability to paraphrase what is written in the articles.
•
At the end of your essay, include a reference list for the three scholarly
articles that you used to learn about the mass communication theory you
chose. Format your references according to the American Psychological
Association’s style rules. For guidance, see our library’s video on creating APA
7-style references at APA Document Formatting (7th Edition) and the library’s
references examples at APA 7th Edition Citation Examples: General Rules
* Make sure you have a theory that supports your research or a theory that will help
you build your research.
* Remember that when you cite a work that you include the author’s last name and
the publication year within the body of your literature review.
* References: In your reference page, be sure that you indent the second line and
any other line of each of your references. That’s proper APA format.
Instructions
Week 5: Assignment 3 – Annotated Bibliography
(Worth 15% of your course grade.)
Your final research paper will need to reflect careful research on your topic. For this
assignment, you will find three relevant, credible, current, and authoritative sources
that you can use in your final research paper in support of your thesis or position
statement on your research question. These must not be the same resources you
used for your mass communication theory literature review. Focus on the media
effects issue(s) of your research question.
You will summarize these resources to create an analytical or critical annotated
bibliography according to the guidelines explained in this video tutorial from the
university’s library.
An annotated bibliography is a list of citations to books, articles, and other
resources used for some research purposes. Each entry includes a citation that
provides publication information on a source, followed by a brief descriptive and
evaluative paragraph or annotation that describes the relevance, accuracy, and
quality of the source.
Find three sources of relevant, credible, current, and authoritative information that
you can use in your final research paper to support your thesis or position paper.
•
One of the resources must be a peer-reviewed scholarly journal that you
found among our library’s resources. Demonstrate that you did find it in our
library by including its ezproxy DOI or url in its reference.
Review this resource from the Effective Writing Center to learn how to evaluate the
authority and credibility of sources you think may be appropriate for your final
research paper.
•
Then, write a 2-3-page annotated bibliography that begins by stating your
final research paper’s purpose and its refined thesis or position statement.
•
In another 2-3 sentences, explain how your research process is going. You
should start this explanation by specifically stating, “My research process is …”
or “My research progress has been …”
Once you have summarized your final project’s purpose, refined thesis or position
statement, and the progress you have made toward completing the paper, you must
present your annotated bibliography for the three sources.
For each resource:
1. Start the annotation with a complete publication reference for the source,
formatted according to the latest edition of the American Psychological
Association’s style rules. You will find guidance and examples in our library’s
resources at this page .
2. Directly beneath the citation, write an annotation of at least 200 words that:
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
Describes the purpose of the work.
Summarizes the resource’s content, including its main arguments and
conclusions.
Describes the type of audience for which the work was written.
Describes its author(s).
Evaluates and explains how the information’s relevance to your research
question.
Describes any special or unique features about the material.
Evaluates and explains the information’s strengths, weaknesses or
biases.
Explains how you will use its information in your research paper.
For example:
Breeding evil? (2005, August 6). Economist, 376(8438),
9. https://www.economist.com/weeklyedition/2005-08-06
This editorial from the Economist describes the controversy surrounding video
games and the effect they have on people who use them. The article points out that
most critics of gaming are people over 40 and it is an issue of age not of the games
themselves. While the author briefly mentions studies done around the issue of
violence and gaming, he does not go into enough depth for the reader to truly know
the range of studies that have actually been done in this area, other than to take his
word that the research is unsatisfactory. The author of this article stresses the age
factor over violence as the real reason for opposition to video games and stresses
the good gaming has done in most areas of human life. This article is a good
resource for those wanting to begin to explore the controversy surrounding video
games, however for anyone doing serious research, one should actually examine
some of the research studies that have been done in this area rather than simply
take the author’s word that opposition to video games is simply due to an issue of
generational divide.
Please pay particular attention to the last sentence in the above annotation. It
criticizes the author’s research.
•
Arrange your three citations alphabetically with their annotations.
Instructions
Week 8: Assignment 4 – Final Research Paper Presentation
(Worth 10% of your course grade.)
You will be assigned to complete a presentation in this class on the same topic as
your final research paper. It may be assigned as individual or group work. You may
choose or be assigned topics by your instructor from the COMM 302 Assignment
Portfolio Spring 2023 posted in the Course Resources on Page 2. Please verify
assignment details with your instructor.
Unless otherwise directed by your instructor, you may use whatever presentation
format works for you — i.e., podcast, Zoom
video, Prezi, Animoto, Vyond, Voki, Kizoa slideshow, Pinterest board, Screencast-OMatic screencast, YouTube video, PowToon, infographic, face-to-face (hybrid
students only) or video skit, or narrated PowerPoint or Google slides (can be
narrated live by students in face-to-face classes), etc. Just may sure any software
trial you use will be available to your instructor for a full week after the class ends.
For useful free digital tools to edit images or video presentations and other kinds of
files, the Society of Professional Journalists recommends Tinywow.com. For easyto-understand video training on how to use this tool and many others, visit the
Journalist’s Toolbox Channel sponsored by the Society of Professional Journalists
on YouTube at Journalists Toolbox . The Toolbox provides a training video on how
to use Tinywow.com (11:44 min.). To learn how to use other digital tools ranging
from transcription tools to fact-checking to building databases, go to the website
for the Journalist’s Toolbox.
The audio and number of visuals must be the equivalent of at least a 3-5-minute
presentation in length and be accompanied by a complete transcript, not just an
outline, and APA-style in-text citations and end-of-text references, onscreen or in
the transcript.
If you are an online course student assigned to complete an individual presentation
on your final paper’s topic, you will post your completed presentation in
Assignments and in Discussions. Consult your instructor for details.
If you are an online course student who was assigned to work in a group on a
presentation about your final paper’s topic, your group must designate one member
to post your completed presentation in Discussions, giving credit to all members of
the group.
Online course students who worked in a group on a final project also may be asked
to post their individual contributions to the group’s project in a separate
Assignments folder for your instructor to review. Consult your instructor for
details.
Hybrid students may be asked to present their individual or group presentations in a
face-to-face session of the class. Consult your instructor for details.
If you are a hybrid student who was assigned to work in a group on a final
presentation, you also may be asked to post your individual contribution to the
group’s project in a separate Assignments folder. Consult your instructor for
details.
Completed individual or group presentations will be due from online students by 6
a.m. ET on Wednesday of Week 8. Students in hybrid classes should consult their
instructor for their in-class presentation date.
Online students, once presentations have been posted, you will engage your
classmates in discussion of the mass communication and media concepts behind
each other’s presentations through the end of Week 8 in the Topic 8.2 discussion
thread. Make sure you post substantive comments on at least two of your
classmates’ presentations. You can use this discussion as an opportunity to explain
your ideas and get feedback on them from your classmates and instructor before
you complete your paper!
Week 8: Assignment 5 – Final Research Paper
(Worth 25% of your course grade.)
TOPICS
For your final project, you will write a 6-8-page, double-spaced, APAformatted, scholarly research paper on one of the following research
questions*:
1. Do negative political campaigns affect democracy?
2. Did social media disrupt the gatekeeping theory in the 2016 U.S.
presidential election by bypassing or replacing the legacy mass
media?
3. Are the perceptions of candidate traits shaped by the media?
4. Do established mass communication theories still apply in a digital
democracy?
5. How can communication and persuasion be used in the modern
political campaign to influence reasoning voters?
6. Does the proliferation of information sources cause or contribute
to the polarization of political views in the U.S. news media?
7. How does reliance on social media for news and information
affect news consumers’ perspectives on the world?
8. Do emerging trends in audience segmentation have the potential
to affirm or destabilize a democracy?
9. What is the emerging relationship between social media and
agenda-setting theory?
10.
How does the self-selection of news and information affect
political views?
11.
What is the emerging relationship of social media and the
two-step flow of information, and how might that be affecting
U.S. candidate and voter behaviors?
12.
What is the role of campaign advertising in a social media
world?
13.
How has social media use by U.S. political candidates
evolved over time?
14.
Is competition from an increasing number of alternative
news and information technologies and sources in the United
States causing, contributing to, or accelerating bias in U.S. news
content?
15.
How do political candidates seek to affect the media to
frame issues to their advantage?
16.
How are the internet and social media affecting the roles of
U.S. television, radio, newspapers, and magazines as gatekeepers?
17.
How are media ownership patterns affecting news and
information about U.S. politics and government?
18.
Select one of the following areas:
o
News reporting
o
Political campaigning
o
Public relations
o
Marketing and advertising
o
News and information consumption
o
Media economics
and analyze the impact that the internet has had in the context
of one of the following mass communication theories or set of related
mass communication theories:
o
agenda-setting
o
spiral of silence
o
theories of perception
o
cultivation
o
hegemony
o
framing
o
standpoint
o
uses and gratifications
o
muted group
o
ethnography
o
McLuhanism
o
symbolic interaction
o
diffusion of innovations
o
active audience
o
semiotic democracy
o
filtering
o
bias
o
media system dependency
o
mean world syndrome
o
propaganda
OBJECTIVE
Your job is to present an argument about the impact of the internet on
the U.S. people, media, and/or society related to one of these
questions, through the prism of at least one mass communication or
media literacy theory studied in this class.
* Your instructor may assign your topic from this list. Your instructor
also may permit students to pursue a research question not in this list.
Check with your instructor first before you begin any work on this
project.
CONTENT & FORMAT REQUIREMENTS
Your paper should clearly state your position in an argument thesis
on/conclusions about the media effects issue posed in your research
question, supported by researched evidence and reasons, including at
least one relevant mass communication theory studied in this course. It
should be 6-8 pages in length and employ 6-10 credible and
authoritative resources, of which at least three must be peer-reviewed,
scholarly journals from our library’s academic journal database. Its ideas
must be properly documented with in-text citations and an end-of-text
reference list that reflects the American Psychological Association’s
style rules.
Signal phrases and attributions must be employed to integrate direct
quotes, summaries, or paraphrases into the paper, accompanied by in-
text citations that reflect American Psychological Association
style rules. No more than three of the direct quotes may be long block
quotes. The sources may not include general websites, online
dictionaries or encyclopedias, blogs, Wikipedia, or wiki-type materials.
Your paper must be carefully edited and proofread. The paper also
should follow the general American Psychological Association
manuscript rules and be double-spaced with a title page. Make sure to
verify the originality and documentation by submitting your paper to
the Draft Assignments folder first where you can use its Turnitin.com
score to help you edit it. You will find links inside that assignment folder
to resources that can help you interpret your Turnitin score and tell you
how to remedy any deficiencies in the way you have integrated outside
research into your writing.
If you need help with American Psychological Association citation style,
see our library’s APA 7th-edition examples.