⢠Identify a research topic and develop a research question or hypothesis in order to search for supporting evidence;
⢠Investigate the scope, content, and organization of various information resources in communication in order to recognize the options available in the discipline and how it is organized;
⢠Construct and implement effectively-designed search strategies in various resources in order to find primary research articles published from 2010 onward.
Choose a communication topic that is of interest to you and decide on an aspect of that topic that you might want to research. Make sure that your search is targeted enough (for example, instead of searching for âhealth communication,â try, âeffects media messages breast cancer womenâ or something like that).
Conduct searches that are successful in identifying a reasonable number (more than one or two; less than several hundred which would be too many to make sense of) of recent primary research articles (from 2010 onward), published in a communication journal, from the following databases:
a) Communication Abstracts;
b) Google Scholar;
c) PsycInfo; and
d) Web of Science (Social Science Citation Index)
Articles that we are already reading for class cannot be used for this assignment. Based on that search, please answer the following questions (answers MUST be typed, not handwritten, and submitted on Canvas before START OF CLASS on Monday, September 28, 2020):
(1) What broad topic did you choose, and what is your research question? Research questions are explicit descriptions of the questions we expect to answer through research. Make sure you phrase your research question as a question, not a statement. (0.5 point)
Grading Criteria [Each of these criteria are worth .10 points; need all 5 for full credit]:
o Topic has to be communication-specific (i.e., we can see the link between the topic and some aspect of communication)
o RQ must be phrased as a question and must be grammatically correct
o RQ must not include suppositions (i.e., leading in a particular direction)
o RQ has to be testable
o RQ must not include personal value judgments (e.g., normative ideas of âgoodâ or âbadâ)
(2) Conduct 3 different searches in each database. For each search, start with keywords that are relevant to your research question. Continue to refine those search terms until you get a reasonable number of articles that are relevant. Once you find a search term for a particular database that identifies at least one article, enter this term in the first line of the table below. Then add two different search terms that yield a reasonable number of articles per database.
Do this in all 4 databases listed above. Because each database is different and has different advantages and disadvantages, you will likely need to use different keywords and connectors for each database, although you can start with one that was successful with a previous database. Pay special attention to particularly useful subject headings or database features you employed. Answer the following questions. (2.25 points total)
a) What search terms did you use for each database? (enter in the table on the next page; include each term you used that yielded at least one result, for a total of three per database)
Grading Criteria:
o Search terms should relate to topic and align with research question in specificity (Note: we will evaluate this holistically, with respect to all of the search terms written) (.25 pts)
o Search terms should be more than one word; must use connector terms (.25 pts)
b) How many results did you get for each search term within each database? (enter the number of results yielded by each search term in the table. Remember to only count articles published from 2010 onward.)
Grading Criteria:
o Table must be filled out completely and thoughtfullyâi.e., if we are suspicious about any of the cells, we reserve the right to check and, if itâs not equivalent to what we find, to deduct all pts. (.5 pts)
c) Describe exactly how you went about refining your search strategy within each database. What did you change in your search term to make it more useful in identifying relevant articles? How did the number of results differ across databases, even if you began with the same search term?
Grading Criteria: [Fulfill all three for .75 pts; take off .25 for each one left out or not satisfactorily answered]
o Provide some indication that theyâve thought about what ârelevanceâ means
o Provide some indication of how they changed their search terms, or, if they didnât change search terms, why they decided to keep the search terms the same
o Provide some clear and thoughtful discussion of how results differed
d) Which search terms and databases were the most useful in finding scholarly articles that are directly relevant to your research question? Why do you think these particular terms and databases were the most helpful? (HINT: you should consider the strengths and weaknesses of each database, as described in Camille Andrewsâ lecture)
Grading Criteria: [Fulfill all three for .5 pts]
o Identify search terms and databases used (.1 pts)
o Make a clear and compelling argument for why above were considered most relevant and useful (.2 pts)
o Defend this argument with reasonable evidence, including content from Camille Andrewsâ lecture on the strengths and weaknesses of databases (.2 pts)
Database Search Term(s) including connector terms # of Articles
Communication Abstracts 1)
2)
3)
Google Scholar 1)
2)
3)
PsycInfo 1)
2)
3)
Web of Science 1)
2)
3)
(3) Choose one of the primary research articles you found and provide a complete citation in APA (American Psychological Association) format, 7th Edition, following the format of âreference list,â not the format of âin-text citationâ (see https://www.library.cornell.edu/research/citation). APA is the top link in the list. You may also use a citation management program like Refworks, but YOU MUST DOUBLE-CHECK THE CITATION FORMAT, as Refworks and other automatic citation formatting programs often make mistakes that you will need to fix). In addition, please copy and paste the articleâs abstract into this document (or staple a copy to the end of your assignment). (.75 point)
Grading Criteria:
o Attach the abstract that is relevant to their research question (if abstract does not appear to be relevant, award 0 pts; .25 pts for relevant, attached abstract)
o Provide a correct citation; if at least one mistake is noted, deduct .2 pts. Deduct full .5 points if 3 or more mistakes are made (.5 pts for correct citation)
ï¬ If the article is published before 2010, .25 pts will be deducted.
ï¬ Particular attention should be paid to authorsâ names (last name and initials; use â&â for multiple authors), title (capitalize only the first word of a title or subtitle), and using italics for titles of books and journals.
(4) Why did you choose this article for your original research question? Donât say âit was the first one I found;â describe how it relates to your research question. (.75 point)
(HINT: To answer this question, you might consider one or more of the following: Does the article provide information on a particular communication theory that applies to your research topic? Which theory and why is it relevant? Does the article present new information on your research topic that you werenât previously familiar with? Does the article describe a method or measure that is helpful to explore your research question? Does the article come to any interesting conclusions that were unexpected or particularly relevant? Tell us why this particular article is particularly useful for you.)
Grading Criteria: [Answer at least one of the following criteria to get full credit (.75 pts)]:
o Provides insight into applicable communication theory (which theory, why relevant?)
o Describes an appropriate method and useful measures to address for your research
o Provides new information on your research topic
o Provided interesting conclusions (and why they are interesting)
(5) Find at least one other pertinent reference that your article used (cited) in its research and provide a complete citation in APA format, 7th Ed. (see https://www.library.cornell.edu/research/citation or use a citation management program like Refworks). Why did you choose this particular article, from the list of other possible articles listed in the reference list? How it is relevant for your research question? (HINT: consider the same criteria you used to select the original article) (1.25 point)
Grading Criteria:
o Provide a correct citation; if at least one mistake is noted, deduct .2 pts. Deduct full .5 points if 3 or more mistakes are made; can earn .5 pts for perfect citation). (An article published before 2010 will be fine for this.)
o Explain why article is relevant, using at least one of these criteria: (.75 points)
o Provides insight into applicable communication theory (which theory, why relevant?)
o Uses an appropriate method and useful measures to address the research question
o Provides new information on your research topic
o Provided interesting conclusions (and why they are interesting)
(6) Recall that selecting a research topic and searching for relevant literature is a circular process â you select a general topic, get to know what is out there about that topic, and refine your research question or hypothesis in response. Based on the two articles youâve identified in questions 4 and 5, come up with one of the following: (a) a second, more specific research question that is informed by these papers, OR (b) a specific hypothesis that predicts a directional or conditional relationship between the variables identified in your original research question. (0.5 point). If you choose to do (a), that question should be more specific than your initial question from part 1 of this assignment. (HINT: the discussion section in the paper you chose often offers particularly useful guidance about key questions for future research).
Sample Solution