SCHOOL OF COMMUNICATION

CMNS 438-4/801-5

Design and Methodology in Communication Research

Prerequisiste:

(Undergraduates only) Two upper division CMNS courses and permission of the instructor.

This course explores the methods of scientific research and inquiry in communication , coupled with practical case studies. The course will cover theoretical and applied aspects of research in science, the human sciences in particular, as well as elements of the philosophy of science. It will also deal with the practice of research in the current academic environment.

Students of communication -- be it for scholarship, social intervention and/or planning, critical practice and/or media production and management -- must have a solid grasp of research design, methodologies, presentational and reporting techniques. CMNS 801 (438) orients students in the range of research tools and methodologies available, especially as they are applied to concrete research and content development projects. Through work on practical applications, the course helps prepare students for “professional practice” during and beyond their studies. CMNS 801 is a survey of social and human sciences methodologies used in communication research. Starting from the philosophical grounding of science and first principles of research and communication design, the course explores the basics of qualitative field research and reporting techniques. Course work is divided between assigned case studies (individual and group projects) and the student’s own thesis (or honours) work and grant applications.

The course will consist of a series of lectures outlining the philosophy and comprehension of science, and their application to current research issues. It will then move to theoretical and applied discussions of a number of research methods and tools. Running in the background initially, and finally as the major individual project will be research on contemporary issues such as those surrounding BC and Canada’s drinking water policy. Due to the relatively short length of the course, some practical elements may come first (ie ethics approval) so that students will be able to finish within the semester. Undergraduate students will be expected to work in teams of two to carry out research and hand in assignments (see below). Students that take this course and achieve high standing may be considered for employment as research assistants as part of the Innovation Systems Research Network project.

Required Reading:

Silverman, David. Doing Qualitative Research: A Practical Handbook. London: Sage, 2000. (ISBN 0-7619-5823-1).

Additional readings will be placed on reserve. Students will submit project-specific bibliographies for discussion and approval. Material for the SSHRC grant assignment is at http://www.sfu.ca/ors/sshrcsmall_guide.html. Robust use of WWW and digital media in course work is encouraged.

Requirements:

Undergraduates:

– an essay on one of philosophy of science, research methods or their honours thesis proposal written up as a project proposal or grant application - due week 8. 20%
– participation in class 20%
– content of final report and presentation 40%
– appearance and skill of final presentation 20%

Graduate students:

– thesis proposal written up as a project proposal or grant application - due week 8 20%
– thesis proposal written up and presented as a 10 slide PowerPoint presentation - due week 10 20%
– final report and presentation, including a discussion of the methodologies used 60%

All students will be expected to have access to and use e-mail, MSWord and PowerPoint software.

Course and class notes will be maintained on a specialized web site.

The course schedule will be established as is convenient for the students. All lectures will be held at Harbour Centre. If there is general agreement some or all of a week’s lecture may be split into two 90 minute sessions on different days.

Course outline:

Week 1 Introduction. Course arrangements. Ethics approvals. Outline of case study. Selection of project topics (all)
Week 2: Philosophy, comprehension and communication of Science. Paradigm and epistemology issues. (Lipsett)
Week 3: The importance of the experimental method in western civilization. The role of innovation and GPTs (Lipsett)
Week 4: Innovation studies and their links to policy. (Holbrook)
Week 5: Rhetoric and discourse (Onufrijchuk)
Week 6 . Hybrid research design (Onufrijchuk)
Week 7: Research methods as applied to case studies (Onufrijchuk/Holbrook)
Week 8: Technology Transfer; Research and intellectual property as marketable commodities (Holbrook/Lipsett)
Week 9: The art of presenting research findings (all)
Week 10: Graduate student presentations of their thesis topics (all)
Week: 11: Staying current with waves of technological change; (Lipsett/Holbrook)
Week 12: Questions/review/ recapitulation (all)
Week 13: Student presentations (all)

The School expects that the grades awarded in this course will bear some reasonable relation to established university-wide practices to both levels and distrubution of grades. In addition, the School will also follow Policy T10.02 with respect to “Intellectual Honesty” and “Academic Discipline” (see the current calendar, General Regulations Section).