COMM501:  Operationalizing Communication Research

 

Professor:                     Annette N. Markham

Office hours:                

Contact:                        Office: 312-413-2124 Mobile: 773-517-8501 Email: amarkham@uic.edu

Course Website:           

Text Box: operationalize To express or determine in operational terms operational 1. a. Of or pertaining to operation or operations 2. c. In a condition of readiness to perform some intended (esp. military) function. operation 1. Action, performance, work, deed. Obs. 3. a. Working; exertion of force, energy, or influence; action, activity, agency; manner of working, the way in which anything works. 4. a. A particular form or kind of activity; a mode of action; an active process, vital or natural. 5. a. The performance of something of practical or mechanical nature, esp. as a practical application of a science or art, or as a scientific experiment or demonstration. Oxford English Dictionary Online, 2002 Course Overview

This course is a discussion seminar and a practical laboratory wherein graduate students read/discuss theoretical foundations of interpretive/qualitative inquiry and practice methods of operationalizing research using various analytical approaches and tools.

 

This course focuses on various qualitative orientations and methods of inquiry.  This includes approaches known as ethnographic, symbolic interactionist, phenomenological, rhetorical, feminist, critical, and postmodernist.  Distinctive traditions of research design, analysis, and writing will be discussed and practiced.

 

This course is intended to be an introduction to these approaches.  Each week a different tradition or method will be highlighted.  No previous experience is required for participation. 

 

Course is writing intensive so that students can practice various methods of analysis.  Students select four (out of six possible) short papers during the semester.  Students also complete one research proposal.  No exams or final will be given.  Revisions may be required for all papers.

 

 

 

 

 


Required Readings

·       Foss, S.  (1996) Rhetorical Criticism. 

·       Gergen, K. (1999/2000).  An Invitation to Social Construction

·       Silverman, D. (2001).  Doing Qualitative Research.

·       Van Maanen, J. (1988).  Tales of the Field.

·       Strauss, Anselm and Juliet Corbin (1998).  Basics of Qualitative Research:  Techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory

·       Additional readings will be in one of the following locations:  a) on reserve at the UIC Daley Library reserve desk; b) on reserve in the main communication department office (BSB 1140); c) available online through UIC electronic journals.  Specific details will be given in class.

 

Course Format

·       Seminar meets once a week for 3 hours.  Students should be prepared to present their work, defend their positions, and lead class discussion about the reading assignment if asked. 

·       Activities outside meeting times are required to earn 4 credits for this course.  This includes significant preparation for class, bulletin board discussion with colleagues, peer review and mentoring, and attending public lectures.

·       Internet is used as a primary means of communication and information transmission.  Students must be prepared to access the course website and check email accounts regularly throughout the weeks.

 

Course Assignments

75%:     Short Analysis Papers

Topic provided.  One week to complete each paper.  No significant outside research required.  Revise and resubmit may be required until quality outcome is achieved.

15%:     Weekly Questions, Thoughts, and Contentions (QTC) papers

Submit to professor as word document attached to email.  Due each Monday on or before noon.

10%:     IRB Training

Complete online any time during semester

+/-:       Attend Public Lectures

Attendance at six departmental, university, or other academic lectures (student’s choice) is required to earn a final grade of A.

+/-:       Participation

Regular attendance in weekly meetings, active peer mentoring, completion of additional short assignments, and substantive contribution to discussions either in class or online is required to earn a final grade of A.

 

Plagiarism is a serious academic offense and will not be tolerated in this course.  Any plagiarism will result in automatic failure of the course and will be taken to university authorities.  For more information on what plagiarism entails, please contact the professor.

 

Students with disabilities who require accommodations for access and participation in this course must be registered with the Office of Disability Services (ODS).  Please contact ODS at 312/413-2103 (voice) or 312/413-0123 (TTY).

 

 

Course Assignments

 

SHORT ANALYSIS PAPERS (5) (75% of overall grade)

This cluster of assignments is designed to provide the opportunity for you to improve your writing and critical thinking skills. 

 

General Requirements

§      Complete four short (5 pg minimum, 8 pg maximum unless otherwise indicated) analysis papers over the course of the semester (out of eight options).  Topic and analytical tool will be provided when the assignment is given.

§      Sign up (via email message) for analysis papers within 24 hours of the class period in which the assignment is given.  Submit each assignment as an electronic attachment to the courseinfo discussion board on or before noon the following Tuesday.

§      Be prepared to present and discuss your analysis during class.

§      Read at least two other colleagues’ posted papers before class on Wednesday.  Be prepared to comment on each person’s paper submission during class.

§      Review your assigned peer’s paper thoroughly, following guidelines offered during class and workshops.  See the evaluation section below for more details regarding peer review.

 

Specific Details:

§      Once during the semester, I will accept a late paper submission.  Otherwise, all late assignments will earn zero points.

§      All assignments must meet current APA format requirements. 

§      All versions of papers must include as the first page a completed paper submission form, available on the course website.

§      Electronic attachments must accurately identify student name and paper type (e.g., MarkhamPaper1_revision1)

§      Assignments must be completed and submitted as indicated in the specific assignment category.

§      Plagiarism is a serious academic offense.  All cases of plagiarism, intended or not, will be taken to the university authorities and will result in automatic failure on the assignment and in the course.  Please see the course website for more detailed information on plagiarism.

 

Tips and Strategies

Plan ahead!  These are intensive writing assignments to be completed within less than one week.  This requires that you free your calendar appropriately so that you can participate fully in the research and analysis experience during the weeks you choose. 

 

Evaluation of papers:

 

Peer Review

§      One of your peers will review your assignment and provide helpful feedback for revision. 

§      Peer review must be submitted to the author within 2 days of receipt (Thursdays, 5 p.m.)

§      Revised version must be submitted to professor via electronic attachment (online in the courseinfo site) within 2 days of peer review (Saturday, 5 p.m.)

 

Instructor Evaluation

You will receive extensive feedback and one of the following evaluations on your submission:

Excellent:                     No changes necessary.

Meets Expectations:     Equivalent to a B grade.  You are encouraged to make revisions until you receive a mark of Excellent.  In some cases, you may be required to revise and resubmit until you achieve excellence.  You will have ten days to revise and resubmit your paper, beginning the day after it was returned to you.

Revise and Resubmit:   You will have ten days to revise and resubmit your paper.  Paper will be revised and resubmitted until it “meets expectations” or beyond.

 

 

WEEKLY QUESTIONS, THOUGHTS, AND CONTENTIONS (15% of overall grade)

§      This assignment is designed to help stimulate our discussion during class, to spur you to formulate your thoughts prior to class in writing, and to help me understand how you are experiencing the readings. 

§      Careful participation in this exercise affords you the opportunity to build your critical reading and analysis skills, as well as your overall writing skills.

 

Specific Details

§      Each week, students will complete a response to each of the readings.  Submit your responses within a single word document, via email attachment to the professor.

§      Responses must be submitted on or before Monday, 12:00 p.m. (noon) of the week the reading is due (the response is due prior to our discussion of these readings, not after)

§      QTC should demonstrate clear comprehension of the readings as well as student’s response/reaction to the readings. 

§      Formal APA formatting is not required, but all references to reading material should be accompanied by page numbers.  If outside sources are used, a bibliography is required.  Document should be free of grammar/spelling errors.  Unless a creative genre is used, academic format is expected.

§      Three times during the semester, students can blow off this assignment (neglect, ignore, dismiss).

 

IRB TRAINING (10% of overall grade)

§      All students are required to complete online IRB training and certification by the end of the semester. 

§      Enroll in and complete the online, self-paced training as soon as possible to make sure you receive your certificate by the end of the semester.

§      Register for the online course here:  http://www.uic.edu/depts/ovcr/oprs/Education/citi.html  --Follow the instructions carefully and accurately!

 

ATTENDING PUBLIC LECTURES (cannot earn an A without fulfilling this assignment)

·       All students are required to attend six public (department, university, or other) academic lectures during the course of the semester

·       Complete and submit form (found on course website) to professor after attendance to receive credit.

 

 

COMM 501 READING PACKET BIBLIOGRAPHY:  (in alphabetic order, non-standard citation style)

 

 

Journal Articles or Book Chapters:

Burrell, G., & Morgan, G.  (1979).  Sociological Paradigms and Organisational Analysis.  London:  Heinmann.  (pp. 1-37).

Deetz, S., & Mumby, D. (1985).  Metaphors, information, and power.  In Ruben, B. D. (Ed).  Information and behavior, Volume 1 (pp. 369-386).  New Brunswick, NJ:  Transaction Books.

Denzin, N., & Lincoln, Y.  (2000).  The discipline and practice of qualitative research. In N. Denzin, & Y. Lincoln (Eds),  Handbook of Qualitative Research (pp. 1-28). Thousand Oaks, CA:  Sage.

Dow.  B. (1994).  Hegemony, Feminist Criticism, and The Mary Tyler Moore Show.  In  W. L. Nothstine, C. Blair, & G. A. Copeland (Eds.), Critical questions : invention, creativity, and the criticism of discourse and media (pp. 97-117).  New York : St. Martin's Press,

Gamson, W. A. & Lasch, K. E. (1983).  The political culture of social welfare policy.  In Spiro, S., & Yuchtman-Yaar, E. (Eds).  Evaluating the welfare state:  Social and political perspectives (pp. 397-415).  Location?:  Academic Press.

Geertz, C. (1973).  The Interpretation of Cultures. (chapter 1, Thick Description:  Toward an Interpretive Theory of Culture.)

Goffman, E. (1974/1989).  On Fieldwork (transcribed and edited by Lyn H. Lofland).  Journal of contemporary ethnography, 18 (2), 123-132.

Hertog, J. K. & McLeod, D. M. (2001).  A multiperspectival approach to framing analysis:  A field guide.  In Reese, S. D., Gandy, O. H., & Grant, A. E. (Eds).  Framing public life:  Perspectives on media and our understanding of the social world (pp. 139-161).

Hine, C.  (2000).  Virtual Ethnography.  London:  Sage.  (chapter 3:  The Virtual Objects of Ethnography)

Kincheloe, J. L. (2001).  Describing the Bricolage: Conceptualizing a New Rigor in Qualitative Research.  Qualitative Inquiry, 7 (6), 679- (academic search elite)

Leary, D. E. (1995).  Naming and knowing:  Giving forms to things unknown.  Social Research, 62 (2), 267-298.

Lincoln, Y. & Guba, E. (2000).  Paradigmatic controversies, contradictions, and emerging convergences.  In N. Denzin, & Y. Lincoln (Eds),  Handbook of Qualitative Research (pp. 163-188). Thousand Oaks, CA:  Sage.

Maines, D. R. (1993).  Narrative’s moment and sociology’s phenomena:  Toward a narrative sociology.  The sociological quarterly, 34 (1), 17-38.

Markham, A. N. (forthcoming).  Representation in Online Ethnography.  In Chen, S. C., Hall, J., and Johns, M. (Eds.).  Internet Research:  Methods, Issues and Ethics.  Peter Lang Publishers.  

Markham, A. N. (1998).  Life Online:  Researching real experience in virtual space.  (chapter 2:  The shifting project, the shifting self.)  Walnut Creek, CA:  Alta Mira Press.

Martin, J. (1990).  Deconstructing organizational taboos:  The suppression of gender conflict in organizations.  Organization Science, 1 (4), 339-359.  (UIC electronic journals)

Miller, D. (1998).  Writing and Retelling Multiple Ethnographic Tales of a Soup Kitchen for the Homeless.  Qualitative Inquiry, 4 (4), 469- (academic search elite)

Mumby, D. K.  (1987).  The Political Function of Narrative in Organizations.  Communication Monographs, 54.  pp. 113-127.

Reese, S. D. (2001).  Prologue—Framing public life:  A bridging model for media research.  In Reese, S. D., Gandy, O. H., & Grant, A. E. (Eds).  Framing public life:  Perspectives on media and our understanding of the social world (pp. 7-31).

Richardson, L. (2000).  Writing:  A method of inquiry.  In Denzin, N., & Lincoln, Y. (1999).  Handbook of qualitative research (pp. 923-947). 

Ronai, C. R.  (1995).  Multiple Reflections of Child Sex Abuse:  An Argument for a Layered Account.  Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, 23 (4).  pp. 395-426.

Smith, R. C. & Eisenberg, E. M. (1987).  Conflict at Disneyland:  A root metaphor analysis.  Communication Monographs, 54 (December), 367-380.

Spradley, J.  (1979). (R) Interviewing an informant and *Asking descriptive questions,  Steps 2 and 4, The ethnographic interview.  New York:  Holt, Rinehart, & Winston, Inc. 

Strauss, A. & Corbin, J. (1998).  (C) Analysis through microscopic examination of data + (R) Memos and Diagrams.  Basics of qualitative research:  Techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory (pp. 57-71; 217-241).  Thousand Oaks, CA:  Sage.

Walker, J. A. (1996).  Learning to be Interpretive:  Hermeneutics and Personal Texts.  In Sussman, M. B. and Gilgun, J. F. (Eds).  The methods and methodologies of qualitative family research, pp. 223-239.  Location?:  Haworth Press.

Wolcott, H. (1994). Transforming Qualitative Data:  description, analysis, and interpretation.  London:  Sage.  (chapter 2.  Description, Analysis, and Interpretation in Qualitative Inquiry)

Wolcott, H. F.  (1995).  The Art of Fieldwork.  Walnut Creek:  AltaMira.  (chapter 5, Fieldwork:  The Basic Arts)