480.600 Research and Writing Methods

Sophisticated communication professionals need to understand how to create and evaluate knowledge. This course is designed to improve critical thinking skills. It exposes students to the logic and conduct of research aimed at producing generalizable knowledge about human communication so that students can find, read, understand, and use communication research in their daily work. Toward that end, the course introduces students to the logic of systematic investigation and to research methods common to the field of communication. Students also learn how to read and understand statistics. Topics include how to use library resources to inform communication practice, how to conduct focus groups, interviews, surveys, and experiments. Many classes focus on how we know what we know and what methods are best used to answer different kinds of communication questions. Students are strongly urged to take this course in their first semester.

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