TCOM 360: Media Research
Fall 2008, Instructor: Dr. Gi Woong Yun
Classroom: 203 West Hall
Office: 321 West Hall
Voice Mail: 372-8638
E-mail: gyun@bgsu.edu
Class hours: 04:30 - 05:45 M W
Office Hours: 10:00 - 12:30 M W
Web syllabus: http://personal.bgsu.edu/~gyun/lec/tcom360/syllabus.htm

Cousere Objectives
This course will provide an introduction to media research for students who have little knowledge of the area. As most decision-oriented positions in media require that a person have a general understanding of what research is and how it can help answer questions, this course sets out to provide the beginning students with a working knowledge and feel for important research concepts and skills. A combination of lectures and class discussions will be used throughout the semester. The goal is a balance of your learning research skills and analytical thinking. This course will attempt to make you an informed consumer of social research, a skill that will be useful in all facets of life.

Schedule
Lectures will move quickly and will assume knowledge of readings assigned for that day. Lectures and readings will complement each other, rather than being redundant, so you will need to do the readings regularly. The amount of reading is moderate, but you will often need to read carefully and analytically -- going for comprehension and explanation rather than memorization of detail.

Attendance
Attendance is the most basic responsibility of students who enroll in this course. The attendance policy is carefully explained in the GRADING section of this syllabus.

Participation
Your presence in the classroom means that you have to contribute to the class discussion. Read the textbook chapter assigned on the date before you come to class. Participation will take various forms including questions, case examples, etc. Class participation will be added to your final score as extra credit.

Feedback
Occationally, I will ask you to spend the last five minutes of lecture writing me a feedback. This can be anything: questions about things you didn't understand, speculation about what some research might mean for society now or in the future, contradictions between pieces of information you've gotten, suggestions for me to make the class better, or even exam questions. These questions and comments give me a much better idea of how things are going and help me respond. Where multiple people share the same question, I will make a point of responding to it either in class, through an email to everyone in the class, or by a posting on the class Black Board System. And since you will put your name and student P number on the feedback sheets, I will incorporate these with the grading as extra credits.

Student Conferences
Do not hesitate to meet me in my office or call me at my office if you have any questions on the course or have academic concerns. Please email (gyun@bgsu.edu) and make an appointment if you want to meet me outside my office hours.

Extra Credit
There may be some opportunities to participate in research studies, and you will get 20 points toward an exam for a participation. You can receive with a maximum of 40 points during the semester.

Academic honesty
Academic honesty is the foundation of our teaching-learning relationship. BGSU Student Handbook classifies four types of academic honesty violation: Cheating; Fabrication; Facilitating academic dishonesty; Plagiarism. Academic dishonesty will not be tolerated, and any student engaging in such conduct will automatically fail this course.

Professionalism
The instructor will assume equal contribution to the group project from every member of a team. While the peer evaluation will be directly reflected in the final group project score, disregard of your group project responsibility will be put into the consideration along with professionalism components in the decision of the final letter grade. Professional conduct is expected from students in this course. Although the score that you earn from various activities may reflect your level of intellectual achievement in this course, it is not the only determinant factor of your final letter grade. In every aspect of your interaction with the instructor or classmates, you have to be professional. Professionalism includes, but is not limited to, (1) completing tasks and readings in a timely manner, (2) submitting class projects that look professional (no spelling or grammar errors), (3) taking personal responsibility for your actions (for example, the computer ate your group project is not an acceptable excuse), (4) showing courtesy to others (no chatting and sleeping, no cellular phone, no instant messaging, and PDA in sight during class), and (5) undertake all class related communications in a professional manner. The instructor reserves the right to adjust the final letter grade downward if a student deems to have violated professionalism to a substantial degree during the semester.

Exams
The exams will be composed of objective questions (multiple-choice questions) covering both lectures and readings. Exam schedules are in the syllabus. You should take the exams as scheduled. If circumstances that are truly beyond your control prevent you from taking the exam as scheduled, you should inform me the casue of it as soon as you can. However, I will not provide a make-up exam for an individual student.

Group project
Group project of the class intends to provide opportunities for students to experience basic research skills. Students will develop and conduct a research project during this experience. 3-4 students will be assigned to a group and the topic of the research project will be dcided by the group. Each group will be expected to finish three assignments related with the research project (assignment 01, assignment 02, and assignment 03). Group project grading will base on these criteria. (click here to view the grading criteria)

GRADING
Attendance:
There will be no penalty for 3 absences. However, 50 points will be deducted from your total score for each absence from the 4th absence. For instance, if you miss classes 4 times, you will get 50 points deduction from your total score. Or, if you miss classes 5 times, you will get 100 points deduction for your total score. However, if you miss classes more than 7 times, you will automatically receive an F in this course. A late arrival or an early departure will be treated as an absence. I expect you to reserve "penalty free 3 absences" for the emergencies such as death of an immediate family member or serious illness. If you don't want any penalty after missing more than 3 classes, you should submit documents indicating the situation where you needed more than 4 absences.

Professionalism:
You will received no deduction point if you attend and participate lectures professionally.

Exam 1 (200 points):
The syllabi for the tests are listed in the schedule that follows. The test 1 will be administered in class during class time.

Exam 2 (200 points):
The exam 2 is not cumulative. In other words, you will not be tested over the contents that were covered in the exam 1. The test 2 will be administered in class during class time.

Exam 3 (200 points):
The exam 3 is not cumulative. The test 3 will be administered in class during class time.

Group project assignment 01(30 points):
Click here to view the assignment grading criteria.

Group project assignment 02(70 points):
Click here to view the assignment grading criteria.

Group project assignment 03(200 points):
Click here to view the assignment grading criteria.

Grand Total: 900 points

Final Grading Scale:

A =  91 to 100 percent
B = 81 to 90 percent
C = 71 to 80 percent
D = 61 to 70 percent
F = below 60 percent

Based on the scale above, you will be assigned a letter grade at the end of the class. The final grade for this course will be assigned using the scale above on the combined total of your points earned over the class. For example, to earn an 'A', you will need to score better than 810 points for your total points. Or, to earn a 'B', you will need to do better than 720 points for your total points.

Class text and equipment:
Textboook: Wimmer, R.D. & Dominick, J.R. (2005) Mass Media Research: An Introduction. (8th Edition). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishers. (This book is required).
Additional readings: Instructor will post additional readings on the web.
Equipment: You will sometimes need to do simple statistical calculations. For this, you will need an inexpensive calculator that can compute simple arithmetic functions including the square root.

Class Schedule: You will need to complete the assigned readings prior to the class meeting.

Week 01(08/25 & 08/27) Introduction and overview, Chapter 1: Science & Research
Week 02(09/01 & 09/03) Labor Day, Chapter 2: Elements of Research
Week 03(09/08 & 09/10) Chapter 9: Experimental Research
Week 04(09/15 & 09/17) Chapter 9: Experimental Research
Week 05(09/22 & 09/24) Test #1(09/22), Chapter 7: Survey Research
Week 06(09/29 & 10/01) Chapter 7: Survey Research
Week 07(10/06 & 10/08) Chapter 6: Content Analysis
Week 08(10/13 & 10/15) Chapter 5: Qualitative Research
Week 09(10/20 & 10/22) Chapter 5: Qualitative Research, Test #2(10/22)
Week 10(10/27 & 10/29) Chapter 11: Hypothesis Testing, [Group project assignment 01 due:10/27 in class]
Week 11(11/03 & 11/05) Chapter 4: Sampling
Week 12(11/10 & 11/12) Chapter 10: Introduction to statistics (until standard scores)
Week 13(11/17 & 11/19) Chapter 14: Research in Electronic Media & Internet
Week 14(11/24 & 11/26) TBA, Thanksgiving, [Group project assignment 02 due:11/24 in class]
Week 15(12/01 & 12/03) Group Project presentations
Week 16(12/08 & 12/10) Group project presentations, Test #3(12/10)
[Group project assignment 03 due: 12/12 Noon at my office(West Hall 321)]