Research Concepts – DIGI 880

CG • Section 8WK • 07/01/2018 to 12/31/2199 • Modified 02/01/2024

Course Description

This course will focus on students preparing a Concept Paper and preparing students for their applied doctoral research project.

For information regarding prerequisites for this course, please refer to the Academic Course Catalog.

Rationale

This course exists in order for students to demonstrate sufficient understanding of the primary fields and theories in the communication discipline.

Course Assignment

Assigned Readings

Assigned readings will include scholarly articles and selected texts.

Course Requirements Checklist

After reading the Syllabus and Student Expectations, the student will complete the related checklist found in the Course Overview.

Discussion

The student will post a 2–4 minute video introduction in which the student will introduce themselves to the professor and their fellow students.

Discussions (3)

Discussions are collaborative learning experiences. Therefore, the student is required to provide an initial thread and substantive responses to two classmates in each discussion. Each thread is to be at least 1000 words and include 10 scholarly sources in current APA format. Replies should be at least 500 words each and include 5 scholarly sources in current APA format. For Discussion: Thanks for the Feedback!, the initial thread will be an upload of the essay submitted in the Final Essay: Putting It Together Assignment for peer feedback. 

This essay assignment is designed so that the student can explore and synthesize the various communication models. The student should explain three primary ways to conceptualize the communication process and demonstrate how these communication models could influence his/her dissertation research.

Through multi-part assignment, the student will discuss Craig’s (1999) seven organizing traditions of communication theories and the theoretical perspective offered by each of the traditions in various research scenarios.

In this essay, the student will introduce his/her proposed dissertation research topic, the problem the research will address, and the significance of the study. The student will discuss the study’s theoretical perspective and guiding theory, and two preliminary research questions will be offered.

In this assignment, the student will introduce his/her proposed methodology used in his/her proposed research. Drawing from methods used in previous studies to test the student’s selected theory, the student will discuss the proposed sources and procedures for data collection and demonstrate how the proposed methods will answer the study’s research questions.

Final Essay

In this final paper, the student will draw from all the research and discussions from this course to create a comprehensive essay that discusses his/her proposed research. The student will introduce the research topic, discuss the theoretical perspectives guiding the research, and offer a proposed methodological approach for answering the study’s research questions.