Mary Jackson Pitts, Ph.D.
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Mary Jackson Pitts, Ph.D.
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Grading System for Final Mass Communication Research Project A point system has been applied to various aspects of the paper. Total points possible is 100. This grade is combined with all materials graded during the final grading period ( March 14th- May 15th). The final research paper, class presentation of paper, final exam, APA guidelines followed, and SPSS interpretations will be averaged together to provide a mean score for the second half of the semester. The mean score will be multiplied by .50 and added to the first half of the semester grade to determine your final grade.
Chapter I. Introduction: Total points 13 points A. Introductory paragraph which sets the stage for the statement of the problem. ______3 pts
Make sure in your introduction that you give a paragraph or two about the topic of interest before jumping into the statement of the purpose segment.
B. Statement of the Problem: Describe the purpose of your research (in essence, present the questions your research will answer or the hypothesis you will examine). Make sure to supply an introductory sentence or two before you start the statement of purpose. Clarity of statement is extremely important.
______ 5 pts The statement of purpose should identify your area of study, the population you plan to examine, the method that you plan to use and perhaps the time of collection. Ie. The purpose of this study is to survey Jonesboro residents to determine their perceptions of and attitudes toward the local cable franchise.
C. Justify this purpose. In other words, describe why the study is important and how it advances current knowledge.
_______ 5 pts Make sure you provide literature that supports your contention that this research is important. Cited material from articles While there is no set amount of justification for doing the study, I would hope you would include several paragraphs. Items related to theory, revenue, circulation, viewership and coverage may be used here.
Chapter 2 Literature Review Total Points: 20
A. Present a critical synopsis of as many previous research articles on the topic as possible. B. Point out how your research questions extend this previous research.
This is as close to a term paper as you will get in this class. In fact, you might think of compiling all of your material much the same way as you do when you develop a term paper. The literature review must contain material that addresses the variables that you plan to look at in your study. So create an outline first of the areas or variables that you plan to examine then write about these items in your literature review. Write about the studies that you have examined and borrowed from to help in developing your study. Use this material to justify why your research will improve upon what is already known. Every study has shortcomings so be sure to explain how your work will improve upon what you plan to do. Borrow from all areas/disciplines to develop this portion of your paper. You may use books, journal articles, internet material, dissertations, thesis and the like to develop your work. The literature review is designed to provide extended knowledge and justification for doing your study. Justification is addressed in B. A addresses the extension of knowledge. You can easily supply synopses of previous research articles related to the topic, then justify why your study addresses some of the limitations of the current research. The literature review should be 6-7 pages long. Make sure to include material from research articles. Material must be cited using the APA stylebook. Literature Review
____2 pts Paragraph one --- Brief discussion about topic ____4 pts Paragraph two --- Restatement of purpose and restate research questions in text, not bullet form. ____4 pts Paragraph three --- History of topic (may take multiple paragraphs for history) You may add multiple headers for the history ____4 pts Theory ---- Explain your theory and how it works. You may use a text book to help you explain the parts of the theory. ____4 pts Research questions addressed ---- Begin addressing literature in order of research questions. Present research which has been done that is related to each of your research questions. This material should include journal articles and possible text book guidelines for media content. The materials should be about research where primary data was collected. There may be some instances where you would have no journal articles that that is highly unlikely.
_____2 pts Complete a summary paragraph at the end of the literature review, after you have addressed all the research questions.
Chapter 3 Methodology: Total Points 27 A. Explain the methodology for your research. You should do several things in your methodology. 1) Restate purpose of study ___2 pts 2) Provide justification for using this methodology to answer your research questions. _____2 pts 3) Sampling and population statements Define the population. _____ 2 pts Define the sample. Demographic info about the sample can be addressed here or in the findings section of the paper, but not both. _____ 2 pts Define the sampling procedure. How is the sample determined? _____2 pts Justify the sampling procedure. Why is this sampling method appropriate for this study? _____2 pts
Show how the methodology addresses each research questions and/or hypotheses in the study. _____15 pts To be included: 1) Restatement of each research question or hypothesis 2) Identification of variables that answer each research question. You should have a list of each variable that will address each research questions. Multiple variables may be needed to answer the research questions. Whether doing an experiment, survey or content analysis you must know what variables go with what research questions. 3) Operational Definitions: Define unusual terms, if any as related to the variables. Operational definitions help the researcher understand through mutual exclusivity what each variable is designed to measure.
B. Present the data analysis: Total points 2 pts Explain what kind of statistical measurements you used to analyze data. How will the data be reported? Include the following statements in your paper, “ Data will be measured using frequencies, percentages and chi-square. The test of significance is set at p < .05.” _____ 2 pts C. Limitations: Total points: 2 pts _____ 2 pts (If the limitations section addresses all the issues which caused problems with the methodology and suggestions on how things could have been done to avoid problems, points may be added to the methods section.
Chapter 4 Findings: Total points 22 A. Present the results of the data analysis or the main philosophical arguments supporting your thesis. ______ 2 pts Make sure you restate the purpose of the study and the research questions. _______20 pts Data collected about each variable should be presented in the findings. For example, ff you have 10 variables that will be used to answer one research question then the statistics for each of these ten variables must be reported. You may report in text or in table form but not both. Address each research question and/or hypotheses by reporting the statistical results. The variables that were listed or identified in the methodology should all be addressed in the findings. Tables should be used to show how individual variables statistical address each research question (No more than five tables). Chi-Square or other forms to test statistical significance must be included. The twenty points will be distributed among the total number of research questions. For instance, you have four research questions. This means if you fail to answer a research question then you wind up losing five points for each question left unanswered.
Chapter 5 Conclusion: Total Points 17 pts A. Restate the premise of your study. _______3 pts Restate the purpose of your study and the methodology you used. This review might take 2 to 3 paragraphs B. Discuss how your findings support/or refute your hypothesis or answer your research questions. ______ 12 pts Here you go back and discuss how your findings answer your research questions. You should discuss the relationship your findings have with the situation you address. You must discuss without using numbers the research question results. You won=t use many numbers here; it will be a discussion. You may want to discuss how your findings relate to the studies introduced in the literature review. For instance if you have three research questions then failing to address one of the three questions would mean you lose 4 points. However, if you had 4 questions and failed to answer one you would lose 3 points.
C. Synthesize conclusions from the discussion in the body of your paper. _______2 pts This is a summary of all you found in a paragraph or two.
Comments______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
APA Format-- Following APA is necessary if students are to not plagiarize other peoples’ work. Each APA violation will result in one point deducted from this grade. 100 points
Citations in Text
Correct format for citing research in text
Bibliography
Correct citations in bibliography
Format of paper
Cover page
Running Head
Abstract
Chapters
Grammar
Statistical Interpretations and Presentation of Statistics in Paper (100 points)
Provides:
1) Frequencies (16.66 points)
2) Percentages (16.66 points)
3) Chi-square (16.66 points)
4) Crosstabs (16.66 points)
5) Charts (16.66 points)
6) Tables (16.66 points)
Presentation grading 100 points
Explain purpose of study. 10 points
Explain why study is important. 10 points
Explain how you did the study. 15 points
Explain what you found. 20 points
Explain why what you found is important. 20 points
Use of presentation tools 25 points
Handouts
Powerpoint
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