Understanding Research Design & Statistics in Mass Communication
Teaches critical evaluation of quantitative arguments in mass communication, covering research design, statistics, and data interpretation using cases from media research.
Summary
What you’ll be able to do
Gain a sense of the methodological issues involved in the construction and design of mass communication research studies, giving them the ability to critically evaluate the various types of reliability and validity.
Understand how to analyze and interpret survey data in mass communication research contexts (e.g., confidence intervals, t-tests, correlations, etc.) using various programs (e.g., Excel, R).
Critically evaluate and summarize information related peer reviewed mass communication research articles.
Communicate effectively through written reports, oral presentations and discussion on topics in mass communication.
Critically evaluate ideas from different sources, integrating (or contrasting) different communication theories, deriving new testable hypotheses, developing variations on theoretical models or other ideas such as contingent conditions or mediating factors important in mass communication research.
Source: UW Guide
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Prerequisites
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- Junior standing
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- Junior standing
Professors
Spring 2027No instructors recorded for this selection.
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Calendar & sections
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Student experience
the class
Covers fundamental thinking skills necessary for the critical evaluation and presentation of arguments in mass communication, especially those based upon quantitative information. Introduces generic logic and quantitative reasoning concepts through analysis and discussion of specific cases drawn from research reported in the mass media (e.g., health and business news, public opinion polls), research on the media (e.g., the impact of media violence), and research for the media (e.g., audience research). Logical and quantitative reasoning skills will be improved through a variety of "hands on" projects.
difficulty & workload
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Topics
- Logic and quantitative reasoning applied to mass media cases, including health/business news, public opinion polls, media violence, and audience research.
- Methodological issues in mass communication research design, specifically reliability and validity.
- Statistical analysis of survey data, including confidence intervals, t-tests, and correlations using Excel and R.
- Integration of communication theories, hypothesis derivation, and development of theoretical models in mass communication research.
Skills
- Critical evaluation of arguments in mass communication, particularly those based on quantitative information.
- Understanding methodological issues in constructing and designing mass communication research studies, including reliability and validity.
- Analyzing and interpreting survey data using statistical concepts like confidence intervals, t-tests, and correlations with tools such as Excel and R.
- Critically evaluating and summarizing peer-reviewed mass communication research articles.
- Integrating communication theories, deriving testable hypotheses, and developing theoretical model variations.
Grades
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Explore recorded gradesRecorded 2026-10-14
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Model & dataset provenance
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