Spring 2027

Research Methods in the Communication Industry

Introductory course covering research methods in the communication industry, from research process stages to translating data into strategic reports for clients and policymakers.

no offering record for this termCredits unavailable
Recorded instructors · Spring 2027 No instructors listed

Summary

1 / 7

Past student reviews · Kaiping Chen

The course included lots of group projects, which could be a significant workload component for students.

What you’ll be able to do

  • Select an appropriate research technique

  • Develop survey measures based on sound conceptual foundations

  • Design and conduct surveys, experiments, and other forms of data collection

  • Analyze and interpret both quantitative and qualitative data

  • Clearly communicate findings and strategies to relevant audiences

Source: UW Guide

Grade history

↗
average GPA
letter grades
A
AB
B
BC
C
D
F

All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors

Prerequisites

Course map

Satisfied Quantitative Reasoning (QR) A

  • Satisfied Quantitative Reasoning (QR) A
LSC 250 used by

“Used by” includes alternatives; linked courses may have other requirements. This is a best-effort interpretation; check the catalog requirements above.

Prerequisite text tree
  • Satisfied Quantitative Reasoning (QR) A

Professors

Spring 2027

No instructors recorded for this selection.

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

KAIPING CHEN is recorded teaching in Spring 2020, Spring 2022, Spring 2023, Spring 2024, Spring 2025, Fall 2025. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

NEIL STENHOUSE is recorded teaching in Fall 2015, Spring 2016, Fall 2016, Spring 2017, Fall 2017, Spring 2018, Spring 2019. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

Calendar & sections

Spring 2027

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SectionModeEnrolled / capacityWaitlist

Times are Central. Select a meeting for details; export includes recorded dates for the selected sections.

Meeting source records
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Student experience

the class

Past student reviews · Kaiping Chen

One student found the class content boring, but noted that Kaiping Chen was passionate and ensured everyone had a solid understanding.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2024: 3.40 GPA, 68.7% A/AB (n=67 letter grades); Spring 2025: 3.66 GPA, 84.7% A/AB (n=85 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.78 GPA, 91.9% A/AB (n=37 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Past student reviews · Kaiping Chen

The course included lots of group projects, which could be a significant workload component for students.

Past student reviews · Kaiping Chen

Kaiping Chen worked hard to help students understand concepts and was happy to meet outside of class, though some complex explanations were initially unclear.

Topics

  • Stages of the research process
  • Survey design, measurement, and data collection
  • Quantitative and qualitative data analysis
  • Strategic communication reporting for industry and policymakers

Skills

  • Research method selection and survey measure development
  • Data collection through surveys and experiments
  • Quantitative and qualitative data analysis
  • Reporting findings and communicating strategic recommendations

Grades

Historical instructor

Spring 2027 · Projected

Before grades are released

– average GPA

Approximate 80% prediction interval

About this estimate

The course’s semester-average GPA, not an individual student’s grade. The center uses 4 same-season terms, weighted toward recent results.

The range uses the finite-sample 80th-percentile rank of absolute errors from earlier same-season forecasts. Each forecast uses only records from earlier terms. At least four forecasts are required; bounds are rounded outward and limited to 0–4. This is an empirical estimate: changing instructors or grading policies can reduce its coverage.

6 earlier forecasts · 0.19 GPA average error.

Grades over time

Through Spring 2027

More grade details Grade mix, volume & source data

Where this course fits relative to

Latest available grades · Fall 2025 · all course levels

GPA

Higher than % of other courses in this group.

Course GPAs · red marks this course’s range

letter grades

More recorded grades than % of other courses in this group.

Typical course in this group: letter grades.

About this comparison

1316 courses over the same term, each with at least 30 recorded letter grades. Cross-listed courses count once. GPA is not a measure of difficulty or teaching quality. The typical course is the median by recorded grade count; tied values are not counted as lower. Grade counts describe course scale, not unique students or typical section size.

Descriptions compare GPA with this group’s average: at least 0.20 higher or lower; otherwise close to average. Section size uses median recorded enrollment: small up to 30, mid-sized 31–99, large 100+. Lectures and discussion/lab sections are described separately.

Sources & history

UW–Madison

Catalog & offerings

Descriptions, prerequisites, and recorded course offerings.

Catalog observation history

Observations at scan time; dates do not imply when a catalog change took effect.

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Selected offering source records

No offering records for the selected term.

Raw records 
[]
Rate My Professors

Student reviews

Original comments behind the course and instructor summaries.

Read original reviews
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Madgrades

Grade history

Recorded grade distributions by term, section, and instructor.

Explore recorded grades
Dataset & model

Recorded 2026-10-14

View the dataset on Hugging Face
Model outputs & technical records
Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B
LLM outputs across runs
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Full model traces

Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.

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Model & dataset provenance 
{
  "model": "Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B",
  "model_revision": "1d4bf0f2ff6012fd82039f2fa52739d0dd7c60c0",
  "task_version": "17",
  "output_id": "929dab45df44b121ea7559a7422e52c383dfeb85c2f43cfcfea1af40f549d115",
  "requirements_status": "needs_review",
  "dataset_revision": "fc1811fa52e581ea57a35c0cf3343f8740a8ffbf",
  "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00"
}