Term paper requirements

Communication as a Social Science
Comm. 200
Ken Sereno
Fall 2008

Assignment: Term Paper

Due Date: Dec. 2, Tuesday, at the beginning of class. Papers turned in after class has started will be counted as one day late. Late papers will be penalized 10 points for each late day (not counting Saturdays and Sundays).

% of Grade: 20% (100 points)

Format: 8-12 double-spaced, typed pages (excluding the title, scenario, and reference pages). Number the pages. Place the page number in the
upper right corner. Have a 1 inch margin for top, bottom, and sides. You will be penalized 5 points for every extra page.

Purpose: To describe and evaluate a communication theory which will be assigned to you, and to use variables from the theory to explain a communication scenario, which will be provided to you in your Discussion Section.

Organization: Use the following headings to organize your paper. Type these headings on your paper to introduce each section. Place each heading in the center of the page.

Introduction
Description of Theory
Perspective
Evaluation
Application
Conclusion

Sections:
Introduction
Develop interest in the topic or issue. (Demonstrate why the content the theory deals with is important and relevant to people’s lives. Use an example, scenario, question, etc. that
will make a reader want to know more. Look at speeches, newspaper and magazine articles to see how they capture attention and arouse interest.) Preview what you’ll do in the paper.

Description of Theory
Name, define, and describe every major construct or variable. Provide examples as needed.

Describe how the variables relate to one another; show how the theory works. If the theory contains major theoretic propositions, state them. Provide examples as needed.

You should provide at least one research finding, concept, or
element of content about the theory that you have obtained
through your research, which is not contained in either the text or
class lecture notes.

Perspective
Identify the perspective (Mechanistic, Psychological, Communibiological, Human Action, Systems).

Justify your judgment. Identify major features of the perspective. Describe how these features of the perspective are demonstrated
in specific aspects of the theory.

Evaluation
Identify and briefly define the standards you will use to evaluate
the theory (see notes for Chapter 2).

Evaluate how strong or weak the theory is on each of the standards
you are using. Use evidence, logical reasoning and examples
where appropriate to support your judgments.

Practical Application
The purpose of this section is for you to demonstrate how
variables and processes from the theory can be used to
explain the communication scenario. You should explain as
much of the episode as is possible using constructs from the theory. Use the following three steps:

Select a behavior from the scenario that you will explain.

Identify a variable and/or process from the theory that can explain the behavior you’ve identified.

Describe in detail how the variable or process you’ve identified can explain the behavior you described.

(Use the same three steps above to explain as many behaviors of the scenario as you can.)

Conclusion
What is your overall evaluation of the theory? (You may want to use the criteria of internal and external validity.)

Final thoughts you want the reader to have.










Title Page: Have a title page. Starting about a quarter of the way down on the page, on separate lines indicate the number of the course, name of the class, the instructor’s name, (skip a few lines),name of the theory, (skip a few lines), your name, and the date. This page does not count in the total number of pages.

Writing: The paper should demonstrate your ability to express ideas using
your own words. Use normal paragraphs and complete sentences.
There may be times when you want to quote the exact language of the textbook, lecture notes, book, or academic journal article. For the most part, however, the paper should illustrate your ability to write as well as demonstrate how thoroughly you understand the theory.

Research: You should go beyond the textbook and lecture notes by reading published material pertaining to the theory. These may be books or articles by the author or by other scholars who refer to or use the theory in their own research. You should obtain a minimum of three relevant articles or books in addition to your text and lecture notes and use and cite these sources in the paper.

Citations: You must provide a citation in the text of your paper whenever you
quote, paraphrase, or convey content that comes from an author other than yourself. You should use the American Psychological Association (APA) style of citation. Your discussion instructor will give you the specifics of this style of citation. NOTE: Your text and lecture notes should be two of your major citation sources.

Scenario: Include the scenario. Place it just before the References page. This
page does not count in the total number of pages. Each theory will have a unique scenario. The scenario for the theory that you will have to analyze will be distributed in your Discussion Section.

References: All the references you cite in the paper should be listed on the final
page of the paper. This page should be titled “References Cited.”
Use APA style. This page does not count in the total number of
pages.

Copies: Turn in two copies of your paper. I will keep one copy. The other
copy will be returned to you with comments. (Always save copies of
your papers on your hard drive or an external disk. Your paper might get lost and you will have to provide another copy.)

TurnItIn.com Submit a copy of your term paper electronically to TurnItIn.com, which is a web site that checks term papers for plagiarism. You will be given instructions on how to submit your paper later in the semester. We will turn in your final grade to the Registrar only after we have received a report from TurnItIn on your paper. If you do not submit your paper, or if we have not received a report from TurnItIn
when we submit our final grades, you will receive an Incomplete.


NOTE: Turnitin.com has all past Comm. 200 papers and it’s own sources from the net on its database.

Plagiarism: Any use of someone else’s writing as your own is plagiarism. Taking sentences from published sources without citing them is
plagiarism. Changing one or two words from published sentences
is plagiarism. (It is relatively easy to detect your using a published
source’s sentences as your own. The style--vocabulary, sentence
structure, grammar, voice, etc.--will differ from your own typical style.) Students guilty of plagiarism will receiver an F for the paper and,
depending upon the severity of the violation, an F for the course. All plagiarism violations will be reported to the Office of Student Conduct, which will keep a permanent record of the violation. Students guilty of severe plagiarism violations will be recommended for dismissal from the School Communication.

Criteria for
Grading: 1. “Works Cited” Page with three proper sources aside from your text and lecture notes.
Due week of April 1 - 4 in Disc. Sec. 5 points
2. Introduction 5 points
3. Description of theory 20 points
4. Identification of perspective 5 points
5. Evaluation of theory 5 points
6. Practical application 20 points
7. Conclusion 5 points
8. Writing
a. Clarity, precision, and coherence 10 points
b. Grammar, spelling, and punctuation 10 points
c. Adequate citation of text content 5 points
c. Proper APA citation form 5 points
d. Proper APA References form 5 points


ATTENTION: Failure to cite sources will be interpreted as
plagiarism and will result in an F for the paper. (It is best to over cite; e.g., text, lecture notes, books, and journal articles.)

Theories to be Analyzed

Assignment of Theories:

Theories will be assigned according to Discussion Section Instructors. Your Discussion Instructor will grade your paper. Scenarios for the theories will be distributed in your discussion section.

Theory of Reasoned Action (Fishbein and Ajzen)
Elaboration Likelihood Theory (Petty & Caccioppo)
Beliefs, Attitudes and Values Theory (Rokeach)
Social Judgment Theory (Sherif)
Cognitive Dissonance (Festinger)