Guidelines for the Final Project

Professor Steen
Communication Studies 128

Topic

See guidelines for the project proposal.

Length and format

The final paper should be 3,000-5,000 words and follow the outline below. (The length is given in words rather than pages, since today’s word processors can use formatting to change lengths dramatically.)

The format should follow the APA style (cf. sample paper to illustrate formatting).

Research tools

kwiksurveys.com and SurveyMonkey lets you create free surveys. However, you need to verify that you can export the results in a csv file, so that you can use Excel or a statistical tool to generate graphs and charts.
Chadwyck Periodicals Archive
JSTOR Periodicals Archive
PsychINFO (you need to be on campus or connected via VPN, see guide)
Google Scholar
Paper outline

Introduction
Methods
Results
Discussion
Conclusion

Typical content of each component

1. Introduction

Provide a theoretical framework for the general phenomenon you are investigating — for instance:

Cite existing scholarly work, or comment on its paucity
Discuss how your project relates to work in neighboring fields, such as psychology, linguistics, economics, or sociology
Present the key ideas and state what needs further investigation
Describe the particular mass media phenomenon you are investigating
Show that you are limiting your project appropriately
Mention existing work done in this particular area, and spell out the key ideas that belong to this area
Present your hypothesis

It should link your theoretical framework to the particular phenomenon you are investigating
It should be testable
Be explicit about how the data you have collected can be brought to bear on your hypothesis
Make sure that you are arguing something that your data throws light on
Make a non-obvious claim that requires evidence
2. Methods

Present your data-collection methods
Describe and justify your selection of subjects
Describe the criteria you used when formulating your questions
Describe how you recruited subjects
Describe how you presented the survey, or in other ways collected the data
Describe any complications that arose in the process of collecting the data
3. Results

Present your data, for instance:
Describe the number of respondents and the nature of the results
Describe how you aggregated the data, or in other ways made it suitable for use
Present tables that summarize your results
Give examples of responses and justify your selection
Describe both typical and anomalous responses
4. Discussion

Explain the status of your hypothesis
Did the results support your hypothesis?
Is the data irrelevant to your hypothesis?
What are the areas that need more data?
Explain the significance of your hypothesis
How does it relate to your theoretical framework?
How does it relate to previous work in the field?
What are any remaining questions?
5. Conclusion

Summarize your findings and their bearing on your hypothesis
Explain the scope of validity of your findings
Discuss what your project has not answered
What would need to be done to generalize your results?
Are there new questions that arise from your project?