COM 602 Research Proseminar

An overview of communications theory provided a framework for the course, and really for my overall Masters program.  

Communication is a process of shared meaning, where individuals create meaning through communication with others, resulting in a reality that is constructed from social interaction and is therefore constantly in flux and subject to change (social constructionism).  Understanding the context in which communication exists today was the beginning for my exploration into a communications research topic.

I discovered that I am interested in multigenerational issues in communication.  I narrowed my focus so that my research looked at the generationally diverse workplace in a rapidly changing world.  Employees must adapt and learn new skills in this highly competitive environment, and thus training emerged for me as being critical to the success of workers, organizations and even entire economies.  I found that in order to study the impact of training and its effectiveness, it would be important to discover the meanings made by the workers actually involved in a training program.    As a result of my research and paper writing, I was able to better understand the topic and issues surrounding generational differences.

From a process standpoint, as I worked on my research paper, I found I was informed on structural elements of research and writing.  I can now identify and locate academic research on a particular topic, make sense of existing research studies, and have a general understanding of quantitative and qualitative research methodologies including their respective validity and reliability measures.

In addition, I was able to acquire knowledge through academic research, and was able apply theory to my project.  I used an interpretive, social constructionist perspective in creating my paper.  I felt that I investigated my topic using all of the following thought traditions in small ways: positivist (cause and effect), systems (holistic, societal impact), interpretive (attempts at meaning), and critical (outcomes from struggle, conflict) traditions. 

My written assignments for the class are available for you to read below.

To view samples of my work that I did in this course, click on the following links:

Class syllabus: Proseminar Syllabus

The research paper for my class was an exploration of multi-generational learning and communication issues.  The paper is titled, "Participant Perspectives on Training: A Multigenerational View on Training and the Relationship of Preferred Learning Styles to Training Effectiveness".  COM 602 Research Paper  

The course prepared us for writing an academic research paper.  We worked on the technical aspects of individual components of a research paper.  First was to learn about research resources and how to format and cite sources properly using APA style.  We were assigned a library scavenger hunt as a way of learning these skills; see COMM 602 Libary Scavenger Hunt - APA Style examples.

We also worked on understanding plagerism Plagerism Assignment.

In terms of writing sections of a research paper, we had assignments that allowed us to explore our research topic and to properly include necessary components and structure, see  COMM 602 Annotated Bibliography, COMM 602 Critique and Theoretical Framework Multi-Generational Learning and COMM 602 Rational and Theoretical Framework multi-generational learning.