COM 100 Alternative Research Assignment - Thinking about communication research is an important part of your grade (30 points). You can fulfill these points in one of two ways. The first way is to complete 1 hour of research credit on Sona (msucom.sona-systems.com). To do this, simply follow the link provided and sign up for, and participate in, studies that are posted. Check back often because new studies are posted all the time.The second way to fulfill these points is to complete 1 article critique. This document outlines how to completethe article critiques as an alternative to research participation. To complete the alternative research assignment, you will (1) find an empirical research article about something in communication, (2) read it, (3) summarize it, and (4) critique it in a two-page double spaced report. To earn the entire 30 points of research participation credit using this method, you will have to critique the article following the instructions listed below.The point of this assignment is to get you to read and evaluate communication research. While you are not expected to have a deep understanding of research methods, you should be able to read the author’s argument (particularly in the literature review and discussion sections) and critique it based on common sense and logic.For each article critique: FORMAT: Your critique should be in APA style (including a title page and reference page – no abstract is necessary) and at least 2 double-spaced pages (see D2L for APA help if needed).CONTENT: First, you should briefly (1-2 sentences) explain how this study is related to communication. Then, you should summarize what the study is about (one paragraph; 4-5 sentences).The rest of your paper should focus on critiquing the study. A well-thought out critique should find at least 1 major thing to address that might be wrong with the author’s logic. Some areas to consider critiquing (you don't have to use these but they may help you start thinking):1. The source of the research.a. Who funded it? Is there a conflict of interest? b. For instance, if my research is funded by Marlboro and I publish a study that suggests smoking cigarettes is GOOD for your health, you would be right to tell me that I have a pretty big conflict of interest. 2. The nature of the contact between researchers and subjects.a. How did the researchers make contact with the subjects? Could the researchers have persuadedthe subjects to go along with the study in any way?b. For instance, if I conduct research where I interview people to ask them how much they like COM 100, they’d probably be pretty apt to tell me how great COM 100 is given that I am an instructor. They wouldn’t feel comfortable telling me their true feelings because they feel as though it might impact their grade. This means that when I report back to the dean that everyone loves COM 100 because my survey says so, that my results might be suspect. Instead, Ishould have had someone who is not associated with the course interview them so they feel comfortable expressing their true feelings. 3. Subjects and how they were recruited.a. Is the sample size big enough? Does the recruitment technique match with the study’s purpose?Or, are the researchers recruiting certain subjects to prove a point?COM 100 Alternative Research Assignment - b. For instance, if a study is trying to assess the extent to which Michigan State students drink alcohol, it wouldn’t be a good idea to recruit subjects outside of the Riv on a Thursday because then they’re ONLY going to get subjects who drink. This wouldn’t be representative of the entireMichigan State population. 4. The measurements used.a. Are the researchers measuring what they think they’re measuring? b. For instance, if I wanted to measure anger, it would be a good idea to ask people how angry they are. It would NOT be a good idea to have them punch a hole in the wall, and for me to decide how angry they are based on the size of the hole. i. Why might this be a problematic measurement? Well, not everyone punches walls whenthey’re angry! This wouldn’t be a measure of anger so much as it would be of strength. 5. Setting in which the measurements were taken. a. Is there anything wrong with the environment the measurement was taken? b. For instance, what if I asked people how angry they were 1) the day after a Michigan State football loss or 2) when they’re in a really hot room? Both of those things make people very mad, so my measurement would be biased!6. Other confounding variables that may account for the relationship suggested.a. Could another variable that is unaccounted for be causing the relationship in the study’s results?b. For instance, did you know that ice cream consumption causes drowning deaths? Well, it doesn't. Although these two things are highly correlated, we have no data to suggest that they are causally related. Put another way, both of these things occur a lot in summer. So, if we just look at the relationship between ice cream consumption and the number of drowning deaths, we’ll probably find a pretty strong relationship. BUT... what is actually going on here is that both of these things occur more in summer. In this case, summer is a confounding variable that is accounting for the relationship between ice cream consumption and drowning deaths. 7. Size of the effect. a. How big is the relationship the researchers found? Is it big enough to actually influence anything? Or is it too small to matter? b. For instance, if I show that there is a very small effect of violent video games on players’ aggression, it might not be that big of a deal because the effect is tiny.c. However, if I show a very small effect of a drug that cures cancer, that’s a HUGE deal!You can base your critique on anything you see fit, so long as it is logical. Try checking the limitations section togive you some ideas of where to start critiquing. To find a(n) article(s) to critique, you can use the MSU Library website or Google Scholar to type in some communication terms you are interested in. Be sure to limit your search results to only articles and NOT book