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COMM 402 Final Exam Study GuideDr. Westcott-BakerPath Models- A model refers to an object or process, system or structureo It is a simplified or scaled-down representationo Illustrating something in a simpler way- A model “represents a portion of reality, either an object or process, in such away as to highlight what are considered to be key elements or parts of the object or process and the connections among them “- How is this different from a theory?o The purpose of a theory is to explain/ predict o The purpose of a model is to describe and imagine To illustrate or show somethingo A model can be an illustration of a theoryo But, a model can also model something else like a train for example.- Uses of modelso Make predictions by suggesting relationshipso Illustrate or teach (heuristic tool)o Help make measurements by suggesting how to design tests- Types of Models:o Physical vs. conceptual*** Physical example: the actual spine model at the doctor.  Conceptual example: a drawing of the inside of a head and a voice coming out of the mouth for example- ideas and terms and processes are labeledo Structural vs. Functional Structural- can be physical but can also be not physical. For example, hierarchy of CEO and other rankings is a structural model but its not physical- Structural models based on physical structure or hierarchy  Functional model- shows how something is working. Model of a brain, showing the function with the bouncing of molecules inbrain not just listing o Within Conceptual/functional models: Action: Communication is “something that one person does to another” (conduit, injection, hypodermic needle, transmission, linear) Interaction: adds the possibility of feedback loops—communication is “an exchange of messages”- “This” changes “this” Transaction: considers sending (encoding) and receiving (decoding) to be simultaneous processeso Ritual, publicity, and reception- Criticism of Models:o By simplifying, processes/ objects/ actions are devaluedo Status quo bias- concentration on what is observable and saliento Designed to work on average (for what is normal/ routine)o Theorists love their modelso Distract from finding causal agents and making empirical predictions- Adding variableso As more variables enter your theory, the number of possible relationships between variables vastly increaseso Given 4 variables, you should be able to write a hypothesis based on this Example of what to say: Given 4 bubbles, say A is positively related to B, C moderates relationship between B and D, etc.o When you only have 2 variables, you only have 2 possible relationships. Either A leads to B or B leads to A.  When you have 3 variables, you have 6 possible relationshipso As you continue adding variables, you continue getting more possible combinationso As the # of variables goes up, the # of potential bivariate relationships INCREASES dramatically. *** This is a reason to favor parsimony o Do they matter enough to keep them in there or are the multiple variables causing confusion? Is it too much?o You have all of these crazy variables, how do you figure out which ones are relevant and which ones are not? Establish TIME ORDERo Time order changes in the IV must come before the changes in the DVo Models can help eliminate possible statementso When establishing time order, consider feedback processes: causality does not necessarily “flow” in only one directiono Relationships can flow in both causal directionsEvaluating Theory- Testability and falsifiabilityo Must be able to be tested against as well as proven falseo Must have something to compare it to- Parsimonyo How many “things” do you have in the theory? Are there a lot of variables?o The simplest possible explanationo Is it practical? o Straight to the point?- Explanatory Powero How much of the time is it true?o How much of the time does it explain what happens?o How much communication both in a case-by-case basis and in a context basis does it explain?- Predictive powero Not only do we want to explain, but also we want to predict things.o You can go back and explain the results, but if the predictions don’t work out, then it doesn’t follow this predictive power. Needs to follow this!- Scopeo How general or specific?o Broad or narrowo Broad- trying to cover SO MUCH- cannot predict easilyo Narrow- specific, covers certain things EPPM for example (fear based comm)—very narrow. How people process fear based health campaigno Narrow scope—good at predictingo Broad scope—so broad doesn’t really explain or predict too much (Social exchange)- Cumulative nature of Scienceo How much history does the theory have behind it? How much evidence o How much does it allow it to be built upon?o Test of timeo How long has it been around?o If its been around for a long time and people are still using it, then it obviously is a good theoryo Some theories people seem to think that “this must be true”, “the way we see things on TV must be true”, “it is how we see that the world is.”People get these ideas in their heads. - Degree of formal developmento Laid out to create hypotheseso Was it laid out formally with a strict setup?o Set up to create research?o Or is it just someone’s blog post that says, “Oh I have this theory that says how this works” but there aren’t any formal terms. Is it just this idea thrown out there or was it fully developed?o How much is it set up to create research from it? o Does it give variables etc.?- Heuristic Valueo How much research does it have?o Can it be further researched?o Some theories suggest the ways in which further research may be conducted (Think “HIGHeristic”—can you go any higher with this? Can you research HIGHer?)- Aestheticso How nice is ito How “fluffy” and “pretty” is ito If it just seems like a neat concept that it must be trueo People don’t like reading boring or unlikable thingso So it is important how enjoyable or well communicative the theory is, or else nobody wants to read ito If its ugly or difficult to read, people aren’t going to be inclined to read it Takes too much effort o Make a theory inviting, easy to understand and read. Then it will be read and given a chance. The Strong Inference Approach***- Platt: Explaining rapid progress in other sciences compared to social sciences saying that basically the reason that they seem to actually move instead of sticking


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UMD COMM 402 - Final Exam Study Guide

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