Moderating (Interacting) Variable: - Political knowledge is the moderating variable- Relationship depends on political knowledge. Slope: - No slope for conservatives: for conservatives, education does not have an effect on position of nuclear policy- Positive slope for liberals: For liberals, as education increases, position on nuclear policy increases too. - Lines are not parallel: There is an interactionMediating (Interpreting) Variable: - Neighborhood Crime rate is the mediating variable. (discredits first relationship. No slope means that TV viewing has no effect on crime fear (this is why we have an intervening variable)Bar Graph Interpretation - Distance between lines indicates that neighborhood crime rate has an effect on crime fear. There is more crime fear in high crime rated areas than low crime fear rated areasModel vs. Theory -11/4 and 11/11:Theory: systematically related generalizations suggesting new observations for testing whose purpose is to explain and predict- Purpose of theory is to explain and predictModel: A conceptual analogue to some subject matter; a simplified representation of reality; an object or process system that highlights key elements or illustrations of theory whose purpose is to illustrate or describe- Purpose of model is to describe and imagine [illustrate/show]Use of Models- Organize data- Make predictions by suggesting relationships- Illustrate or teach [heuristic tool]- Help make measurements by suggesting how to design testsPhysical vs. Conceptual Models-- 3Physical modelso Describes a physical beingo Help us communicate our ideas more clearly by serving as visual aids3333333333ex: models that doctors have that represent different human body parts- Conceptual modelso 3Attempt to represent physical, psychological, and logical processes 333333333333333333333ex: diagram, path model, illustration, usually has labelsStructural vs. Functional Models-- Structural modelso 3Describe the structure/layout of a phenomenon Sketch of a daily newsroom - Functional models o 3Describe systems in terms of energy, forces, and their direction. 3Also shows influence certain parts have over others Diagrams showing how the newsroom operates Action/Interaction/Transaction Models-- Actiono Communication is “something that one person does to another”- 3Interactiono Adds the possibility of feedback loops- communication is “an exchange of messages”- Transactiono Considers sending (encoding) and receiving (decoding) to be simultaneous processes Relationships between variables in a model and number of theoretical statements-Adding or Subtracting Variables-Adding: as more variables enter your theory, the number of possible relationships between variables increasesdecreasing parsimony. opposite for subtracting Subtracting:Establishing Time Order: Eliminating possible relationships to determine direction of relationship and to know which variable is affecting which as well as determining independent and dependent variables. Allowing Feedback Processes (relationships can flow in both causal directions):Alexander Reading - 11/20Publishing Process:- 1Editoro Looks at manuscript and makes decision whether to send out paper for review. 3Can be returned without a reviewo Sent out to 2-3 reviewers in a double blind process- 1Reviewero Have 4-6 weeks to complete a reviewo Returns ratings and comments that run 1-3 pageso Types of reviews 3Tell you what is wrong Tell you what is wrong and how to fix it Tell you to do something else- Decisiono Accept (with minor revision)o Invitation for major revision (revise and resubmit)o Reject 3Most journals have 15% acceptance rate- Revise and resubmit333333333333- almost never unconditional acceptance333333333333- It’s a good thing except it does not guarantee future acceptanceChaffee & Lieberman (2001) – 11/25:Purpose of literature review in a study/theoretical paper?- Synthesize a large number of studies into a coherent view. Essentially, its a333333333 shortened summary of prior work. - Explains how present study addresses an issue within that literature, - Concludes with analysis of how the new findings alter the picturePurpose of literature review by itself? (Book, chapter, etc.) - Covers a more extensive body of existing research without presenting new study findingsProposition/axiom (also covered in Writing and Presenting lectures): Specify propositions or axioms to create a logical progression of arguments. These are central claims for which you must then provide warrants and evidence. Order them in coherent argument. See if you need new ones or can delete any. Insert evidence, definitions, assumptions. Propose hypothesis that emanates from the proposition or axiom. Ch.9 - 12/2e:Evaluating Theory:o Testability/falsifiability: The ability of a theory to be tested and repeated by researchers. 3They should obtain the same results as the original theory If a theory is proven to be false, an explanation as to why must be able to be obtainedo Parsimony: A theory must be simple and not too complicated. 3The simpler the terms so more people can understand, the better o Explanatory & predictive power: Theories must be able to provide explicit explanations. 3The more simple this explanation is, the better The more precise your prediction, the better the theory o Scope: The generality of a theory. 3The more your theory helps us understand a phenomena, the better the theory o Cumulative nature of science (how much evidence?): Theory is not static but is changing and growing Theories are continually refined as newer studies build upon and improve older studies. The more a phenomena is studied, the closer we move to obtaining the truth Degree of formal development:o Heurism (how much research?): A theory is valuable when it helps us generate ideas for future research The more new hypotheses that can be generated from a theory, the better o Aesthetics The thought that ideas presented in theories are important and “beautiful” Strong Inference Approach:o The need for developing alternative hypotheses for theories in order to avoid bias Tradeoffs in Theory Building:Scope precision tradeoff → The broader your theory, the more generalizable it is- Lang wants a general theory of communication you will be able to accurately predict but this ignores roles of culture/context- The broader your theory, the less precise it is and the more exceptions there are going to be → 3lower the