COM 201: INTRODUCTION TO COMMUNICATION STUDIES

Overview of Paper Assignments

NOTE: This page does NOT contain the guidelines for writing each paper.  It simply provides a brief summary of the assignments.  Do not use this page to try to complete paper assignments.  Detailed guidelines for each paper will be posted on the COM 201 web page.

As stated in the syllabus, you will be writing three papers assigned during the semester:

Because each paper is designed to aid in the completion of the next paper, all three papers will be written on the same communication topic, which will be discussed in class.  All papers must conform to APA style.
 

Paper #1: Abstract

An article abstract is really nothing more than a brief summary of the most important information found in the article.  Though this definition sounds simple, writing a good abstract requires quite a bit of effort.  Abstracting articles, however, can be very useful when you are building an argument for a larger paper or project, and you need to recall the details of what you have read in support of your case.
 

Paper #2: Synthesis paper

The synthesis paper assignment is intended to be an extension of Paper #1 and preparation for Paper #3, in which you will propose your own research study.  The goal of the synthesis paper is to exactly what it sounds like–to synthesize, or combine, the information contained in several research articles into a coherent whole.  This does not mean summarizing one article, then summarizing the next, and the next, into a string of separate paragraphs that each resemble a "mini-abstract."  Rather, the key to writing a good synthesis paper is integrating information from several articles into thematically related sections.

In terms of conducting and writing about your own research, the ability to synthesize past research demonstrates that you have read the appropriate background information on your chosen  topic, and have used the information contained within the articles to generate ideas and hypotheses to be tested.  Your synthesis paper is similar to a "literature review," as we will talk about in class.
 

Paper #3: Research proposal

The research proposal assignment is intended to build on your synthesis paper (Paper #2).  By the time this assignment is due, you will have done a fair amount of research on a specific communication topic.  As mentioned in your syllabus, your final assignment will include two parts: (1) a final written paper proposing an original study, and (2) a presentation of your research proposal in class at the end of the semester.  Based on what you learned writing your synthesis paper, where would you like to see research go from here?  You will not be actually carrying out the study, but you will need to clearly explain how a project could be carried out to test a hypothesis on your topic.

As a starting point, you will want to use the articles you found for Paper #2, but you may also decide to use additional journal articles or academic texts in order to complete your paper.  You may organize the proposal in whatever seems best to you, but a good organizational pattern would be to break your paper into sections with these headings: Topic, Review of Literature, Research Question, Hypothesis, Method, Predictions.
 
 

Choosing Articles

Your COM 201 web page contains a list of many of the communication journals available today.  You should be picking articles from one of these journals.  If you find an article in a journal that is not on this list, but that you think would work for this assignment, show me the article and get my approval.    If you choose a source that is not of the appropriate type (i.e., not a scholarly journal), you will lose points. 

Another consideration is that you choose articles written using research typical of the social scientific method (i.e., experiments, surveys, interviews, etc.).  Some of the communication journals include historical essays and pieces of rhetorical or film criticism.  Though historical/critical research is a legitimate part of the field of communication, these types of articles will not work for this assignment.  If you are not sure whether an article is appropriate for this assignment, please check with me.  If you choose an article that is not of the correct type (i.e., not an actual social scientific study), you will lose points.