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Syllabus for CS4037

Audience Research Methods
Semester 1, 2024–2025

Lecturer: Assistant Professor Lew Zi Jian

Office: WKWSCI Building, #03-41
Email: zlew@ntu.edu.sg
Office Hours: By appointment
Class Hours: Tue 10:30am – 1:20 pm (WKW Building, TR+7)

1. Course Description & Objectives

This course is designed to provide students with tools to study audience

characteristics and the impact of communication on receivers. The course
centers around two main research methods that are widely used by
academics and practitioners: survey research and focus group study (as well
as in-depth interviews or other related methods). You will learn how to
design and plan research projects using these two types of methods. You will
also learn how to analyze data and present the findings in both oral and
written formats.

By the end of the course, you will be able to:

1. Explain what the foundations/paradigms of social science research

are.
2. Explain the core elements behind conceptualization,
operationalization, and measurement in survey research.
3. Formulate research problems into testable hypotheses and research
questions.
4. Design questionnaires, plan data collection, and apply appropriate
sampling methods in survey research.
5. Interpret the findings of statistical analyses using survey data.
6. Explain the core elements behind focus group studies.
7. Design and plan a focus group research study.
8. Apply survey and focus group research designs to find your own
solutions to research problems.

Course Format and Procedure:

You are expected to read the assigned readings before showing up for class.
Class time will be divided into two halves. In the first half, we will discuss the
assigned readings. During this time, I will make a short presentation and you
are expected to contribute with your thoughts, ideas, and observations. In
the second half, we will break into groups. You will use the time to discuss
the term project with your group members, while I go from group to group to
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hear your ideas. Your commitment and contribution to these components are
integral to the learning process.

2. Assessment Components

Your grade will be based on the following elements:

Class participation 15%

Survey project (Group) 35%
Focus group assignment (Indiv) 20%
Quiz (Week 13) 30%
Total 100
%

Class Participation:

Your active participation and contribution during tutorial sessions will be

monitored and evaluated. Merely attending every class is not sufficient to
score full points for class participation — contributing by asking questions
and/or providing your own thoughts is necessary.

Quiz:

On Week 13, there will be one in-class quiz. Questions will primarily be open-
ended short answers—these will comprise 80% to 100% of the total number
of points. There may or may not be true/false or multiple choice questions—
don’t expect a lot of these, if any at all. No make-up will be allowed and no
excuses will be accepted. The only excuse accepted for missing an
examination is a medical emergency or serious illness for which a medical
certificate should be submitted to the school (ask_WKWSCI@ntu.edu.sg) and
to me (zlew@ntu.edu.sg) within 48 hours. If you have any special concerns,
discuss them with me in advance.

Projects:

See the file named “Detailed Instructions for Projects” for details.

Survey Project (Group)

Each group (comprising 4-5 students) will develop theoretically driven

research questions and/or hypotheses relevant to the communication
discipline. Your research questions and/or hypotheses should be driven by
existing research to illuminate a
problem or missing link in the literature. In this project, you will:
a) Write a comprehensive literature review
b) Develop arguments for your research questions and/or hypotheses
c) Develop a valid and reliable survey questionnaire to answer your
research questions
d) Perform data collection on a small-scale (survey about 15-20 people).
You will then “multiply” your sample to achieve a total N of at least
200 people.
e) Analyze the data and report the results.
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Maximum length: 15 pages of double-spaced 12-point Times New Roman

text (excluding references and appendices, etc.).

Each group member will also provide confidential feedback on group work to
the instructor—this may have bearing on individual grading. This said, I
advise you to resolve any conflicts before the end of the semester.

You are expected to execute the survey.

The final report is due on Week 10 (22 Oct 2024), after your class
presentation.

Focus Group Assignment (Individual)

You are required to develop a focus group research proposal.

The assignment should contain the following:

a) Background information about the topic
b) Develop research questions
c) Focus group moderator’s guide
d) Proposed implementation strategies

Maximum length: 5 pages of double-spaced 12-point Times New Roman text

(excluding moderator’s guide, references, and appendices, etc.).

You are NOT expected to execute the focus group.

The final report is due on Tue, 19 Nov, 23:59 hours.

Group Conflicts

If you want me to intervene, you must either:

 Have had the difficult conversation with your teammate prior to my
intervention
 Or I will sit in and you will have the conversation with me as a witness.

I will not have that conversation on your behalf.

There will be peer evaluation at the end of each assignment. I may (or may
not) add or deduct points, based on your peer evaluation. I reserve the right
to adjust your final team assignment marks based on additional
considerations including personal circumstances, certified special education
needs (SEN), and medical diagnoses.
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3. Assigned Text

Babbie, E. (2021). The practice of social research (15th ed.). Cengage.

Krueger, R. A. & Casey, M.A. (2015). Focus groups: A practical guide for
applied research (5th ed.). Sage.

All assigned readings (see Readings list in the Course Schedule) will be
posted on the course website.

4. Course Policies

 Absence: Class absence cannot be made up unless you provide an

official excuse such as doctor’s documentation or official letters from
your schools or professors.

 Assignments:
o All assignments should be typewritten using standard APA
formatting for text and references, double-spaced,12-point font,
and using Times New Roman.
o Excessive neglect of APA formatting will be penalized. Follow
the APA guides here:
 https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/
apa_style/apa_formatting_and_style_guide/
general_format.html
 https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines
o Late submissions, i.e., without prior permission or official
excuses, will also be penalized. Late work will be penalized by
deducting 10% of the maximum possible score for each late
day. Weekends will count. If the work is late by more than 3
days, you will receive zero for the assignment. It is your
responsibility to ensure that any file you upload/send is
readable. Rules for late submission apply if you submit files that
are not readable.

 Cell Phones and General Politeness: Please be respectful to those

around you by switching your mobile devices to silent mode when
class is in session. If you anticipate an urgent call, kindly select a seat
near the exit so that you can excuse yourself quietly. Also, please be
mindful of your browsing of websites as it not only distracts you from
the class but around you as well.

 Tentative Nature of the Syllabus: If we need to modify the syllabus, I

will announce the modification both in class and on the course
website. It is your responsibility to keep up with any such
modifications and be aware of deadlines, etc.
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5. Accessibility and Wellbeing

I am available to discuss appropriate academic accommodations that may be

required for students with disabilities. If you require NTU-wide
accommodations, please contact the Inclusion & Accessible Education team
(https://www.ntu.edu.sg/education/accessible-education) as early as
possible.

If you are experiencing issues that negatively impact your wellbeing, you
may consider contacting NTU’s University Counselling Centre
(https://www.ntu.edu.sg/life-at-ntu/student-life/ntu-wellbeing/student-well-
being). You may also approach me for special requests if you are going
through a hard time, and I will sincerely consider your requests while
ensuring that grades remain equitable for all enrolled students.
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6. Policy on Plagiarism

The work that you submit for assessment in this course must be your own
individual work (or the work of your group members, in the case of group
projects). The NTU Academic Integrity Policy
(http://academicintegrity.ntu.edu.sg/) applies to this course. It is your
responsibility to familiarize yourself with the Policy and to uphold the values
of academic integrity in all academic undertakings. As a matriculated
student, you are committed to upholding the NTU Honor Code
(http://www.ntu.edu.sg/sao/Pages/HonourCode.aspx).

Acts of academic dishonesty include

(http://academicintegrity.ntu.edu.sg/policy/):

 Plagiarism: using or passing off one’s own, writings or ideas of

someone else, without acknowledging or crediting the source. This
includes:
o Using words, images, diagrams, graphs, or ideas derived from
books, journals, magazines, visual media, and the internet
without proper acknowledgment;
o Copying work from the internet or other sources and presenting
it as one’s own;
o Direct quoting without quotation marks, even though the source
is cited;
o Submitting the same piece of work to different courses or to
different publications.

 Academic Fraud: cheating, lying, and stealing. This includes:

o Cheating – bringing or having access to unauthorized books or
materials during an examination or assessment;
o Collusion – copying the work of another student, having another
person write one’s assignments, or allowing another student to
borrow one’s work;
o Falsification of data – fabricating or altering data to mislead
such as changing data to get better experiment results;
o False citation – citing a source that was never utilized or
attributing work to a source from which the referenced material
was not obtained.

 Facilitating Academic Dishonesty: allowing another student to copy an

assignment that is supposed to be done individually, allowing another
student to copy answers during an examination/assessment, and
taking an examination/assessment or doing an assignment for another
student.

 ChatGPT and other AI tools may be used, as long as they are cited
properly in APA format: https://apastyle.apa.org/blog/how-to-cite-
chatgpt

Disciplinary actions against academic dishonesty range from a grade mark-

down, failing a course to expulsion. If you are not sure what constitutes
academic dishonesty, please consult the instructor.
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7. Course Schedule

Week Date Topic Readings (Tasks)

1 13 Aug Course syllabus Babbie Chapters 1 (pp. 2-18) &
2024 4 (pp. 88-92)
Introduction to the
course: What is
scientific research?
2 20 Aug Conceptualization and Babbie Chapters 4 (pp. 105-118) &
2024 operationalization 5 (pp. 124-132, 148-155)

Hypothesis and Form groups

research questions
3 27 Aug Survey questionnaire Babbie Chapters 9 (pp. 249 – 263) &
2024 design 5 (pp. 141-145)
4 3 Sep Sampling Babbie Chapter 7
2024
Margin of Error:
https://www.qualtrics.com/au/
experience-management/
research/margin-of-error/

AAPOR Best Practices:

https://aapor.org/standards-and-
ethics/best-practices/
5 10 Sep Survey data collection Babbie Chapters 9 (pp. 263-283) &
2024 and survey report 17 (pp. 505-512)
writing
Deadline for 1-page idea pitch for
survey
6 17 Sep Inferential statistics Darlington & Field (2016) Chapter 1
2024 and hypothesis testing
Andy Field’s notes (there’s a lot to
read!)

https://stats.oarc.ucla.edu/other/
mult-pkg/seminars/spss-process/
7 24 Sep Introduction to SPSS If you’re new to SPSS, watch this 15-
2024 minute video before class or you
Descriptive statistics might end up quite lost:
https://youtu.be/TZPyOJ8tFcI
Data cleaning,
recoding, scale Note: I will show you what SPSS is
creation capable of, and you should take
note of the key functions essential
to basic social science research.
Eventually, you will most certainly
need to search YouTube/Google for
tutorials based on those keywords.
If you’re unfamiliar with SPSS, you
might be quite lost after this class,
and there’s probably no running
away from some form of self-
teaching (e.g., by watching
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YouTube). This week’s class will not

be tested in the quiz.

Meet in lab instead of classroom

(location to be announced)
Reces 1 Oct Deadline for feedback on measures
s 2024 for survey
8 8 Oct Dummy Coding Read this University of Southampton
2024 page and this UCLA page for dummy
Mediation coding.

Read this UCLA page for mediation.

Meet in lab instead of classroom

(location to be announced)
9 15 Oct No lecture Spend class time to work on the
2024 survey project.
10 22 Oct Survey presentation Presentation for survey project
2024 and report submission (worth 5%)

Report for survey project due on

Tue, 22 Oct 2024, 23:59 hours
11 29 Oct Introduction to focus Krueger & Casey (2015) Chapters 1,
2024 groups 2, 3, and 5

Developing a focus
group moderator guide
12 5 Nov Analysis and reporting Krueger & Casey (2015) Chapter 6
2024 of focus group data

Quiz review
13 12 Nov Quiz (Closed book) Focus group assignment due Tue,
2024 19 Nov, 23:59 hours