Students in COMS 101, 103, 110, and 342 must complete a research experience to earn 2% of their course grade. Students earn 0.5% by completing the prescreening questionnaire. The other 1.5% is earned through the completion of a research study or the alternative assignment. This page has information about the alternative assignment. Information about research participation can be obtained from the Research Participation section of the website.

Students who are not able (e.g., are 17 or younger) or do not wish to participate in the research study to which they are assigned, may complete the alternative assignment, which is a series of questions about a research article. The purpose of the summary is to demonstrate that the students have read and understood the research article.

Information for Students

You must turn your paper in to the researcher to whom you were assigned (i.e., not your instructor) by the study close date to receive the 1.5% credit. The study close date will be provided to you by the researcher for your study. If you were not assigned to a study, you must give your summary to the administrator (coms-research@ohio.edu) by the end of the next-to-last week of class (i.e., week 9 of quarters, week 14 of semester). Papers received after this date will not receive credit.

To complete the alternative assignment, select one of the four journal articles below. Read it in its entirety and then complete the alternative assignment document (below). When you have completed the research article summary, e-mail it in to the researcher to whom you were assigned. The researcher will provide you with 1.5% course credit for the alternative assignment. Any summary that is entirely or partly copied word-for-word from a research article (or from another student) will not receive credit. This is plagiarism, which is a very serious academic offense. The researcher will check to make sure that your work is original.

Journal articles (choose 1):

Allen, M. W., Walker, K. L., Coppman, S. J. & Hart, J. L. (2007). Workplace surveillance and managing privacy boundaries. Management Communication Quarterly, 21, 172-2000.

Lee, A. L (2010). Who are the opinion leaders? The physicians, pharmacists, patients, and direct-to-consumer prescription drug advertising. Journal of Health Communication, 15, 629-655.

Meredith, L.S., Eisenman, D. P., Rhodes, H., Ryan, G., & Long, A. (2007). Trust influences response to public health messages during a bioterrorist event. Journal of Health Communication, 12: 217-232. 

Mikkelson, A. C., Myers, S. A. & Hannawa, A. F. (2011). The differential use of relational maintenance behaviors in adult sibling relationships. Communication Studies, 62, 258-271.

Alternative assignment document:

Alternative Assignment2.pdf