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Suggested Curriculum in Persuasion and Social Influence

Students with a specialization in Persuasion and Social Influence fullfill requirements specified by the Department of Communication for the Masters or PhD degrees. The structure of the masters and PhD degree requirements call for each student to have an individualized program of study approved by their own advisory committee. In addition, students find quickly that graduate study is a total learning experience that is not confined to taking courses. Thus, in its specific details each program is individualized for the student's research interests. This page is designed to provide a flavor for how students interested in persuasion and social influence proceed toward receipt of their degrees within the requirements. These requirements describe the work of a full-time gradfuate student.

Preparation for Graduate Study in Persuasion and Social Influence

An undergraduate degree in Communication is not necessary for your study of Persuasion and Social Influence.  We do expect, however, that students will have the following preparation:

• COMM 475, or its equivalent.  This is a basic course in theories of persuasion at the junior-senior level
• A basic understanding of statistics.  Generally students should have had a basic undergraduate statistics course.

Students without this preparation will be provisionally admitted to the program with these courses required during their first year.  Doctoral students need not have had a masters degree in persuasion, but the same expectations of preparation apply.

Your First Year (MA and PhD):  Acquiring the Basics

During the first year of your program you will acquire basic theory and methods that will aid your pursuit of your research agenda.  Typically the first year courses are the following:

Fall Semester

• COMM 700  Introduction to Graduate Study (3 cr)
• COMM 775  Seminar in Persuasion and Attitude Change (3 cr)
• COMM 686  Teaching Communication (1 cr)

In addition, students take one elective course this semester.  Among the options are:

• Those who lack statistical background should enhance their statistical knowledge with appropriate courses.  Generally, students pursuing Persuasion and Social Influence should complete one of the following two course sequences or have completed such a sequence before arriving on campus:  EDMS 645 and 646; GVPT622 and 722; PSYC 601 and 602; PUAF 610 and 611; SOC 601 and 602; or SURV 601 and 602.
• MA students begin fulfillment of their MA methods requirement by enrolling in COMM 711  Historical and Critical Methods (3 cr) or COMM 714  Introduction to Qualitative Methods in Communication (3 cr).
• Others often take a course inside or outside the department drawn from the list of supporting courses.
• Students should also plan to attend the department's Quantitative Brown Bag and Research Colloquium programs.

Masters students complete a Program of Study during this semester and have it approved by an advisory committee. The Plan shapes their program specifically to their interests.

Spring Semester

• COMM 600  Empirical Research in Communication (3 cr)  (PhD students may wish to take an alternative course if they have had this material earlier.)
• COMM 602  Communication Theory (3 cr)  (Students who have completed a comparable course may be exempted from this course by their committee.)
• COMM 779  Special Topics in Persuasion and Attitude Change (3 cr) (Another course appropriate for persuasion students may be substituted in the course offerings during some springs.)
• COMM 879  Special Research Problems in Persuasion and Attitude Change (1 cr); or COMM 798  Independent Study (1 cr). (This one credit course with a persuasion faculty member will begin your work on a research team or preparation for your own independent research work.)

Those who do not take one of these courses substitute for it:

• A supporting course in persuasion theory or its application
• A supporting course in methods and statistics

Doctoral students complete a Program of Study during this semester and have it approved by an advisory committee. The plan shapes their program specifically to their interests. Masters students need to make a final decision on thesis or non-thesis option and propose their thesis research project to their committee if the thesis option is chosen.

For information on typical second years select: Masters                  Doctoral

Your Second MA Year:  Completing the Degree

During your second year, you should complete the courses approved by your committee for your masters program. More importantly, you should move beyond your courses to complete your research projects. This is the year in which your choices mold your program to your specific interests.

Completing Course Requirements

During your first year you should have completed all twelve hours required of all MA students (COMM 700, 600, 602, and either 711 or 714), and earned eight additional hours toward your degree.  In this final year you will typically enroll in:

• COMM 775 Seminar in Persuasion and Attitude Change (3 cr) (if you did not take it during your first year)
• COMM 779 Special Topics in Persuasion and Attitude Change (3 cr) (repeatable even if you had it during your first year if subject matter is changed)
• COMM 879 Special Research Problems in Persuasion and Attitude Change (1-4 credit each enrollment), including participation in the Quantoid Brown Bag and your work on research projects
• Any remaining courses to complete your statistical knowledge
• At least one course outside the department, if you did not take a course during your first year.
• If you are doing a thesis, you will take six hours of COMM 799 Master's Thesis
• If you are not doing a thesis, you may wish to take three hours of COMM 798  Independent Study to provide time for your research and examination assignments
• You should fill out your degree (up to 30 hours, although most of our students accumulate 40 hours by the end of the second year) with courses drawn from the supporting courses list.

Completing Research and Examination Requirements

In addition to completing course requirements, your second year should carry you toward an active program of research. 

If you are doing a non-thesis MA, you must complete a research paper as a part of the degree.  This "seminar paper" requirement usually involves the revision of a paper that you prepared in a research seminar during your coursework.  You will work with your adviser on the project.  The faculty recommends that you complete this assignment during your first semester of your second year.  In addition, during your final semester you must complete a comprehensive examination over persuasion and social influence.  Usually students find it necessary to review course notes and do additional reading in their specific area of research interest to finish the examination.  These assignments point you in the direction of a program of research as part of your degree.

If you choose to do a thesis as part of the MA, our faculty recommends that you locate a research project for the thesis during the second semester of your first year in the program.  Students who have not located a research project by that time are discouraged from pursuing the thesis option.  Normally bringing the project to completion will take at least a year and thus will delay your graduation beyond the second year.  You will then prepare a formal proposal for the research project and present it to your committee during the first semester of your second year.  A final oral examination is then held after completion of the project.

Your second PhD Year:  Developing Your Program of Research

Having laid the groundwork for your research during the first year, the second year of the PhD program should focus you toward a specific research interest that can become your dissertation project.  You need to work during your second year toward the following:

Develop a Line of Research

By the time you reach your second year you should have begun narrowing your study to a specific topic for your dissertation.  Much of your work during the second year, courses and research projects, will point you toward developing a direction of research that will carry you into your dissertation. To assist in this process you should be active on research teams and/or your own research projects. COMM 879  Special Research Problems in Persuasion and Attitude Change (1-4 cr) is an avenue for credit for this work.

Develop Advanced Methods in Research

As a PhD student in persuasion and social influence you are expected to complete COMM 702 Intermediate Quantitative Data Analysis in Communication Research:  The General Linear Model (3 cr) and COMM 703  Advanced Quantitative Data Analysis in Communication Research:  Structural Equation Models  (3 cr).  Enrolling in these courses will require that you have basic statistical knowledge.  Beyond this basic statistical knowledge and COMM 702 and COMM 703, you are expected to take two courses that provide skill in methods to be employed in your dissertation project.  The supporting courses list includes courses our students often take to fulfill this requirement.

Supplement your work with Study in Other Disciplines

Our PhD students must complete a cognate of at least six hours.  Normally this work will be taken in one department, although students can propose a cognate of related courses from two different departments.  The supporting courses list includes courses from other departments with which our students expand their knowledge of persuasion and social influence.

Complete courses in COMM that prepare you for the dissertation work

During the plan of study process your advisory committee will identify courses in communication (at least 15 hours) that will help prepare you for your dissertation project in persuasion and social influence.  Of course, many of these hours will be in COMM 775, 779, and 879. This preparation will be completed with courses in the department that provide work in application of persuasion theory. The supporting courses list indicates courses that our students have taken to acquire this applied and supplementary knowledge.

Your Area Examination

Toward the end of your second year or at the beginning of your third year in the program you will write your four hour examination in persuasion and social influence.  This examination demonstrates your mastery of the area of study.

Your Subsequent Years of PhD Study:  The Dissertation Project

The PhD degree requires completion of a major project of original research: the PhD dissertation.  After passing your area examination, you will proceed to the dissertation work. 

The Proposal Stage

This process begins with preparation of additional examinations and a proposal for the PhD project.  You must satisfy your committee that you (1) have mastered the methods required for your project, (2) have mastered the previous research that contextualizes your PhD research, and (3) have clearly defined your research project and its value.  You do this in a stage that requires completion of examinations and preparation of a dissertation proposal.  We urge students to complete this stage by the end of the first semester of their third year in the PhD program.

The Dissertation Research

The research for the dissertation is then conducted following the protocol of the proposal.  After completion of the dissertation, a process we expect you will complete within six months to two years, you will have an oral examination over your dissertation.  Your completion of this major research project indicates that you have achieved a level of sophistication as a researcher to receive the discipline's highest degree.

Supporting Courses in Persuasion and Social Influence

The following are courses that our students in Persuasion and Social Influence have taken in the past in support of their work. Other courses may well be relevant to your work and may be listed on your program subject to the approval of your Advisory Committee.

• Persuasion Theory and its Application
  • COMM 625  Negotiation (3 cr), or if not available, COMM 425 Negotiation (3 cr)
  • COMM 626  Conflict Management (3 cr)
  • COMM 683  Theories in Intercultural Communication (3 cr)
  • COMM 724  Seminar in Organizational Communication (3 cr)
  • COMM 730  Seminar in Health Communication (3 cr)
  • COMM 738  Mediated Communication (3 cr)
  • COMM 760  Seminar in Political Communication  (3 cr) (when appropriate)
• Courses from Other Departments in Persuasion Theory and its Applications
  • HLTH 665 Health Behavior I (3 cr)
  • HLTH 666 Health Behavior II (3 cr)
  • JOUR 601 Theories of Journalism and Public Communication (3 cr)
  • PSYC 604 Fundamentals of Social Psychology (3 cr)
  • PSYC 741 Attitude Change (3 cr)
  • PSYC 743 Social Cognition (3 cr)
  • PSYC 748 Seminar in Social Psychology (3 cr) (depending on topic)
  • SOCY 634 Attitudes and Public Opinion (3 cr)
  • SOCY 647 Interpersonal Behavior and Small Groups (3 cr)
  • SOCY 719 Advanced Special Topics in Social Psychology (3 cr) (depending on topic)
• Methods and Statistics
  • COMM 702  Intermediate Quantitative Data Analysis in Communication Research:  The General Linear Model (3 cr)
  • COMM 703  Advanced Quantitative Data Analysis in Communication Research:  Structural Equation Models  (3 cr)
• Courses from Other Departments in Methods and Statistics
  • EDMS 657 Factor Analysis (3 cr)
  • EDMS 722 Structural Modeling (3 cr)
  • SURV 632 Social and Cognitive Foundations of Survey Measurement (3 cr)

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