Week 1: Introduction

A Brief Introduction

Welcome to COMM 5115! Because of the coronavirus pandemic, COMM 5115 has moved online and will primarily be asynchronous. For more information on the course, please see the course syllabus.

I’m Prof. Sun and I’m an Associate Professor in the Department of Communication. I do empirical research in the areas of health communication, media effects, and meta-science. You can learn more about my work here if you are interested.

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Some Highlights from the Syllabus

Course Textbook

Your textbook is available on Canvas through Inclusive Access. It is a great resource and I highly encourage you to use it as we progress through the semester.

Additional readings will be available as PDFs on Canvas.

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Technology

  1. Ensure that you are familiar with Canvas. Set up your notifications according to your preferences. If you need help with Canvas, review this page.
  2. Check your University email account (unid@utah.edu) regularly. If you need to contact me, please email me at my Umail ().
  3. You will need a webcam and a microphone to participate in drop-in office hours. We will use Zoom for virtual office hours.
  4. The U’s Teaching & Learning Technologies recommends that you have the latest versions of at least two browsers installed. The preferred web browser is Google Chrome.

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Some Helpful Resources

Canvas Help

If you need help in Canvas, click the Help button in the right sidebar or contact:

Campus Help Desk

For help with UMail, uNID, VPN, Box, Office 365, and CIS log-in, contact the Campus Help Desk:

Help is available Monday through Saturday. Please visit the Campus Help Desk website for more information.

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Some Tips to Share

How to Read an Academic Paper

A major part of our class readings are academic articles published at peer-reviewed journals. Being able to understand these articles is a key to succeeding in this class. There may be a learning curve in the beginning, and please be patient with yourself. You may find this guide from Mike Ananny on tips for reaching an academic paper helpful.

Note-taking for Success in College

I recommend taking notes while you review the content online. This will help you learn and recall material.

One note-taking system that you might consider trying is the Cornell system. This system is detailed in the book below:

Pauk, W., & Owens, R. J. Q. (2013). How to Study in College (11 edition). Cengage Learning.

Your Tasks This Week

Please do read the syllabus very carefully and preview the Week 2 readings so that you get a sense of this course. The collection of articles in Week 2 are meant to provide an idea of the kinds of readings you’ll encounter during this semester. Briefly, we will be reading social scientific theories and empirical research on different aspects of message design in health communication contexts. Most of the readings report empirical findings from quantitative research studies.

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Week 2: Overview_ Theory and Research

Greetings

Social Science vs. Common Sense

Why do we need social science? Isn’t everything obvious?

Understanding the journal articles

Overview

DeSantis & Morgan (2003)

“Cigar Aficionado … not simply a magazine about the good life, but … a major source of cognitive-dissonance reduction.” (p. 462)

Cialdini (2003)

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Week 3: Extended Parallel Process Model

An Introduction to EPPM

Explaining EPPM

Botta et al. (2008)

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Week 4: Emotional Appeals

Using Emotions to Persuade

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Bleakley et al. (2015) & Mediation Analyses

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Week 5: Attitude-Behavior Relationship

Part I

Part II

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Week 6: Narratives

Week 8: Framing

Part I

Part II

Part III

Week 9: Sensation seeking & Inoculation

Part I

Part II: Watch Kenneth Carter’s TEDx Talk on Sensation Seeking

Part III:

Week 10: Stage of Change; Targeting & Tailoring

Click to see Week 10 Powerpoint slides