Fielding Graduate University

All new students must complete a series of orientation activities designed to prepare students for success in the program. Online activities provide an overview of program requirements, library resources, and the online learning environment. These activities include an overview of professional conduct expectations, and how students will be assessed throughout their program regarding those expectations. During a six-day in-person orientation, students work with faculty and advanced students, primarily in a small group format, to familiarize new students with our learning model and to help new students develop a personalized and sequenced plan of studies called a Learning Plan. Your Learning Plan serves as a blueprint of your individual graduate studies specifically in relation to the program's requirements and your academic background, prior professional training, and special interests.

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The purpose of the Media Psychology Practicum is to obtain skills in the hands-on application of theory, technology and practice of media applications necessary to conduct independent research in the field of media psychology. The practicum includes experience in any relevant phase of research, creation, production or assessment under the direct supervision of a Media Psychology faculty member and/or an accredited professional in the media or enabling technology industries. The purpose of this requirement is to complement the more didactic and independent learning about media that occurs in other contexts in order to develop the student's media competencies. The amount and types of practicum training necessary to achieve those competencies will vary as a function of the entering student's prior research education, training, and experience. Regardless of the student's entry-level competence, the minimum practicum experience is 120 hours. The student may require more than the minimum hours of training in order to develop the competencies needed to conceptualize and carry out doctoral-level research and application. Media Psychology practicum training activities follow an apprenticeship model and include the following types of activities: (a) serving as an apprentice or an assistant to a qualified media producer; (b) assisting another student with supervised dissertation research or application under the supervision of that student's dissertation committee chair; (c) conducting a pre-dissertation media application under faculty supervision; (d) participating in a Fielding-sponsored institutional media project; (e) participation in Hands-On Media Labs offered at research and national sessions, in clusters, and online; (f) collaborate in the actual production, editing and/or engineering of a media or multimedia project; (g) participating in the research, design and production of a presentation for delivery before a professional audience or specialty application; (h) any other applied media activity approved by a Media Psychology faculty member.

For the written portion of the qualifying exam, the student selects a central dissertation question, preparing an in-depth written analysis using methodological and theoretical analysis and scholarly argument.

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For the oral portion of the exam the student defends the written analysis in front of the QE committee, either in person at a session, or via WebEx, Skype or other suitable electronic means. The committee then votes on the student's readiness to advance to the dissertation work.

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When the dissertation is approved by the dissertation committee, a Final Oral Review (FOR) is scheduled. Here the student makes a formal presentation of his/her dissertation. This includes a brief summary of the literature review, the reasons for the study and specific hypotheses, methods, results, and recommendations. Following the FOR, the committee may accept the dissertation or agree to require further revisions. The FOR is open to the entire community, and attendees are given the opportunity to question the student on his/her methods and findings. These meetings are well attended and provide other students with exposure to models for successfully completing the dissertation process.

Pre-requisites: Dissertation Proposal Approval

Completion of this course signifies the student has a full dissertation committee and is working on their dissertation proposal.

Pre-requisites: PSY-700

Completion of this course signifies the full dissertation committee has reviewed the final draft of the dissertation and has indicated it is ready to be proofread and prepared for binding.

Students are required to obtain a minimum of 200 hours of research training experience prior to the approval of the dissertation proposal. This 200-hour research practicum consists of supervised, hands-on applied research training acquired through HOTLabs (Hands- On-Training labs), team research projects, and research projects at various organizations. Students with substantial prior research experience should plan their 200 hours to develop skills in new areas. All research practicum hours must be reviewed and pre-approved (i.e., before the students begins the practicum), with the exception of HOTLabs. Approval of acquired hours is also required upon completion of the research practicum for these hours to be recorded as complete. Hours are recorded as the ratio of 40 clock hours equals one semester credit.

Students are expected to demonstrate a thorough understanding of the components of critical thinking and the ability to apply these skills. Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to accurately evaluate claims, evidence, and conclusions and to develop coherent, well-articulated, convincing, formal arguments.

All students are expected to possess the ability to conduct scholarly inquiry and to understand complex research problems and issues. This course provides an overview of research epistemology and ethics, as well as the assumptions that underlie scientific inquiry. Students are expected to be familiar with major research methodologies and designs and to be competent at critiquing existing research studies. Mastery of this content is fundamental to dissertation research.

This is a prerequisite for PSY-717. Course content covers basic concepts and measures in descriptive and inferential statistics, including the chi-square test, t-tests, one-way ANOVA, and bivariate regression and correlation analysis. Students typically demonstrate competence in this course by a written multiple-choice examination.

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All students are expected to have a solid under- standing of common statistical procedures and choose appropriate procedures for analyzing research data. This course develops familiarity with univariate and multivariate tests, including MANOVA and multiple regression, as well as critiques of/alternatives to null hypothesis significance testing. Students learn to manipulate data sets using appropriate statistical software.

Pre-requisites: PSY-716 or 716A

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Pre-requisites: PSY-680 Research Practicum (200 clock hours/5 credits) and 6 credits of Research Skills Seminars.

This course represents student engagement in the dissertation process from concept to the final dissertation as planned with and evaluated by the chairperson.

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Normal human development across the lifespan is examined in this course. Included are the major theories and contributors to the understanding of emotions, cognition, language, social behavior, moral reasoning, intelligence, sex roles, and identity. Students analyze how different development approaches/models might conceptualize a given topic of interest.

This course offers a historical understanding of the field of psychology with attention to its major systems and the individuals who contributed to its evolution as an organized discipline. Students demonstrate independent and critical thinking and examine how psychological theory, methods of inquiry, and professional practice are historically and culturally embedded.

This course explores major personality theories, the status of knowledge regarding personality variables and primary schools of psychotherapy and behavior change. Students evaluate emic (culture-specific) and etic (universal) hypotheses related to clients from identified groups and develop accurate clinical conceptualizations.

The functioning of the individual within the context of the social environment is examined in this course. It comprises an appraisal of current research and theory in the sub-areas of social psychology, including perception of self and others, interpersonal relationships, group dynamics, attitudes and social behaviors, and cultural/sexual roles.

Students investigate how human behavior is shaped and modulated by cognition, affect, and their interaction. Findings from the fields of perception, motivation, language, memory, and learning are covered. Topics include artificial intelligence, fuzzy logic, metacognition, Gestalt theory, Gibson's ecological view, and Marr's computational approach.

This course surveys the structural and functional relations of the central nervous system, physiology, sensory processes, and behavior. Study is divided into two subsections: (1) physiological psychology and (2) evolution, genetics, and behavior. Students become familiar with the biology of memory and the biological/genetic aspects of psychiatric disorders.

This course presents approaches to the systematic description of psychological disorders: historic- al, sociopolitical, medical, behavioral, and epidemiological. Topics include the nosological system (DSM-IV), the differential diagnoses among its subcategories, etiology, possible alternatives to the existing system, and research in this field.

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This course addresses the implications of a multi- cultural perspective for developing improved approaches to social and individual problems and intergroup and international conflict. The aim of this course is to progress toward intercultural competence in the theory and practice of clinical psychology.

Qualitative research usually involves analyzing text from transcribed interviews, focus groups, reports, field notes, and other sources. This course focuses on computer software that extracts patterns and meaning from large amounts of text. Most students learn NVivo, a further development of NUD*IST. Training sessions on NVivo are available at research and national sessions. Students may learn other packages with the agreement of their assessor.

Pre-requisites: PSY-701A

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Quantitative data analysis software programs have simplified storing, processing, and analyzing large amounts of research data. This course helps students become competent in the use of software such as SPSS. Training sessions on SPSS are available at research and national sessions. Students may learn other packages with the agreement of their assessor.

Pre-requisites: PSY-716 or 716A and PSY-701A or 701.

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This course might include coursework in qualitative interviewing, qualitative data analysis, qualitative data presentation, construction of data collection instruments, and advanced research methodology. The specific content of this course must be negotiated and approved with a faculty member using an assessment contract.

Pre-requisites: PSY-701B

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This course might include coursework in causal modeling, classification methods, multi-level modeling, etc. The specific content of this course must be negotiated and approved with a faculty member using an assessment contract.

Pre-requisites: PSY-717

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The purpose of this course is for students to learn the theory and practice of quantitative analysis of textual messages. The course focus is on analysis of messages in public media and documents, in person-to-person communications, and in open-ended responses in questionnaires. Students will learn to select messages which relate to a research question, analyze those messages with the SPSS Text Analysis software, and report findings.

Pre-requisites: PSY-716A or 716 and PSY-701A or 701.

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The problem of mediation, filters, organization, and censorship has often been studied as attributes of mass media. And yet, this issue is seminal to the study of cognition and how we process information. For the purposes of this course, perception will be broadly defined as the relationship between images and words that characterizes human thought and cognition. Using the psychology of advertising and photography as a point of departure, we will discuss selection, grouping, illusion and ambiguity as processes of visual perception, and briefly explore the role of memory and embedded subliminals in perception. This course will explore filters that occur at the level of personality and because perception involves words, we will discuss how words and rhetoric influence what we see. This discussion of mediation at the individual level will be integrated within the context of ideological, sociological, structural and cultural filters that occur at the level of mass media. The aim will be to show how mass media and audience effects are dependent on the psychology of cognition. In this course you will explore and consider possible alternatives to the problem of mediated perception for both media systems and cognition.

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Broadly defined, social psychology looks at how people think and influence each other. If we think of mass media as cultural centers that influence public opinion and attitudes, then social psychology is inherently tied to the study of mass media communications. This course will provide students with an overview of social psychological processes as they are related to issues in mass media. We will explore processes of self concept formation, the formation of judgments, explanations, and expectations, along with an exploration of attitudes and behavior, and social identity embedded within the context of mass media influence and new media interactions. We will then turn to the core relationship that exists between media and social psychology: the study of social influence. We will explore conformity and minority influence as paradigms for passive and active resistance to influence and discuss the micro processes behind the creation of norms and standards. How do these processes of influence play out in various forms of media today? Finally we will explore the important relationship between media contents and attitudes, opinions, and behavior. Other topics discussed include: video games, violence-aggression, prejudice and the social psychology of social networks.

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Media serve as vehicles for the communication of messages to audiences who interpret the meaning of the messages. The meanings intended by those who craft a message and the meanings understood by those who receive the message draw on a shared cultural repertoire of background codes and rules. This common background contains understandings of what words and images stand for and the kinds of meanings assumed by various presentation formats; e.g., scientific writing, narratives, poems, movies, twitters, and web-pages. The cultural background through which signs and symbols are linked to meanings is termed the semiosphere and its study is termed semiology. The content of this KA draws on the concepts and theories of semiology and their relationship to the crafting and interpretation of media.

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Media is called upon to define the public agenda. Interactive and social media get a great deal of attention and in many instances supplant print, radio, and television, yet major questions remain unanswered. How do voters and consumers actually process information? What is the connection between political technique, political conviction, and appeal to the heart and to the mind? This course focuses on political psychology and what happens when reason and emotion collide. How does one side in the political debate claim the political narrative? At first look these approaches to narrative and agenda setting appear to be uniquely American. But American-style political messages and spin are being sold to the world - and the world is buying.

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This course covers the basics of media literacy, which is defined simply as “understanding how to identify, evaluate, and apply the techniques of media persuasion.” This course addresses the theories of Marshall McLuhan and other media ecologists, and considers structured approaches to assessing the social impacts of media and other kinds of technology. Questions addressed may include: How does the evolving nature of media impact the nature of literacy? How do we critically examine technologies in order to understand their impacts, reactively and proactively? How is “the medium the message” and how does the nature of a medium impact the nature of the message it conveys? Students may be involved in creating media, as well using social media as part of the class structure. For more information about the course, go to the course website: https://sites.google.com/site/mediapsych724e/

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This course extends the study of brain chemistry into the topic of drugs and the chemical treatment of emotional and behavior disorders. This course provides an overview of drugs and biological interventions commonly used in clinical practice, their underlying brain mechanisms, and the research to support their effectiveness.

Pre-requisites: PSY-707

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This course addresses the wide-ranging discipline of clinical neuropsychology. This field is represented by four emerging areas: the classic analysis of behavioral sequelae to brain damage, including substance abuse; pathology from slow development of specific cognitive functions; neuropsychological deficits based on unusual learning histories which have no organic basis; and the developing and aging brain.

Pre-requisites: PSY-707

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This course covers the structure and function of the various portions of the brain, what lies next to what, and what does what. Knowledge from this course will help students estimate the structures involved in a given trauma and the functions that are expected to be disrupted by it.

Pre-requisites: PSY-706, PSY-707

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This course recognizes the broadening role of psychologists in health care settings. Students examine psychological principles and interventions to treat and prevent illness, promote health, and analyze and improve the health care system. Topics include research on the interaction of psychology, biology, sociology, anthropology, economics, and the environment, as well as controversies, current research, and interventions in the field.

The development of language takes place from birth to adulthood and is directly linked to cognitive and cultural variables that can be understood from multiple perspectives. Language disorders, on the other hand, may involve central deficits in phonemics, semantics, syntax, morphology, and pragmatics. This course focuses on the basic concepts of language development in the early school age years and different forms of language and reading deficits and their remediation.

Pre-requisites: PSY-706, PSY-707.

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This knowledge area addresses the underlying neurological and organic bases, psychological ramifications, and neuropsychological consequences of common neurological disorders.

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This course embraces historical and cross-cultural views of the complex and changing social unit known as the family, dealing with contemporary theories and current issues in marriage and family therapy.

Pre-requisites: PSY-711A

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Positive psychology is an orientation to the field of psychology going beyond the emphasis on illness and pathology and instead examines areas such as happiness, well-being, optimism, and fulfillment. The course readings will examine topics including strength, virtue, and positive institutions; subjective well-being and happiness; the science of happiness; self-esteem; hope and optimism; resiliency; humor, flow, and emotional intelligence; creativity; and the role of religiosity.

This course helps students develop skills that form one of the cornerstones of scholarship as well as provide a thoughtful approach to every aspect of life. Students identify their existing critical thinking skills and learning needs and obtain an understanding of metacognition, which forms the foundation for critical thinking skill development.

This course assists both new students who wish to develop their graduate-level writing skills and ongoing students who wish to polish their skills.

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The underpinnings of scientific psychology foster inquiry into the fundamental forces that shape human thought, emotion, and action. This knowledge area entails study of the philosophical and methodological contexts within which our science has developed and which guide psychological inquiry.

Special elective course number that may be designed and offered as appropriate in response to current issues, trends, and events. Each offering is a one-time course that may take advantage of a current issue, pilot a new course, or one-time colloquium. Title and content will vary.

Students may propose and develop an independent study contract in subject areas or sub-areas of psychology not encompassed by another course.

The objective of this course is the development of information and attitudes that enable psychologists to deal effectively with sexual problems and sex-related issues presented to them. Topics include the physiology of sexual behavior, sexual development, and treatment of psychologically based sexual disorders.

This course considers a wide range of issues that affect the mental and social functioning of the aged. Topics include mental illnesses related to aging and other health issues that influence social, physical, and mental functioning, as well as social attitudes, stereotypes, and bias related to this stage of life.

Forensic psychology applies psychological art and science to legal and quasi-legal problems. This course addresses principles that underlie the use of psychologists in legal problem solving and the growth of forensic psychology. Topics include the role of forensic specialists in child psychology, neuropsychology, abnormal psychology, and psychological measurement.

Pre-requisites: PSY-708, PSY-709

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Includes an approved project or paper where the student examines a particular area of interest in depth.

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Every new medium introduces new forms of narrative. Immersive media (IM), augmented reality (AR), transmedia storytelling, and more, create tremendous media disruption - and tremendous opportunity. Internet 1.0 (1994 - 2000) was all about the great disruption of a hyperlinked world, which was quickly watered down to online shopping. Internet 2.0 (2004 - 2009) was the decade it took to figure out what to do with a networked, rich web app, social media world. The advent (2009 - present) of IM, and particularly AR, is where broadband enabled mobile technology makes the Internet inescapable offering pitfall and promise. As we rapidly move toward a future where wireless is embedded in everything around us, these media innovations, combined with the modern tablets and smart phones, empower the user with extraordinary capabilities. In theory, almost anyone can know almost anything almost anywhere. This increased transparency leads to reduced privacy, timely access to information breeds constant access to entertainment and we can trust product marketers to use and abuse the medium. Can these developments be used to increase the cognitive understanding of social concerns? Can location based information (GIS) and spatial psychology be used to increase our cognitive relationship to physical place? What is the social impact of real time data delivery? This seminar recasts Marshal McLuhan's famous axiom where the device becomes the message. Public and private organizations as well as foundations and NGOs are adding GIS competence and functions. This development, combined with a layer of real time information accessed through immersive media and augmented reality, addresses the demand for media strategists rather than technologists. In this seminar, these new innovations are brought to life through case studies, research findings and a myriad of applications, product demos and false starts. It draws on the foundations of psychology that lead to effective data visualization, application design, increased human understanding and most importantly mobile advocacy. This revolution will not be televised.

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This course examines how new media narrative both observes and adds to traditional forms of storytelling. Students create reflective media, using planning tools that help them visualize the overall arc and map of a story, as well as describe the media components of their stories in order to integrate and align media and narrative, deliberately and reflectively. The media that students produce is zero budget media in that students are not expected to have or use equipment beyond their own laptop and digital camera. In addition, students read narrative theory, synthesize their own concepts in this area, and present their findings in written work, particularly as it applies to their professional practice. For more information about the course, go to the course website: https://sites.google.com/site/mediapsychstoryfall2010/main_page

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Designed to allow for a diverse array of electives. Each assessment involves an individual special topic agreed between the student and the faculty member. Students may choose from a large array of electives that reflect theories on psychology as applied to the media. These may be applied to media technologies in practica, research projects, and special studies in media effects. The current list of topics is available on our Web site.

This course involves a review of pertinent research literature from the study of media effects. Some sample topics include court cases and legal principles involving such issues as freedom of expression, protected and unprotected speech, libel, obscenity, privacy, commercial expression, copyright, intellectual property, and related issues. The course will assist participants in developing an understanding of psychological theories that pertain to culture, the law, and media.

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This KA explores the relationship between media, public opinion and the comparative and competitive identity of nations, regions and cultures. Ever sense the introduction of "nation branding" in the mid - 1990s, there has been growing interest in the notion that countries, regions and cultures can build and maintain their own images. There is very little agreement on how, or even if, the techniques of brand management can apply to places. There is broad agreement, however, that the effect and power of the media drives public opinion in one direction or another toward a conclusion about the quality, openness, and desirability of visiting, doing business with or entering into agreements with a nation, region or culture. Just how is this public opinion "framed" and how can it be changed? What determines whether the media will accept of reject a countries perspective on how it would like to be viewed? What are the ways that encourage the open exchange of ideas between governments and the media and between the media and the public? What consequences does this new media environment have for how a country sees itself and how others see it?

Higher education is seeking those who both create innovative media psychology, emerging media and related content and are familiar with on-line delivery platforms. This seminar is designed to address emerging technology and the creation of virtual courseware for those seeking to deliver educational experiences within degree programs, private executive development and international development programs. Both advanced doctoral students and recent graduates are finding tremendous value in preparing for online course delivery. This seminar includes: -Comparative delivery platforms and forum management -Fully annotated syllabus development -Keys to innovative course content -Topic specific literature review -Managing your professional online identity

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The Research Intensive (RSS01 & RSS20) is composed of two working groups, one focusing on qualitative data analysis and one focusing on quantitative data analysis. Students meet as one group at the beginning (to learn something about both quantitative and qualitative approaches to research) and then again at the end of the session (to share the results of the research studies). In between students meet separately to develop either quantitative or qualitative research reports. Each session utilizes a unique research topic that is approached both qualitatively and quantitatively. Students may take both RSS01 & RSS20 for credit.

Pre-requisites: PSY-716A

This research skills seminar will provide didactic material on using evidence, making and organizing a scholarly argument , and synthesizing the existing literature. The seminar includes a number of writing and conceptualization exercises to create a scholarly argument for a proposed new study based on several articles provided by the instructor. Developing a scholarly argument is an essential skill required in writing scholarly papers for other classes as well as for the development of a dissertation or any other research report.

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In this course students will learn the theory and practice of questionnaire construction, whether creating a simple background questionnaire, or developing more complex instruments. The focus of this seminar will be to design questionnaires to be used for research purposes rather than clinical applications. Students will also get practice and guidance on using Word or WordPerfect to format questionnaires in a way that invites participants to complete them and avoid confusion, which can lead to unusable responses. Web-applications are also covered.

Introduces students to the two potential formats for School of Psychology dissertations. Helps student understand what information should be contained in the various chapters and sections of a dissertation using either format. Provides extensive training in the logic and methods for table construction using APA format.

This lab is designed to help students prepare research publications and presentations. Differences among outlets will be discussed (e.g. refereed journals, books, book chapters, posters, panel presentations, individual presentations). All significant aspects of the process will be covered, including planning and preparation, authorship issues, developing the proposal, the review process, writing the actual article or presentation, visual aids, and making the presentation. Students should come prepared with either a plan for a presentation or publication based on actual work, or a fictional plan. Details will be sent to registered students in advance of the lab.

Guides students through all phases of the data analysis process using SPSS. We will begin with the assumption that you have developed a research question and hypotheses and have collected the data needed to test these questions and hypotheses. I will first present an example and conduct an analysis as you follow. You will then conduct a similar analysis on your own. We will focus on two main data analytic procedures, multiple regression analysis, and factorial analysis of variance and the steps that must be completed prior to executing these procedures. These include assessing the accuracy of the data, dealing with missing data, assessing the effects of outliers, and assessing the adequacy of the fit between data characteristics and the assumptions of the statistical procedure. We will also construct a scale and assess the psychometric properties of that scale.

Pre-requisites: PSY-717

Introduces students to the concept of statistical power and explores the relationships between power, sample size, and effect size. Students will learn to answer the question, "How many subjects do I need?" At the completion of the seminar students will (a) understand the concepts of statistical power, (b) be able to calculate sample size for several different types of analysis, and (c) be able to write a justification for a proposed sample size in a grant or dissertation proposal. Prerequisites are Psychology 716/716A & 717. Students must have a laptop computer available with SPSS. A post-session assignment must be completed to receive research practicum credit.

Pre-requisites: PSY-717

Introduces students to the concepts of moderation and mediation. The student will learn how to test moderating and mediating relations using both ANOVA and multiple regression models. Prerequisites are Psychology 716/716A & 717. Students must have a laptop computer available with SPSS. A post-session assignment must be completed to receive research practicum credit.

Pre-requisites: PSY-717

Pre-requisites: PSY-717

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Pre-requisites: PSY-717, PSY-RSS08

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Pre-requisites: PSY-717

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The Capstone RSS is meant to provide students an opportunity to demonstrate the research skills necessary for approaching their own dissertations or independent research. Students participating in the Capstone RSS will complete a study of childhood resilience utilizing a publicly available dataset. References that detail potential models and highlight theoretical issues for the study of this topic will be provided. Participants will have three months to complete the project, with milestones and feedback provided. This seminar is meant only for advanced students who, at a minimum, have completed Psychology 716/716A and 717.

Pre-requisites: PSY-717

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The Research Intensive (RSS01 & RSS20) is composed of two working groups, one focusing on qualitative data analysis and one focusing on quantitative data analysis. Students meet as one group at the beginning (to learn something about both quantitative and qualitative approaches to research) and then again at the end of the session (to share the results of the research studies). In between students meet separately to develop either quantitative or qualitative research reports. Each session utilizes a unique research topic that is approached both qualitatively and quantitatively. Students may take both RSS01 & RSS20 for credit.

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This seminar will be conducted primarily as a workshop, the goal of which will be to reflect upon and to improve our skills as interviewers in the context of qualitative research. Such interviewing has as its goal an in-depth understanding of another person and attempts to understand what is not said as well as what is. In this seminar, we will take up the problems of orienting to the interview through a clear conceptualization of the research question and we will consider the interrelationship between the theoretical context that frames the research and the actual interaction in the interview with the participant. Taking a close look at the interview itself, we will focus on understanding the interpersonal process and thinking about how best to invite the data. Throughout, we will keep in mind the question: What does it mean to know another person? Students will conduct interviews and receive feedback about their interviewing strengths and will explore the interpersonal aspects of the interviews they conduct. Each seminar member should be prepared both to interview other people and also to be a subject of an interview. There will be a written assignment between the first and second day-long class sessions. Students should come to the seminar having completed the assigned readings and also outfitted with a voice recording device.

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This seminar focuses on reading and interpreting narrative texts for research purposes. We will spend most of the time doing a close reading of the text of one or two interviews, preferably ones that are part of a student's ongoing research. The seminar is open to those who are engaged in doing narrative research, preparing to do so or curious about it.

Pre-requisites: PSY-RSS21

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This seminar provides an overview of software programs to assist in the organization and analysis of qualitative data from interviews, open-ended questionnaires, field notes, or other materials. Sample software that will be discussed and evaluated includes ATLAS.ti, NVivo, and Dedoose. Students will be taught the advantages and disadvantages of using computer programs to incorporate and analyze qualitative data, including photos, videos, and audio files, and how to conduct these analyses.

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Content analysis is a method for analyzing data collected as texts or images. It is used in studies in which one or more of the variables is the content of newspaper articles, emails, social media messages, blogs, photos, television programs, videos, motion pictures, etc. The analysis identifies major themes and categories that appear in the data and determines how often they are present. The categorization is conducted either by trained raters or computer software such as Leximancer or CATPAC. Statistical procedures are conducted to test a hypothesized relationship between the content of different texts or images or between the text and reader or between images and viewers. The workshop includes conducting a class content analysis study.

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This research skills seminar provides an overview of different approaches to analyzing qualitative data. A number of exercises to apply each of the different analytic approaches will be included.

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