Schedule and Assignments:  Sociology of Communications, Spring 2006
Links: Class Notes -   Course Syllabus  -  WEBCT   - class photo directory -  Instructor's email:  goertzel@camden.rutgers.edu

January 17.  First day of class.  Discussion of the Course Syllabus and the use of the Microcase software.   Using WEBCT and other departmental systems.  This is done by opening the Enrolling assignment and following the instructions.  The Enrolling assignment is due in WEBCT by 5 p.m. on January 24., but will be accepted for reduced credit after that time.   You must be enrolled in WEBCT by the instructor or the registrar's office, this course is not open enrollment.  Class photographs will be taken (see the photos from last year here) on  January 19.  If you have a digital photo you would like me to use, email it to me before the 19th.
Enrolling Assignment  - Due in WEBCT by 5 p.m. January 24.
 Open the assignment file (click on the link at the left) and follow the instructions.  This assignment must be submitted to the Assignment Dropbox on WEBCT.  You may not submit it by email file attachment or on paper.  This is because part of the assignment is to learn to use WEBCT.
Quiz One.  Opens January 17, closes January 23.
 Opens January 17, closes p.m. on January 26 .  You may take the quiz as many times as you like and the highest score counts.  No excuses for computer problems will be accepted if you do not start the quiz the first time at least a day before it is due.  It includes material from the Penguin Manual, Chapters 1 to 5.
January 19:   Discussion of the first five chapters of the Penguin Manual.
January 24 - "The Media is the Message"  Theories of Marshall McLuhan.  Reading Assignment:  Understanding McLuhan  Notes on McLuhan and "Are Newspapers Doomed?" (also on our WEBCT).  We will begin work on personal home pages using Yahoo Geocities (see the class notes for January 24 for instructions). 
Yahoo Assignments:
  1. Print out a copy of a personalized My Yahoo page and bring it to class, due Jan 24 or Jan 26.
  2. Open a Geocities Home Page and forward a copy of the confirmation letter Yahoo sends you with the URL of the page so I can add it to our class photo directory, due January 27.  See the Class Notes for instructions.
  3. Post a completed home page on Geocities similar to Fulano's with your picture and a paragraph with at least five working hyperlinks.  Due February 3.  I will check these on the Internet on February 3 or soon thereafter.  Yours should come up when you click on your name on our class photo directory page.
January 26 -   Do the Mass Media Shape Our Values.  Readings:  Herbert Schiller, "The Mind Managers" and Horace Newcomb and Paul Hirsch, "Television as a Cultural Forum" (distributed in class).  A Powerpoint summary is available in the "Taking Sides Powerpoints" folder on our WEBCT.
Quiz Two.  Open January 23, closes January 30.  Covers the readings from January 24 and 26. 
January 31 -  We will view the Purdue University Writing Labs powerpoints Finding Your Focus: The Writing Process  and begin work on the forming ideas for our five paragraph essays.
Brainstorming due January 31, completed on in class or posted to the Makeup Essays on the Discussion List on WEBCT within two days.  Described on the Makeup Assignments page. and Feb 2. 
Outline due Feb 2, cutoff Feb 5.  Use the Outline Form for 5 paragraph essays.  Submit to the Assignment Dropbox on WEBCT.  It is on time if you get it in on Feb 2, reduced credit for submissions up to Feb 5.  There is a sample outline in the class notes. 
February 2 - We will view the Purdue University Writing Labs powerpoint Organizing your Argument. and we will begin work on organizing our arguments.  
Quiz Three Closes February 6.  It covers Chapters 6 and 7 from the Brief Penguin Handbook, Second Edition.  If you have the first edition, you do not have this chapter 7.  There is a copy of it in the Software and Readings folder on our WEBCT.
February 7 - We will discuss Chapter 6, "Critical Reading and Viewing," and Chapter 7, "Analyzing Verbal and Visual Texts" from the Penguin Manual (second edition).  Note:  if you have the first edition of the Brief Penguin Handbook, it does not have this Chapter 7.  It is available in our WEBCT.   We will read and analyze President Bush's State of the Union Address. 
Quiz Four Closes February 14.  It covers Chapters 8, 9 and 10 in the Penguin Manual.
February 9 -   Video Triumph of the Nerds.  The WEB site for the video includes a transcript.  In class writing assignment.  
Five Paragraph Essay due in WEBCT on February 14.  The deadline will be strictly enforced with 20% deducted for each day that the essay is late.  It must follow the explicit instructions on the Five Paragraph Essay Assignment Guidelines page.
February 14 -  More Triumph of the Nerds. 
Quiz Five   Closes February 20.  Covers the Triumph of the Nerds and some related computer questions.  You can search the transcript  for answers if need be.
February 16 -   In class writing exercises using the Penguin manual.  Bring the manual. Reading, chapters 26 to 29 in the Penguin Manual.
In-class writing exercise for Feb 16.  If you miss class, complete this one your own, print it out and email it to me before the midterm..
February 21 -  Video, The Global Brain  by Peter Russell.  Reading Assignment:  Chapter 8 in Towards a Global Brain. and Methods and Approaches of Future Studies.    We will also have an in class writing exercise that will refer to the  video.  Anyone who misses class on February 21 should view the video on the web site, then open the exercise from WEBCT and complete it before class on Feb 23.
Writing About the Global Brain Quiz -  this was completed in class on February 21.  Anyone who missed class can make it up by taking it before the next class.  This is an essay quiz, so you get only one chance to take it.

Quiz Six:    Global Brain, Future Studies and Review for Midterm.  Closes February 27.
February 23 -   In class writing exercises.  Bring the Penguin manual.  Anyone missing class on February 23 should take the quiz in WEBCT by the end of the day on Friday, Feb 24.
Writing Exercise Feb 23 - a Webct Essay Quiz to be taken in class.  If you miss class, you must make it up by Friday, Feb 24 when it will close.
February 28 -   Midterm examination.  There will be two separate closed book WEBCT quizzes - one multiple choice, the other essay.
Writing Assignment:  Revise your five-paragraph essay and expand it to 750 words.  You should make three theoretical points referring to issues raised by Schiller, Newcomb or Hirsch, or Orum.   Submit it to the Assignment Dropbox in *.doc or *.rtf format by March 10.   Points deducted for other formats.  20% off for each day it is late.
March 2 -  Discussion of next writing assignment.  Reading:   Bush's Word to the Britons (as a model for a longer paper/speech).  Chapter 28 in the Penguin Manual.  Forging links across sentences (chapter 28 in the Penguin Manual.)  In-class exercise using Microcase software to analyze trends.
Microcase Trends assignment, to be done in class on March 2 and submitted to WEBCT by Friday, March 3.
March 7 -  Work with Microcase and Excel. 
Excel Trends Assignment to be done in class on March 7, submitted to WEBCT by Wednesday, March 8.
March 9 -  Library Research. 
Library Assignment -  to be worked on in class on March 9, may be completed up until March 20.
March 21 -  Writing research reports.  Example:  an experimental study of cultural markets.  Designing our own research reports.
Quiz Seven on the Future of the Global Brain will close on March 24.  Reading:  Wikipedia entry on The Global Brain. 
Nova Spivack - Blog Entry, January 24, 2006. Ben Goertzel and Stephan Vladimir Bugaj, "The Internet as an Artificial Brain," in WEBCT
March 23 -  Bivariate cross-tabulation analysis.
Bivariate Cross-Tabulation assignment.  Using data from the General Social Survey, prepare one bivariate cross tabulation table.  Type the table in Word.  Write a short paragraph explaining the meaning of each table, referring correctly to some of the percentages therein.  Use variables relevant to communication.  To be completed in class on March 23 or emailed to the instructor as a file attachment by March 24. 
March 28 -  Multivariate Cross-Tabulation to test Causal Hypotheses. 
Multivariate Cross-Tabulation assignment and Input Causal Path Diagram.  Using data from the General Social Survey, prepare one multi-variate cross tabulation table.  Type the table in Word.  Write a short paragraph explaining the meaning of the table, referring correctly to some of the percentages therein.  Use variables relevant to communication.  To be completed in class on March 28 or emailed to the instructor as a file attachment by March 29.  Sample Assignment. 
Quiz Eight on Michael Corbett, "Writing Research Reports," Peter Hedstrom, "Experimental Macro Sociology:  Predicting the Next Best Seller," and Salganik, Dodds and Watts, "Experimental Study of Inequality and Unpredictability in an Artificial Cultural Market" (to be handed out in class and posted on WEBCT).  Closes March 31.  
March 30 -  Preparing Powerpoint Presentations - in-class exercise converting your media essay into a poweropint.  There is a sample in the "Powerpoints" folder on WEBCT with the title "Media Powerpoint Peanut Gallery"
Prepare a Powerpoint Presentation based on your five paragraph essay (available in WEBCT if you do not have a copy handy). A sample presentation is available in WEBCT.with the title "Media Poweroint Peanut Gallery".  Paste the URL for your sources in the Notes page.   Submit to the WEBCT Media Powerpoint assignment drop box in WEBCT by April 1.
April 4 - Discussion of Ideas for Research Papers, Posters and Presentations     Public Speaking Skills.  Guidelines for Oral Presentations.
Quiz Nine is open until April 6.  It covers the Researching section in the Penguin Manual (chapters 15 to 20 in the Second Edition, 16 to 20 in the First Edition)..
In-class exercise April 6:  preparation of a multiple bivariate crosstabulation table to be included in the research papers.  Anyone who misses class should submit this to WEBCT by April 7.  For a sample, see the table called "Support for Protecting Open Space" in the report called Public Opinion on Sprawl and Smart Growth in South Jersey.
April 6 -   Preparation of Multiple Bivariate Crosstabulation Tables for your Research Papers
Writing Assignment Due April 10:  Submit the "Title Page," "Introduction" and "References" for your Research Report.  This should be a Word file modeled in form on the "Sample Paper with APA Documentation" in the Penguin Manual.  Your Introduction should be at least one page in length, with at least three paragraphs, each of which must refer to at least one article from a scholarly publication.  The references section should include at least the three references in correct APA format.
April 11 -  Special Guest Lecture by Ben Goertzel on the Future of the Global Brain and the Path to Posthumanity.  For preparation  you might refresh your memory of the reading for Quiz Seven. 
April 13 -  Guidelines for public speaking, feedback on proposals and work on the Trend Comparison assignment that will be part of your Research Paper, now due April 21.. 
Trend Comparison assignment due April 17.   Prepare a time series graph showing trends in two (or more) variables selected from your research project.   Get the data with the Microcase program and the USTREND.mc4 data set (or another source if need be).  Go to "Data Management" and "List Data" to get the actual numbers.  Paste the data into Excel to produce the graph.  Use an Excel formula to rescale the data so each variable is at 100 at the beginning of the series.  Make a time series graph.  Copy the graph into Word.  Add a paragraph to the Word file describing the trends.  Are they linear, exponential, or cyclical?  Are there noteworthy turning points?  Also describe the apparent correlation or lack of correlation between the variables.   Submit both the Excel file (in case I need to check it) and the Word file to the Assignment Dropbox.  Samples of the Excel File and the Word File are available here.  

April 21:  Research Papers Due in WEBCT. 
April 18 -  Oral Presentationsof media research.  You need not use powerpoint, or you can just use it to show pictures but not bullet points.  If you present data, you should show the tables on the screen.  The main thing will be to make an interesting, informative presentation, communicating Three Key Points.  You will be graded using the Guidelines for Oral Presentations form.  If you wish to prepare a revised powerpoint, an optional Assignment Dropbox will be available.
April 20 -  Oral Presentations.
Posters Due April 25 8 a.m.  These should include a sampling of your best work this semester including materials from your media analysis and/or your research paper. 
April 25 -  This will be our last regular class meeting.   Everyone should bring a poster suitable for the poster session to this class.  This is required even if you will not present it at the poster session.
April 26 -  Special Wednesday Free Period Poster Session -
8th Annual Research Poster Session - Wednesday April 26, free period.  Presentation of Posters - counts as an extra-credit assignment.  To present your poster, you must register in advance with the Sociology Department.
April 27 -   No Class. 
May 4, 8 to 10:30  -  office hours, 405 Cooper.  Come by if you need help with your WEB portfolio.
May 8 -  WEB sites should be updated.    These should include your media essay, your research paper  (URL's here) , and some selected illustrations from your powerpoint.  Do not, however, attempt to post the entire powerpoint file. You may place the files on a separate page rather than using them as your home page if you wish.   Linda Anderson's is a good model to use. They will be graded according to their status at 6 a.m. May 9.  If you have this completed by the May 8th, and everything else is OK, you do not need to come on May 10.  If you have a problem with it, plan to come at 2 p.m. on May 10.  Here are some guidelines for updating Geocities web pages. 
May 11 -  2 p.m.  I will be available for anyone who had trouble completing  the poster assignment or the web site assignment.  There will be no general class meeting.  Please email me to let me know if you are coming.