Frequently Asked Questions
A final project might be a short documentary film, or a screenplay, or another kind of project. The grad student works with one mentor who has agreed to work with the student on the project, and the student must follow a specific set of requirements by the mentor to successfully complete the project. Final projects are graded like other coursework.
A final paper is a research paper on a topic selected by the graduate student, who works with one mentor who has agreed to work with the student on the paper. As with the project, the student must follow a specific set of requirements by the mentor to successfully complete the paper. Research papers are generally around thirty to forty pages in length. Final papers are graded like other coursework.
A Master’s Thesis is a research paper on a topic selected by the graduate student, but is usually longer than a research paper, up to one-hundred pages in length. The graduate student works with a committee of three faculty members, all of whom must agree to serve on the committee. Although the mentor is your primary guide for the paper, the other two members will read your paper and will be invited to your Thesis Defense, where they will question you on your research.
Final Note: Whether it is a project, research paper, or Master’s Thesis, your final idea should be rooted in the communication discipline. You are not allowed to create a project that reflects anything other than an aspect of the communication experience, and that means no biology, mathematics, political science (unless it’s political communication), history (unless it relates to historical events in communication or a communication aspect of historical events), business, etc. You are getting a Master of Arts in the Communication discipline.
Graduate research is largely based on academia and academic research. Your “go to” for research papers should be academic journals. You can certainly support research for your Literature Review with articles from current periodicals such as Time magazine, or a story on CNN.com, but those articles are second-tier support to verified, published academic research. Online sources should preferably be domain addresses that end in “.gov,” “.edu,” or “.org,” because they are not commercial sites. In research, a profit-driven, commercial website generally has an agenda, which means the viewpoint is not unbiased. Books are also part of your research, but again, the type of book affects the validity of the research. When conducting research on human beings (and this includes surveys), you will be required to get Internal Review Board (IRB) training. Please note that not all graduate professors will require IRB training for a paper in a single course, but all final research papers would need to be IRB approved.
You also need to become a frequent visitor to APSU’s Felix G. Woodward library, either in-person or online. A graduate student needs to be well-acquainted with the library for obvious reasons. The librarians can assist with issues such as locating academic journals, inter-library loans, and on how to effectively use library resources. If you are online, they can respond to your email or call, and if you are on campus, they can assist you in-person with your request for more information or access to material. Felix G. Woodward has a variety of Communication academic journals, such as Communication Research, Critical Studies in Mass Communication, Human Communication Research, Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media, Journal of Communication, Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Journal of Social Psychology, Media Psychology, Political Communication, and Public Opinion Quarterly.
As per APSU library policy, check-out information for graduate students is as follows:
- Graduate students may check out General Collection books for up to six months.
- Graduate students are allowed to have a maximum of 50 items checked out at a one time.
- Videos/DVD’s may be checked out for three days with one renewal.
- Laptops are available for checkout to APSU students for use only in the library building.
- Reserve materials are made available as requested by the instructors.
- Reference materials may be renewed once in person, by telephone, or online through APSU unless someone else has requested the materials.
- Campbell graduate students may request that APSU library materials be delivered to them at the APSU Center @ Ft. Campbell. Any material that circulates, with the exception of non-electronic reserve materials, may be delivered via the courier, Monday – Friday. Graduate students may request materials via ILLiad. Please be sure to select the status of Ft. Campbell Graduate and the delivery location of APSU Center at Ft. Campbell in the user information section of your ILLiad account.
In academia, formats or writing style guides are associated with particular academic disciplines. Most American students learn the Modern Language Association style of writing in their high school English classes or Freshman composition classes. MLA is associated with academic writing in English (obviously) and film studies. The APA style is associated with the social sciences, including Communication. The Chicago (Turabian) style is associated with the Journalism and History disciplines. It should be noted that Journalism requires students to become familiar with AP writing style; “AP” references the Associated Press style that is used when writing news stories and should not be confused with APA. All research papers in the graduate Communication program must be submitted in the APA format. You may also consult the Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL).
In grad school, you want authenticity and accuracy for your research. If a textbook discusses a theory, the authors present their interpretation and definition of the theory. It’s up to the researcher to find the original author’s article and make their own determinations about the author’s work. As a researcher and scholar, you can read what the theorist wrote and make your decisions about how to discuss the ideas in your paper. Although the Oxford dictionary or Webster’s dictionary are viable and accurate definitions, when you are discussing information about a topic, it is best to find a scholar’s definition of the term to apply to more scholarship.
Submitting the same paper for two classes is not governed by any rule or policy. However, professors talk, and they know who is in each other’s classes. If you do not speak to one or both professors about the situation, you leave yourself open to receiving an “F” for plagiarizing yourself. Always consult with the professors and remember my earlier suggestion to invest your time and focus on your grad career, so that means writing papers.
Yes, they do. And that does not seem fair. There are only seven days in the week, and although we could try to schedule our post due dates around each other’s classes, it’s not that easy. The best thing I can tell you is to make a grid each term and remind yourself when things are due. That’s the best way to remember – write it down and post it on your refrigerator. Put it on your pad or laptop. Have your phone remind you.
The department of Communication has some wonderful graduate faculty, but they do not teach graduate courses exclusively if they are full-time. Full-time faculty also teach undergraduate courses, and they have busy schedules. When you wait to contact them until a few hours before an assignment is due, you might not hear back from them in time. I provide students in my graduate courses with due dates in advance – so that they have ample time to contact me. If they do not contact me before an assignment is due (and I don’t mean hours, or even 1 day), I interpret their lack of action as “I got it – I know what to do, Dr.H.G.” I check my emails in the morning and late in the evening. During the day – when I am at work teaching undergraduate courses – I assume my grad students know I will get back to them when I can, but I am not able to check email every few minutes, because that is unfair to the students who expect for me to be fully present in their on-ground courses.
Yes, you do! You cannot succeed without them, but if you can’t buy them, rent them.