NM2104 NUS module review; Qualitative Communication Research Methods; First year; Sem 1 2015/2016

Hello! School has started and I'm having a difficult time adapting back to a working student lifestyle. Before school begins to get busier, I'll guess I'd better be more efficient in posting my reviews on the modules! I made a promise to myself that I will always review all the modules I have taken for the betterment of the prospective NUS students who would be taking up these modules in the future just like how some other NUS students provided very insightful reviews which enabled me to make wiser decisions in my choice of modules so here I am! :)

P.S I saw a few reviews that have completely different perspectives about this module and I guess it really depends on each individual since everyone is essentially, different.
It is up to you to choose to follow your heart and mind and believe whoever you think is more accurate on the review. :P

NM2104 - Qualitative Communication Research Methods

Based on what I know, from my batch onwards, this module will be a mandatory module to students who would like to major in CNM. 

Comments about the teaching style:

For my batch, my lecturer is Dr Iccha Basnyat and my tutor for my tutorials is Dr Shobha Vadrevu.

Dr Iccha has a tendency of deliberately leaving numerous inconspicuous blanks in the lecture notes and they are to be filled up in her lectures! You could hear the expeditious typing sounds in the lectures as Dr Iccha always gives very insightful examples that students couldn't bear to leave it out from their notes. I missed one lecture as I was sick and about 60/300 marks of the Mid-terms came out on questions based on that lecture. :'( :'( :'( 

Even though I have read the textbook on that topic of the particular lecture I have missed out, some of the technical jargon used in the textbook differ from what she wrote in her lecture notes and hence missing her lecture disabled me to understand the questions fully and give accurate answers. Personally I think her lectures are really useful to understand the various concepts in a simplified manner. These various concepts are explained in such a convoluted manner in the textbook that I recommend you to attend her lectures before you start reading the textbook so it will save you more of your brain-processing time on trying to understand the content inside.

Dr Shobha is a really humorous and intelligent tutor who would patiently guide you on your project and provide VERY insightful knowledge. You know, she is one of those teachers who speak so intelligently that sometimes when she is teaching I will drift into wandering thoughts on really irrelevant things like "I wonder how high her IQ is. Her IQ must be genius-level!! How can her brain think of all these perspectives in such an acute manner that I would never have thought of?!" Lol!

Comments on project:

The project was a really challenging one for me. Our topic for qualitative research was on "Inequality in Communication" and collectively as a group, we based our research on "Exploration of how communication of the elderly beneficiaries’ needs are being administered with the NGOs and how their needs are being met within the context of their relationship."

Personally, the entire process of the project was really excruciating from the start to the end.

I kept getting rejected by the NGOs whom I sent out emails or calls to request for permission on our research and I became so desperate at one point that I decided to make trips down to the various NGOs myself. (None of my group members said they were free to do this with me sadly :( )I was so worried that they would reject me personally that I even rehearsed numerous times how I was going to persuade the stakeholders to allow them to give me permission on my research! On hindsight, I guess one important part of this module is really about this - going out of your comfort zone and to really translate what you have learned in lessons to apply them in real life.

 My group got stuck at this stage for many weeks and hence was only able to start on the project very late. With regards to the writing up of research paper, It was very challenging at every section. It is very easy to get stuck at one section for very long and be unable to continue it.

My project mates rushed through the editing of the parts they were in charge of and together with me, we helped the last member to finish her part at the very last-minute leaving virtually not enough time for a final check at all. When I say very last-minute, I really mean that we tried to do until the very minute we had to hand in our assignment. I remembered our assignment was due on 5 p.m. at a particular Friday and we finished the project at around 4 plus nearing 5 p.m. on that day, quickly printed and rushed to put our hard copy into the assigned collection place. 

Overall comments about this module:

Content-wise, I enjoyed it thoroughly. There were many soft skills taught that are needed in communications field. I truly understood why NUS places this module as one of its CORE modules after taking it. Many concepts were intriguing to me and I loved studying them. But when it comes to applying what we have learnt in the real field, it was painful for me. 

Would I recommend people from other faculties to take this module?

I honestly think any person from any faculty should take this although the project work can be very daunting. After all, what doesn't challenge you won't make you better, isn't it? ;)

This module will mold you to become a more analytical thinker, observant and introspective person and learn the practical skills of communication.

To get a glimpse of a small section we learn in this module, you can view this video :)

Tips:
1. DO NOT MISS LECTURES. If you do, better not be shy and ask your friends for help. It would really matter a lot.

2. START EARLY FOR EVERY COMPONENT. You can perform very well in the interviews, ethnography, focus groups etc and get very satisfactory results relevant for your research. But as long as you don't start early on your write-up and leave it to the last minute, your research can be shoddy and it really would waste all your efforts in doing all the time-consuming interviews, ethnography, focus groups etc.

3. DO NOT TAKE THIS MODULE IF YOU HAVE NOT TAKEN NM2101 (Theories of Communication) & HIGHLY RECOMMENDED TO TAKE THIS MODULE THE SEMESTER AFTER YOU HAVE TAKEN NM2101.
One of the section in this project was about choosing a theory and apply it into our research. I was really lost about this because I didn't take NM2101 before I took this module. I have 2 other group mates who had taken NM2101 before but they took it so long ago that they have forgotten about it. This particular section about theory constitutes quite a weightage in the overall marks of the project...so... better be wise!

I do hope that the school would state that NM2101 is a prerequisite to take this module so that it would give a fairer advantage to the students who had not taken NM2101 before they take NM2104.

4. READ ALL THE EXTRA READINGS THEY ASSIGN FOR YOU DILIGENTLY OTHER THAN THE LECTURE NOTES! 
Some questions from the finals were from the extra readings and because there were so many thick readings, I only generally skim through them. At the time when I was doing my exam, some parts in my brain remember vaguely that I read about it yet I couldn't remember the exact answer.

5. READ THE TEXTBOOK TO REINFORCE YOUR UNDERSTANDING AND TRY YOUR BEST TO DO THE REVIEW QUESTIONS AT THE BACK OF EVERY CHAPTER.
Some concepts in the review questions appeared in exams and these concepts were only briefly discussed in lectures. Hence I think it is rather imperative to read the textbook to reinforce your understanding. The review questions serve as important guides on what are the things you should focus on since there are so much content inside that sometimes you can easily get drifted away from the important things to be learnt.


6. EVERY SINGLE DETAIL IN YOUR LECTURE NOTES IS VERY IMPORTANT
Mid-terms: Be very sure you know how to differentiate among terms like "universalism", "situation ethics", "overt ethnography", "covert ethnography", different types of interview questions such as "leading questions", "loaded questions", "bipolar trap questions" etc, "objectivism", "collectivism", "positivism", "constructivism" and the list goes on.
Mid-terms were quite easy as the terms taught are very straight-forward.

Finals: Be very sure you know how to differentiate among terms like "analytic induction", "discourse analysis", "critical discourse analysis", "narrative analysis" because almost 50% of the questions in the finals revolve on testing if you really understand what they are about.
Finals were hard for me because there are very subtle differences and also similarities among all these terms and the way they phrase in the exams can be so abstract that even if you think you really know how to differentiate them, you may not know the answer to the questions.


7. ON YOUR VERY FIRST TUTORIAL, BE VERY CLEAR ON WHAT ARE YOUR EXPECTATIONS AND SET THE STAGE FOR THE UPCOMING RESEARCH PROJECT. THEREAFTER, DON'T BE AFRAID TO TAKE THE LEAD FOR THE PROJECT + CONSTANTLY REFLECT ON THE GROUP SKILLS LEARNT AND APPLY THEM
If your primary aim is to score well, sometimes you have to be very assertive and be the one to provide leadership and establish a good working climate. 

I was relatively reserved in the beginning as it was my first semester and I thought I should let the seniors take the lead. Unfortunately there wasn't anyone who was doing so and group was not progressing for a very long time. Eventually I became the assertive one and things progressed a lot faster. 

Talking about this, I think GET1008 (read my review on GET1008 here) taught me a lot about the skills needed in group work. I remembered hearing the peers around me complaining that they wasted their time listening to Miss Cardoza teaching about the tips on small-group communication on lecture 10 as they think the things taught were pretty common sense. But trust me, listen to her with an open mind and heart and reflect on what she has taught before you begin any group work/is in the midst of doing group work.

You might realise things that are common sense are usually things you know you should be doing them when the right time comes but when the right time really comes, you might be ruled by your emotions not your rational mind or be affected by other factors that cause you to unknowingly go with the flow and not do them.

8. PLAN OUT REGULARLY THE TASKS OF EVERY INDIVIDUAL MEMBERS THEY ARE SUPPOSE TO DO BY A SPECIFIED DEADLINE.

To be fair to everyone, I think this is the best way. There will definitely be passive members who would rely on the active members to do work if they are not given any instructed tasks. Hence, to avoid social loafing taking place in your group, this is a very crucial thing to do.


However, I also think that there will also definitely be passive and also irresponsible members who will miss most of the tutorials and be very slow in their responses when you contact them. They also may not have the urgency to finish the assigned tasks by the deadline. If that is the case, then it is really unlucky on your part and the best way I think that can avoid this happening is to find reliable friends/buddies to take this module with you and be in the same group as them since the tutor allows the freedom of choice of choosing members in your group. 

As everyone did not know each other in my tutorial, we were randomly chosen to be assigned to groups. I had a really negative experience in this module's project work and it was really exasperating. I never want this happen again. >:(


So...!

My final grade:
 B+

Was expecting at least A- but well... :'( I guess the project really pulled me down as my project marks were below average. 


Oh yes! Before I end, I would like to share a very useful feedback that the teacher has shared to us based on our projects. Hope it is useful for those of you who would be embarking on this research! :)

Dear Class,
I hope everyone’s semester has ended well. I wanted to give you some feedback on your final project. Every group had different strengths and weakness but overall good job J  Remember quality and rigor is reflected in the writing. Unfortunately, research is judged by the output and not so much on the effort. We know it takes time and a lot of hard work. In life, that is just is but this is part of your learning journey so I did take your effort into consideration.
Below, I will outline some of the issues that you want to keep in mind for next time. These are places where you lost your points because these are essential parts of qualitative research writing.

1. Citations: These ARE make or break. Without citations it appears just as assumptions on your part rather than backed on evidence. It also means you are not giving credit to the original work you took the information from.
2. Clarity/Organization: Often when you jump from one idea to other without transition, it is hard for the reader to follow. It then becomes just words rather than conveying something. Similarly, the reader shouldn’t be left wondering “what was the point in this paragraph?”
3. Literature: Although we gave you points, many of you used the literature as a continuation of the introduction. The literature provided background information of the topic rather than engaging in an academic discussion about the topic, concepts, and arguments using existing studies to do so.
4. Literature: Remember literature review is not an evaluation of individual studies and/or theories. The literature is not a review of theories. You need to focus on the key concepts, ideas, arguments and findings.
5. Literature: When you use terms such as “few scholars” “many studies” and so on, please add the relevant citations (citations as in more than one) at the end. It should not be just a sweeping generalized statement.
6. Theory: You should use ONLY one theory and/or theoretical framework to guide/frame your study.
7. Research question: Is NEVER a yes or no question in qualitative research.
8. Method: Please include ALL the information such as procedure, recruitment, data collection (where/when/how long), interview questions and how you analyzed your data. These things helps us assess the rigor of your work.
9. Results: The quotes must be analyzed. Do not make interpretations rather focus on the analysis of your quotes. Analysis focuses on helping you connect the individual quotes to build a bigger picture. The bigger picture being what the theme is really about.
10. Please ensure you answer your research question.
11. Please don’t end your themes/sub-themes in a quote.
12. Discussion: Overall, everyone did ok on the discussion.
13. Please follow APA. This is the part of being trained into your field. Communication lives and dies by APA and you should learn how to cite properly, how to write your reference list, how to use quotes especially block quotes.
14. Please read through each other’s work. It is not a good sign when we can tell that different parts were written by different people (and maybe even at different times).

Like I said, for the first attempt a great start. If you have any concerns after you see your marks, you can come by and see me for a discussion specific to your projects. Or stop by anytime if you have questions about qualitative research.

Oh yes! The question everyone wants to know: the average is around 210 for the project.
Enjoy your break. See you.
Dr. Iccha