This document provides instructions for a case study assignment in a psychology course. Students must answer 4 questions about case studies in 2-4 pages using APA format. They must include a title page, references page, and headings for each question. The questions address defining a case study, advantages and disadvantages, reasons for using the approach, and sources of information. Proper APA formatting, citations, and at least 2 references are required. The assignment is due in Module 5.

1. PSYC 255
Case Study Paper Instructions
Reviewed for Fall D 2020 August 10
There are many methods available for conducting research, one
of which is a case study. The purpose of this assignment is for
you to learn how to conduct and complete a case study. Proper
APA formatting throughout the document is a substantial part of
the content of this assignment.
Instructions: Answer the following four questions using current
APA format throughout (including your title page, appropriate
vocabulary and sentence structure, writing in third person, in-
text citations, page numbers, levels of headings throughout the
document, an introductory statement, a conclusion statement,
and consistency between your in-text citations and references).
Use your course textbooks, including your Introduction to
Research textbook and the Publication Manual, and at least two
additional scholarly references. This assignment must have a
title page, plus two to four pages of appropriate content, and a
reference page. Give the answers to these questions in your own
words and with your own explanation. Cite your sources in-text,
and list your various sources as references on your references
page.
This assignment is requiring level one headings based on each
of the questions. Create your own brief phrase for a properly
formatted level one heading based on each question so as to be
clear about which item you are answering. Your headings must
not be simply copied/pasted from the questions. An acceptable
heading must clearly capture the essence of each question.
Headings are typically brief statements. See various sections of
your Publication Manual for details about the requirements in
this assignment.
1. What is a case study?
2. What are advantages and disadvantages of this approach?
3. What are some reasons for using a case study approach?

2. 4. Where, or in what ways, can a researcher acquire
information/data that can be used for a case study? In other
words, what are some various sources for information that a
researcher can use in a case study? Note: For question four,
these are two ways of stating the same question; these are not
two separate questions.
This assignment is due by 11:59 p.m. (ET) Monday of
Module/Week 5.
1
Methodology Assignment
Participant/Procedures
The intended participants will include both parents and
students. The parents of undergraduate students from a mid-
sized university will be included in the study. The parents will
consist of both fathers and mothers of students. Parents with
students in elementary, junior, and high school levels will be
excluded from the study. Undergraduate students who are
enrolled in communication studies from a mid-sized university
will also be considered as participants for the study. The
students will consist of freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and
seniors.
The personal demographic questions that the survey will ask the
parents include education status, ethnicity, and the level of
study of their children as well as their performance record in
school. These questions matter because they will enable the
research to deduce useful information about the individual
parents and their involvement in the education of their children.

3. For instance, the question on their level of education will assess
their understanding of the purpose of the study as well as the
role of parents in supporting the education initiatives of
students. The question on ethnicity will enable the research to
determine whether parental involvement or support to children
depends on ethnicity. The students will be asked demographic
questions such as their age, gender, and level of study. The
specific demographic questions for the students will assist in
validating the measurement scale. For instance, the level of
study will determine the extent of parental support that is
needed further validating the measurement scales. The question
on gender will expose the difference in perception among male
and female students regarding parental support and student
satisfaction.
Random sampling will be utilized to collect data. It involves
sampling where every object has an equal chance of appearing
in the study. This method will be utilized because it produces
an unbiased representation of the population which will help in
drawing useful conclusions about the study. It will also be
utilized due to its simplicity as compared to other sampling
techniques. This sampling method will significantly influence
the outcomes of the results since it will ensure a higher degree
of accuracy and validity.The study will adopt a cross-sectional
survey design which will ensure that the researcher examines
different samples of a population at a given point in time. It
will allow the comparison of results/answers from different
samples at one point in time. I will also utilize this survey
design because it is generally short and inexpensive. They will
also enable me to discover new correlations for the study that
can be studied later.
I intend to send the surveys to 300 parents and undergraduate
students from a mid-sized university. To increase their response
rates, I will provide incentives and I will also keep the survey
relevant. Studies show that sometimes when conducting
surveys, it does not pay to depend on goodwill alone. Incentives
such as gift cards can motivate the respondents to complete the

4. surveys. However, I will limit the use of incentives to desperate
situations because sometimes people may rush through the
survey because they want a prize. Also, I will focus on the
aspect of survey relevance so that people do not feel that they
are wasting time going through the survey. These two strategies
will increase the response rates and encourage people to take
part in the survey.
Independent Variable
The independent variable is the parental academic supportscale
(PASS). It refers to a multidimensional 16-item measure that
assesses the frequency of parent-teacher communication across
five dimensions: academic performance (e.g., inquiring about
how the child can improve a grade), classroom behavior (e.g.,
communication about students’ behavior), preparation (e.g.,
communication about a child’s academic or social preparation),
hostile peer interactions (e.g., communication about aggressive
encounters between students), and health (e.g., communication
about medical issues affecting a child’s work) (Mazer &
Thompson, 2016 p. 214).
Dependent Variable
The dependent variable is Student Communication Satisfaction
Scale (SCSS).It refers to a global measure that assesses the
affective response to the accomplishment of communication
goals and expectations (Goodboy, Martin & Bolkan, 2009,
p.373). The scale items that reflect student communication
satisfaction are less interpersonal and reflect the fulfillment of
classroom expectations. SCSS uses twenty-six items to assess
the general student satisfaction when communicati ng with an
instructor. The twenty-six items reflect Hecht’s (1978)
conceptualization of communication satisfaction from an
instructional rather than an interpersonal perspective.

5. References
Goodboy, A. K., Martin, M. M., & Bolkan, S. (2009). The
development and validation of the student communication
satisfaction scale. Communication Education, 58(3), 372-396.
Mazer, J. P., & Thompson, B. (2016). Parental academic
support: A validity report. Communication Education, 65(2),
213-221.
1
Empirical Rationale
Independent variables and dependent variables should be
related.In an experiment,the variable that is changed to measure
the effect on something else is the independent variable.The
dependent variable in an experiment is the one that is being
observed.Dependent variable changes in the response of an
independent variable in an experiment.Through cause and
effect,two variables may be related.In the experiment to
measure student communication satisfaction,the communication
satisfaction was a result of the goals and expectations of
communication being accomplished.The communication
satisfaction between the student and the instructor depends on
the relationship.Intimate or non-intimate.When students
communicate withthe instructor it is mostly intending to gain
information.The behavior of the instructor whether prosocial or
antisocial affects students' communication satisfaction.(Allen,

6. M., Witt, P. L., &Wheeless, L. P. 2006).
Hypothesis
H1 The first step of the experiment was to come up with a
measure for student communication satisfaction.
This is an alternative hypothesis.The statements made in the
hypothesis suggests what to expect from the research.It shows
the relationship among the variables in the experiment.
The research hypothesis attempt to predict a positive
relationship between the students and the instructor.The relation
is expected to be positive because when the behavior of the
instructor does not violate the norms of communication.The
communication satisfaction for students will be increased.This
is a strong predictor of appropriateness and
effectiveness.(Cayanus, J. L., & Martin, M. M. 2008).
Variables
Independent Variables
Operation Definition
The first step is to develop a measure for student
communication satisfaction. There were the creation and
assessment of twenty-four items used to assess the satisfaction
of students when they were communicating with their
instructor.16 items were first created and revised the there was
an addition of 8 items. The created items were to reflect the
conceptualization of communication satisfaction. Out of the 24
items created,18 were positively worded while 6 were
negatively worded. In the preliminary pool, the 24 items were
subjected to factor analysis. The criteria used to obtain factors
from the factor analysis were;
1. The Eigenvalue of each factor had to have a minimum of 2.0
2. Each factor had to account for at least 4% of the variance
3. Each factor did not have to cross load other factors
4. Each factor had to have a loading of .70 and the other factor
had to be less than .30.

7. Items that didn’t meet the test were deleted. There were three
which didn’t meet the 70/30 rule of the criteria
Range
The format for the response of the items utilized ranged from(1)
those that were disagreed to (7) that was agreed.
1. Students don’t like talking to the instructor
2. The student is not satisfied after talking to the instructor
3. The student felt that they had accomplished something after
talking to their instructor
4. When the student talk to the instructor, fell their expectations
fulfilled
5. The conversation with the instructor feels worthwhile
6. Conversations are rewarding when talking to the instructor
7. The instructor makes an effort to satisfy the concerns of the
student
References
Dependent and independent variables in “standard form”
equations
by
Harrison, David M
The Physics Teacher, 02/2013, Volume 51, Issue 2
Allen, M., Witt, P. L., &Wheeless, L. P. (2006). The role of
teacher immediacy as a
motivational factor in student learning: Using meta-
analysis to test a causal model.
Communication Education, 55, 21"31.
Cayanus, J. L., & Martin, M. M. (2008). Teacher self-
disclosure: Amount, relevance, and
negativity. Communication Quarterly, 56, 325"341.

8. 2
Parental and their support
Article 1: Parental Academic Support
Question 1
This research tends to offer parental academic support pieces of
evidence that are valid. It does that by coming with a Parental
Academic Support Scale (PASS) that contains 16 items that
entail assessing the child's support in terms of performance in
academics, preparation, hostile peer interactions, behavior in
the classroom, and health-wise. A correlation was observed
between two aspects: the PASS and the teacher-parent contact
scale, in that validity evidence that is concurrent, was realized.
The relationship the parental academic support scale possesses
with a child's success implies that the scale has relation to other
similar constructs, hence providing evidence that is initial
construct validity(Mazer& Thompson, 2016, p. 214).
Question 2
Concurrent validity is attained when there is a correlation with
the former validated instrument that entails assessing similar
constructs or somewhat different constructs but related. Scores
of the parents on the scale of teacher-parent contact show a
positive relation to thespecific scores on the PASS. Construct
validity involves addressing significance of a construct
fulfilling the required relationships with other constructs. There
is an inverse relationship between the perceptions of the parents
on the children's success in studies and parental academic
support(Mazer & Thompson, 2016, p. 216).
Question 3
The parents' scores on the Teacher parent contact scale show a
positive relation to their parental academic support scale (Mazer
& Thompson, 2016, p. 215).
Question 4
Assessment of academic support that is from parents was done
using Thompson and Mazer’s measure having 16 items. Likert-

9. type scale having 5 points were responded to by the
participants. Teacher parent contact assessment was carried out
through the 12 things of Seitsinger, depicting how often parents
contact the teacher. Success in school, here parents were given
a 3 item scale to give out their child's perceptions (Mazer &
Thompson, 2016, p. 218).
Question 5
Pearson correlation was employed to evaluate the relationships
between teacher-parent contact scale and parental support in
terms of academic, the perceptions of the parentson the
learners’ success, academic performance, peer interaction that
are hostile, preparation, health and classroom related behavior
showed a positive relationship with the teacher-parent contact
scale scores. The Pearson correlation confirmed associations
that are inverse withthe five factors mentioned above(Mazer&
Thompson, 2016, p. 218).
Question 6
One month duration for the study was little as the parent-
teacher interaction possesses differences in how often it is done
in a semester. The sample mostly entailed mothers' responses
concerning their female children, which becomes a limitation in
that the parental academic support scale carries out
measurements of parents' perceptions in terms of interactions
that are supportive. Challenges in terms of the measures' self-
reported nature become an issue to those seeking to research
young students (Mazer & Thompson, 2016, p. 220).
Article 2: The Changing Nature of Parent-Teacher
Communication: Mode Selection in the Smartphone Era.
Question 1
This research talks about the evolution of technology from e-
mail communication to smartphone technology. It entails how
this smartphone has increased parent-teacher communication,
posing a relationship between parental academic support and the
achievements of the students(Thompson, Mazer, & Flood Grady,
2015, p. 187).

10. Question 2
Smartphones can be employed in communication through social
media and broadly do lead to increased parent-teacher
interaction. Media richness entails the understanding of the use
or selection of effective media for teacher-parent
communication. The PASStakes the measurements of the
frequency communication of parent-teacher takes place across
the modes as well as along preparation, academic performance,
behavior in the classroom, peer interaction that are hostile and
health(Thompson, Mazer, & Flood Grady, 2015, p. 180-190).
Question 3
What modes do the parents choose to use, including the latest
communication technologies to communicate support in
education? (Thompson, Mazer, & Flood Grady, 2015, p. 190).
Question 4
The frequency related to parent-teacher communication was
assessed using a parental and academic support scale that
contains 16 items, a multidimensional measure in which the
respondents do the rating on the five factors mentioned earlier.
Questions that are open- ended in nature were presented to
determine why parents go for specific communication modes
(Thompson, Mazer, & Flood Grady, 2015, p. 192).
Question 5
It was discovered that often parents employed e-mail (about
12.6%) followed by a face to face communication that is about
5.3%, phone communication entailed about 2.7%,
communication in terms of writing took about 1.2%, messaging
through texts took about 0.2% while Skype zero percent in
terms of academic support. It was also realized that parents do
not choose richer modes for complex topics, and they used
learner mode that is e-mail, many times for the instrumental
contents.The parents recognized academic support as the most
significant support on hostile peer interactions, classroom
behaviors, preparation, and then health(Thompson, Mazer, &
Flood Grady, 2015, p. 193).
Question 6

11. The scale of measuring gives the framework of assessment of
the parents' selection modes, but it fails to include the teachers
who could have provided the insights on the challenges linked
to the methods. The other one is that even if there was a higher
response, responses that were written did not allow for the
follow-up questions to ensure the modes'
effectiveness(Thompson, Mazer, & Flood Grady, 2015, p. 205).
Article 3: Parent-Teacher Communication
Question 1
The purpose of this research study is laying emphasize how
parent-teacher communication proves to be having several
significance to the students. It improves the performance of the
students. Better parent-teacher communication can result in
increased parental involvement, hence leading to the
development of public interest and support for the schools
(Work & Stafford, 1987,p. 182).
Question 2
The parent-teacher conference is the very first form of parent-
teacher communication that is predominant. It is the most
valued by the parents as it is of great benefit to the child. The
deficit of skills on the teachers’ side has rendered them to view
it as inappropriate. We called home- school communication,
which refers to the transmission of information to home by the
school and transmission of information to school from home.
This tends to be effective with parent-teacher meetings and
workshops, visits to homes by the teachers(Work & Stafford,
1987, p.183-184).
Question 3
A relationship exists between the student behavior and the
parent-teacher communication (Work & Stafford, 1987, p. 183)
Question 4
There exist a lot of shared experiences with the teachers and
students and the families of the learners. This is caused by the

12. changes in society due to historical purposes that led to school
centralization. Now the teachers seem not to be part of the
community outside the school or even attend social functions
like churches. The relationship of parent-teacher and
performance or behavior can be depicted in terms of the
students' behavior and academic performance (Work & Stafford,
1987, p. 184).
Question 5
To ensure there is affectivity in the home- school
communication, the teachers should understand the students'
family structure and affirmation of respect for all the families.
Parents' involvement needs to be valued a lot and given time
and space. Sensitivity to the parents enhances their sense of
belonging. Parents are now moving to the phase of becoming
vocal in the decision making regarding education. Parent-
teacher communication should be in line with the changes in
family structures and needs. Improvement of the parent-teacher
conferences can be achieved by seeking alternative information-
sharing methods (Work & Stafford, 1987, p. 185).
Question 6
Teachers have fallen to a delicate position because they have to
know more than 100 family structures since there are even more
than 100 students. It is tough to know every learner's family,
needs, goals, and problems(Work & Stafford, 1987, p. 186).
References
Mazer, J. P., & Thompson, B. (2016). Parental academic
support: A validity report. Communication Education, 65(2),
213-221.
Thompson, B. C., Mazer, J. P., & Flood Grady, E. (2015). The
changing nature of parent-teacher communication: Mode
selection in the smartphone era. Communication

13. Education, 64(2), 187-207.
Work, W., & Stafford, L. (1987). Parent‐ teacher
communication.
1
Independent Communication Variable: Parental Academic
Support Scale
1. What is the conceptual definition? Cite the actual definition
used, do not explain the variable in your own words. (5 points)
Mazer & Thompson (2016) define PASS as “is a
multidimensional 16-item measure that assesses the frequency
of parent–teacher communication across five dimensions:
academic performance (e.g., inquiring about how the child can
improve a grade), classroom behavior (e.g., communication
about students’ behavior), preparation (e.g., communication
about a child’s academic or social preparation), hostile peer
interactions (e.g., communication about aggressive encounters
between students), and health (e.g., communication about
medical issues affecting a child’s work)” (p. 214).
2. Answer the following questions:
a. Indicate which page within the article discusses the
operational definition of your variable (2 points)
Page 214
b. Who originally developed this scale? (Hint: You will find
this information within the methods section of the article) (2
point)
Joseph P. Mazer and Blair Thompson
c. How many questions are included in the scale? (2 points)
16 Questions
d. Does your scale have dimensions or multiple components that
make up the overall variable? If so, what are those dimensions
and which items within the scale are associated with those
dimensions? (Hint: If multiple dimensions exist, I suggest,
using bullets, identify each dimension then provide the items

14. associated). If you believe your variable is uni-dimensional
please explain why. (6 points)
· AP = Academic Performance
· CB = Classroom Behavior;
· P = Preparation
· HPI = Hostile Peer Interactions
· H = Health
e. Do any of the items require reverse coding? If so, which
items? (2 point)
Parent-teacher contact
f. What are the ranges of scores possible for this scale? In other
words, if someone were to complete the scale, what is the
highest a participant can score? The lowest? (6 points)
A scale of 1-5 where 5 attract a score of Strongly Disagree
while 1 is the lowest that represents strongly Agree
Reference
Mazer, J. P., & Thompson, B. (2016). Parental academic
support: A validity report. Communication Education, 65(2),
213-221.
Final Research Proposal Assignment
100 points
Final Research Proposal Submission: You are going to combine
all of the important elements from previous assignments into
one unified research proposal. Please do not copy and paste
exactly what you have written in previous assignments as the
format in which I asked you to write something up in Week 2, 3,
4, or 5 may not translate to this final document. In other words,
every assignment leading up to this will be utilized, but you
will have to re-write some information to make it flow.
Assignment information to include:
· COMM Variables Assignment (information from this
assignment should be used in the review of literature and the

15. methodology sections)
· Past Library Research (information from this assignment
should be used in the review of literature section)
· Empirical Rational, Hypothesis Assignment (information from
this assignment should be used in the empirical rationale and
hypothesis/RQ sections)
· Methodology Assignment (information from this assignment
should be used in the methodology section)
Here is a specific break-down of how the research proposal
should be presented; makes sure that you submit all 8 sections
(in order) for the final research proposal:
1. Cover Page – Include a correct APA 7th Edition Cover Page
for a student paper.
2. Relevance of Topic (this section serves as your introduction;
about 2-3 paragraphs): In this section you want us to learn why
this variable has gained importance; why should we care to
learn more about this particular style, approach? Why is this an
important topic area, to us as students or faculty?
3. Review of Literature (about 2-3 pages): In this section you
want to teach us what you have learned from the readings. What
are the major findings on this topic? What are the “takeaway”
messages that you have gained from all of your research on this
topic? How can we use this information to improve our
instructional, classroom relationships? Any general or specific
advice? Coherent literature reviews often have separate sections
for each variable (Hint: You may utilize bold headings of the
variable names to separate these sections); with each section,
first, providing the conceptual definition of the variable,
second, including relevant findings from previous studies. The
literature review is a straightforward and concise discussionof
relevant literature to provide the background and rationale for
your research question and hypothesis. Rather than provide a
series of seemingly related paragraphs, you should weave
together all of the sources you have read into a coherent

16. argument. You need to organize this material in a logical way –
the worst thing your group can do is regurgitate information
from the past library research in an “orderly” fashion. What I
mean by this is that each paragraph is basically a re-write of the
findings from that assignment and they are all strung together
without any sort of guiding purpose. You need to have
structure. The structure could be as simple as: “Negative
Outcomes” and “Positive Outcomes.” If you are having trouble
with organizing your paper, please reach out to me for a
meeting. By the end of the literature review, the reader should
understand what the variables are, why they are important, and
why they should be related. Pay close attention to the
organizational framework of the literature review.
4. Empirical Rationale, Hypothesis (about 2-3 paragraphs): At
the end of the review, but before the Hypothesis and Research
Question are presented, you are to provide a rationale (include a
separate heading for this section entitled “Rationale”) to
introduce the Hypothesis and Research Question. This should be
a logical, well-supported paragraph indicating why the IV and
DV should be related in the manner that you have predicted.
Additionally, you should provide rationale for why it is
important to learn more about your IV or DV through the
research question. In other words, why do we need to learn
more about the variable to increase our understanding of
communication?If you did your first version of this assignment
correctly, then you might actually be able to just copy and paste
the assignment content into this section. Pay very careful
attention to my comments and suggestions for revisions PRIOR
to copy and pasting anything.
5. Research Question/Hypothesis: Your hypothesis is a specific
prediction or set of predictions that you will test during your
study; your research question is posed to learn more about a
particular variable. (Check APA for how to properly format
your H and RQ).
6. Methodology:If you did your first version of this assignment
correctly, then you might actually be able to just copy and paste

17. the assignment content into this section. Pay very careful
attention to my comments and suggestions for revisions PRIOR
to copy and pasting anything.
7. Resources Required (answer the following questions):
a. Think about your potential survey design. What will you need
to accomplish survey distribution? If using an online resource,
what will you use? If administering hard copy surveys, what is
your plan for printing, collating, distribution, and data entry?
b. How much time do you intend to spend on your research
project? In other words, given what you have already
completed, how much longer do you actually think it would take
to complete the entire project? Recall, that after data entry you
still have to analyze, report out, interpret, and write up the
results section, discussion section, and conclusion.
8. Overall Reflection (answer the following questions):
a. Given the other types of variables that we discussed in Week
3 of lecture, what other variable(s) might be worthwhile to
study in your current research proposal? Think of at least one
other variable and identify what the relationship to the other
two might be (e.g., mediating variable). Why might this variable
be worthy of inclusion?
b. You have experience thinking about, researching, and
hypothetically designing a research study from the social
scientific perspective; however, would you want to continue
conducting research via the social scientific paradigm? Or
would you prefer another paradigm as we discussed in the
earlier weeks of this course? Why?
c. What were your greatest challenges in completing the final
research proposal? How you were able to work around them (or
not). If there were no challenges, then describe in detail why
you believe that to be true.
d. Were there elements of the course that you would have like
expanded, explained more thoroughly, or concepts that were
unclear?
e. Did the lack of a textbook detract from your learning? Why
or why not?