You and a partner (if you choose) will be assigned a topic area in communication. Your mission is to investigate how this area has been considered from scientific（post positivist） paradigmatic perspectives. Now, chances are extremely good that your area has not been investigated (at least not thoroughly) from each major perspective. So, your secondary mission is to propose how your area could be investigated from the neglected perspective(s). For example, if you can find no critical work in your area, what would a critical study look like if you were to conduct one?
In preparation for this assignment, revisit Hanna (1991), Anderson and Baym (2004), Harrington et al. (in press), and the core articles from class sessions on the scientific perspectives; also consider looking for systematic reviews or meta-analyses in your topic area to give you direction. Obviously, the topic areas are very broad, so clearly, to do a thorough review, you are going to have to narrow your focus a bit. But don’t get so narrow as to restrict your ability to find adequate literature. Please consult with me if you need guidance.
Literature search: Search the literature to identify research that has been published on your topic within each major metatheoretical paradigm. Focus your search however you wish, but be smart about it. Being smart includes choosing articles that reflect current, as well as foundational, literature. This assignment is meant to be useful to you, so if all your articles (including meta-analyses and systematic reviews) are old enough to vote, there’s a problem. Note, too, that you should directly search the literature, not rely on the reference lists of any meta-analyses or systematic reviews you find.
Analyze how your area has been investigated from each major metatheoretical perspective (scientific), focusing your analysis at the level of the research study. Analyze and clearly describe in writing how the metatheoetical perspective is evident in the execution of the research study as reported in each article, noting strengths and weaknesses of each approach as evident in the results of each study. If a particular metatheoretical perspective is not evident in the literature, speculate how research in your area could be guided by that perspective, suggesting questions that could be asked and, again, noting the strengths and weaknesses resulting from said metatheoretical approach. You are limited only by your creativity and a strict page limit of 10 pages of actual text. In your introduction, provide a description of your literature search strategy and its results.
