Research Paper on "“Cognitive Dissonance” in Persuasion- Communication Major

Research Proposals

The final paper for this class should propose a fusion, recasting, or innovative test of a persuasion theory that has been examined in this class. The goal of this assignment is to write a paper that is as close to a research study as possible. When reading through your articles for this essay, you probably encountered either theoretical reformulations (extending or fusing theories of persuasion), empirical tests (testing the theory on a sample of subjects using some experimental method), or measurement articles (creating a scale by which to measure a persuasive phenomenon). For your paper, you should use one of these three types of articles as a model:

1) you can take existing theories and fuse them together in a new and exciting way, 2) you can take an existing theory and test it in a new context, or 3) you can incorporate new factors regarding persuasion into a scale that helps us measure the construct.

The annotated bibliography should serve as a guide for the literature review section of your paper—where you lay the foundations for your fusion/study. In addition to the literature review, you should compose a methods section which lays out the steps by which you want to test your theory in an innovative context. Ideally, a perfect paper for this class involves an introduction, literature review, methods section, anticipated results/data analysis, and finally a discussion section—an outline follows:

I. Introduction

A. Hook or Attention Grabber.

B. Significance, Purpose, & Scope of your investigation (why it is important and how it relates to persuasion).

C. Thesis Statement that Previews your analysis.

II. Body

A. The primary theory that you are investigating.

1. A summary of the theory and its major premises.

2. Your research that demonstrates a depth further than the textbook.

3. The current state of the theory including its future directions.

B. A new context or another theory that can be conjoined to your primary theory.

1. A summary of research about the other theory or studies conducted in the specific context.

2. Why the new context illuminates uncharted areas of the theory—what the context brings to the table OR how a different theory’s focus can illuminate an undiscovered aspect of your original theory.

3. Identifying what persuasive aspects or tactics would change in the new context or with the new theory.

C. Fusion of context/theory.

1. Identify what would be foregrounded in a theoretical fusion or what new aspect of persuasion would be investigated with a multi-theoretical approach.

2. How you would conduct a study to test your idea: the design, the participants, the procedure, the materials, what types of data collection you would use, and how you would measure the primary variables in your study.

3. What results you would anticipate if you had all of the available resources to conduct your study—bring it to its finale.

4. Discuss what limitations you may face and what future directions other communication researchers may take to further extend your analysis.

III. Conclusion

A. Restate your major points and summarize the central argument of your theoretical fusion or context.

B. End with a final note that ties your essay back to your significance—how does your investigation answer some of the major questions/problems you originally introduced.

***Remember to add in your own experiences, actually u can make it up** but be aware that I am an international student from Hong Kong. Therefore, becareful when giving out examples. Thank you. And u can use my other document as the article if it’s application to what u wanna write. I am using “Cognitive Dissonance” as my main theory, but u can feel free to add another concept and fuse them together to make a new concept. Or just use the “Cognitive Dissonance” to test in new context. Thank you.