You must use this template to complete this assignment: The Syllogism Paper Template
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(when you open it up in Microsoft Word, see the comments I’ve added by clicking on Review -and choosing the option “All Markup” from the Tracking drop down menu.
NOTE: The syllogism paper is not due until the last module. You can jump to the page
where you will submit your syllogism paper by clicking on this link here: Submit Your
Syllogism Paper
Point Value: 100 Points
Course Learning Objectives Met By This Assignment:
1. Specify and differentiate the nature of theories, their criteria for evaluation,
and paradigms.
2. Demonstrate ability to articulate comprehensive arguments that specifies
interrelationships among variables and uses relevant and appropriate claims,
warrants.
3. Locate and appropriately cite scholarly research consisting mostly of peer-reviewed journal articles using APA Style.
Instructions
The purpose of this assignment is to develop a set of three hypotheses that explains how and why communication concepts are related. The paper is different from a typical literature review or research assignment in that most assignments ask students to summarize research. In contrast, the syllogism paper attempts to develop an explanation for why/how communication variables are related via a set of three hypotheses that are supported by prior research.
Papers are primarily graded on five areas:
(1) Proposition wording/claims: Conceptual soundness of the three hypotheses, including their wording and collective organization;
(2) Scholarly research: Quality of the scholarly journal research used to support each hypothesis;
(3) Topicality/integration of course content: relevance to communication and course learning objectives.
(4) Writing: Proper use of APA formatting.
(5) Originality: Does your set of hypotheses offer a new explanation for how
communication concepts are related, or does it simply restate what is already known.
Formatting & Requirements
1. Document Format: Use the Syllogism Template
2. Actions
3. document provided. Please submit as a PDF with the file name First Name
Last Name – Syllogism Paper
4. Content & Length: Approximately 2 pages. See the template document that
you must use.
5. Minimum Number of References: At least 3 scholarly journal articles for each
of your first two hypotheses, and therefore a minimum of 6 total scholarly
journal articles. No references needed for your third/final hypothesis.
Off-Limits Topics/Variables:
● Relationship satisfaction
● Self-disclosure
● “Amount of social media usage” (e.g., as social media use increases,
_________ increases; specific communication behaviors via social media
okay – see example on template)
● “Amount of communication” (e.g., the more communication, the more _____).
How Do I Get Started?
● Download the Syllogism Paper Template
● Actions
● and the Example Papers (Example Paper 1
● Actions
● ) (Example Paper 2
● Actions
● ) and watch the videos below that go over the instructions and example
papers.
● Review the earlier PowerPoints on Creating Syllogisms
● Actions
● and re-listen to the corresponding lecture from earlier in this module.
Syllogism Assignment: Student Name
H1: Long-distance relationships experience more social media jealousy than proximal relationships.
Billedo, C. J., Kerkhof, P., & Finkenauer, C. (2015). The use of social networking sites for relationship
maintenance in long-distance and geographically close romantic relationships. Cyberpsychology,
Behavior, And Social Networking, 18, 152-157. doi:10.1089/cyber.2014.0469
“Results showed that participants who were in a LDRR reported higher levels of relational
maintenance behaviors through SNS than participants who were in a GCRR. Also, as compared to
participants who were in a GCRR, participants who were in a LDRR used SNS more for partner
surveillance and experienced higher levels of SNS jealousy.” (p. 152).
H2: Social media jealousy in a relationship is positively related to social media surveillance of that
relationship.
Guerrero, L. K. (2014). Jealousy and relational satisfaction: Actor effects, partner effects, and the
mediating role of destructive communicative responses to jealousy. Western Journal of
Communication, 78, 586-611. doi:10.1080/10570314.2014.935468
QUOTE FROM THE ABOVE ARTICLE THAT SUPPORTS YOUR HYPOTHESIS GOES WOULD
GO HERE.
Stewart, M. C., Dainton, M., & Goodboy, A. K. (2014). Maintaining relationships on Facebook:
Associations with uncertainty, jealousy, and satisfaction. Communication Reports, 27, 13-26.
doi:10.1080/08934215.2013.845675
QUOTE FROM THE ABOVE ARTICLE THAT SUPPORTS YOUR HYPOTHESIS GOES WOULD
GO HERE.
Elphinston, R. A., & Noller, P. (2011). Time to face it! Facebook intrusion and the implications for
romantic jealousy and relationship satisfaction. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, And Social
Networking, 14, 631-635. doi:10.1089/cyber.2010.0318
QUOTE FROM THE ABOVE ARTICLE THAT SUPPORTS YOUR HYPOTHESIS GOES WOULD
GO HERE.
Therefore:
H3: Long-distance relationships will experience more social media surveillance of that relationship
than proximal relationships.
Explanation Paragraph
Research over the past decade has investigated how social media jealousy and social media surveillance
function in both proximal and long-distance romantic relationships. Multiple studies have shown that
social media jealousy is experienced more frequently in long-distance relationships as compared to
proximal relationships. Furthermore, multiple studies have also shown that as the amount of social media
jealousy one experiences increases, the amount of social media surveillance done by the jealous partner
also increases. Therefore, it is proposed that long-distance romantic relationships will experience greater
amounts of social media surveillance than proximal relationships.
CONSTRUCTING
SYLLOGISMS
COMM 495
REFRESHER: WHAT IS A SYLLOGISM
• Series of hypotheses that work together to explain something
(i.e., to support a claim)
Example:
H1: As exam difficulty increases, exams scores decrease
H2: As exam scores decrease, course evaluations decrease
THEREFORE…
H3: As exam difficulty increase, course evaluations decrease
THERE ARE TWO BASIC STRUCTURES FOR SYLLOGISMS
FIRST OPTION: THREE TESTS OF ASSOCIATION
H1: As VARIABLE A increases (or decreases), VARIABLE B increases (or decreases)
H2: As VARIABLE B increases (or decreases), VARIABLE C increases (or decreases)
THEREFORE:
H3: As VARIABLE A increases (or decreases), VARIABLE C increases (or decreases)
THERE ARE TWO BASIC STRUCTURES FOR SYLLOGISMS
FIRST OPTION: THREE TESTS OF ASSOCIATION
A
B
H1: As exam difficulty increases, exam scores decrease.
C
B
H2: As exam scores decrease, course evaluations decrease.
THEREFORE:
A
C
H3: As exam difficulty increases, course evaluations decrease.
THERE ARE TWO BASIC STRUCTURES FOR SYLLOGISMS
SECOND OPTION: Test of Difference, Test of Association, Test of Difference
H1: Group A does more of VARIABLE A than GROUP B
H2: As VARIABLE A increases (or decreases), VARIABLE B increases (or decrases)
THEREFORE:
H3: Group A does more of VARIABLE B than GROUP B
THERE ARE TWO BASIC STRUCTURES FOR SYLLOGISMS
SECOND OPTION: Test of Difference, Test of Association, Test of Difference
H1: SDSU Students Complete More Internship Hours than ASU Students.
H2: As number of internship hours increases, likelihood to be employed
full-time after graduation increases.
THEREFORE:
H3: SDSU Students are more likely to be employed full-time after
graduation than ASU Students
WHAT NOT TO DO
(A BRIEF GUIDE TO AVOIDING COMMON ERRORS)
First… this is a deceptively difficult and time consuming assignment
if you want to do well
• You can do a bad job by spending about 30 minutes on this
assignment and you’ll probably earn a D
• You can do a good job by spending about 5-7 hours on this
assignment and you’ll probably earn an A
Let’s look at the Syllogism Paper Template and see why I say this…
WHAT NOT TO DO
(A BRIEF GUIDE TO AVOIDING COMMON ERRORS)
THE MOST FRUSTRATING ERROR YOU CAN MAKE…
• You didn’t read the directions. You messed up the formatting.
You’ve made me sad and upset because I’m spending my day
telling you to use 12 point font, Times New Roman, 1-inch
margins.
• The only thing worse is you’ve turned in a format other than a PDF
and now I can’t open the document 🙁
COMMON ERRORS
• Too Unidimensional (Too Broad of Variables)
• Communication is positively related to relationship satisfaction
• Using Nominal (Grouping) Variables in a Test of Association
• Males are positively associated with verbal aggressiveness during conflict
• Tautology (X = X)
• As misunderstandings increases, lack of understanding increases
COMMON ERRORS
• “No Shit” Hypothesis
• Adultery, alcohol abuse, and financial difficulties are positively related to
divorce
• No Comparative Condition (in Tests of Differences)
• Communication majors earn more money after graduation
• Descriptive; Not Relational
• Scholars believe alcoholism is a disease, while others believe it is a bad
habit
SYLLOGISM ASSIGNMENT: EXAMPLE 1
H1: Children raised by authoritative parents develop superior perceived self-esteem levels
than children raised by authoritarian parents.
Bun, J. R., Louiselle, P. A., Misukanis, T. M., & Mueller, R. A. (1988). Effects of parental
authoritarianism and authoritativeness on self-esteem. Personality and Social
Psychology Bulletin, 14(2), 271–282. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167288142006
“Authoritarianism was inversely related to self-esteem while authoritativeness was directly
related to self-esteem.”
Milevsky, A., Schlechter, M., Netter, S., & Keehn, D. (2006). Maternal and paternal parenting
styles in adolescents: Associations with self-esteem, depression and life-satisfaction.
Journal of Child and Family Studies, 16(1), 39–47. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826006-9066-5
“Authoritative mothering was found to relate to higher self-esteem and life-satisfaction and to
lower depression.”
Pham, TM. H., & Ng, B. (2019). Self-esteem as the mediating factor between parenting styles
and creativity. International Journal of Cognition and Behaviour, 2(1).
https://doi.org/10.23937/ijcb-2017/1710004
“Students who had authoritative mother had significantly higher self-esteem than other groups,
followed by permissive, authoritarian, and neglectful groups. Students who had authoritative
father had significantly higher self-esteem than authoritarian and neglectful groups, but not
significantly different from permissive father. Thus, this study shows that self -esteem is highest
among students with authoritative parents and lowest among students with neglectful parents.”
H2: As perceived self-esteem increases, perceived overall life satisfaction increases.
Moksnes, U. K., & Espnes, G. A. (2013). Self-esteem and life satisfaction in adolescents—
gender and age as potential moderators. Quality of Life Research, 22(10), 2921–
2928. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-013-0427-4
“Self-esteem has a positive role in association with adolescents’ life satisfaction, and this
relationship is equally strong for both genders and across age.”
Huebner, E. S. (1991). Correlates of life satisfaction in children. School Psychology
Quarterly, 6(2), 103–111. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0088805
“Students who reported high life satisfaction tended to rate themselves higher on measures
of self-esteem, internal locus of control, and extraversion and lower on measures of anxiety
and neuroticism.”
SYLLOGISM ASSIGNMENT: EXAMPLE 1
Simsek, O. F. (2011). Structural relations of personal and collective self-esteem to subjective
well-being: Attachment as moderator. Social Indicators Research, 110(1), 219–236.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-011-9927-1
“When personal self-esteem is high and anxiety thereby controlled, people are more able to
experience positive affect and feel psychologically well” (Arndt et al. 2002: p. 452). DuBois and
Flay (2004) propose a similar account, that self-esteem is derived from an individual’s
surrounding environment and results in better mental health and well-being.”
Therefore:
H3: Children raised by authoritative parents experience higher perceived overall
life satisfaction compared to children raised by authoritarian parents.
Explanation Paragraph
Research dating back as far as 1988 has examined how different parenting styles affect children’s
self-esteem. Many studies have shown that children who are raised by authoritative parents have
perceived higher self-esteem compared to children who are raised by authoritarian parents.
Additionally, many studies have indicated that as children’s perceived self-esteem increases, their
perceived overall life satisfaction increases, based on the Global Satisfaction Scale. Therefore, it is
suggested that children raised by authoritative parents experience higher perceived overall life
satisfaction compared to children raised by authoritarian parents.
SYLLOGISM ASSIGNMENT: EXAMPLE 2
H1: As communication about sexual risk between parents and their adolescent children
increases, discussion about sexual risk between adolescents and their romantic
partners increases.
Jerman, P., & Constantine, N. A. (2010). Demographic and psychological predictors of
parent– adolescent communication about sex: A representative statewide analysis.
Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 39(10), 1164–1174. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964010-9546-1
“Our use of a representative statewide sample of households with adolescents from a large
and diverse state to investigate factors that predict this communication, together with parents’
qualitative perspectives on their experiences in this area, adds to the existing research that can
inform efforts to promote sexual communication and support parents in becoming more
motivated, more comfortable, and more effective communicators.” (p. 1173).
Overbeek, G., Stattin, H., Vermulst, A., Ha, T., & Engels, R. C. M. E. (2007). Parentchild relationships, partner relationships, and emotional adjustment: A birth-tomaturity prospective study. Developmental Psychology, 43(2), 429–437.
https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.43.2.429
“These findings replicate and extend the findings of previous studies that focused on parent–
partner linkages in adolescence and young adulthood (e.g., Collins et al., 2002; Truant et al.,
1987) and demonstrated that parent–child relationships might be an important predictor of
later partner relationship quality. On the basis of the present prospective–longitudinal results,
we propose that conflictual and low-quality parent–child communication in adolescence sets
the stage for low-quality partner relationships in adulthood.” (p. 435).
Widman, L., Choukas-Bradley, S., Helms, S. W., Golin, C. E., & Prinstein, M. J. (2014).
Sexual communication between early adolescents and their dating partners, parents, and
best friends. Journal of Sex Research, 51(7), 731–741.
https://doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2013.843148
“It is now well established that openly communicating about sexual health issues with a partner
can promote safer sexual decision making (for meta-analyses, see Noar, Carlyle, & Cole, 2006;
Sheeran, Abraham, & Orbell, 1999). Specifically, youth who engage in more frequent sexual
communication with their dating partners are more likely to delay sexual debut and use
condoms consistently once they initiate intercourse.” (p.731).
H2: As discussion about sexual risk between adolescents and their romantic partners
increases, contraceptive use by adolescents increases.
Whitaker, D. J., Miller, K. S., May, D. C., & Levin, M. L. (1999). Teenage partners’
communication about sexual risk and condom use: The importance of parentteenager discussions. Family Planning Perspectives, 31(3), 117–121.
https://doi.org/10.2307/2991693
SYLLOGISM ASSIGNMENT: EXAMPLE 2
“We have found that parent-teenager communication about sexuality and about sexual risks may
promote teenagers’ discussions with their partners about sex, but only when parents
communicate with their teenagers in a skilled and open manner. Similarly, parent-teenager
communication may encourage teenagers to use condoms, but only if parents are skilled,
comfortable and open in discussions about sexuality and risks related to sexual behavior.
Moreover, the association between parent-teenager communication.” (p. 120).
Whitaker, D. J., & Miller, K. S. (2000). Parent-adolescent discussions about sex and condoms:
impact on peer influences of sexual risk behavior. Journal of Adolescent Research,
15(2), 251–273. https://doi.org/10.1177/0743558400152004
“Data showed that parental discussions about condoms can have a direct impact on
adolescents’ condom use. Our data complement those findings by suggesting that parental
discussions about sex and condoms can also impact adolescent behavior by moderating the
extent to which peer norms guide sexual behavior and condoms use.” (p. 266-267).
Johnson, A. Z., Sieving, R. E., Pettingell, S. L., & McRee, A.-L. (2015). The roles of
partner communication and relationship status in adolescent contraceptive use.
Journal of Pediatric Health Care, 29(1), 61–69.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pedhc.2014.06.008
“In a multivariate analysis, partner communication specific to contraceptive use (RR = 1.3, p
< .001) and “steady” partnership status (RR = 0.65, p < .01) were associated with hormonal contraceptive consistency. In interaction models, the impact of partner communication on hormonal consistency was greater in steady partnerships than in casual partnerships.” (p. 61). Therefore: H3: As communication about sexual risk between parents and their adolescent children increases, contraceptive use by adolescents increases. Explanation Paragraph Research that has been conducted over the past century has investigated how parent communication with teens has affected the increase in adolescent-partner conversations about sex and created a spike in contraceptive use. Multiple studies provide proof that these positive conversations have increased adolescent partner conversations about sexual risks. Furthermore, numerous studies have shown that, the more communication adolescents and their partners have about sexual risk, their contraceptive use increases. Therefore, it is proposed that when parent-teenager positive communication about sexual risk increases, contraceptive use in adolescents increases. Purchase answer to see full attachment