APR Masters of Arts -- Plan I
Plan I, the Two-Year Research Program
The two-year master's degree program is intended for students seeking
a strong research emphasis in their study of advertising and public
relations. The Plan I program focuses on important problems and
questions, gathering evidence, and setting standards for inference.
The program specifically prepares students in the areas of (a) mastering
the body of scholarly knowledge of advertising and public relations,
and (b) contributing to the advancement of knowledge in these fields
through basic and applied research. Students may decide to continue
their studies, pursuing doctorates in advertising or public relations.
Students in the Plan I program specialize in either advertising
or public relations, learn the concepts and methods involved in
productive scholarship, and collaborate with faculty members in
conducting research.
Plan I requirements.
Plan I is normally a two-year program and requires (a) a minimum
of 30 hours of approved graduate courses, (b) demonstration of proficiency
in research skills, (c) passing of a comprehensive written examination,
and (d) completion and successful defense of a master's thesis.
Students admitted to the program with little or no previous coursework
in advertising or public relations may be required to take one or
more undergraduate courses in the department to supplement their
graduate studies.
All required graduate courses in the Plan I program are listed below;
cognates and electives are chosen subject to the approval of the
student's academic adviser.
SEMESTER HOURS
| MC 550 Communication Research Methods |
3 hours |
| MC 551 Seminar in Communication Theory |
3 hours |
| APR 570 Contemporary Advertising & Public Relations |
3 hours |
| APR 583 Research Applications in Advertising & P.R. |
3 hours |
| Cognates |
9 hours |
| Elective (APR, JN, MC, or TCF course numbered above 550) |
3 hours |
| APR 599 Thesis Research |
6 hours |
| Total |
30 hours |
Nine hours of this program are devoted to a cognate area, usually
outside the College of Communication. The cognate is intended to
provide concentrated study in an area related to the student's career
interests. The cognate typically comprises courses in one discipline,
but it can consist of courses in several disciplines if the overall
topic is unified and contributes to the student's objectives. Cognate
examples include marketing, organizational communication, psychology,
sociology, and political science.
Each student's progress will be guided by the departmental coördinator
of graduate studies. Students in the program must maintain a minimum
quality point average of 3.0 and may receive no more than two "C"
grades to be eligible to continue.
Research proficiency can be demonstrated by successful completion
of one or more statistics or computer science courses approved by
the students' academic adviser, or by proficiency in the research
methods appropriate to the student's master's thesis.
Following completion of all coursework, students are expected to
pass a comprehensive examination.
The student must select a faculty member to chair the thesis committee.
In concert with the thesis chairperson, the student chooses a three-member
thesis committee. One member must be from outside the Department
of Advertising and Public Relations. Working with this committee,
the student identifies an appropriate thesis topic and research
approach. A thesis proposal must be approved by the thesis committee
before a student can start work on the thesis research. The completed
thesis must be defended in an oral examination before the thesis
committee.
Link to Plan 2
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