This guide will assist you in developing your research topic and subsequent paper for COMM 1950: Communication Capstone or for other projects in communication studies.  It will also provide you with links to helpful sites and people.

According to the Pitt-Greensburg program sheet for communication, this discipline "investigates a broad range of topics and incorporates knowledge acquired from other fields...including psychology, sociology, anthropology and linguistics." 

• Develop a topic that asks a question or poses a problem that interests you.
• Select appropriate search terms for your subject. For example:
  • mass media
  • rhetorical criticism
  • social exchange theory
  • viral marketing
  • word-of-mouth (WOM) advertising
• Search PittCat and subject oriented databases.
• Revise your topic. Determine how you will answer your question.
• Evaluate your resources carefully!
• When in doubt, contact your librarian.

These sample worksheets will help you refine your research topic and understand how to evaluate a scholarly journal article. 

Here are tips and guidelines for evaluating sources.