COMM 2850/STS 2851: Communication, Environment, Science, and Health
Homework #1 Assignment (Summer 2025)
[50 pts total]
Due Wednesday, July 9 @ 9:00 PM EST
Details:
You will write a 2-3 page report that responds to a particular prompt. Your report should have an introduction, conclusion, references page, and respond to the prompt in the body of the report. You will be graded on how well you have engaged with the course material and the strength of your discussion.
All assignments need to be typed, double-spaced, using normal type-fonts (Times New Roman, 12 point is a good choice), 1-inch margins, and need to be submitted in either a .docx or .pdf file format. I prefer APA 7 publication and citation style, but you may use any style. guide as long as you are consistent within your assignments. You may go beyond the 3 page limit if you need.
If you choose to use generative AI tools (ChatGPT, CoPilot, Claude, etc.) on the assignments, please include a brief disclaimer at the end of your assignment explaining:
· How you used it (e.g. What exact prompts did you ask it?)
· How it contributed to your work (e.g. Did your paraphrase what the tool gave you? Did it help you think through complex topics? Did it write an outline?)
· How you validated the information provided from the AI tool
Prompt:
In April 2025, several Cornell graduate students founded the McClintock Letters Initiative, which encourages scientists nationwide to write opinion pieces for their hometown newspapers. To date, the initiative has had over 100 op-eds published across 35 states. The initiative has also been covered by major outlets such as The New York Times, Science, NBC News, and more. The initiative is named after Barbara McClintock, the first American women to win an unshared Nobel Prize in the sciences, who was outspoken about being a woman in the sciences. The initiative aimed to publish all letters on McClintock’s birthday, which was June 16th.
Drawing on Weeks 1 and 2 of content and the materials linked above, please address the following points in your 2-3 page response:
1. Campaign Analysis:
Analyze the campaign by addressing:
a. What are its goals and intended outcomes?
b. What assumptions might the project make about its audiences/scientists?
c. What might you do differently to help improve its impact?
2. Social Science Research Methods
Describe at least one social science research method (survey, experiment, observation, interviews, content analysis) that you could use to evaluate a key aspect of the initiative (e.g. effectiveness of messaging, seeing how scientists’ perceptions change after writing, etc). Be as detailed as possible in describing:
a. Your research question
b. What method/why this method is most appropriate for your question. Please include who/what you might be sampling.
c. Any limitations or challenges with this method.