Research
The School of Communication both welcomes and encourages undergraduate student involvement in the research programs of faculty and graduate students by serving as undergraduate research assistants. Research assistants play a vital role in the research of any university, by helping with data collection and analysis, computer programming, library research, and writing of research reports for presentation and conferences and for publication. Undergraduates in the social sciences with research experience (especially in the form of an undergraduate thesis) and who meet other entry requirements are often highly sought out by graduate schools, including the graduate program in the School of Communication at The Ohio State University. Furthermore, people with research skills are also sought out in industry and the corporate world. Thus, serving as a research assistant can give you a competitive advantage in your quest for furthering your education in the social sciences or obtaining employment upon graduation. If you need a letter of recommendation from a faculty member for graduate school or a job, you will get a much stronger letter if you work in a faculty member’s lab. Because there is no such thing as too much experience, we especially encourage students to get involved early in their education, at least a year before graduation. It sounds a lot better for a faculty member to say that that you worked in their lab for two, three, or even four years than only a semester.
The School of Communication recruits undergraduate research assistants for ongoing research projects. You may earn "independent study" course credit by working on these projects or get involved on a voluntary basis—details are to be discussed with the faculty/project contacts.
Autumn 2026 Undergraduate Research Project List
Project Title: Coder
Faculty Supervisor: Dr. Brad Bushman
Contact Information: bushman.20@osu.edu
Total number of Research Assistants sought: 1
Project location: Remote/Online
Minimum time commitment per week: 3 hours
Preferred qualifications: Experience with Excel, organized, close attention to detail, strong reading comprehension.
Project description: This project involves coding research studies for meta-analytic reviews. The term meta-analysis literally means “analysis of analyses.” It is a quantitative literature review that combines the statistical analyses (e.g., correlations, standardized mean differences) from different studies conducted on the same topic. I am conducting a meta-analytic review on hate speech. Preference will be given to those who can work multiple semesters (e.g., AU26, SP27, SU27). This opportunity can be taken on a voluntary basis or for credit in Communication (COMM 4998).
Remote or in-person: Remote/online, emails and weekly Zoom meetings.
Format of remote interaction: There will be held weekly Zoom meetings to go through the information collected and any questions you might have.
Project Title: The role of communication by friends, coaches and family members in motivating high achievers: Insights from journalists’ interviews
Faculty Supervisor: Dr. Susan L. Kline
Contact Information: kline.48@osu.edu
Total number of Research Assistants sought: 2-3
Project location: 3106 Derby Hall
Minimum commitment per week: 3 hours per week/1 credit hour
Preferred qualifications: Communication major, 3.6 GPA
Project description: Olympic medals, singular career achievements and meaningful awards are all types of experiences that journalists often write about to help their publics understand how high achievers are motivated by family, friends and coaches. In this project we are interested in building a data set of journalists’ interviews with successful athletes, career achievers, artists, and/or non-profit leaders that focus in part on how family, friends and coaches motivate these high achievers. As a group we will initially work on developing our data set; towards the end of the term we will begin determining similarities in the communication practices that journalists provide in their interviews.
Remote or in-person: Both, but mostly remote for the first half of the term.
Format of remote interaction: minimum weekly Zoom meetings for first half of the term; later meetings will involve some in-person group meetings.
Project Title: Attribution in AI-mediated apologies
Faculty Supervisor: Dr. Bingjie Liu
Contact Information: huang.6157@osu.edu
Total number of Research Assistants sought: 2
Project location: Online
Minimum commitment per week: 2 hours
Preferred qualifications: Research assistants are required to have a basic understanding of content analysis. Preference will be given to those who have research experience in conducting content analysis.
Project description: This project aims to investigate the explanations individuals make for the wrongdoer when they receive an AI-generated apology after an interpersonal transgression using content analysis. Research assistants will code participants’ responses using a provided codebook.
Remote or in-person: Remote
Format of remote interaction: Outlook and/or Zoom meetings
Project Title: Memory and Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Faculty Supervisor: Dr. Bingjie Liu
Contact Information: Please email Jingwei Liu.7369@osu.edu for application.
Total number of Research Assistants sought: 2
Project location: Remote/Online
Minimum commitment per week: 6 hours (2 credits)
Preferred qualifications: Experience with Excel, close attention to detail, strong reading comprehension, effective communication and collaboration skills, and being organized.
Project description: People’s memory of content may be influenced by their usage of AI. We have already collected data on this topic, and we will need your help with examining the research participants’ reports to determine how well they remembered. Most work will be done in Excel.
Remote or in-person: Remote
Format of remote interaction: Emails and/or weekly Zoom meetings with the faculty supervisor and/or the research team.
Communication Research Experience Program (C-REP)
Research experience is an important part of undergraduate education in the School of Communication. Some classes require student participation in research, while others allow students to earn extra credit in this way. The Communication Research Experience Program (C-REP) helps to connect students and researchers, and provides a way to track which studies a student has completed. The resources listed below provide more information about C-REP.
Video: A Student Guide to CREP