You will work throughout the semester to create a research proposal, in which you propose what you are going to do to test a series of research questions/hypotheses
You will work throughout the semester to create a research proposal, in which you
propose what you are going to do to test a series of research questions/hypotheses. The purpose of this assignment is to give you the opportunity to demonstrate your understanding of social-scientific research, namely content analysis. You are NOT going to collect data or analyze data, nor are you going to present results from your study.
Your topic should in some way relate to the course topic of media stereotyping, though you are not limited to the social groups on the syllabus. While you may understandably be interested in answering questions that require survey/experimental research, this project is designed as a content analysis proposal. Therefore, you must propose questions that can be answered through this specific methodological approach. You must come up with ideas that examine media content, not the effects of that content.
While you can measure simple counts (i.e., “How often are Asians represented in Netflix original shows?” or “What is the sexual orientation of Marvel superhero characters?”), the main focus of your study should be a bit more complex – with at least a couple of your questions/hypotheses delving into the quality/features of the portrayals. Think about things like personality traits, aesthetics, occupations, relationships, language usage, news frames, screen time, etc. It is a good idea to look at existing content analyses to help you brainstorm.
Length & Format
Although it is important to note that quantity and quality are not inherently related – and that the goal of any good paper is to make a compelling, well written argument, regardless of length – I understand that providing a general estimation of the length of a typical research paper is helpful. Your final product should be somewhere between 7 and 9 pages long ( including a title page, abstract, introduction, literature review, research questions/hypotheses, method, discussion, and references). Papers that do not fall within the length guidelines will receive deductions.
All work should be singled-spaced, and you should use Times New Roman or Calibri 11-point font, with 1-inch margins on all sides. You should follow APA Style 7 rules for page numbers, spacing, punctuation, headings, and all other aspects. Papers not meeting these formatting requirements will receive deductions.
Components
Your research proposal should have all of the following components:
– The RQs/Hs (how many there are, the breadth of what they cover, how they align with the measurements, etc.)
– Sample (what is included in the scope, how it will be gathered, how many items are included, etc.)
– Procedure (who the coders will be, how they will be trained, how long they will be trained for, how will ICR be determined)
– Unit of analysis
– Variables measured
– Tests used
– Literature review (what theory is used, how are ideas weaved together, how many sources are used, how is the section sub-divided, etc.)
– Discuss (how are ideas weaved together, how many sources are used, what sorts of suggestions are made, what future areas of study or gaps are identified)
Title Page : This is a separate page that includes the title of your proposal (e.g., Examining gender portrayals in live-action Disney films), your own name, the course number/name, the department/school affiliation, and due date.
Abstract: This section should be on a separate page. An abstract summarizes the purpose of
your study, presents the theories and hypotheses, proposed method, and discussion points. Abstracts are generally around 150-200 words.
Introduction: In this section, you should introduce your study, and state the significance and the purpose of your study. Your goal should be clear, as should the gap in the literature that you are looking to fill. You should also briefly outline the upcoming sections of the paper. This section should be roughly half a page or so (don’t go over a page, but don’t have only one tiny paragraph either).
Literature Review : In this section, you are going to review the existing research on your topic, explain the theoretical framework(s) you have adopted for your study, define the variables in your study, provide the rationale behind the hypothesized relationships between variables, and suggest the hypotheses and/or research questions to be addressed. You should have at 3-4 research questions/hypotheses, and all of them must be supported by literature. Your literature review should ideally contain sub-headings to ensure that there is clarity and that you are not repeating yourself.
Method: In this section, you are going to state the proposed method (e.g., content analysis) to test your hypotheses and/or research questions and explain why this method fits your inquiries. You should then have specific sub-sections regarding your sample (i.e., what will be analyzed in the study, including unit of analysis and how you will gather the sample), measures (i.e., what variables will be measured), and procedures (i.e., what will be prepared prior to the study and what will happen in the study, including who will do the coding and how they will be trained). In this section, you should also include a coding sheet, which is a replication of the sheet your coders would use when doing their work.
Discussion: This section should address what your expected results of research mean in relation to the theoretical body of knowledge on the topic and your profession, and for communication professionals in the field being examined. In other words, what are the study’s theoretical and practical implications? It may be one of the most important sections because it answers the “so what?” question. Also, in this section, you should suggest specific directions for future research investigations. Since there is no conclusion section, please have a logical ending point that seems like it works as a concluding sentence/paragraph.
References: Your reference page should come after the “Discussion” section, on its own page. You must include a minimum of 10 scholarly journals or books as references. You must have at minimum five academic references that are NOT course readings. Please note that books written by non-academics, magazine articles, newspaper articles, and other non-scholarly sources may also be very useful, but these sources should be used in addition to the scholarly ones. All in-text citations must appear in the reference list; likewise, each entry in the reference list must be cited in your text. If you use a direct quote, you need a page number (if no page numbers are on the document, use paragraph numbers) or timestamp (for videos). Please also remember to appropriately cite any television program/film where you directly reference a scene/interaction. When in doubt, cite it.
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