Objective: To prepare you to conduct your own mass communication research projects
Project: Identify a research question and suggest a method for answering it
Result: A database of class interests arranged by subjects. (hard copies available in Grady's Drewry Room)

Format: Project should be turned in with your answers numbered as below, typed, with your full name at the top of each page, and stapled. You must turn in a paper copy (no emails). Please do NOT put material in a folder. No late projects accepted. Do follow conventions of grammar, punctuation and spelling. Follow the instructions as to format including length; the point is that these projects should be accessible to anyone who wants to search through them later. Once graded they will be put in the Drewry Room and thus your class will have a database of resources on a variety of subjects to consult over the next year of your studies.

1. Identify an area within the discipline of mass communication that strikes you as an intriguing area for investigation and explain why the area appeals to you (i.e. scholarly, professional, and/or personal reasons). [2 sentences]

---My area is violence in the media; I'm interested in whether violent media content is related to violence in society.

2. Choose a topic heading from our syllabus within which your area fits and explain the fit. [1-2 sentences]

---Mass media effects. Effects research explores the impact of media on audiences and how audiences use media to obtain particular gratifications.

3. Read the relevant material in McQuail and write a paragraph about how previous research has considered your general area of interest. Then, decide what approach(es) are most appropriate for your investigation and explain why. [1 paragraph; cite the sections/pages in McQuail]

---Here you might refer to the sections on media and violence in Chapter 18 as well as the longer term effects research such as cultivation or agenda setting in Chapter 19. Does agenda setting provide an innovative way to think about your topic? Or does cultivation strike you as an appropriate framework? Explain.

4. Conduct a brief but strategic literature review, to help you narrow your area into a manageable research topic, and to provide background and a sense of context.

---Use Communication Abstracts to identify some very current research on your topic and use either that current research or refer to McQuail or Approaches to Media to help identify some earlier influential research. Find 3 current (1998- ) and 3 influential pre-1998 relevant articles, provide complete citations and an abstract for each in your own words. In each abstract, include a sentence evaluating the article's usefulness for exploring your topic. [each abstract, 7-10 sentences max. 6 abstracts total.] You can do some of this online; you will likely consult sources in the Main Library. Copy one of your current articles (1998- ) and turn it in clipped at the end of your stapled project! Current research means articles from scholarly peer-reviewed journals. You may however, include one web site and/or 1 or 2 scholarly books in place of research articles. If you choose a book, consider writing the abstract of an introductory chapter, i.e. there should be a chapter that describes the book's thesis, arguement, methods and findings.

5. Identify & define 1 or more key concepts that seem relevant to how you intend to frame your investigation.

---e.g. "cultural indicators," and "symbolic environment" might be 2 concepts that will help you understand the influence of violence in the media as media images help construct (rather than simply reflect) the world. Remember if you use someone else's definitions, credit them by including a complete citation.

6. Pose a concrete research question. [1 question or 2-3 related questions]

7. Suggest a method of investigation. [e.g. survey, experiment, content analysis, historical essay, etc.] & explain why the chosen method is best [in 1 sentence].

8. What resources are needed? What special skills are needed? [list]
example 8a. --access to undergraduate students willing to complete a questionnaire on their television viewing practices
--knowledge of a statistical package and ability to interpret statistical findings

example 8b. --The Peabody collection database of television programs
-- historical research methods and ability to analyze visual communication

9. Explain how your investigation would add to current thinking in terms of scholarship and/or professional practice. [up to 5 sentences]

10. Why is the investigation important to you beyond scholarly and/or professional concerns? [up to 5 sentences]