Women & Minorities in the Mass Media Research Paper

Women & Minorities in the Mass Media

RESEARCH PAPER

Students will be required to produce a paper of a minimum length of 15 pages, not including bibliographic data or appendices. Papers must be fully cited using American Psychological Association (APA), the standard documents for the social sciences.  It must include at least 15 sources.

TOPIC: Look at the media’s framing of an issue related to gender, race, ageism disabilities, etc.

• Time frame: six months
• Compare and contrast two diverse media types: i.e. black press versus mainstream media, regional versus elite press, liberal versus conservative talk radio, magazines versus newspaper, etc.
• The primary goal of this assignment is to study how different types of media cover issues from a different perspective.

The paper should be organized along the following general lines:

Abstract

A short summary or abstract. Generally, it gives a brief background to the topic; describes concisely the major findings of the paper; and relates these findings to the field of study.

Introduction

(General background; specific problems or issues to be examined, and their significance) Introduces the reader to the general problem and sets the work in a broader scientific context. The introduction links your rather narrow study to broader questions and the literature on the subject. Think of it this way: in the “introduction,” researchers describe a general problem/concern, review the global literature on the subject, and identify a question that has not been adequately addressed.

A.    Outline the problem of general concern

B.     Briefly mention prior work that is relevant to this problem highlighting some of the important results. It is in this section that you demonstrate your comprehensive knowledge of what relevant work came before yours. Mention at the end what is lacking to advance our understanding.

C.     Discuss what your report will do to help fill in the important gaps and to advance our understanding.

Literature Review

(Summary of what has already been written and key case studies on the topic).

1. Previous work, specific to the methods you are using and to the area you are studying. Again, you must demonstrate your comprehensive knowledge of what important/relevant work preceded yours. What were their results specific to your interests? End with what you are going to specifically add to the data/understanding.
2. This can be a tricky section to write. It is not a history of who has done what nor is it a summary of each scientists’ contribution. It is a synthesis of the relevant knowledge about the subject. You are trying to synthesize for the reader a conception of how the process (es) work based on prior knowledge.
3. Hypotheses or research questions based on literature review

Research Methods

(Description of how relevant literature was located; criteria applied for inclusion/exclusion)

• Now that you have the literature review, what is your plan? Describe the materials used in the experiments and the methods by which the experiments were carried out. In principle, this description should be detailed enough to allow other researchers to replicate the work. In practice, these descriptions are often highly compressed, and they often refer back to previous papers by the authors. This section is a separate chapter if you are applying methods that need lots of explanation, and particularly if it is a new or unusual method. Otherwise, it can be combined with the next chapter.

Results or findings

Here is where you list your findings, tables, etc. In some papers, the results are presented without extensive discussion, which is reserved for the following section. This is appropriate when the data in the early parts do not need to be interpreted extensively to understand why the later experiments were done.

Discussion

The discussion section acts to tie together the unrelated parts of the paper. What do the results and analysis mean relative to the goal of your project? In the analysis section you may have subsections that concentrate on different analysis techniques. Also, the section is used to link your results, specific to one area, to other findings globally. How do they compare to previous work at your cite or to other comparable studies? Are your findings new and different, odd in a way that needs explaining or are they within the range of expected values based on other work? Can your results help explain other situations? Are there global/international implications of your results?

Limitations and future studies

Discuss the limitations of your research. Describe what you would do differently or in an ideal situation. Examples include a small sample, poor research design, etc.

Summary and conclusions

Summarize your findings and conclude the paper. A conclusion should:

• stress the importance of the thesis statement,
• give the essay a sense of completeness, and
• leave a final impression on the reader.

References

List the works cited in your paper using APA style.

Appendices

Include research instruments, Tables, graphs, illustrations (if appropriate)

Other elements of Research Report

• Cover Page: your name, report title/topic, 50-word single-spaced synopsis of the issue (this will be shared with other students)
• Citations: Quoted information as well as paraphrased information that is not common knowledge should be attributed to its original source. A "Works Cited" page should conclude your report, documenting your information sources. List only those sources you have actually cited within the text of your report. Use the style of the American Psychological Association (APA), the standard documents for the social sciences.

Criteria for Research Report

• 40% ... Part 1 – Introduction,  Literature Review & Methods (Comprehensive presentation of concepts and ideas)
• 40% ... Part 2 – Findings, Limitations and Future Studies & Conclusions (Extent and quality of your personal observations)
• 20% ... Presentation (Logical structure, language use, professional appearance, mechanics of good writing, APA documentation style)

EVALUATION

A thorough understanding and evaluation of a paper involves answering several questions:

Does the introduction adequately set up the study? Is the literature review relevant to the study?

Is the research problem important? Why? Answer the question "So what?" Show your readers why this paper was important. Show them that your paper was meaningful and useful.

• What questions does the paper address?
• Is the research design sound?
• What are the main conclusions of the paper?
• What evidence supports those conclusions?
• Do the data actually support the conclusions?
• What is the quality of the evidence?
• Why are the conclusions important?