Research Proposal Outline Essay

Research Proposal Outline Literature Review a. What was the topic of your literature review? Media violence and its effects on children In 1 paragraph, review the overall findings in this field, based on your literature review.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Large numbers of studies have suggested the media violence has bad effect on child’s psychological development.   The media can be used as an effective tool in teaching & developing sound habits in children through parental guidance & proper planning of the medium’s people. Parents need to satisfy the child’s confusion regarding fantasies shown on TV so they can learn to critique what they view. â€Å"According to the Office of the Surgeon General, children are theoretically more susceptible to behavioral influences when they are active participants than when they are observers.†( cited in Education Encyclopedia, 2007) Children associate themselves easily to a character they see on TV. A discussion with 8-10 year olds about who they wanted to be like, perceived that they are most influenced by unrealistic characters who are portrayed as braver & stronger than real people. Unfortunately, this fact was augmented for negative characters than positive ones.    Anxieties resulting from excessive violence viewing can pilot physical ailments in children & adults alike. The September 11th events were highlighted by the media; preschoolers reacted to the situation by showing emotional distress over the blood & bodies showed on national TV, elementary school students created ideas of their own & feeling scared for their own family’s wellbeing by watching the attack. Teenagers were most concerned for the victims & realized the effects of the calamity. Research Design Issues a. What is your research question?   What are the effects of media violence on child’s psychological development? What are your hypotheses? Violence shown in media can have bad affect on child’s psychological development and can result in various psychological problems and social problems.   Ã‚   Advertising &entertainment industries are a booming business but it can be used to incorporate positive information to the masses. It represents the culture & spirit of the respective country to the rest of the world & must not be used casually. Parents & teachers should come up with strategies to create a sense of understanding in the children from an early age.   The parents should realize what effects the movies & content on TV are having on their children & try to minimize TV viewing at home level. Some ways that may be incorporated by parents to limit children’s revelation to violence are: Restricting & keeping a check on what their children view on TV Discussing the programs with older children or young adults to clear their minds of any confusion & help them in expressing their opinions. Start a family oriented time by going for picnics, organizing a special lunch or dinner. Allow the children to watch TV for a selected time period & only programs that are desirable for their viewing. Offer criticism on TV channels & sponsors for showing in appropriate programs or content so as to force them to use proper censorship. What kind of research design will you use? (Include the aspects of research design discussed in class). Aka longitudinal, cross-sectional, etc†¦ We would prefer a longitudinal research design. Participants a. What kind of participants will be in your study (ages, gender, ethnicity, SES, other important characteristics)? The study will be done on children of age between 5-12 of both sexes and parents of age between 30-50 years of any ethnicity. How would you characterize this sample (ex. Representative, oversampling, within-group)? The sample is within-group. How many participants (if there are 2 or more groups-how many in each group)? Two groups of children and one group of parents and one group of teachers will be formed. Group A and A1 will be of children and group B will be of parents, and group B1 will be of teachers. Children group will have 48 participants and parents group will have 44 participants. Group A will be the group of normal children, while Group A1 of those with violent attitude and behavior. How will you recruit your participants (if there are 2 or more groups, describe for each group)? We’ll contact schools and talk with the administration to allow us take surveys from children and teachers. Children will be asked several questions regarding their activities at home and school. Teachers will be asked about the performance and behavior of students at school. What will you control for if you have more than 1 group of participants? Control group will include those children who have normal attitude and behavior and do not suffer from any psychological or social problem. Measures a. List the variables you will measure.   (Be specific and use your hypotheses as a guide.) Variables Number/name of violent movies viewed Number/name of cartoons viewed per day Number/name of shows viewed per day How will you measure these variables? (Give specific names of measures, or if you are developing your own measure, briefly describe it). Statistics ANOVA will be used to measure variables. State which participants will complete which measures (ex. Parents will fill out the Child Behavior Checklist; children will be observed in the Strange Situation). Children will be asked about their activities at home and school and the number of movies, shows and cartoons they watch per day. Parents will be asked about child’s behavior at home and social meetings. Teachers will be asked about child’s behavior at school and performance in studies. Procedures a. Describe your interview procedures (when, where, and how).   If you are doing a longitudinal study, you need to describe this for each assessment period. Assessment period of 4 months Three different questionnaires will be prepared for each group, children, parents and teachers. Interviews will be conducted at school in the afternoon for children and evening for teachers after they are free from class teaching. Are you compensating your participants? If so, how much? If you are doing a longitudinal study, you need to describe this for each time period. Gifts will be distributed among children after they take survey and give true information. For each survey gifts will be presented. If you are doing a longitudinal study, you need to describe how you will track your participants between assessment periods. Each participants contact number will be taken on first consent of participating in the study. Each participant will be provided with one telephone and mobile number of the research for easy contact and communication.