Three documents below, available to download, should give you some guidance for the third part of the class project: 1. Continuing with the previous student's example paper, the model part 3 is posted here. This copy is annotated — I've highlighted some of the main parts your paper must include, which we'll elaborate on in section: — Statement of your research questions — Explanation of why these questions are important, and who else has been asking them (and how) — What data will answer your questions — How you intend to obtain that data ![]()
2. Given that I recently wrote a research proposal myself, I'm posting it here, too. Note the way this is formatted, with labels for each paragraph ("research question," "hypothesis," "related work," etc.); I am perfectly fine with you utilizing this format, if it makes it easier to get your head around the components of a research proposal. (You would not need to include "theoretical contributions" or "risks," unless you had them ready in mind.) ![]()
3. Lastly, here is the short list of research methods compiled by Prof. Goldfarb: ![]()
I also recommend these books, excellent guides to conceiving of and conducting communication research:
— Rubin, R.B., Rubin, A.M., Haridakis, P.M., & Piele, L.J. (2010). Communication Research: Strategies and Sources. Boston: Wadsworth — Babbie, E. (2007). The Practice of Social Research. Boston: Wadsworth Geisel has several copies of the Babbie and a couple copies of the Rubin, all available..
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Check out this short video posted just days before our discussion of Adorno & Horkheimer and their hand-wringing about pop music. The video presents information A&H would be down with, claiming that pop music is endlessly repetitive. The kicker, though, is that this mind-numbing repetition is not the direct work of our capitalist overlords — it's our own fault. Well, our own choice.
Participation! Consider the consumer choice discussed in this video's claims. How free are we to choose? How has Internet data illuminated this? And what would Adorko & Jerkheimer say about this: are our choices really our own? Following up on our last section in-class activity, posted below is a document containing the text of both the Wall Street Journal story and the New York Times story about the bank hacking. This is an excellent example of framing — neither story lies, but each definitely shows a particular bias and tells a different story for a different readership. Participation! In the comments here, add your deductions from in-class discussion groups about what makes these stories different and — specifically — how (show the evidence!). ![]()
The PBS series "Frontline" produced a typically insightful program about many of the issues we read about last week. It's called "Generation Like" — yes, that's meant to be you — and it explores the various dimensions of participatory culture, from how it affects celebrity to how media consumption itself changes.
Watch the full episode here. Here are a few snippets ... Below you may download part 2 of a former student's project paper. Again, this is a paper that scored well — though it has significant room for improvement, too. We'll discuss the edited version of this later in class. Use this paper as a good example of using the denotative and connotative description from part 1 as examples for an analysis of the communication at work in your object. Note how the student incorporated readings from the syllabus and others. ![]()
Check out the first 2:30 of this interview with Dave Stewart — one half of the Eurhythmics in the ’80s (whose biggest hit, the lyrics and the video, could be read as a commentary on this very dualism) and a prominent songwriter since — and his discussion of the line between art and commerce ... Participation! Stewart here discusses art and commerce as a linear progression — creativity begins as art and then later is transformed into commerce by certain needs. Do you agree with this model? What are some examples of different ways of conceptualizing this binary and its development? Can you think of objects/experiences that began as commerce and later became art?
The art vs. commerce binary discussed in the Gray chapter is a cultural dilemma almost as old as cave paintings. In my professional work as a pop music critic, I wrestled daily with walking the tightrope between addressing and critiquing the artistic elements in a recording or concert experience, and advising the consumer on whether the product or experience was worth shelling out money for.
FWIW, in the academic side of my work, I've addressed this binary in two different journal articles ... |
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