Assignment:
TOPIC: POLICE AND BODY WORN CAMERAS REDUCE LAWSUITS AND COMPLAINTS
The objective of the assignment is to conduct a content analysis centered on media presentation of a crime-related topic. The assignment will require you to identify a research topic, identify a source of data, select a sample, code your data, analyze your data (codes), and present your analysis in a clearly written research paper, 6-8 pages in length, following APA or ASA style.
Final papers are expected to follow the traditional research-paper format, including abstract, introduction, literature review, a clearly written methods section describing the content analysis process, presentation and discussion of results, conclusion, and references.
The focus of this project is the social construction of a crime topic, rather than the topic itself. For example, do not write a paper about the death penalty. Discuss public perceptions of the death penalty, including specific examples of how these opinions are constructed in the media.
Begin with sociological topic. Even better, have a research question. For example, you may be interested in examining how the police are discussed in rap music. How is prison discussed in the media? What does Fox News tell us about terrorism? Be sure to choose a question for which you can find appropriate data, which in most cases means your topic actually occurs in the media.
Identify your data and select a sample. Perhaps you'll be examining representations of gender roles in the top grossing movies over the past 50 years? Perhaps you'll focus on drug use in movies over the last 5 years? Perhaps you'll examine gender and prison, watching a season of "Orange is the New Black?" In short, think carefully about how you will select a sample and be prepared to discuss this choice in the methods section of your paper.
Code your data. You will have to code the text, images, or objects using terms that represent the concepts that you are interested in and that enable you to investigate your theoretical ideas. In short, you are seeking to identify patterns and similarities. This assignment will require you to develop a set of adjectives (or codes) that you assign to each of the cases.
Analyze your data. Summarize the codes in relation to your research question. Present the data in a logical way.
Conclude with a discussion of results, contrasting media images to scholarly knowledge. What would a person know about the subject if he or she got all their information from your sample? What would they learn by relying on expert knowledge?
The vast majority of scientific reports can be broken down into the following constituent parts.
Title - Author(s)
Abstract
Introduction
Methodology
Results AND Discussion
Conclusions
References
Appendices