Objective: To apply knowledge gained in the Marriage and Family course in analyzing personal and social issues/problems addressed in the media that impact marriage and/or families directly or indirectly.
1. For this assignment, you must use print media, specifically a journal, or a news magazine such as Time or Newsweek but not popular magazines such as town and Country, Readers' digest, etc. You may use journal articles found on the Internet but you must document the legitimacy of the articles as we know that there is much "junk" on the Internet. For instance, legitimizing requires paying attention to the authors and their credentials. If you find an article in Time magazine comparing divorce rates of the eastern and western regions of the United States, and the author is identified as a family specialist, demographer, a sociologist or psychologist, then she/he is likely a legitimate source. However, if you find an article in Playboy magazine on how girls attract boys on a beach, written by a self-described "girl-watcher" or a surfing instructor, then this is not considered a legitimate source.
All articles from academic journals (such as Journal of Marriage and the Family, Journal of Sociology, Adolescence are considered legitimate sources. Popular literature is acceptable as long as the author is legitimate. Here is one last example to help you understand a legitimate and a non-legitimate source. I have a doctorate degree in family ecology with a support area of sociology. If I published an article on how adolescent dress can cause friction between parents and children, I would be considered a legitimate source because my credentials support my knowledge, but if I published an article comparing the technical structure of nuclear warheads between the U.S. and England, then I would not be considered a legitimate source because my credentials do not give me expertise in that area.
2. Locate six (6) articles that relate to marriage and/or the family.
3. Briefly summarize each article in a short paragraph.
4. Then analyze each article in relation to course terminology, concepts and theories from the textbook, readings, or class discussions. In addition to the above inclusions, address very briefly the following info.
- To what chapter(s) does the article relate?
- How does the content relate to marriage and/or the family?
- What concepts, theories, or terminology can be applied to the article?
- How important does this issue appear to be nationally, regionally, or locally? Explain by providing some evidence: graphs, charts, referencing and documenting a source that addresses the problem from a national, regional, or local perspective.
- Locate and incorporate statistics that relate to your topic. Ex. If you analyze an article on child abuse, then find statistics on the percentage of children that are abused nationally, regionally or locally depending on the focus of the article and your analysis.