Impact of Media - Research Proposal Example

?Research The impact of Media on instigating and progressing revolutions across the world (considering the recent unrest in the Middle East) Introduction The recent uprising in Egypt once again brings to limelight the power and influence Media has on people, considering the whole mass protest and revolution was conceptualized and co ordinate through social networking and mobile technology. The world witnessed a surge in revolutions for democracy post the rigorous portrayal of the Egyptian unrest amongst the world media. What led to people suddenly standing up for their rights and revolting against the rulers? It can be a difficult answer to give but one cannot overlook the presence of media in all of that. The media brought out the Egyptian revolution to the world and made the world unite in protest. The heroic portrayals of the Egyptian people through the media could be one of the reasons that made people stand up and fight. But there were losses, in terms of life and property. Who accounts for that? In togetherness is makes a very interesting topic to research on the impact of media in bringing about revolution. Purpose of the Research: The main purpose of this research paper should be to thoroughly investigate and find a co relation between the presence of media in everyday life and the surge in people’s revolutions against tyranny and dictatorship across the world. Objective of the Research: The main objectives of the paper can be summarized as follows: The paper should also help realize to what extent the media has been playing a role as a catalyst in instigating people’s thought and need for a revolutionary movement. Do the media take interest in such revolutions as a social responsibility or does it look to make the most out of war mongering by blowing things out of proportion? Are people’s decision of who is good and who is bad, what is necessary and when it is necessary reflected in what the media makes them perceive? Rationale of the Research: Through technological advancements and the emergence of Internet, the world has come closer than ever before. People have growing needs of the electronic, print and mass media in their lives. The need for socializing coupled with the above factors has take humans to that stage where they cannot overlook any form of Media from their lives. Academics argue that most individual’s life style and thoughts are influenced by what is being portrayed by the media. Thus it become very important to analyze if revolutionary decisions are being taken rationally or is the media responsible for instigating such interest and motives by its portrayal of events. Is it not possible that the media can be selective in what it portrays as eventually it also has to look after its economic viability? (Biagi, 2002) Literature Review: April, 2007 witnessed the worst school shooting in American history when one gunman took 32 other lives beside himself inside Virginia Tech University. Psychologist and member of the society put the cause on over exposure to violent entertainment in the media. Activists and leaders called on the media to control their portrayal of violence in an attempt to protect the minds of young people. At the same time, it is also to be noted that the media portrayals may not affect the behavior of all individuals in the same way (Sparks, 2010). However the presence of media can be seen everywhere around human beings to the extent that it affects us economically socially and culturally. Sometimes the mass media even influences one’s way of talking, eating habits, working, studying and relaxing (Biagi, 2006). The media is then also seen as a source of power and empowerment for the civil society. It brings knowledge that lets people think and decide, provides empowerment to the society by revolutionizing thoughts. The empowerment of women in many societies across the globe is often credited to the efforts of mass media to bring along changes (Klaehn, 2010). It is also supported by Sparks (2010) saying that progress through personal experiences and learning can be painfully slow and that is where the influence of media acts as a catalyst in speeding up progress and empowerment. In democracies, the media acts more than just an editorial position of organizations. Communications between general public and elected representatives are dependent on mass media. The media grows on to that stage to become an important part of the national culture (Luton, 1996). Research Methodology: The methods of doing research are most critical to the success of any research paper. It defines what is going to be done and how it is going to be done. Mostly research papers are a combination of collection of two types of data- Primary & Secondary (Melville & Goddard, 2007). This research paper would also be a mix of both primary and secondary data. Keeping in context of the topic of research, it is necessary to understand the human behavioral patterns and emotions that lead up to the revolutions. Thus it is necessary that the research paper is researched in Qualitative method of researching and analyzing. Data collection The secondary data would form the crux of the necessary data required for analysis. Secondary data is collected in the form of published articles, journals, books, news articles, periodicals, etc. For this research it would be necessary to collect data from such sources about the media and its presence during the revolutions that took place. Newspapers and Magazines that have continuously covered the events should provide good information. It would be also helpful to gather any research paper already done by some author on the related topic. It would also be helpful to be able to survey a population of 20 people through qualitative questionnaires about the impact of media, which would serve as a Primary data in the process of analysis of the paper (Dawson, 2002). The selection of population for survey would be done through Simple Random Sampling of students in a university and from general public from New York. The interviews will be carried out either face-to-face or through emails and online chat. It is preferred to have the demographic segment of the population to be in the age group of 18-45 without any bias on gender. Credibility and limitations It is also necessary to note that the research process and the sampling of the population should be conducted in a process to ensure negligible bias and non repetition of data; otherwise the findings may not yield the correct inference (Saunders et. al, 2003). Qualitative research tends to be more difficult than quantitative thus the need to cut down on errors and bias is more important. The random sampling method will ensure this and in order to adhere to the ethics of ethnographic research the interviewees will be given the option with withhold their names if they wish so. The main limitation of the research is that it is restricted to a single city and 20 participants which could be extended to cover some more cities in order to get a more detailed idea on the issue. Further scope of the research entails a categorical analysis of people’s opinion as per age groups and ethnicity. Time frame for the research References 1. Biagi, S. (2006). Media Impact: An Introduction to Mass Media. Canada: Cengage Learning. 2. Dawson, C. (2002). Practical Research Methods. UK: Cromwell Press. 3. Goddard, W., & Melville, S. (2007). Research Methodology:An Introduction. Cape Town: Juta & Co Ltd. 4. Hiebert, R. E. (1999). Impact of Mass Media. USA: Longman Publishing. 5. Klaehn, J. (2010). The Political Economy of Media and Power. New York: Peter Lang. 6. Luton, L. S. (1996). The Politics of Garbage. Pittsburg: University of Pittsburg Press. 7. Potter, W. J. (2011). Media Literacy. London: Sage Publications. 8. Rubin, B. (2011), Mass Media Now Admits It Was Also Wrong About Post-Mubarak Egypt's Foreign Policy, The Rubin Report. available at: http://rubinreports.blogspot.com/2011/03/now-mass-media-tells-us-it-was-wrong.html (accessed on April 8, 2011) 9. Saunders, M., Lewis, P., & Thornhill, A. (2003). Research Methods for Business Students. India: Pearson Education. 10. Sparks, G. G. (2009). Media Effects Research. Canada: Cengage Learning. Read More