Analysis of the Research Titled What Music Video Teach At-Risk Adolescent Girls - Essay Example

? School: Topic: DISSERTATION CRITIQUE Lecturer: DISSERTATION CRITIQUE Part Summary The research work d “what music video teach at-risk adolescent girls: making a case for media literacy curriculum” was conducted with the purpose of knowing the impact that various music video clips viewed by at-risk adolescent girls have on their lives. The research was conducted with a contextual understanding that what adolescents continually see and hear have a major impact on their way of reasoning and acting (Hallett, 2003). The researcher however lamented on the seemingly lack of research on the effect of music videos, as most of the research in the area of the effect of the multimedia have focused on movies alone. The study was conducted with a population that was made up of at-risk adolescent girls in the age group of 11 to 18. The rationale for selecting this group was in the fact that most of these girls do not have what it takes to make decisions for themselves and so what the messages they get from such multimedia platforms such as music video formed the basis of their actions (Morse & Richards, 2002). Through qualitative data collection, insights were drawn on how the population uses music videos as their source of entertainment, education and information. Part 2: Evaluation of Chapter 2 Literature Review Generally, the literature review was precise and skillfully conducted. The extensiveness of the literature review can be guaranteed in the way and manner in which the researcher drew up themes from the specific objectives of the study to cover all aspects of the research problem. This is said because the research objectives were constructed out of the research problem. Performing a literature review that covers all the research objectives therefore guarantees extensive coverage of research (Buckingham & Sefton-Green, 2001). What is more, on the depth and breadth of the topic, it could be said again that using the themes of the research objectives helped in this form of coverage. Indeed, the depth and breadth of the topic were rightly covered without the need to go outside the scope of the study was the research objectives continually served as a guide on areas to cover. This notwithstanding, issues of the authoritativeness of the literature review could be raised. For instance even though the researcher makes use of a good number of literature sources, there were several cases that the review would be noticed as being subjective rather than objective, based on the findings of the literature works being used. Even though the research work was performed in 2005, there were several sources used in the literature review that were way older than the current type of writing the work. In some cases, some of the sources were over a decade old as there were sources quoted from works produced in 1992. This notwithstanding, the researcher was careful with the section of sources and content from the sources such as that highly relevant contents that were related to the study were used. This made the overall literature review very relevant to the research problem that was at hand. Coupled with the relevance of the literature review, the researcher was careful to properly cite every borrowed material that was not part of her own ingenuity or making. This was done using the APA system of citation where the surname or surnames of authors and the date of publication were produced. A search through the reference list also showed that for every source that was cited in the literature review, this was properly reflected in the reference list. Whiles writing the list of references also, the researcher was careful to follow the APA style. Part 3: Evaluation of Chapter 3 Methods The overall idea that one gets about the methods section is that the researcher was on top of the data collection process. Ahead of the research methods, the researcher had given a clear hypothesis or personalized reasoning based on which the data collection was being undertaken. This is however not directly linked to the background educational information of the researcher in the methods. There is however information that justifies the fact that the research was being carried out in a real life setting. The setting for the study was Florida where a section of at risk girls who were aged from 11 to 18 was sampled for the study. Undertaking a research of this nature which addresses an ethnographic issue makes it possible for the research findings to be easily applied in decision making processes to ensure that there are changes to an existing situation (Buckingham, 2003). The basis for undertaking the qualitative research was justified and related to a theoretical perspective rooted in the symbolic and intereactionism and semiotics theory. With this basis, the researcher explained the importance of verbal and nonverbal communicative signs in human actions. Purposive sampling was not used by the sample that was eventually gathered gave a very good representation of the type of sample needed to solve the research problem because they all fell within the stated variables of the study. There was a major weakness with the data collection method used by the researcher, even though not much could be said about correcting the situation. This is because the researcher used a triangular data collection method which comprised of the use of in-depth interview, observation and picture studies. The weakness that came with this combined approach was that it made the data collection exercise very time consuming and lasting as long as 10 months. However, the time allocated, which was 10 months was adequate for collecting all needed data, even though pragmatic steps could be taken to reducing the time spent on data collection alone so that there could be extensive time for other processes with the research work. Because of the differences in the age variables of the respondents, it would really take a well devised strategy to ensure that there is consistency across the respondents. Whiles collecting data however, well structured qualitative terms and scenarios were used. Part 4: Self Reflection Reading through the entire research work has given several thought provoking understanding on music video and its impact on adolescent population. Generally, it has been deduced that what a person consistently sees and hears has so much influence in the decision making process of the person. This is because there is the tendency that these actions will be accepted as the best practices for social integration. Particularly for adolescents, there are some other challenges and problems that they already face, that make the impact of music video even more transcending. Key among these is the fact that at the adolescent age, most of these young people are exposed to peer pressure from friends and relatives (Eder & Fingerson, L. (2001). Unfortunately, there is also the inevitable situation whereby some of the pressure will be edifying some wrong social lifestyles and norms such as smoking, use of alcohol, nudity, and the use of drugs. As the adolescent girls receive these pressures, going back to watch music videos that also seem to glorify these acts worsen the case for them because it makes them think these practices are the best. Based on these understanding that has been developed from the dissertation, it would be deduced as part of a personal reflection that the time to act on what adolescents watch, particularly music videos is now. In the case of movies, several attempts have been made through the labeling system where some movies are categorized as not being appropriate for people of certain ages. Unfortunately, this practice has not been extended to music videos, even though music videos carry about the same level of impact as most movies does. It is therefore recommended for public legislative action to be taken on the rating of music videos. Until that is done, a personalized basis, parents must see themselves important stakeholders in the controlling and monitoring of their young ones. What this means is that parents must show absolute concern about what their adolescent girls see and hear in population media. Where necessary, there should be education and advocacy for the adolescents that will make these children to on their own develop reasons why some music videos must not be viewed by them (Piette & Giroux, 2001). Reference list Buckingham, D. (2003). Media education: Literacy, learning and contemporary culture. Malden, MA: Blackwell. Buckingham, D., & Sefton-Green, J. (2001). Multimedia education: Media literacy in the age of digital culture. In R. Kubey (Ed.), Media literacy in the information age: Current perspectives (pp. 285-305). London: Transaction. Eder, D., & Fingerson, L. (2001). Interviewing children and adolescents. In J. Gubrium & J. Holstein (Eds.), Handbook of interview research: Context and method (pp. 181-201) London: Sage Hallett, M. (2003). Mass media and justice [course syllabus]. Jacksonville: University of North Florida, Dept. of Sociology, Anthropology and Criminal Justice. Morse, J., & Richards, L. (2002). Read Me First for a User’s Guide to Qualitative Methods. Thousand Oaks: Sage. Piette, J., & Giroux, L. (2001). The theoretical foundations of media education programs. In R. Kubey (Ed.), Media literacy in the information age: Current Perspectives (pp. 89-134). New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction. Read More