Critical Analysis and Research Design - Assignment Example

Critical Analysis and Research Design Part Critical Analysis The Linn article discusses the fact that August is a month when not much is accomplished in many offices. Whether it's the heat (especially in the American South) or just a sense that it's been eight months since the Christmas/Hanukkah/New Year's break, there is just a general lull that tends to hit offices during this time of the year. The research that goes into this article suggests that it is simply natural for people to need some time to get away from their primary occupation and recharge before taking up their tasks again. Even in a time when the economy is suffering and employers need maximum efficiency from each member of their teams, it is actually more productive in the long run to grant the time off. A lot of this has to do with the “motivation” aspect of psychology. As Myers discusses repeatedly, there are many different ways to motivate people – and there are just about as many management theories as there are motivational typologies. For every Google out there, designing every element of the working environment to make each employee comfortable – and productive – there is a Texas Instruments out there, with a regimented dress code and manual of style that each employee is expected to follow. Both models can work, if the companies find the right mix of skill sets and personality types. Without structure, many people will implode because of their Type A personality – even if they are at the bottom of the organizational ladder. There are others, though, who see time cards as entry tickets to a special sort of hell. This article does an effective job of blending research from a variety of sources about the importance of down time. The Rosenberg article discusses recent trends in the fight against teen smoking – down from 37 percent in 1997 among high school seniors to 19 percent today, but just as prevalent as teen obesity, which receives a considerable amount of attention in today's press. The main focus of this article is the shift from health-related education for teens about smoking to marketing that makes smoking itself seem less cool. A series of campaigns involving prank calling to tobacco companies, actual information from the documents that the tobacco companies admitted to be true, and plain packaging that takes the brand awareness away from smoking – an awareness that, for teens, is far more important than health awareness. As with the Linn article, the psychological focus here is on motivation – and finding out what motivates teens to smoke – or to abstain. Motivation for teens is to rebel against what they have been hearing since childhood, and this can include rebelling against messages about what is healthy or not. It is to fit in with their friends and to be seen as cool. Avoiding lung cancer isn't something that they think about when it comes to smoking; instead, it's how cool that one particular actor looks while smoking, or how all of their friends have tried a particular brand of cigarettes, and they want to be seen getting that same brand out of their own pocket or purse. The article effectively analyzes considerable marketing-oriented research in this area and provides analysis about such efforts as the Truth campaign to stop teens from smoking. The Cullen article discusses the three main types of mass murders, in the light of the recent shootings at a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado. A great deal of ink is being used to write about the proper way to keep these sorts of tragedies from happening, and there is good news and bad news, at least according to the article. The good news is that there are typologies that most mass murderers fit (the delusional, the depressed, and the psychotic). However, it is impossible to stop, as a society, all of the infinitesimal causes that can lead one from sanity to this sort of bloody tragedy. A great deal of this article has to do with the question of nature versus nurture. As Myers points out, this is one of the central questions that runs throughout all of educational and psychological research. To what degree are our tendencies inborn, and to what degree are they added once we emerge onto the planet's surface? With cases of adolescents (or very young adults) taking up weapons and firing them at those around them, to what degree is the parent to blame? How much is the educational environment to blame? Can't we just find a way to make everyone be nice to each other? This article effectively looks at this question through the lens of a number of mass murderers – not just the Aurora shooter but also the Columbine shooter and others from history. The fact is that people are flawed. They treat each other poorly, and for some, the bullying and poor treatment add up to a sense of loneliness. For others, though, it builds into anger and rage that can only be assuaged by a bloodbath. Part 2: Research Design One of the most fascinating topics from the Myers text, for me, has been the question of nature versus nurture. I would love to set up a longitudinal study of two sets of children. One of these sets of children would be raised with unlimited exposure to television and its messages – at least those programs that did not violate obscenity laws for minors to see. These children could have their television hours per day capped, but they could watch any channel they wanted – programs and commercials. The other group would not have access to any television programming. They could surf the Net and read informative texts, but they could not watch episodes of programs online. The purpose of this study would be to analyze the ways that watching television programs influences the minds of young people. Take, for instance, such tween-oriented sitcoms as “iCarly.” The adult figures in these shows are either complete morons or utterly absent (as in the case of Carly's parents). What impact does having simplistic idiots as one's authority figures in television programs say to children about the effectiveness of their own parents? That is just one question that this research study would answer. Works Cited Cullen, Dave. “What Does a Killer Think?” Newsweek 29 July 2012. http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2012/07/29/aurora-shooting-what-does-a-killer- think.html. Web. Linn, Allison. “Nothing Gets Done in August (and that's OK).” NBC News 1 August 2012. http://lifeinc.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/08/01/13036426-nothing-gets-done-in-august- and-thats-ok?lite&__utma=14933801.811685449.1342445909.1343846861.1343864467.16& __utmb=14933801.1.10.1343864467&__utmc=14933801&__utmx=- __utmz=14933801.1342445909.1.1.utmcsr=%28direct%29|utmccn=%28direct%29|utmcmd= %28none%29&__utmv=14933801.|8=Earned%20By=msnbc|cover=1^12=Landing %20Content=Mixed=1^13=Landing%20Hostname=www.nbcnews.com=1^30=Visit%20Type %20to%20Content=Earned%20to%20Mixed=1&__utmk=87724312. Web. Myers, David G. Psychology 9th edition. New York: Worth Publishers, 2009. Print. Rosenberg, Tina. “For Teenage Smokers, Removing the Allure of the Pack.” New York Times 1 August 2012. http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/08/01/for-teenage-smokers-removing-the- allure-of-the-pack/?ref=opinion. Web. Read More