Islam - Is It Misunderstood and Why - Assignment Example

Research Study Design on Islam: Is It Misunderstood and Why? Research Study Design on Islam: Is It Misunderstood and Why? Assignment 4.11 1) Enough background information was given regarding the reason for the interest in researching on animal abuse. 2) What interests me the most on this topic is the supposed link between animal abuse and human violence. I am least interested though on the opinion that it is possible for animals to have feelings. 3) My main question on this topic is how strong the proven correlation is between animal abuse and human violence. 4) I cannot determine which source addresses the topic best because there were no mention of the sources within the paper. 5) Again, I cannot determine which source is best, and which source is unnecessary because they were not mentioned all throughout the paper. 6) Since I am least interested on the opinion that it is possible for animals to have feelings, I would like to see if this is really a necessary subtopic to discuss in the paper. My concern here is, if this will be the argument to stop animal cruelty, I think it will be a weak argument. 7) There are no unnecessary information that were repeated in the paper. Everything was explained clearly and concisely. 8) I think it is important to play on the strength of the link between animal abuse and human violence. I do not think there is an unimportant subtopic in the paper --- just inadequately explained, like that of the opinion regarding animals having feelings. 9) I did not see any awkward sentences or statements. Research Design Study 1) This research is designed to help further understand the role of media and the possible effects of media biases toward the misunderstanding of people about Islam. The research aims to specifically address this in a step-by-step manner: first, by going through available literature to check the existence of media bias on any topic; two, by an expert interview to verify if such media bias is felt and acknowledged in the media industry itself, and; three, through conducting a survey among the public (mostly students and neighborhood people for easier acquisition of data) in order to clarify how they are truly affected and influenced of what they hear from the media. I hope to discover whether experts do know what is happening regarding this long-debated issue on media bias, and whether the public knows the medias effect on them. 2) See below. 3) A release form in not needed for the survey because filling out the questionnaires is anonymous and voluntary. Anyone can decline to participate in the survey, just as anyone can volunteer to fill out the questionnaire. However, it will b good conduct to ask the permission of some school officials before disseminating the survey forms. This could also help in getting them interested to participate, especially since the topic is quite an easy subject for strong opinions. For the neighborhood people, to maintain their anonymity, they will be given survey forms to fill out, and would be told that they can decline to participate anytime. They will also be asked to choose whether I will pick up the forms at a specified date and time, or whether they will have it dropped off in the house mailbox to protect their identity. 4) In my survey, a few terms used need to be explained in the survey form. These terms may or may not be common to the respondents, and they may or may not really know the scope of the words meanings. To clarify the meaning attached to it, particularly in relationship to the research paper, I will have these terms explained on the first part of the survey form. Th terms are: 4.1) Islamophobia – feeling of fear, anxiety, or even hatred toward the religion and anyone or anything associated with it. 4.2) stereotypes – generalizing and/or labeling a certain group of people based on the actions of and/or observations on a small percentage of its members. 4.3) media – forms of media range from television, to radios, to newspapers, to the internet. Shows/programs/editorials that do not deal with news are also considered media (i.e. comedy shows, cartoons, talks shows, etc.). 5) For the first step of the research study of the available literature, book and peer-reviewed materials will be given priority to ensure that an intensive research is done before the information was written by the authors. This is because the literature review will be foundation of the analysis. The information gathered from the literature will be tallied against data gathered from the expert interview and the survey forms. It does not matter when the materials were done or published, so long as the materials can cover several decades of media observation. This is to establish a good pattern that media bias is indeed existing and very much felt. The second step will be an expert interview. While expert opinions can be gathered from the available literature, it is still good to see how they view media bias, being members of the media industry themselves. The third part involves survey. The age bracket will be from 16 and up. I think that anyone, even teenagers (mostly from the target schools), could give insightful answers to the survey, so the scope of the demographics is wider. For the neighborhood people, the target respondents will be the older adults in order to spread the age group coverage of the survey. This is because survey conducted in schools would have targeted teenagers already. Furthermore, older adults would have been exposed to the media for far longer time than the teenagers, so this age group will be the target in the neighborhood survey. Since my target for this survey is “public opinion,” I would not exclude anyone except those aged 15 and below. Although younger people may have a say in the matter, I still want to have deeper opinions to be gathered from the survey, and this can be done by interviewing those who have been exposed to the media for a longer time. I aim to study at least 2 available literature that provide information on media bias for each decade --- beginning from the 60s until the 80s. From 90s until present, I aim to study at least 4 available literature for each decade. I also aim to look into literature written by media people from the West mainly, to see how they look into this matter. For the expert interview, at least 1 interview will do. The prospective interviewees are people from the media who study media bias (i.e. media research, factcheck ). For the survey part, I will distribute at least 200 survey forms, 100 for secondary school students, and 100 for college students. I will distribute 100 among neighborhood people too. I project at least a 25% return for each demographic. 6) Schedule and Timeline for the Research: By Saturday, May 5 – read and record analysis of the available literature covering the 60s to the 80s By Sunday, May 6 – analyze information gathered from expert interview By Saturday, May 12 – read and record analysis of the available literature covering the 90s to present By Sunday, May 13 – compile information from available literature and expert interview and prepare outline/draft of patterns if possible By Monday, May 14 – distribute all survey forms to schools and the neighborhood By Friday, May 18 – most surveys forms from schools should be returned to me By Sunday, May 20 – most survey forms from the neighborhood should be returned to me By Wednesday, May 23 – analysis of survey form data should be done By Saturday, May 26 – draft should be ready and research results completed and analyzed 7) Participants are not related to the researcher in any way. 8) Expert interview is currently under process. The distribution of survey forms is still being considered depending on the response of the school officials contacted. The sample survey form is emailed to two different secondary school principals and a university administrator. Their agreement may not be necessary, but will ensure a smoother flow of the survey research. I will personally deliver the survey forms in each school, and to encourage participation, I will allow a week to fill out the forms. Otherwise, students may be too busy and will not have time to give it attention. 9) The interviewee and the respondents do not need to provide any other materials for this research. The methodology will cover all the needed areas of interest that will help complete the research paper. If I do not receive the expected 25% return of filled-out survey forms, other schools can still be contacted. To ensure that this will not hinder the projected schedule, after distributing the survey forms on May 14, I will check by May 16 (after 3 days) if the student/neighborhood people participation is positive. Otherwise, back-up surveys from other schools and/or more houses will be done immediately. Survey on the Role of Media in Shaping Public Opinion This survey is being conducted for an English course. My research topic is about the possibility of the existence of media bias and its role in shaping public opinion. The main focus of this research is to determine how the public views Islam and Muslims in general and if media plays a big role in this public view. Your participation in this survey is both voluntary and anonymous. I request for you not to put any identifying marks/information on the survey form in order to maintain your anonymity. I would appreciate your help in my research. Thank you in advance! Please put a check mark on the space provided before your best choice/answer. 1) How often do you watch television, listen to radio commentaries, read news/editorials or any other forms of media? ___ 1-3 times a week ___ 3 or more times a week ___ everyday 2) Do you rely on media for news and current events? ___ yes ___ no ___ half of the time 3) How often do you watch/hear/read information through media that you agreed to? ___ always ___ most of the time ___ less than half of the time ___ I do not believe most information I get from the media. 4) In your own opinion, how reliable are information gained from the media? ___ very reliable ___ reliable half of the time ___ questionable 5) Have you had experience of believing something watched/heard/read from the media and then finding out that it was not true? ___ once ___ twice ___ three times or more ___ never 6) Do you go in debates/arguments among peers/relatives due to something watched/heard/read from the media? ___ always ___ sometimes ___ Never. We always share the same opinions. 7) Have you watched/heard/read something from the media that made you think of a relative/friend/acquaintance who may be offended with it? ___ yes ___ no ___ I am not sure./I do not remember. 8) Have you watched/heard/read something from the media that made you think of a relative/friend/acquaintance, and made you disagree with what you watched/heard/read because you know the truth about your relative/friend/acquaintance? (this could refer to any stereotypes by the media, i.e. Arab men are aggressive, Oriental women are conservative, etc.) ___ yes ___ no ___ I am not sure./I do not remember. 9) Have you changed your mind on something you previously believed in because of what you watched/heard/read something from the media? ___ yes ___ no ___ I am not sure./I do not remember. 10) Do you consider yourself fair and very balanced, or are you more prone to stereotypes and biases? ___ I am generally fair and very balanced. ___ I have a tendency to form opinions and stereotypes on issues. ___ I am a bit of both. 11) Is there any other information which you think would be helpful for my research paper? Thank you very much for your valuable participation and time! Your input is of great help to my research. Read More