Mass Media and Gender - Research Proposal Example

Mass media and Gender by The of the The of the School The and where itis located The Date Mass media and Gender Background It would not be a mistake to suggest that the perception of gender has been changing throughout the history. However, nowadays mass media facilitates this process much more than it used to because of the widely developed network. Indeed, the world is full of images of ideal men and women and this gradually influences the perception of the people. No matter how sorrowful it may be, but sometimes the ideals might have a destructive influence on the public opinion. Object of inquiry Keeping in mind the significance that mass media possesses in the modern world, it may be quite advantageous to explore the connection between it and the concept of gender as it is perceived by the society in general. That is why the latter will be the object of inquiry, namely the extent to which mass media is able to shape the perceptions of the people about what makes a true woman and true man. In other words, the ability to change the notion of masculinity and femininity that is attributed to massively distributed images in various mediums to will be explored. Aim and Context of the Research The research will try to identify a direct connection between what images and perceptions are being distributed in the society and the public opinion of how men and women should look like. The context of the research is obvious: at the present moment people are exposed to mass media more and more through innovative technologies which means that many of the ideal which are held by the individuals are not produces independently, but rather induced by external forces. Research Objectives and Research Questions Two sets of questions are present in the research. The first set of questions focuses on the way masculinity is presented in mass media. Indeed, it would be advantageous to explore the transition for explicit barbaric masculinity which was praised some time ago to metrosexuality which is considered to be a characteristic feature of the modern men. The second set of research questions puts emphasis on the manner in which women are described in mass media. Thus, the image of a women was been used in art for a considerable period of time; that is why it may be useful to analyze the evolution and pay much attention to the approach which is engaged by the contemporary mass media. This will show the attitude towards women that is shared by the contemporary society. Proposed Research Design and methodology Since the research addressed the perception of the entire society, it may not be logical to limit it to a particular group of people. That is why I will engage people who belong to different age groups in order to gain a better understanding of the extent of influence. In addition to that, I would place a specific emphasis on teenage girls who are thought to be most vulnerable to the impact of mass media in terms of formal of the image of an ideal woman (Kundanis, 2003, p. 97). I will employ a questionnaire as well as semi-structured interview with people who will be willing to participate in them. This way I will be able to build a rapport with a person which is likely to have a positive impact on the validity of the data that will be obtained. Furthermore, this method is suitable since it will help me explore the subjective dimension of the issue, namely the impact on a particular person (Turner, 1984, p. 476). There are will be several themes that will be explored. First of all, the concept of ideal man as it is portrayed in mass media and the extent to which people find it attractive, realistic or desirable. A similar set of question will be asked concerning the ideal woman. Furthermore, the attitude towards zero size women will be analyzed (Meuret, 2007, p. 32). Finally, the problem of gender inequality will be mentioned as well in order to learn the attitude of the people towards it and how mass media changed it. A couple of research methods will be used in this research: the questionnaire which consists of 13 questions some of which are opened and some of which are closed; in addition to that semi-structured interview will be conducted, but they will be facilitated exclusively in case a person is willing to participate in one. The simultaneous use of the above mentioned research methods will allow the researcher to gain the necessary kind of information. Keeping in mind the research questions, it becomes rather obvious that the preference will be given to qualitative approach in this research. Indeed, the aim of the latter is not focused on providing the statistics of the impact of mass media on people in terms of perception of gender, but rather understanding the nature of this influence. That is why the qualitative side will be more emphasized and this is likely to shape the way the data will be processed and collected. Ethics It is quite understandable that asking questions about one’s perception of gender may be rather provocative and result in various ethical dilemmas. That is why I will take certain precautions in order to minimize the harm that might be caused by the research. For example, I will not indicate the gender of a respondent, making sure that there will be no biased perception of his or her answers. Furthermore, I will allow the respondents to skip questions that they do not feel comfortable to answer. Data Analysis After all the questionnaires have been collected and interviews have been conducted, I will analyze the obtained data in order to find some significant patterns. It is particularly important not to have predetermined ideas so that they will not influence the analysis of the actual data which was gathered. In addition to that, the gender of the respondents will not be indicated anywhere which will allow me to develop a unified vision that is shared in the society and not in a particular age or gender group. References Kundanis, R. (2003). Children, teens, families, and mass media the millennial generation. Mahwah, NJ: L. Erlbaum. Meuret, I. (2007). Writing size zero: Figuring anorexia in contemporary world literatures. Brussels: Peter Lang. Turner, C. (1984). Surveying subjective phenomena. New York, NY: Russell Sage Foundation. Read More