PURPOSE. In order to complete papers 3 and 4 in this class you are going to do a project on media violence. The purposes of this assignment are several. (1) To get first-hand research experience gauging how much violence is "out there" in the media. (2) To translate into specific terms the general ideas, argument, and discussion presented in Bok (1998). (3) To learn how to present and communicate results of a research project.

REQUIREMENTS IN GENERAL. The general requirements are as follows. Specifics will follow. (1) You will select a medium in which to work. We did this in class on 10/11. (2) You, in collaboration with your team members, define the units to be selected, the population of units from which a sample is to be drawn, and procedures for drawing a representative random sample of units. For more details on sampling I strongly suggest you look at pages 184-193 in Taylor (1994). I will leave a copy in my mailbox so you can take it out and xerox the pages you need. (3) You, in collaboration with your team members, will actually "draw the sample" - you will carry out the probability selection process. (4) You, in collaboration with your team members, will decide the specific attributes of the units selected on which you will focus. In short, you will define your variables precisely, and define a measurement procedure. (5) You, in collaboration with your team members will actually "measure" features about your sampled units. You will rate them or code them or classify them in some way. You will probably have some kind of coding sheets or data sheets that get filled out as part of this process. (6) You, in collaboration with your team members will process the data collected. You will put it into a spreadsheet or a statistics program or a database the numbers and letters and words from your data sheets. (7) You, in collaboration with your team members will analyze the data that have been entered (BTW, "data" is a PLURAL word, so the "data show" not the "data shows." ) Analysis may mean something statistical like reporting means or medians or ranges or proportions. We will keep it simple. (8) You and your team mates will figure out how to present those results, either in tabular or graphic form. (9) You and your team mates will discuss what those data mean, and will relate that information to some of the course material. (10) Either you or your teammate or both or all of you may present the results at a poster session held the last day of class in the department lobby (5th floor, Gladfelter). I will give you advice on how to prepare the poster. During the poster session I will come around and ask you to talk to me about the poster and what it shows. NOTE: I said either/or because you may choose to let your teammate(s) present this project while you opt to present results from another paper you have prepared for this class.

DISCUSSION OF MEDIA. On 10/11 we discussed the different media upon which we wanted to focus. Results were
Music (2)
TV (8)
Film (2)
TV music (1)

After some discussion we decided to break down into small project teams for each of several media. Here are the media forms being examined, and the team members.

Reference

Bok, S. 1998 Mayhem: Violence as Public Entertainment. Reading, MA: Perseus Books.

Taylor, R. (1994). Research Methods in Criminal Justice. New York: McGraw-Hill.