Final
Project Information
Your
final project is a research orientated investigation into some aspect of mass
media. You are free to chose your
topic, and the format is at your discretion (e.g. traditional paper, web page,
video, etc...). Your topic must relate
to concepts that are brought up in class or in the course readings. Be sure that there is enough information on
your topic, while keep in mind that very broad issues (e.g. computers and privacy)
will produce too much information to synthesize a modest project. The project should be the equivalent of 6-8
pages of word-processed copy, double-spaced using proportional 12 pt. type.
Essentially,
you will be performing a literature review on the topic of your choice. You should critically analyze and synthesize
what other scholars have said about your topic. This should be more than just a summary of what others have
said. Your goal is to combine previous
literature into a coherent package that provides a well-rounded explanation of
the issues that surround your topic.
You
must have at least 10 sources. Five
must be from scholarly journals and/or books and five must be from the
Internet. Please be cognizant of the
quality of Internet sources since there are less gate-keeping mechanisms.
Project deadlines:
·
November
9th - one-page proposals due. Basically this is a
topic statement/research question about what you would like to pursue. The reading list is a list of the sources
that you have collected thus far. This
should be properly formatted in whatever citation style (APA, Chicago, MLA
etc…) that you are most comfortable.
·
The project
presentations will be on December 7th.
·
Term
projects are due December 7th AT THE BEGINNING OF CLASS.
Please identify each with a title and your full name. If your project is a web page email me the
URL by the due date.
Guidelines:
·
Project must
focus on a topic related to the mass media and the issues covered in the course.
·
Project must be
clearly organized, consider
these elements as a guideline
o
What is - clearly -
your issue, topic or point? Don't
forget to give your website or paper a title. On websites, please identify it with your full
name.
o
What is the
importance of your topic to society,
to the mass media? This may be self-evident, but if in doubt, have a paragraph
describing (pretend I know nothing about your research area).
o
What is your
evidence, data? Organize this to
build a case or make your conclusions clear.
This is the bulk of your project and is where you will present the
literature review.
o
What are your
conclusions? Discuss not only what
you found and your opinions or conclusions, but what was unanswered in your
search that is important to find out?
o
Finally, don't stop
with simple description. Synthesis
and critical thought should be the focus of your paper.
·
A proper
bibliography is necessary. Pay attention to style, grammar and
spelling. It can be hard to spot faults
in formatted Web documents. If you cite
hypertext documents from the web, try to provide as much information as to
author, title, organization and date.
Also give the document's URL and the access date. If you do a hypertext document, providing a
hypertext link to the source is sufficient documentation. For traditional sources, create in-document
link to endnotes. We will discuss how
to cite information later this semester.
·
Be Creative
Some possible options:
A
Hypertext research or "issue" paper on some key aspect of the mass media.
This would be in hypertext form, using Web links as major references and
evidence. You would cover many of the
points listed above, using hypertext links as references and (especially)
examples or illustrations.
An
extended "resource" guide
on a defined topic. In short, what you
do here is much like what a reference librarian might do: organize a topic,
then provide an overview of each major section, then finally a list of major
resources under each key point. You
would spend a fair amount of time locating sites/information, categorizing them
and, critically analyzing the content.
Because this is not a through-written piece, this should make-up in
diversity of sources what it lacks in polished prose. Essentially, this would be like the "resource guide,"
except that it would function as a hypertext document set or as a traditional
bibliography.
A
traditional term paper. This would have most of the key elements of
option one, but would be a tradition on-paper product. Because there isn't the overhead of managing
html, I would have a somewhat greater expectation for detail and depth here.
A
multimedia product like a digital
video or other artistic creation.
Remember your project must make a point.
Your
suggestion? I am flexible, so use your imagination but
talk to me first.