Term
Paper
Assignment
Overview
The assignment
includes several parts:
- The goals of the assignment
- A list
of potential topic areas, subject to expansion and revision, for
you to identify the area that you wish to develop for this assignment.
- A
suggested outline for the papers. The outline is not to impose a
structure but only as a guide to help you to experience a process
of analyzing and critiquing that leads to the project goals.
- Format details for paper and presentation
Assignment
Goals
I have
several goals for you in engaging this assignment:
- To
deepen your understanding of how mass communication and interpersonal
communication intersect;
- To
sharpen your understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the
current organization of the communication field's distinct areas
of theory and research;
- To
clarify your understanding of how, when, and why both areas of knowledge
are crucial for accurate understandings of communication in social
interaction;
- To
strengthen your skills at understanding and critiquing assumptions,
thoeries and ideas, and empirical scholarship;
- To
experience how critiques of prevailing ideas can generate ideas
for revisions in current thinking and theories, or even lead to
creation of new and more effective frameworks of understanding;
- To
strengthen your skills at organizing and presenting your ideas to
others.
Assignment
Topic Areas
Here is
a list of possible paper topics that focus on the numerous facets of
the mass-interpersonal intersection. These are drawn from our readings
and discussions. As you review these, consider which ones you find most
interesting as we work toward everyone selecting his or her topic for
the term paper.
I do wish
to avoid two people working on the same topic, which will provide the
broadest possible coverage of relevant ideas. If two of you are interested
in the same one, we can work it out so that both are working on related
but distinct areas. Note too that we can also entertain additions to
this list or modifications to existing topics -- just talk to me!
Receiver
Perspectives (audience, readers, etc.)
1. Audience
members develop relationships with individuals known through mass
media (parasocial relationships, obsessive fandom)
2.
Audience members learning about relationships in mass media and
apply to personal lives (reality TV relationships, Oprah, soap operas)
3.
Audience members interacting with each other while using mass media
(co-viewing experience, context shaping interpretation)
4.
Audience members using mass media content to connect with others
(sharing experiences as relationship bonding)
5.
Audience members' interpersonal experiences shaping preferences
for media content (relationship experiences influence programs sought,
avoided)
6.
Audience members interacting directly with mass media personae (call-in
shows, public interpersonal interaction vs. private interpersonal
interaction)
Sender
Perspectives (writers,
actors, producers, directors, authors)
7.
Mass culture shaping audience members' interpretations of media
content (culture created by mass media influences individuals in
that culture as interpret content)
8.
Mass media producers' personal relationships shaping mass media
content
(personal experiences prompt plots)
9.
Mass media producers business/working relationships shaping mass
media content (interpersonal interactions that shape development/production
of content)
10.
Mass media producers using interpersonal relationships processes
in shaping content
(presentation techniques that foster parasocial relationships with
stars, politicians, newsreaders, etc.)
11.
?????
Assignment
Outline (suggested)
1. Intro/overview
2.
Elaboration of point of intersection
- examples/exemplars from personal experiences, popular/trade/academic
publications
- contextualize specific area within broad mass-IP overlap
3.
Literature review
- use course materials, additional selective lit search
- synthesize what the research and theory says about your topic
4.
Critique of literature
- what we know
- what the literature does not tell us; what are the shortcomings
and holes?
5.
Future research
- outline of 3-4 highest priority research projects ideas, and arguments
why these are important and what would they help us to understand
Assignment
Formats
Paper
Length: 15-18 pages, plus bibliography
Due date: April 20 (last day of class)
Paper presentation
Professional quality presentation: PowerPoint/overheads; handouts
Length: 12-15 minutes, plus 5 minutes for questions
Due date: April 20 and April 27 (we will arrange the schedule for
presentations order and date)