Research, Analysis & Communication

Introduction

Completion of this assignment is intended to assist in the development of key and valuable employability and Staffordshire graduate attributes, namely research, analysis and communication skills.

This will include identifying appropriate subject[s] for research, selecting suitable research and analysis methods, managing your time and the resources available, analysing your findings and communicating them in an appropriate academic and effective manner.

One part of this report will be extended primary research that will magnify one aspect your chosen research topic.

In relation to your specialist area and particular themes within your practice, it will be necessary for you to identify, research and analyse, amongst other things, the following: design and media theory, key practitioners, user research [if appropriate], contemporary practice, design and media research and design and media production processes.

You will develop an understanding of your own area of study as well as deploying effective strategies of project management. You will be expected to undertake both primary and secondary research, and to assimilate and interpret it before presenting your assignment findings in an academically appropriate manner.

Completion of the assignment is intended to assist in the development of your research, analysis and communication skills, which will be valuable to your future employability. These include identifying appropriate subject[s] for research, selecting appropriate research and analysis methods, managing your time and the resources available, analysing your findings and communicating them in an appropriate and effective manner.

One part of this report will be extended primary research that will magnify one aspect of the assignment.
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 *UPDATE: 30/09/14

THE BIG IDEA POSTCARDS – POSSIBILITIES FOR RESEARCH

Think about 3 different possible ideas for research and make up a postcard for each of them.

Include a research title, an appropriate image and a paragraph of text explaining the topic/idea.

Bring these 3 postcards to your initial group tutorial and through peer consensus the most promising idea will be selected

Postcard one:

Postcard two:

Postcard three:

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*UPDATE: 07/10/14

Postcard One picked.

Violent Entertainment

Looking into how violence is integrated within all mediums of entertainment and if that in any way affects how people view and react to real violence. Carrying on/addition from my essay "Does Violence on screen create violence in others?" 

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*UPDATE: 14/10/14

Research:

Used from essay:-

- The Attraction of Violent Entertainment by Jeffrey Goldstein

- A Very British Murder by Lucy Worsley - BBC 4

- A History of Violence by Steven Pinker - http://edge.org/3rd_culture/pinker07/pinker07_index.html

- Crime Figures: Is this the end of the age of violence? by Telegraph

New research:-

- Addicted to Violence: Has the American Dream become a nightmare? by Charles Johnston, MD - can this be used?

- Violent Video Games: The Cultural Ethic of Violence by Virtual-addiction.com

- Violence as Entertainment by Salvatore Folisi

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*UPDATE: 20/10/14

Philosophy through Film by Mary M.Litch

Chapter 5 - pg 117

Ethics

Crimes and Misdemeanours 1988

" Moral philosophy is concerned with figuring out what distinguishes morally right actions from morally wrong ones. "

" Moral relativism - according to which there are no objective moral facts: the truth of all moral evaluations is relative either to individual or cultural moral standards. "

" Moral relativism contrasts with moral objectivism. "

" Moral subjectivism - is the view that moral judgments are true or false relative to an individual's moral standards. "

"Cultural Moral relativism - is the view that moral judgments are true or false relative to the actor's culture's moral standards. "

- Emotivism. 

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*UPDATE: 28/10/14

Lecture notes (most on Blackboard to download)

- Report:-

Images/captions - picture per page

No 'I' in report

Past Tense

At least 10 books to be used and shown in bibliography 

And around 20 references/sources

Cover page:-

Title

Course name

Module number

Name of lecturer

Picture - related to subject (best not to be a person)

Introduction is one of the most important things - at least 200 words.

Include the: What, Why, How and Where.

More research:

Classmate's aid - used essay " Violence in Entertainment: Industries responsibility or viewers discretion? By Tracy Dunn"

"In September 2003 a paper was published by Andrea Millwood Hargrave director of the Joint Research Programme Broadcasting Standards Commission and Independent Television Commission called HOW CHILDREN INTERPRET SCREEN VIOLENCE. They showed children aged between 9 and 13 a variety of shows including News and reality programming, Soap operas and drama series, Comedy and children’s programming and Film. The children then partook in a group discussion and filled out a questionnaire about what they had seen. 

The findings of this study found that the children could decipher between fictional violence and that of real life violence. The children would find a scene more violent or scary if it was set in a environment that they deem safe like that of a hospital or a home setting rather than something set in a fantasy world. They also found the scene more distressing if the victim of violence was deemed to be innocent or a person whose job was to help people like that of a nurse. They also discovered that the real life violence was more disturbing to them than fictional violence like that of one of the test films The Lord of the Rings; The Fellowship of the Ring (2001). The study discovered that the child was more affected by real life violence as they could relate to it, with the mind set that this could happen to me, with the violence against other children being the most relate-able. 

The study also goes into how a scene is made which effects the child’s perception of whether or not that scene is violent or scary. The changes could be anything from a change in the music, sound effects or a visual image. So with this study showing how images effect children with an emphasis that real life violence is the most harmful should news programming take into consideration an unintended audience?"

"Violence in the media is a part of every day life."

Bits of research/resources/references that my classmate used that I may use also:

Bibliography

Violent Video Game Playing, Moral Reasoning, and Attitudes Towards Violence in 

Adolescents: Is There a Connection? 

Bajovic, Mirjana 

Available from:  http://dr.library.brocku.ca/bitstream/handle/10464/4115/Brock_%20Bajovic_Mirjana_2012.pdf

[Accessed: 19^th March 2014]

BBC Editorial Guidlines

Available from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/guidelines/editorialguidelines/page/guidance-violence-news#general-acceptability-of-strong-and-violent-i

[Accessed: 07^th April 2014]

LESSONS FROM COLUMBINE: VIRTUAL AND REAL RAGE 

Block, Jerald 

Available from: http://www.forensicpsychonline.com/Block.pdf

[Accessed: 07^th April 2014]

Family Guy (1999) TV. Seth MacFarlane's, 20th Century Fox Television

Grand Theft Auto (1997) Rockstar Games

GTA 5 Game play

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azE0mlsrcK8

[Accessed: 05^th May 2014]

HOW CHILDREN INTERPRET SCREEN VIOLENCE

Millwood Hargrave, Andrea

Available from:  http://www.ofcom.org.uk/static/archive/bsc/pdfs/research/how%20child.pdf

[Accessed: 07^th April 2014]

Natural Born Killers (1994) Film Oliver Stone, Warner Bros. Pictures

Tom and Jerry (1940) TV. William Hanna, Joseph Barbera, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer 

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I have looked into violence in entertainment before, and though my essay came to a conclusion, I am still immensely interested in the subject and want to delve back into researching it. I find it extremely fascinating.

* http://edition.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/07/19/violence.attraction.behavior/

""There's a rubbernecking syndrome," said Paul Boxer, assistant professor of psychology at Rutgers University. "When you see a body splayed out, you couldn't help it. You had to see.""

* http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01cmrxr

* The Neuroscience of Aggression: Why Humans are Drawn to Violence
By Ayush Midha ⋅ September 9, 2014: http://triplehelixblog.com/2014/09/the-neuroscience-of-aggression-why-humans-are-drawn-to-violence/

"Recent developments in neuroscience indicate that specific parts of the brain and concentrations of brain chemicals may affect a person’s propensity towards violence. Additionally, new studies in the fields of genetics, neuroscience, and biochemistry are evaluating reasons for human attraction to violence in entertainment and society. These studies suggest that the traditional legal and policy approaches to combating violence must be re-evaluated and replaced with a legal framework that considers the ethical and neurological implications of violent behavior."

* http://www.inquisitr.com/594943/attraction-to-violent-and-scary-movies/

* Exploring the fatal attraction that bounds Youth, Violence and Terrorism by Anita Ratnam http://www.iheyo.org/book/export/html/988

* http://psychcentral.com/news/2013/03/30/why-do-people-like-violent-movies/53211.html

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*UPDATE: 01/11/14

*  Violent Video Game Effects on Children and Adolescents by Craig A. Anderson, Douglas A. Gentile and Katherine E. Buckley http://public.psych.iastate.edu/caa/abstracts/2005-2009/07agb.pdf

* Can Video Games Cause Violence? What does a recent Supreme Court ruling mean for psychological research? by Romeo Vitelli, Ph.D. http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/media-spotlight/201304/can-video-games-cause-violence

* Serial Murder and the Psychology of Violent Crimes: An International Perspective by Richard N. Kocsis

* Violent Video Games: Myths, Facts, and Unanswered Questions by Craig A. Anderson, PhD http://www.apa.org/science/about/psa/2003/10/anderson.aspx

* Adolescent Violence - A Guide to Psychology and its Practice http://www.guidetopsychology.com/ad_viol.htm

* The Psychological Effects of Media Violence on Children and Adolescents by Joanne Cantor, Ph.D http://yourmindonmedia.com/wp-content/uploads/media_violence_paper.pdf

* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_violence_research

A Meta-Analytical Review of Selective Exposure to and the Enjoyment of Media Violence. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media. Weaver, A.J. (2011)

- Weaver A.J. & Wilson B.J. (2009). The role of graphic and sanitized violence in the enjoyment of television dramas. Human Communication Research, 35(3), 442-463.

- Weaver A. & Kobach M.J. (2012), The Relationship Between Selective Exposure and the Enjoyment of Television Violence, Aggressive Behavior, Volume 38, 175–184.

* The Better Angels of Our Nature: The Decline of Violence In History And Its Causes by Steven Pinker

- The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence has Declined 

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*UPDATE: 02/11/14

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*UPDATE: 03/11/14

-THE STRUCTURE OF YOUR REPORT – PARTICULARLY THE SECTIONS WITHIN THE LITERATURE REVIEW (SECONDARY RESEARCH)

-AN INDICATION AND JUSTIFICATION OF YOUR PRIMARY RESEARCH METHODS AND RESOURCES = My method has just been online based at present because I have been unwell at home and unable to go out and the internet is both extremely useful and easily accessed from the comfort of my home. I have collected a somewhat varied collection of resources and research, which I shall shift through in the coming days to pick out what I need and don't.

-BEST PRACTICE - A few lines about what has been a successful element of your research efforts so far = In a lot, if not all, of the research I have gathered it is shown that violence in any form of entertainment does not affect how people view real life violence/danger. It may be true that some can get used to see fake violence but it does not make the individual prone to violence or overly apathetic. There are oncoming studies and opinions into the matter that continue to appear and I want to look more into the research I have to make sure I have something to say or conclude by the end of it.

COVER PAGE – include, an interesting image, RAC Assignment title, your name, student number and award, submission date, supervisor’s name.


CONTENT PAGE – a list of the chapters or sections with corresponding page numbers (remember to number your pages)



LIST OF FIGURES – this is optional, but you can list the figures (illustrations, charts, images etc.) giving full details with corresponding figure number and page number in report



SECTIONS – how you present you sections is your decision, but they should include…



INTRODUCTION - including, THE WHAT (what is the topic of the report), THE WHY (why has this topic been chosen, why is it important or of interest), THE HOW (how have you gone about your research efforts, particular emphasis on the primary research) and THE WHERE (how is the text (the report) organised.) (approx 200 words)



THEMES AND ISSUES - this is a review of the literature (including web-based sources) around your areas of interest. Set out in 4 or 5 sections (with possible sub-sections) (approx 2000 words)



RESEARCH METHODS - having investigated your topic through the literature and web-based sources (secondary research), you will now be able to raise some research questions for the primary research - state how you intend to undertake that research This will also include a justification of your research methods and techniques (this will include references to research literature). (approx 150-200 words)



PRIMARY RESEARCH - this is a deeper investigation of a key aspect of your main research interest (as identified from reading the literature on the subject). Be sure to make reference to the secondary findings as you form your primary narrative. (approx 1300-1600 words)



SUMMARY / CONCLUSIONS - summaries your arguments and main themes, state your general conclusions, state why you think the conclusions are significant or important, finally, briefly sum up your argument, linking it to your title. (approx 200 words)



BIBLIOGRAPHY (Harvard style - in alphabetic order)



APPENDIX (if needed)

notes:

The word count is 4000 (+/- 10%)

All images should include a caption and be numbered (be sure the image is referred to in the text and that it is relevant to the narrative of your report)

Support your arguments with references to your research sources and quotations (be sure to use the Harvard system when referencing)

Research reports usually begin by reviewing the general and working towards a deeper understanding of the specific