Research Project

Due dates: Projects must be submitted electronically to Prof. Streeter no later than midnight, Thursday, April 24th. Reviews of others' projects are due in class on April 30th.

Note: turn in your project electronically. If it is less than 5 MB, you should be able to email it to me. If it is larger than that, use UVM's large file transfer system, available here: http://www.uvm.edu/filetransfer/. The steps are:
- go to uvm.edu/filetransfer/.
- click on "send file to University of Vermont
- type in your email address and the address you're sending it to (thomas.streeter@uvm.edu)
- click "choose file" and find the file you want to send
- click on "begin transfer"
After that you should get a page that pops up that says "transfer successful- recipient will be notified".


Working in groups of two, students will research a topic in the sociology of news and post it to the discussion list for others to look at and comment on. Students must either select partners and inform Prof. Streeter of their choice by 2/27, or they can let themselves be assigned to someone. Groups must submit proposals for approval by 3/7. Proposals should state clearly exactly what your argument will be and exactly what news stories in what format you will analyze and what method you will use to analyze them. Most projects will involve frame analysis; use this as a how-to guide. Examples of scholarly analyses of the news can be found here and here. For an example of a student paper that analyzes the news, look here.

Research topics can either take the form of a traditional paper, a power-point based multimedia presentation, or a short video documentary posted to youtube. (Go here for some tips on making videos.) In all cases, you will need to do research. (Talk to me first before you interview anybody; there are certain rules you must follow.)

The presentation must have a coherent argument or point, and it should address counterarguments, and use course concepts. You are not allowed to use the word "bias," or to claim that some reporters are more "objective" or "neutral" than others.

For examples of how to create something to be read online (instead of something that will serve as a background for an oral presentation), take a look at these examples:


Possible topic areas include:

  • A frame analysis of news media coverage of a recent political or social issue.
  • A frame analysis of news media coverage of a political or social issue from the past, for example, anti-war protestors during WW I.
  • A comparison of news coverage of an issue from different outlets, e.g., CBS News vs. Canada's CBC News on an aspect of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
  • An analysis of the accuracy of famous news commentators' or experts' predictions about a particular issue, for example, Howard Dean's political career.
  • A case study comparing traditional coverage of an issue to that of "new media" on the same issue, for example, the New York Times vs. blogs.
  • A case study of citizen journalism, e.g., citizen journalists in New Orleans during or after Katrina.
  • A case study of a moral panic, e.g., the runaway bride story.