Reference no: EM132706121
Research Paper
Research Paper Description
The final research paper builds on the knowledge and research skills developed in the term assignment. The paper requires students to critically analyze a media representation of a family-related topic through a sociological lens.
This assignment asks students to address a current family-related topic through a media analysis of a movie or TV show. Your paper must incorporate critical discussion of three peer- reviewed sociological journal articles. This assignment also requires that you link your analysis to key theories and concepts in the course textbook.
Assignment Guidelines
This assignment should be written in an essay format that meets the following criteria:
o Use the APA Style Guide (7th edition)
o Length should between 5 and 7 pages double spaced (not including title page and references)
o Your submission should be typed with 1-inch margins and 12-point Times New Roman font
o Your submission should include a cover page (including name, student ID #) and a properly formatted list of references
Required Sources
1. Your paper must include 3 peer-reviewed sociological journal articles published within the last 10 years. Each journal article should be at least 3 pages in length.
2. The 7th edition of The Family Dynamic (or similar source). This will provide you with key sociological concepts and theories to use in completing the assignment.
3. A movie or TV show from within the last 10 years (see the suggested list of shows).
Detailed Instructions
Begin by selecting a movie or TV show that deals with family-related themes (e.g. working mothers, household division of labour, stay-at-home fathers, mixed unions, infidelity, cohabitation, marriage, divorce, domestic abuse, dating, hookup culture, adoption, single parenting, assisted reproductive technologies, childcare, arranged marriages, etc.). You can choose from the list of movies or TV shows provided below or choose your own. If you choose a movie or TV show not on the list, please let me know beforehand.
• Be sure that the movie or TV show that you choose includes a prominent representation of family life. This will make your analysis much easier.
The assignment consists of five parts:
1) Introduce your movie or TV show and describe its key family-related themes in your own words. Family-related themes can be those discussed specifically in class or another family- related topic.
• Answer the question: How does the TV show or movie represent or "frame" the family-related topic in question?
• Describe how the rest of the paper will proceed.
• This section should be no more than 1 page long.
2) Select one of the sociological theories discussed in the textbook (e.g. structural functionalism, conflict theory, symbolic interactionism, feminist theory, ecological theory, etc.).
• Introduce the theoretical perspective you will use and define its key concepts.
• Explain how the theory relates to the family-related topic being discussed.
• This section should be no more than 1 page long.
3) Describe at least 3 examples from the TV show or movie that relate to your theoretical perspective.
• Use evidence to argue your interpretation of the film or TV show from your chosen perspective.
• This section should be no more than 1 page long.
4) Introduce an academic discussion of your topic through incorporating a minimum of 3 relevant and contemporary (published within the last 10 years) peer-reviewed sociological journal articles.
• Provide a brief summary of each article and outline key findings.
• Define and incorporate key concepts from the articles into your discussion of the movie or TV show.
• What does the academic literature tell us about what is represented in the TV show or movie?
• This section should be no longer than 2 pages.
5) Write a conclusion summarizing what you have written.
• Provide your final thoughts and take-away messages for your reader.
• Provide an idea for future research to better understand the family-related topics dealt with in the film and in Canadian society.
• This section should be no longer than 1 page
List of Possible Movies and TV Shows
(Please contact me if you want to use a different movie or TV shown not listed below)
- Lady Bird (movie)
- Boyhood (movie)
- Marriage Story (movie)
- Life as We Know it (movie)
- Instant Family (movie)
- Modern Family (TV show)
- Working Moms (TV show)
- This is Us (TV show)
- Atypical (TV show)
- One Day at a Time (TV show)
- The Fosters (TV show)