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This is an extra credit sociology exercise that is presented as an additional grade option for
those students who have already successfully met the "Gordon Rule" requirement for this course. If you
have NOT yet met the "Gordon Rule" requirement you will receive no credit for this exercise.
The three required exercises that you have completed for this course address the major
research concerns of sociology. You have analyzed a research journal article and conducted short
investigations of both a quantitative and qualitative nature. This extra credit exercise allows you to now
experience the nature of secondary sociological research: the use of existing research data and
information.
Because this is an extra credit exercise, the normal submission deadlines will be somewhat
relaxed. This paper must be submitted by the beginning of class, for the last scheduled class of the
semester (this does NOT include the Final Exam). Any revisions that you may wish to make must also
be completed by the last regularly scheduled class session.
The two options presented to you for this exercise are very different from each. The first
requires you to perform a content analysis if a Florida newspaper. The second option requires you to
conduct a Critical Review of a book dealing with a significant sociological issue.
Any questions about these exercises should be clear with Professor Hurley before you submit
your exercises for a grade.
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SYG 2000
Hurley
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The major public document that chronicles the lives of people, groups and organizations within a
community is the local newspaper. We are, therefore, going to investigate a local newspaper to see
what it reveals about the community it serves. For this assignment, you may choose any daily or
weekly, city or regional, newspaper published within the State of Florida. Your analysis of this
newspaper requires you to evaluate it in great detail.
There are a number of tools that sociologists use to research the world in which we live. Your
textbook describes several ways in which we see "the general in the particular" and the "strange in the
familiar." The lesson that follows challenges you to make use of these perspectives. This specific
assignment involves your use of a type of CONTENT ANALYSIS. A CONTENT ANALYSIS is a
way of conducting a detailed study of the contents of a media such as newspapers, magazines and
television shows. To be fair, however, you need to be thorough, consistent and unbiased in your
evaluation. Usually students will use an "Observation Guide" to serve as a check list of items to look for
and document their frequency and quality. Therefore, this exercise is set up with a specific form of
analysis for you to follow.
All three major sociological paradigms can use a content analysis format, and each paradigm
contributes helpful perspectives to any research evaluation. To help you get started with this
assignment, some of the basic values contributed by each perspective are pointed out for you.
The Structural-Functional approach begins with the assumption that "there is a reason for
everything." It assumes that everything that you observe as a human product was intentional. If we so
document, 'this is what they did.' The next functional question becomes, 'what were they trying to do?'
From this data we can determine if an outcome was a MANIFEST FUNCTION or a LATENT
FUNCTION. Similarly, we can also look for processes that support order and stability in society
(Social Statics) and how various social elements are interconnected and support the whole of society.
Instead of looking for points of interconnection, a Social Conflict view would look for evidence
of exploitation, abuse or domination. There are a number of key words that often serve to indicate
processes of conflict orientation: power, control, profit, determination, abuse, exploitation, control, etc.
The social conflict paradigm rests upon the value judgement that social inequality should be minimized.
Therefore, advocates of this view look for evidence if inequality and its associated rationalizations.
The Symbolic Interaction approach takes the more immediate view of how a media is used to
communicate. Since everything is theoretically possible, the choice of any particular element (say a
photograph) is significant. Since any heading is possible, the choice of a particular heading become
deliberate. What do these features communicate? Why? What is it that they want the reader or viewer
to understand? How do these media features contribute to the construction of a social reality?
These remarks are quite general, of course. But they are sufficient to help you begin this
assignment. Your task is to conduct a specific CONTENT ANALYSIS of a local daily or weekly, city
or regional, newspaper published in the State of Florida. If you have a choice, it is suggested that select
a weekday paper for a fairly slow news day.
A newspaper is a very complex form of communications. The placement of information on a
page, and the placement of that page within a section all have great importance. First of all, the front
page of each section is usually allocated on a specific priority basis. Information on the front page (and
the front of each section) should be examined by using the following grid. Number 1 has the highest
priority, 2 the second highest, and 4 is the least important part of the front page. However, everything
on the front page is more important than a placement anywhere else in the paper.
There is a similar priority standard used to allocate space within the interior pages of a paper, except that as you open the paper up, it becomes a double page spread. Many newspapers allocate space according to the below grid's priorities. Again, 1 represents the highest priority and higher numbers reflect a decrease in priority; 5 & 6 would be the least important part of this spread.
Back pages can be a bit of a problem. There is less uniformity about how back pages are laid out than in other parts of the paper. The general trend is for back pages to be given over to adds (often a full page ad) or for it to become a dumping ground for the end of columns and features that didn't completely fit in somewhere else. The 'tag ends' are usually headed with very catchy subtitles. Try using the grid model for the front page to see if it helps you understand the placement of items for the paper you analyze.
Now, we come to the step by step process of conducting your CONTENT ANALYSIS of the newspaper you have selected. Be sure to submit this newspaper when you turn in your paper for a grade.
1. Look at the MASTHEAD of the paper. What is the formal name? How does its size and typeface compare to the headlines on the front page? What is the date, volume number, edition, number of years of publication and price? If there are any slogans or mottos, quote them. Now look at the inside of the front page (page 2) and find the Publishers Statement [for very small papers, this might be on the editorial page]. Is this newspaper a division of a chain company or is it an independent paper? List the departments and sections that are prominently displayed. Report the circulation of this paper if it is shown.
2. Examine your paper slowly; article by article, page by page, section by section. Certain patterns should emerge. What are the headlines? List each headline and note the following: a. where is it place according to the appropriate grid? and b. after reading only the first five paragraphs of each article; say if this headline seems to fit the content of each article. Carefully note all of the items that do not seem to fit. Examine every article in this issue of the newspaper in this fashion.
3. Are there any photographs? A picture is worth 1000 words, so look at each picture carefully, it is communicating a great deal to you. Is the photograph associated with an article, or is it just filler? Using the appropriate grid model, note the placement of the photo on the page. Please note the major details of the photo. Are the people in the picture? Who? Is anyone not shown in the photo who should be? What is included in this shot? What is left out that should be shown? Repeat this process for every photo in this issue.
4. Look at the advertisements. Newspapers exist because they sell ads. Look carefully at the ads. Study their size, placement, quality, products and patterns of dispersement. Look at the balance of space committed to these products. Look particularly for (so called) 'sin' products. Are there ads for alcohol, tobacco, birth control products, abortion services, Gay Rights groups, alternative counseling, etc. (If these ads do not appear in your paper, someone is exercising censorship.) Finally, compare the total amount of space in the paper committed to advertising with the amount of space covering news. Be sure to include any supplemental inserts in your calculation. Most papers run about 50-50 in their proportions, but I've seen some papers that have has little as 20% news and as much as 80% ads.
5. Now, go back and read all of the news articles. Be as critical and analytical as you can be. Are these articles essentially written so that they support the social order, or are the primarily conflict oriented? Try to read between the lines. Ask yourself, who benefits the most from this article, and who suffers the most because of it? In most papers you'll find a mixture of these two styles. What is the ratio you discovered in this paper?
6. Oops. Newspapers are not perfect. Look for errors, typos and glitches. The fewer the errors you find the better the editing software and diligence the staff has used to produce their product. However, all departments are not equal, so keep a tally of the errors you find by type and the sections of the paper you find them in. Look hard, spell checkers have most spelling problems but they don't catch problems with grammar and syntax.
7. Finally, look at the editorial page. This is the one page (sometimes two) where the editorial staff actually tells you what they believe about a topic. This is very important. Examine the editorial(s) in the issue you are analyzing. Are the views found here Conflict or Functional in their approach? How consistent is this editorial view with the coverage for the rest of the paper?
8. Conclusion. Sit back for a minute and reflect. How fair do you believe this newspaper really is? A newspaper is supposed to serve as the window of a community? Does this issue of your paper reflect all of the elements of its community? Make a judgement call [based upon this single issue] about how fair and balance you believe this newspaper is. Document and support your conclusion.
The more often you do this the easier it gets. Do this a couple of times and you'll really start to get the hang of it. As you travel, conduct a content analysis on the local newspapers for each of the communities that you pass through. You'll really begin to learn a lot about region, in a hurry, if you do.
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SYG 2000
Hurley
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A number of outstanding books are cited at the end of each chapter by John Macionis as
"Suggested Readings." If you are seriously interested in any of these major points developed within the
text, these citations can serve as an excellent place for you to begin to pursue this interest. For this
exercise, you may select any book recommended as a "Suggested Reading" in your textbook. If you
find a book that is not on the list which strongly appeals to you, bring it to Professor Hurley -- before
you begin your serious work on this project. If he approves your book select, you may use it for full
credit. If you evaluate a book that is not listed by John Macionis as a Suggested Reading and has not
been approved by Professor Hurley you will receive no credit for this exercise.
Once you have obtained an acceptable book, read it carefully. Then answer the following
questions as a means of assessing its significance:
1. Provide an MLA citation for this book.
2. There is a reason for everything. This author is trying to make a point. What is this point?
Describe the author's views. analysis or theory. Summarize the major evidence and key features which
are used in support of the author's position.
3. Review the evidence cited by the author. Does (s)he present evidence in support, and
evidence in opposition, to his/ her views with reasonable fairness? Can you find any obvious omissions
of contradictory evidence which the author left out?
4. How does the author introduce his/her theory, views or analysis? Is it set in an historical,
academic or thematic context? How well does this 'view' appear to fit into the place that the author
prepared for it? Can you find a better fit?
5. Are the conclusions warranted and justified by the evidence presented by the author? Why
or why not?
6. What did you like best about this book? Why?
7. What did you like least about this book? Why?
8. How did this book contribute to your overall appreciation of sociology? Explain.
9. Would you recommend this book to your fellow students? What is your overall assessment
of this book? Explain.
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Return To The Beginning of These Secondary Analysis Exercises
Go To The Research Manual Guideline
Go To The Sociological Research Analysis
Go To The Quantatitive Exercises
Go To The Qualitative Exercises