Detailed Proposal

1. Topic Area

Crime and the media

2. Proposed title, question, hypothesis

Perception of youth crime in the media

3. Teacher approval granted, in principal?

yes

4. Principle texts (if text based study)

5. Reason for choice

Interest in topic area, some knowledge of crime from a sociological perspective, lends itself well to primary research, lots written about crime, acessible through press, film, news etc,

6. Academic context for this study (similar research, relevant theory, named theorists)

to follow

7. Institutional context for this study (industry focus, other texts for comparison, named practitioners, relevant theory, issues, questions)

News/documentary/the press

to follow

8. Identify the audience context for this study (audience profile, access to audience, potential sample)

Potential audience groups that i could consult include:

• the elderly
• parents
• youth
• gang members
• victims of youth crime
• police officers

9. How will the 4 key concepts be relevant to your study (audience, institution, forms and conventions, representation)?

The four topics are completely interconnected...

• Audience groups/general public are involved in 'creating' the stories and consuming the news stories
• The different institutions choose how to present this in their coverage of the topic within the news and newspapers
• This coverage creates a certain representation of crime and youth which is consumed by the audience

10 Potential research sources (secondary): secondary academic books and websites, secondary industry books and websites, secondary popular criticism. Please identify specific examples you have come across.

To follow

11. Potential research sources (primary): audience reception research, your own content/textual analysis etc

• analysis of a news bulletin or documentary
• questionnaires about general perceptions of groups and peoples consumption of the media and news
• follow up interviews with different audience groups about how their news consumption contributes to their perceptions
• perhaps see if there are any correlations between media consumption and attitudes to groups or crime
• discussion with gang members or victims of crime about their experiences, motivations, feelings about their representation and whether it is accurate.

12. Modifications agreed with your lead teacher

??

13. Potential limits/obstacles/problems?

accessing people could be a problem, however i don't think it will be too difficult to find people as it isn't a very niche topic and affects almost everyone.

14. Teacher concerns

15. Teacher approval