The research project in this class will be to prepare, analyze, and report a media journal of your habits over a 7-to-10 day period. The media journal will have three components:
- Research (participant-observer)
- Analysis
- Reporting
For the Research Component you should do the following:
- Block out a period of 7-10 days where you can log and track your media usage habits in the following general areas: Print, Broadcast, Digital, Other. Include specifics sub-categories under each general area, such as books, newspapers, magazines; TV, cable TV, radio; internet; social media; other media types. Keep track of how many hours you spend engaged in using each media type so that you can identify trends. For those media you do not use, you can log an entry of “zero” hours.
- Analyze the data from your journal. What does this say about your media use? How do you get your information? How might this affect your access to diverse information? (Review the PPT that discusses some of the things you will want to focus on.)
- Prepare a report (approx 7-10 pages) that includes your original data presented in an Excel chart or Word table (or some other readable format). This report should also include your narrative explaining the data you found, its meaning, and the overall interpretation. What do your findings suggest about your use of media? Periods of non-use? Diversity in channels? (Review the PPT that discusses some of the things you can include here.) Include graphics or tables to illustrate your points.
Prepare your report as a professional document with cover page, table of contents, and relevant narrative and graphics.
