Another dissertation topic (journalism) anyone want to read the theory I want to test/or advise me??

[Fireflyfairy2]

Hi

I have asked on here before about a dissertation topic for journalism & I got some great ideas. One I kind of liked & took it, but when I showed it to my supervisor she knew it wasn't a topic I was interested in & talked to me about my interests etc...

So I have a whole new topic/theory now & I was just wondering if it sounds like something that might be interesting.

Obviously I am interested in the www/journalism/mums gaining knowledge (knowledge is power after all )

So, if I tell you what my theory is/what I wish to find out from my research, will you tell me how 'doable'/interesting you think it might be?

Or if you'd rather I didn't, then I won't

I'll listen. Fire away. I don't know alot about journalism though, I'm a scientist. I'll try my best though.

I'll give you an opinion but not a very expert one.

Thanks

I want to test the theory that modern women (who stay at home?) are more knowledgeable about the world around them, thanks to the internet. Because of the internet they can access news at the click of a mouse. The emergence of the internet and therefore online newspapers/news websites mean that stay at home mothers represent a whole new audience.

I have to re-submit this tomorrow!!

I see it, and as a SAHM I soooo agree. My friend who works full time does not use the net for anything 'parent' related

Sounds like a reasonable topic. More knowledgable than what though - what/who will your comparison group be ie how will you able to show this - to actually test it?

Also (just a random thought) I wonder if you could take it a bit further. I would imagine that they are more knowledgable in certain areas more than others and that it depends on the demographic of the moms.

But you're not talking about parent-related are you (which is certainly true suwoo - there's tons of parenting stuff online)? You mean the New out there in the world, yes?

Are you assuming that modern women have time to access the internet in between the shopping, ironing, washing, cooking, cleaning.....? It could be said that if they were interested in the news then they could watch the lunchtime news or buy a newspaper or listen to the radio. I think that new media has enabled women to spend more time in the home. Bingo can now be done online, shopping can be done online, she can even meet people online. You could say that the internet has now become a prison for the modern women. They are probably a new audience because they no longer have a means of escaping their house. Sorry, I've waffled a bit. Should have done feminist studies! You could say how modern journalism has kept the modern woman housebound. If too much information is availiable at the touch of a button in her home then she's less likely to go and seek it, therefore missing out on the social contact that makes education enjoyable. I'm going to shut up now.

But Juliet - how is accessing the news the old-fashoined way via papers, TV or radio any more social? Bingo and shopping maybe - but news??

In my experience, modern women who stay at home with unlimited access to the internet play on mumsnet all day.

I've lost many days this way.

MrsA - I can't really say that I spend a great deal of my online time on keeping up with world events - in fact less if. But that's due to being a mom more than anything else. I do tend to use the internet for parenting stuff (oh yes - and sometimes shopping - but never bingo...).

Acinonyx, because you have to go outside your house to collect the newspaper. That way you get to chat to the woman behind the counter that serves you every day. I tend to take a newspaper into cafe's and sit and read. You can do that with a laptop but I find that it's easy to become engrossed and lose track of time. The front of a newspaper is always a good talking point. I like my internet but it's no substitute for a face to face conversation.

Compared to women who are older.

I have to compile questionnaires & distribute them in order to gather my evidence etc..

Bingo etc no, nothing to do with my study It is simply for news (journalism ya see) It is sort of meant for mums' who would not otherwise see a paper.

For example.. how many days is there a link posted on here to direct members to an online paper? That paper has 100s more hits than it may have had, thanks to one mum reading it & telling others about it.

I do have to define the theory etc & I have lots of room to bring in other things so will keep your comments on board Julie

Sorry. I did say I waffled a bit.

I think it's very interesting, FF. Certainly the audience for news online is different to the readership of a newspaper. And I don't think the industry understands quite how atm.

Would be fascinating to find out how women today who have access to the net differ from previous generations - my own mother and her friend were all womens' libbers marching for abortion rights so perhaps that generation were actually more clued up? Either way, will be an interesting topic.

How will you know that this affect is not just due to age - perhaps younger women are more intersted in the news? Could you do this with women of a similar age (wonders how old is 'older' and looks at grey hairs anxiously...).

Juliet - I've always taken my news from the radio and never bought newspapers (as it happens). Many regular readers have them delivered (feeling argumentaitve this evening). I don't think news, in particular, is a good example of the trend you are talking about.

Thanks Edam, I was hoping you would see this. I do have to narrow my actual theory/point down & I know what I want to do, but my supervisor has stressed that I must use news.. I do think it would be great to try & research how women today who have access to the net differ from the past.. how could I bring news/journalism in?

I did a feature on the rise of internet chat rooms last term & really enjoyed it. I want to do something I enjoy too...

Acinonyx.. by older I mean my grannys age.. she's 84.

I do need to tighten my ideas up & I have a meeting with my supervisor tomorrow.

I do't think I want to focus on parenting sites.. I can't really as it's about journalism/news... there might be a place to mention it later in the dissertation, but it won't be my main focus.

Argue away. I have no excuses or arguements, just another perspective. I don't listen to the news on the radio because I spend all day running around like a headless chicken. I do, however, buy the newspaper and sit for 10 mins. I rarely look at the news on the web because I like the newspaper. By the time I've finished with it I've wrote notes down the side and completed the crossword. I can't do this when the news is on the web.

News has altered over the past 20 years. There's alot of media attention on certain cases (ie, child abduction) and I think that this has made society and womens roles in it less secure because parents are more anxious. Perhapse you could do something about how the increase in media news has created a climate of anxiety and fear. The comprehensive coverage of Madeline McCann, Sarah Pain and other children makes parents anxious for their own childrens welfare. 20 years ago a parent would not have been bombarded with graphic details of child abduction from every availiable type of media. Maybe not knowing was a good thing, now it's hard to escape.

Oh I really miss listening to the radio in the morning (got into that habiit living overseas) - I haven't been able to since dd was born. I've never liked newspapers but I used to get a weekly news magazine sometimes. I used to be such a political animal but now i find I am no longer interested in the details - it seems much more remote.

I totally agree with your second point. highly emotive cases of all kinds now develop this really unerving, cult status - Diana, M McCann - and what is more emotive than child abduction?

Can't think where i read this - but someone did a study to show that our instinctive process of risk asessment only tkes into account the severity of the outcome and not the actual likelihood of the event ocurring. That explains, for example, why people are so much more afraid of flying than driving.

I've skimmed over this and think that there's loads here to give you a really good dissertation. Have you considered a focus group instead of a questionnaire,.. then you would be able to get the different generations together and reflecting and probably tease out the data a bit more than a questionnaire. In my doctoral study I'm looking at perceptions of an issue, and interviews/focus groups seem a better methodology......you could always plan in an online mumsnet focus group- then all of us who use Mumsnet to avoid writing academic words would feel that we were justified as we'd be helping you

Good luck