Part 1: Research Proposal

YOUR NAME: Luis Young

TOPIC (I am studying): I am studying the relationship between modern television
broadcasts, and the psychological effect (if any) that they have on todays youthwhich
constitute a large audience for this form of media.
RESEARCH QUESTION (S) (because I want to find out): I chose this topic
because of its relation to me. My brother, cousin, and I actively (and some of us still do)
watched a lot of television. Other than the physical effects of staying indoors, I wonder if
taking part in these activities causes or promotes any secondary effect on the brain/mind.
If so, are these effects good, bad, or both? What sort of genre has the most influence on
the mental process of a child? What age group is more susceptible to these effects (if
any)? Is gender a factor (are boys more inclined to be affected this wayand girls
another way) How does this form of media achieve these effects?
AUDIENCE & SIGNIFICANCE (in order to help______understand): This
information would help parents understand the effect of this form of media on their kids,
and possibly reconsider the amount of time they spend partaking in these activities
either more time, less time, or doesnt matter.
CONTEXT (this issue is important and timely because) With the advent of such
technology kids have increasingly stayed indoors to watch/utilize this media; it has often
been brought into question whether there are any adverse or beneficial side effects to this
habit.
EXHIBIT (To illustrate my discussion of ____, I plan to focus on ____): To illustrate
my discussion of multimedia rhetoric, I will focus on how television broadcasting
achieves these effects (how it reaches out to the viewer and influences their mental
processes). I also plan to focus on the younger audience in order to narrow down the
scope of medias effects to a certain age group, particularly from children to adolescents.
KEY SOURCES FOUND SO FAR:
MLA citation

Type of source? News

article? Scholarly journal
article? Book? Website?
Other?

"University of Michigan
Health System." Television

University Website

What does the source

offer your project?
Background? Statistics?
Theory? Argument?
Counterargument?
Example?
Background/statistics

(TV) and Children: Your

Child:. N.p., n.d. Web. 06
Mar. 2015.
"Television, Commercials,
and Your Child."
Psychology Today. N.p.,
n.d. Web. 13 Mar. 2015.
Gross, Dr. Gail. "Violence
on TV and How It Can
Affect Your Children." The
Huffington Post.
TheHuffingtonPost.com,
n.d. Web. 02 Mar. 2015.

Website

Background

Online News article

Counterargument

Part 2: Exploratory Draft

1) You should begin with a statement of what you hope to accomplish with the
project, and with what audience (e.g., I plan to argue that the NCAA must revise
its existing social media policy in order to combat the recent increase in recruiting
violations). Explain why you find this topic interesting and important. Provide
relevant background information to show the existing conversation around your
topic and the new perspective you hope to offer through your project.

I plan to examine the possible psychological phenomenon that exists when

the younger age group (adolescents and younger) is exposed to modern day
television broadcasting. As an older brother, I find it interesting to know
whether there are adverse or beneficial psychological effects; my brother
tends to spend a lot of time watching television and really gets into television
showsas did I before I came to college. It would be interesting to find that
this affected my brother, and me and if so how. And more than that this is a
topic that affects most families and it would be important for anyone to
know, for as the University of Michigan has it: TV viewing among kids is at
an eight-year high. On average, children ages 2-5 spend 32 hours a week in
front of a TVwatching television, DVDs, DVR and videos, and using a
game console. Kids ages 6-11 spend about 28 hours a week in front of the
TV. The vast majority of this viewing (97%) is of live TV. And I the common
consensus is that television is bad and that kids should be outside more often,
and well like I said I am eager to see if there is a beneficial aspect to this, and
if so I would focus on it.

2) Identify and discuss the intended audience for this project and what this audience
has at stake in the topic you are researching. Questions to help you identify an
audience: Who will benefit? Who will lose something? Who is in a position to be
persuaded to follow the new course of thinking/action for which you plan to argue

This paper would be geared towards parental audiences, who wish to know
more about the effects this form of media has on their child. It would gather
information this information and release it to this audience for them to make
use of it at their will. This audience has their most prized possession at stake,
their kids, and given the amount of television watched by most families now

a day, whether or not it produces psychological effects is pertinent

information.
3) How do you imagine your essay unfolding at this point? What are the distinct
claims/points you anticipate making in order to convince your audience of your
arguments quality and relevance? Provide a tentative outline.

At this point I picture my essay diving more into the possible positive side
effects of watching television, just because it is widely believed that
television is bad for kids and should be replaced with outdoor activities. Im
not choosing to argue either or, Im just presenting information about this
phenomenon and possibly focusing on the positive effects.

Outline:
a) Intro: Background info about how important television is to the lives of
families today
i. News Broadcasting
ii. Entertainment
b) Information about how much television younger age group watches now
a day.
i. Infant amount of hours
ii. Child amount of hours
iii.
Teenager amount of hours
c) Discuss general conception of televisions influence on youth
i. Bad to physical health
ii. Violence
iii.
Sexuality
iv. Explicit Language
d) Show the possible beneficial side affects
i. Education
ii. Stimulates creativity
iii.
Language development
iv. Cultural
e) Conclude with what the findings could possibly mean for parents/kids
i. Television not so bad, goes against popular conception that it is
(other than physically)
ii. In fact it might be good (psychologically)
iii.
Allow for kids to find balance between television and outdoors

4) Discuss what sources youve found so far and what other ones you would like to
look for. What kind of evidence will your audience expect? How will you
accommodate those expectations? Who do you anticipate might disagree with
you, and why? What evidence will they likely point to?

Ive found three different web sources that have different viewpoints. One discusses the
supposed benefits, another the role of television in lives of kids, and the last one shows
the widely accepted harmful effects. Id like to find more print sources, possibly from a
scholarly journal, which would discuss and analyze observations on the relationship
between television broadcasting and the mental process of kids. My audience will largely
expect to hear about the negative effects, and these I will incorporate in the amount of
television that kids watch portion of the paper. Conservative minded parents will
disagree and prefer that their kids stay away from television and stick to the outdoors,
because it is the traditional thing to do, and not something that they are willing to adopt.
They will largely point to the high obesity rate, but Im focusing on the psychological
effects not the physical ones.
5) Fifth section: Share any concerns or questions you have about the project. Where
do you anticipate running into problems?
My one concern may be in organizing and narrowing down the scope of my paper. There
are many outlets to consider, and still room for adapting my thesis, as I said I might just
focus on the positive effects.