Preliminary research question after STEP I: ‘How are mass shootings represented in newspapers?’
1. Selection within ‘newspapers’ by Language/range/region
Even ‘newspapers’ is a too broad category to enable a media analysis. Every country in the world produces newspapers, so we are to narrow down the sampling frame to ensure the feasability of our research. In this selection, three elements matter the most:
- First your language skills (as you will have to interpret and thus understand text). This turns the preliminary research question in:
‘How are mass shootings represented in Anglophone newspapers?’
- Second, the range of the search engine you intend to use (as this engine is your instrument to collect data)
The University of Kent offers access to a wide variety of newspapers and news sources. Just navigate to newspaper and newsreel archives to get an overview of all search and the range of news sources they have to offer. Nexis is probably the best search engine for the assignment of SO881, but UK Press Online seems also interesting. So, in the case of the module SO881 Anglophone newspapers (US and UK) might be the easiest. However international exchange students may opt for the newspapers of their country of origin as well. It might be that you have access to a news search engine through your home university. This selection process might end up in two possible preliminary research questions
‘How are mass shootings represented in UK newspapers?’
‘How are mass shootings represented in US newspapers?’
- Third, the region you intend to focus on. As mass shootings occur more in the US than in the UK, it seems wise to focus on the US in looking for newspaper articles. Depending on your focus, this selection process might end up again in two possible preliminary research questions:
‘How are US mass shootings represented in UK newspapers?’
‘How are US mass shootings represented in US newspapers?’
Although these questions already seem to be much more specific, they are still much to general to generate any usefull search in Nexis.
2. Moving beyond Description while Narrowing Down:
From this point onwards your final research question will depend on your approach to the media analysis. To ensure that you perform an analysis, and not merely deliver a description, it might be a good idea to bring in a comparative perspective. This means that you intend to scrutinise the similarities and differences between two or more ‘things’ (such as sources, types of newspapers, events, different offender/victim profile, …) As long as you compare two (or more things) and that there is a ratio behind the comparison. Possible preliminary research questions to explore are for instance those that make a comparison between
2.1. Newspaper types (broadsheets and tabloids):
‘What are the similarities and differences in the representation of US mass shootings in UK tabloid and broadsheet newspapers?’
‘What are the similarities and differences in the representation of US mass shootings in US tabloid and broadsheet newspapers?’
2.2. Newspapers (broadsheets OR tabloid) of two different countries/ regions/ cities/ … :
What are the similarities and differences in the representation of US mass shootings in national and regional UK newspapers?
What are the similarities and differences in the representation of US mass shootings in UK and US newspapers?
What are the similarities and differences in the representation of US mass shootings in London and New York newspapers?
…
2.3. Comparison between events
Narrowing down your research question in this way might require you to read about mass shootings in the us to look for cases that might suit a comparative media analysis. Source like Wikipedia might be helpful in getting a first overview (however the selection must be endorsed by more primary sources – they are often referenced by wikipedia). Here a rapport of CNN seems to be very useful.
What are the similarities and differences in the representation of the US two deadliest mass shootings in US/UK newspapers?
What are the similarities and differences in the representation of the Parkland Florida school shooting and the Las Vegas mass shooting in US/UK newspapers?
What are the similarities and differences in the representation of school shooting A and school shooting B in US/UK newspapers?
What are the similarities and differences in the representation of mass shooting A and mass shooting B in US/UK newspapers?
What are the similarities and differences in the representation of the offender with a different ethnic background in mass shootings A and mass shootings B in US/UK newspapers?
While already much more specific, these questions may still generate to many hits in search engines.
3. Finalising your research question: Interaction with the Search Engine/ Data
The final research question will depend on what kind of data your preliminary research question will generate. If you focus more on the quantitative analysis, you will need more articles. If you want to perform foremost a qualitative analysis less articles may be acquired. Probably it will be a combination of the previous ways to narrow down a research question. Let’s take for instance:
What are the similarities and differences in the representation of the Las Vegas Shooting in UK tabloid and broadsheet newspapers?
4. About Sampling
Sampling for qualitative analysis is not required to meet the statistically valid formulae of quantitative analysis. Nevertheless, sampling for in-depth qualitative study should not be
simply drawn at the researcher’s whim, and even random methods may not yield useful data as the purpose of qualitative research is to investigate certain issues or themes in detail.
Random or even representative methods of sampling may not capture the issues or themes which are the subject of qualitative analysis.
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