Saturday, May 2, 2015

Final Week - Literature Review and Final Thoughts


The process of the literature review allowed me to take each reference that I had collected for the purpose of my paper and analyze it both individually and in the frame of how it would fit into my overall paper.  It’s very useful to write a paragraph or two for each reference, putting my own words what the reference had to offer and how I interpreted the data.  After that it was simple to organize those paragraphs in an order that made sense.  All this left me with was the need for an opening and a conclusion, which flowed easier once everything else was together.  I feel like the annotated bibliography was a bit redundant to do with a literature review and might be tempted to opt out of the annotated bibliography in the future unless it would be required for a project. 
When I began this process I wanted to lay the blame of youth violence pretty much at the feet of social media.  As I did my research, my way of thinking about the matter changed.  Social media is not the problem, it’s simply a vehicle through which the public as a whole gets a more current picture of what is going on in the society of our youth.  Movies and TV shows glamorize the mean girl behavior and not only do young people want to emulate some of those behaviors, but they have a video camera connected to the internet to show the world their actions.  Additionally, gender roles have changed considerably over the years and young ladies are more and more involved in activities that in the past were predominantly male behavior such as fighting, smoking, drinking, drugs and gangs.  Once again so much of this is made normal through movies, tv and music that it’s not a wonder that there is an increase in the public nature of what they are doing. 
The research was at times frustrating but I’m glad that I explored the topic.  I feel I have a better understanding and more to think about as I progress in my education and work.  I appreciate the opportunity to learn to be a better researcher.  This class really helped me and I will miss growing and sharing with everyone.  Thanks for sharing the journey with me.  Who knows,  I might even kept the blog running as I finish up my degree.
Aloha!

1 comment:

  1. Rebecca,

    It has been a pleasure reading your blog. I have really enjoyed (not to sound creepy) watching how you have grown in your research and discovery of bullying. I am pleased to see that you have moved beyond your thought that Social media is not the problem. In all honesty I think it is our culture, we as a society seem to idolize the jock and laugh at the nerd ( the different person). We do it even as adults when we see something that we think is just hilarious and out of place in a persons personality. Do you think that maybe has humans we are actually hard wired to be cruel individuals or do you think it is nurtured into us by our role models and idols in the media?

    Its been a pleasure attending this class with you. Fair Winds and Following seas.

    Laura Needham

    ReplyDelete

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