This assignment should be assigned as a first research report in every men’s studies course. The data results will astound students.
Index Surveys of Newspaper and Research Publications
Date Due: The third week in September or February. Limit: 1200 words, maximum. Mark Value: 10%.
Assignment: 1. Popular and academic magazines and newspapers will be examined, for the number and importance of articles, on males compared to females, in two years. 2. Compare ten male to female article titles (20 in total) on similar topics, for sex bias, as explained below. 3. Media criticism examples may be found in: The Globe and Males by A. Jones; How to Detect Bias in the Print Mass Media, and The Deadly Hazards of Being Male in Canada, by J. Asher (the section on the media); and The Myth of Male Power, Ch. 1 & index, Ceasefire, Introduction & index, by Cathy Young, (In the Book Store or on Reserve).
Optional: Students may choose earlier research years in RGPL beginning with 1870, or Encyclopedia Britannica, beginning with 1780. The teacher's written permission is required for access to these historical volumes in other libraries. This fascinating project could be offered as a term paper. The articles on men and women could be examined in Encyclopedia Britannica for ten selected decades from 1780 to 2000. The same volumes should be examined for articles on law, crime, family, marriage, Nobel Prizes, and other topics. This term paper assignment would require a mark over 80%, and permission and regular consultations with the teacher as the assignment proceeds.
Presentation: Must be legible; preferably typed or computer word-processed, or legibly hand-written, and stapled together. Write on the right side of the page. Number all pages sequentially. Completely erase all errors. Include a table of contents, introduction, conclusion and a bibliography. Term papers must be written in grammatically correct sentences and paragraphs. Identify every article and quotation with its title, author, source, date, and page. List your report word total in the table of contents. Over - length reports will be marked to a higher mark standard. Include the instruction sheet for the term paper or report, as the last page. That sheet will be checked for each instruction followed or omitted. Late assignments will loose 10% for up to one week late. Later reports will not be accepted without an approved absence form from the school medical officer or registrar. Follow the "Regulations for Term Papers and Reports," in the front of this package.
Your teacher will schedule library classes to help students learn research skills. Students who work in small groups may benefit from others' help and clever ideas. Supplies: about $4 in change for the photocopiers. Make five photocopies of the table for practice before filling the final copies.
Ask the librarians for help. Please thank them. Do not write in or mark the index volumes.
V. Categories
Men and Men's compared to Woman and Women Do not count the
entries for Man - this refers to all
humans.
Male compared to Female Father compared to Mother
Marriage: male compared to female Divorce: male compared to female
Feminism compared to any appropriate male topic: masculinity, men's rights, ...
Plus any other two topics comparable or contrary, for males and females, serious or silly: e.g.. males compared to females for education, lawyers, sports, psychology sub-topics, crime sub- topics, Nobel Prizes, other categories of achievement, et. cetera.
W. Research Indexes Assigned by family name first letter. See note on historical research in #4, above.
A to H: Canadian [News] Index and The Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature (RGPL)
I to P: Humanities Index and Social Science Index:
Q to Z: Canadian Periodicals Index and The Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature (RGPL)
If one index volume covers more or less than a year, use that one volume only.
X. Year Allocations If the index volume is not available for your assigned year, choose the closest year. Some of the indexes are in aggregate volumes for five or ten years. These volumes offer the best comparison of article statistics and topic trends.
|
A & Q |
1998 & 1978 |
B & R |
1994 & 1974 |
C & S |
1990 & 1970 |
D & T |
1986 & 1996 |
|
E & U |
1997 & 1977 |
F & Y |
1993 & 1973 |
G & W |
1989 & 1999 |
H & X |
1985 & 1995 |
|
I & Y |
1996 & 1976 |
J & Z |
1992 & 1972 |
K |
1988 & 1998 |
L |
1984 & 1994 |
|
M |
1995 & 1975 |
N |
1991 & 1971 |
O |
1987 & 1997 |
P |
1983 & 1993 |
... 2
p. 2 Sex Bias
Y. Instructions
Your teacher will offer classroom examples of previous best reports and in-library demonstrations.
4a. In your assigned indexes, accurately count the number of articles on the topics in W above, published during your assigned year(s). 4b. Missing volumes: If your assigned year is not available in the library index volumes, use the volumes in another library, or choose the closest year. 4c. photocopy some sections of the index pages to illustrate the points you make in your report.
Computer Indexes: Do not use the computer index search programs.
The following instructions will provide
most of your mark.
7. Compare the percentages of male to female articles in the newspaper and magazine indexes, as in the table below. Repetition in the essay of table data without interpretation will not add marks. 8. Choose ten article titles each on male compared to female topics (= 20 articles total) to show unequal reports on the sexes.* 9. Explain the difference between the number and importance of male compared to female articles. **
____________________
*"Unequal"? Here is your chance to show off what you
have learned from TOSS, DHoBMC, TG&M,
Not Guilty, The Myth of Male Power,
Ceasefire, and lectures.
**"importance"? This is the difficult part of the assignment. MoMP and DHoBMC offer models for examining health
information. For other topics like
crime, income, other social issues, you must rely on your judgment. Examine the sample reports from the previous
semesters offered by the teacher in class and office hours.
Z. Tables: Copy and fill the table with your data. Fill the empty rows with appropriate topics and counts. Remember to multiply the % columns by 100% Make 4+ copies of this table so that you may dispose of errors. Enter the names of the indexes and years. Fill one table for each year = two tables in total. Your teacher will check select tables for accuracy with tables from previous years. Copying of any of the information will result in zero for the assignment.
Media Index Survey:
Male compared to Female Articles Numbers & Percentages
|
Year: .......... |
Male Index 1 ............... |
Male Index 2 ............... |
Male * % |
Female % |
Female Index 1 ............... |
Female Index 2 ............... |
|
|
Male |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Female |
|
Men & Mens |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Woman & Women |
|
Boy(s) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Girl(s) |
|
Father |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Mother |
|
Male Total |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Female Total |
|
... |
|
|
|
|
|
|
feminism |
|
Marriage; Divorce male |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Marriage; Divorce female |
|
Psychology Male |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Psychology Female |
|
... |
|
|
|
|
|
|
... |
... 3
Sex Bias
Calculation
of a percentage from cumulative data Remember to multiply the % columns by 100%
|
Year: |
Male Index 1 ............... |
Male Index 2 ............... |
Male * % |
Female % |
Female Index 1 ............... |
Female Index 2 ............... |
|
|
Male |
a |
b |
a +b a+b+z+x |
z+x a+b+z+x |
z |
x |
Female |
|
Men & Mens |
c |
d |
c+d c+d+y+w |
y+w c+d+y+w |
y |
w |
Woman & Women |
|
Father |
e |
f |
e+f e+f+v+u |
v+u e+f+v+u |
v |
u |
Mother |
|
Male Total |
a+c+e |
b+d+f |
see % Male calculation
below |
See % Female calculation below |
z+y+v |
x+w+u |
Female Total |
|
? |
g |
h |
g+h g+h+t+s |
t+s g+h+t+s |
t |
s |
feminism |
|
et cetera. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
et cetera |
|
% Male calculation: |
% Female calculation: |
|
a+b+c+d+e+f a+b+c+d+e+f+ u+w+x+y+z |
u+v+w+x+y+z a+b+c+d+e+f+ u+w+x+y+z |
Sample Table filled with hypothetical data. Your data will not look like this - if you counted correctly.
|
Year: 1950 |
Male Index 1 ...RGPL... |
Male Index 2 ...CPI.... |
Male * % |
Female % |
Female Index 1 ...RGPL... |
Female Index 2 ....CPI.... |
|
|
Male |
5 |
10 |
41 |
59 |
7 |
15 |
Female |
|
Men & Mens |
50 |
100 |
40 |
60 |
75 |
150 |
Woman & Women |
|
Father |
3 |
7 |
33 |
66 |
15 |
5 |
Mother |
|
Male Total |
60 |
120 |
39 |
61 |
101 |
176 |
Female Total |
|
men's studies |
5 |
10 |
5 |
95 |
100 |
200 |
feminism |
|
et cetera |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
et cetera |