Research Critique and Proposal. Communications & Media Essay

RESEARCH CRITIQUE AND PROPOSAL
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Research Critique and Proposal
Part 1 - Critique
Source of the research question
This research is based on the social element of trying to expose the social issues which limit career advancement for women in the UK film industry. The research questions stemmed from the zeitgeist on gender issues on the film industry and from existing literature showing gender discrimination of female screenwriters in UK film industry. The researcher is trying to show how the film industry is discriminative to women and how the system has been normalized in the industry. A career in the industry relies on trust and network to mitigate the inherent risk and uncertainty of producing successful films. Therefore, since the industry is largely dominated by white middle and upper males, they largely depend on their network to assemble a ‘trustworthy and competent’ team to bring their ideas to fruition. In the UK film industry, hiring is not based on merit but connections, networks and personal relationship. The industry has normalized nepotism and disregarded formal hiring processes. The researcher argues that it is even harder for budding female screenwriters and non-whites because they do not have connections or the required ‘trust’ to break into the industry. The status quo in the industry is pegged on connections and affinities of habitus. Informal hiring practices overlook women who hardly have as many connections as men. Most producers and big companies need experienced writers whom they trust. They have redefined the term ‘trust’ to be ‘those of their own in terms of gender and race’ and the system has normalized it. There is a lot of sidelined talent which is not lack of substance or experience, but because the evaluation of their content and or creativity is largely subjective. The financiers also look for notable names in the industry with whom they can trust to work with.
How the researcher approached the research
The researcher first analyzed related literature on the subject. She then realized a gap in knowledge on how institutionalized gender discrimination limited the chances for success for female screenwriters and sought to find out why. The research also helped her to know what other researchers had found out on the subject she was tackling. Her secondary research is evident from the bibliography and also through many intext citations she drew from these sources. For example, the researcher notes that ‘My research supports Bielby’s claim that, in the film industry, ‘high levels of risk and uncertainty’ turn stereotyping and discrimination ‘into everyday business practices’ (Wreyford, 2015). It is evident that she based her research on previous literature published on the subject but sought to narrow down to screenwriters. After studying the literature, she came up with a specific area in which she knew had not been researched on before and tackled it. Review of existing literature on a subject is important to avoid doing research and adding redundant literature on a subject.
The researcher also conducted interviews on her sample population. (Wreyford, 2015) notes that the data she used for the study was ‘part of a larger research project consisting of 40 semi-structured interviews with screenwriters and their employers.’ The researcher also featured more women for her research than men because she had a special interest in their experiences in the industry to find out if there is any identifiable gender discrimination they suffered to substantiate her hypotheses. Therefore, of the 40 participants she had, 23 were women. It is important to note that only 16 percent of screenwriters in the UK are women and therefore her study sample was largely unrepresentative. She also had 6 nonwhite participants to account for the racial balance.
One of the challenges the researcher faced in the study how to avoid personal bias. She would likely have personal bias especially if she noted that the system is rigged against women. She did not also outline how she navigated the issue in her research. A researcher should demonstrate that he/she has addressed or declared any potential bias when conducting research on gender-sensitive topics because the findings could be interpreted to be biased.
Why she conducted the research that way
As indicated in the above question, the researcher made use of existing literature and this is always an important step while conducting research. Existing literature is crucial because of several reasons with the first one being knowing the knowledge that exists in a particular field of study. Understanding the research that has been done in a particular field is indeed important and helps to shape a researcher’s work CITATION Uni181 \l 1033 (University of South Carolina, 2018). It helps one to avoid redundancy by doing what has already been done. It would indeed be discouraging to work on something for months only to later come and realize that someone else had already thought of and worked on it. Therefore, the researcher had to use existing literature. The second reason why the researcher made use of existing literature was to ensure that she understands the challenges and limitations of the previous research articles and to work to ensure that she avoids or finds better ways of handling similar situations CITATION Uni181 \l 1033 (University of South Carolina, 2018). Every researcher goes through challenges which limit their work and it is essential for other researchers to know about these challenges and seek ways to do their work differently. Therefore, it was indeed important for CITATION Wre15 \l 1033 (Wreyford, 2015) to shape her work while minding the previous work that was done.
The third reason why CITATION Wre15 \l 1033 (Wreyford, 2015) made use of existing literature is to find and exploit the gaps that exist in the field of study. As a researcher, one has to be well aware of what others have done and understand some of the perspectives which have not been explored. The main purpose of conducting studies is to develop new knowledge. However, it would indeed be difficult to develop new knowledge if one does not know what already exists. Therefore, it was crucial for CITATION Wre15 \l 1033 (Wreyford, 2015) to consider existing research. Without the existing research, it is possible that she would have focused on something that has already been documented. However, the existing literature informed her work and hence the final piece which greatly contributes to the field of study.
The researcher also made use of interviews which were crucial in helping her to come up with the data she needed for her article. CITATION Wre15 \l 1033 (Wreyford, 2015) opted for the semi-structured type of interviews which helped her to exercise the freedom to inquire deeper on certain occasions. Semi-structured interviews are mostly preferred when researchers want to exercise the option of going beyond their structured questions. Therefore, this gave her the space to gather more answers and inquire further.
How the researchers’ methods and approaches led to their findings and conclusions.
As indicated in the explanation above, the researcher made use of previous research as well as semi-structured interviews in her study. These two helped to shape the findings and conclusions of the research in many ways. First of all, using existing literature gave the researcher a hypothesis which she was working towards albeit informally. Previous research had confirmed that women were indeed maligned and made up of a small percentage of screenwriters in the UK. For example, (Steele, 2013) did indicate that women had managed to find their way into the business but unfortunately, many were answering to their male bosses. The research reviewed showed that even when it seemed that things were good for women, there was still something that lacked or that held them back. As she introduces her interview including the participants, she notes that it was “attempting to identify reasons for the continued scarcity of female screenwriters in the UK film industry.” The above confirms that she was already convinced that the scarcity exists and this was based on the previous research she had used. Here, one can firmly say that her reliance on the existing literature shaped her interview.
When it comes to her interview, one can also firmly say that it did shape or lead to the findings she got. As seen from the paper, she had three major sub-headings which guided her interview process. They include understanding the gendered outcomes of informal recruitment practices, risk reduction, and trust and homophily. As seen from the paper, her interview questions did indeed influence her findings. In the first subheading, she includes responses which shed light on the issues at hand. The responses while varied do help to further one’s understanding of the gendered outcomes of informal recruitment practices. In her second subheading, the questions also help to guide the rhetoric. Her goal here was to explore how some practices have become normal or have been made to seem normal or rational. In the responses that she included, it is indeed clear that she got more than what she wanted. For example, in one of the responses, a participant inclines that people assume a person is great sim...