EPQ

Assessment Objectives

Aqa EPQ from Great Baddow High School Media

Research Log Proforma

Record of Initial Ideas

 

Record of initial ideas

My idea(s) for topic/title Who is the greatest distance athlete of all time? My ideas for research and development of my project I am very interested in the subject of distance running for many reasons – I find it fascinating that a sport so simple and primitive at the surface, is a product of the combination of factors such as biomechanics, efficiency, tactics, genetics, environment and conditioning, all of which are practiced and perfected to the point of excellence through spirit, mentality and willpower. I also enjoy the purity to distance running – requiring determination and guts as well as precise preparation, everything comes down to who crosses the line first – no outside bias, discrimination, or dispute can influence that outcome. It is for these reasons and my desire to appreciate the sport more that I would like to carry out my project with the interest to identify the greatest distance runner to live. I would limit my investigation to distance runners only – deemed to any event that is composed of mostly aerobic respiration (50% plus). This would narrow my investigation population to competitors in the 800m and upwards, defining this distance and above to qualify as distance running. I am undecided in exact amounts, but I would take two to three athletes for each distance into consideration. Although the hypothesis seems simple, there are many factors I will need to consider- such as: A) The best athlete by time (pure ability) B) The best athlete by tactical ability (ability + execution) C) The best athlete by quantity of medals and titles (ability + execution) D) The best athlete by range (Ability to run well at multiple distances) This is necessary because the runner with the best physical ability does not always win the race. Tactical errors in pacing, positioning, etcetera can cost the athlete their potential position. A great example of this happening is Mo Farah of Great Britain beating Ethiopia’s Kenenisa Bekele. Bekele ran 12:37 in the 5000m, whereas Farah ran 12:53 – a huge difference in ability. On paper, Bekele was by far the superior athlete. However, due to Farah’s incredible racing ability and mental manipulation of his opponents, he beat Bekele many times, including denying Bekele the gold medal at the indoor world championships. This is one of the many examples that prove to me that I think it is important to investigate my hypothesis in many different ways that are inclusive of all different forms of excellence in distance running (times, tactical ability, medals, etc). My ideas to quantify the best athlete, and considerations that will have to be made: · Create a scoring system that would rank (comparatively) medals and performance times · Consider depth in each event when comparing quality of world records (a record in an event with a smaller population is usually more attainable than an event with a larger involvement of the population, due to more competition) · Consider performances that differ due to technology (ie. Bannister’s four minute mile would be worth at least a 3:53 mile today, due to the difference in spikes, and the switch from cinder to tartan tracks) so I would have to consider these differences when comparing these performances. · Consider the introduction of African and third world countries to athletics (as before the time when they could compete, events had much less depth and competitors had lower ability and talent) · Consider the technological advancements made to allow athletes to train better (Normatec, Compression Gear, cryogenic chambers for recovery) My ideas for initial athletes in consideration and my opinions on why: · (800m): David Lekuta Rudisha [Kenya] | Reason: 800m World Record 1:40.91. Double Olympic Champion, Double world champion. He has Incredible running form and efficiency and also has the world record for the unofficial distance of 600m. · (1000m): Noah Kiprono Ngeny [Kenya] | Reason: 1000m world record 2:11.96 · (1500m): Asbel Kiprop [Kenya] | Reason: Three World Championship Golds and very near world record mark of 3:26.69, and Olympic gold in 2008. This athlete has doping offences and I would need to take this into consideration. · (1500m) Matthew Centrowitz [USA] | Reason: Skilled Tactical runner, won Olympic gold in Rio and many American Titles without an extremely fast personal best compared to other runners. · (1500m): Hicham El Guerrouj [Morocco] | Reason: World Record time of 3:26.00 , Double Olympic gold (5000 and 1500) 4 World Championship medals · (1500m) Jakob Ingebritsen (Norway) | Reason: · (3000m) Daniel Komen [Kenya] | Reason: 7:20.67 World Record, World championship gold in the 5000m. Komen’s 3000m world record is by far one of the strongest world records to exist. · (5000m, 10000m) Kenenisa Bekele [Ethiopia] Reason: Personally my opinion as (purely time wise) the best distance runner, an opinon shared by many people. Bekele set a world record of 12:37.35 in the 5000m and a world record of 26:17.53 . Bekele’s greatness is evident in the fact that on his way to running the 5k world record, he passed 3000m in 7:26 – only 6 seconds slower than (formerly mentioned) Komen’s 3000m world record, and continued for another 2000m. He has also run the third fastest (at the time, second) marathon ever, of 2:03:03. He also has 3x Olympic Gold medals and 5x World championship gold medals. He is the 11 time world cross country champion. · [5000m-Marathon] Haile Gebrselassie [Ethiopia] Reasons: Haile set 27 world records in his lifetime (not all are in official events like the 5000m, some are unofficial such as the one hour run) These are some of the athletes I would consider. As my project develops, I would likely add a lot more athletes to this list. I would also consider female athletes, but this would need to do this later in the development as I would need to research this (I am not as knowledgeable about female athletics in enough detail to create an initial list of female suggestions for the investigation). I mentioned in some of my reasoning for consideration of certain athletes that I would have to consider the possibility of athletes doping. Contrary to popular belief, drug testing in athletics is not as preventative of doping as it may seem. Some drugs can only be detected, for example, a few hours after injection, but can give months of benefit. Drug use can be more prevalent in one athlete’s lifetime than another athlete (due to advancements in drug use technology and drug testing) which would lead to unfair improvements in time. This may skew my investigation, so I would have to consider this as a factor. Of course, the best distance runner can be a subjective topic. As my project develops, I may consider using popular opinion and polling as a means to have another take on who the greatest athlete is. After all, Track and Field and distance running is a spectator sport and attracts hundreds of thousands of spectators every year, so opinions of the fans of the sport may help me to reconsider or conclude my decisions in quantifying the best athlete. I may do this through creating a survey, or doing “interviews” with people from athletic clubs who follow the sport. I could also carry this out on a running forum such as Runners World or Letsrun.com. For research, I would use a wide range of sources, including: · Internet Forums (For opinions and general research) · Online articles (Statistical Research) · Books, available to source from libraries or veteran runners (Looking up older records and investigating technology developments) · My own knowledge, as long as backed up by one of the above sources Some interesting scientists/writers who produce a lot of literature relevant to my topic that I may source when developing my investigation include: · Professor Tim Noakes (South African Scientist, Author of “Lore of Running”) · Christopher McDougall (American Journalist and Author of “Born to Run”) · Adharanand Finn (Author of “Running with the Kenyans”, “The Way of a Runner” and more) My next step with the project will be to collect and analyse some studies with a similar question to my title, mostly found online using google scholar. I would add these to a blog to keep all my research in an easy to view environment. My summary of the comments and advice from my supervisor: I was told that I need to consider the amount of suitable literature available on my topic (sources online and offline). My supervisor said that from reading my initial ideas, my investigation looked interesting and well planned, however he was concerned with the amount of suitable/relevant sources that I will be able to find to analyse during my research. Statistics of each runner can be found relatively easy online, and books do exist that detail this information, however I would be unlikely to find this in a school or public library and would most likely have to purchase literature from amazon or online etc. · Question reliability of sources (some sources may be more opinionated than others). Check from sources that they don’t contradict themselves in other articles from the same author. · My advisor said I need to “Consider the phrasing of your question with the focus being specifically on male athletes, rather than athletes in general” and suggested that I added “male” into my title.

Record of initial ideas

My ideas for topic/title

Representation of females in American Television and Film from 1950 to 2014

My ideas for research and development of my project

I am interested in female representation in television and film, after being briefly introduced to it during my AS Media course and I would like to see its relevance on a broader scale as well as the contextual and social impacts it has had and that have affected it.

I considered studying how literature has affected modern stereotypes; however it was hard to make links across such broad time periods and the myriad of representations that exist, thus it would be too broad and unsubstantiated for me to base a portion of my project on and so it was rejected. These decisions also lead me to construct a time frame for the content I will look at, which creates a more reasonable project for me to research. I chose 1950 to 2014 as the 1950’s saw a great rise in television and cinematic entertainment being consumed, meaning representation within these media products became important. Additionally, from my preliminary research I noticed many other studies began looking at representation from the 1950’s, indicating that this time period will have sufficient information and content for me to utilise.

Imposing an upper limit of 2014 encompasses modern subject matter that – unlike 2015 – isn’t continually growing as I do my research. It also means there is still substantial research on the media products from this time that can evidence the progress of female representation, whilst any more recent than this has minimal or inconclusive research which would inhibit my project.

I am focusing on the area of television and film due to their closely related forms which mean their methods of representation are similar: the macro-features of narrative and genre and micro-features such as mise-en-scene, cinematography, sound and editing. However their different distribution and production methods allow enough contrast for me to compare the two forms and conclude the effects these have on representation.

As I am interested in both TV and Film and aim to study them at University, this project will be highly advantageous for me and my passion for them and the historical representations of females leads me to strongly believe I will not become bored with this subject matter. Additionally there is a vast volume of content for me to analyse and research to use in both areas, ensuring I will have enough content to complete the project.

To restrict the volume of shows, films and representations I have confined my research to American television and film due to the size and influence of their infamous television and film business, which is arguably the biggest in the world. Researching smaller countries productions may mean both the volume of media products and research evidence would be restricted which would negatively impact my project and as such I discarded these.

Another problem I fear I will come across in my research is that there will be too much content for me to investigate. As such I have come up with several possible resolutions to this predicament:

Firstly to limit myself to a particular genre, such as action, drama or comedy (although I will not consider horror as both my AS Film and A2 Media courses study female representation in this genre). This will easily cut out a vast portion of the content out there and considerably limit what I find, though not in a way I think will be detrimental to the outcome of my project.

Secondly to remove either the television or film portion of my research, focusing on just one of the mediums. This solution will have the same effect as that of choosing a particular genre, by constraining my research by just the right amount.

Thirdly I may look at only one aspect of female representation. With so many different representations of women: Promiscuous, The Mother, The Vamp, Race, Sexuality and so many more, this will be the final measurement that I take in condensing my project as I fear this may come too close to making me unable to fulfil the criteria of the EPQ. Before I was to make this decision I would ensure that I put in adequate research to ensure that this concept is feasible and that I would have enough content for the project.

 In conclusion I think that this idea will realistically enable me to receive a good grade in the EPQ and that I will be able to competently resolve any issues that arise within it. Furthermore, not only will my interest in my exploration be maintained throughout, but that it will be beneficial for me to do, not just for University but for a career in creating positive television, film and media products, which I aim to do.

     I began some preliminary research before thinking of or refining my ideas and as such have begun to assemble an idea of the basic research I will need to complete to form a basis for my project, before considering composing an answer to my exploration.

Firstly I will complete general research on the representation of females in television and film, discovering statistics and studies in relation to specific stereotypes, representations and genres that will give me basic background knowledge to forms the basis of my discussion. This research will help define the direction of my research, illustrating whether the topic is too broad for me to synthesis into 5,000 words. I will make note of shows and films that feature often in my research or which seem the most significant so I can screen and analyse them myself – which will form part of my primary research. These screenings will consume large portions of time and as such I hope to complete the majority of them in the holidays, though I fully expect them to run into term time.

As my general idea and direction of research is better formed I will use two approaches to my research, before deciding which yields better results and using that for the rest of the project. My first approach will be to research "by show". This will involve me looking in depth at a particular show and the representations that appear within it to establish where and how it will fit into my project. The second approach will be to research by representation or stereotype, looking for the ways they are represented and shows that feature or subvert them. Whichever method serves better for my research will most likely influence the manner in which I structure the remainder of my project, including both my presentation and 5,000 word project.

Representations I aim to look at include:

- The Homemaker

- Promiscuous women

- Lesbians and Bisexuals

- Transsexual women (those who identify as women)

- Women of colour (Asian, Black, Hispanic and Latino)

- The effect of social and contextual events on representation of females

-How the representations of females have influenced the world around us.

I aim to use a range of sources, from websites, blogs, magazine articles, books and scholarly articles to help reinforce arguments I make from my primary analysis of television and film screenings. After looking at a source I will extract the relevant information I require and collate it in one place so it is easy to find. I also will evaluate them, discussing how useful they were, who they were created by, when and for what purpose, as this will enable me to consider the validity of the evidence which I may use to back-up a statement.

Other sources that I intend to use include autobiographies from actresses who have portrayed women in sitcoms, such as Mindy Kaling, Amy Poehler and Tina Fey, as they will give me unique perspectives on my subject and in some cases illustrate their interpretation of the characters, representations and stereotypes they have portrayed. I also intend to construct a questionnaire that I will get a variety of individuals to answer, which will give me insight into modern views of historical female representations and the progress – or regression – that has been made over the course of 64 years. This will be constructed after I have completed the majority of my research and am looking to begin a first draft of my project as I will be able to answer questions that are more relevant to my subject matter and yield useful results.

My summary of the comments and advice from my supervisor

My supervisor commented on the broadness of my project, with so many shows, films and representations to explore it seems an unfeasible question to answer within 5,000 words or in fact to come to a singular conclusion on and that it may be more descriptive than is needed to provide a successful project. We also talked about this topic's relation to my other A2 subjects: Media, Film and English Literature and that to view female representation in horror productions would be too close to units in the first two subjects. Furthermore I knew I was more interested in Comedy and this piqued interest in comparison to genres such as horror, drama or action would serve to keep me more interested and hence motivated in the project.

I have also been advised that I will need twenty to thirty individual sources in order to create a good project, which, with my wealth of resources, both in terms of primary research of analysis of media products, scholarly articles, magazines and blogs, I feel I will be able to competently find, especially as I have already begun collating them and am aware of many resources that will be useful in driving my research forwards.

We also discussed that I would need to keep close track of my research in order for me to easily reference the relevant content in my work and to create a bibliography for my project and presentation, in addition to a diary that keeps track of my though processes and demonstrates the developments made in my project.

Modifications I have made as a result of the discussion with my supervisor

The most significant change that I have made is to forgo researching films and defined a genre of television shows I will look into (Sitcoms and Sketch shows), which employs two of the techniques I considered in my initial concerns that I may have too much to research. This genre of television shows still boasts a wealth of female representations to look into and will enable me to more competently construct an answer and rounded exploration. Furthermore it is the genre I have the most knowledge of and am most enthusiastic about, which reinforces my maintained interest in the project throughout. I decided to include both sitcoms and sketch shows due to their influence on one another – especially the comedic powerhouse SNL (Saturday Night Live) which has spurred the careers of many comedic actors - and more importantly actresses – who have gone on to star in sitcoms, with prime examples being Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Ana Gasteyer, Amy Poehler and Tina Fey.

I have also decided to approach my research from the angle of the representation rather than the show as it yields more results that are of more worth to me which I can use to inform my analysis of the television sitcom character that I am analysing. This makes it more useful than if I were to approach it from the show, in which I may analyse worthless information, wasting my time, which is therefore making for ineffective time management.

Furthermore, in regard to my supervisors comments on the direction of my research and what results and conclusions I expect to come to, I have begun thinking of ways to form my project title into a definitive question centred around how females are represented in American sitcoms from 1950 to 2014, which I will edit as my research continues and my idea progresses.

The next steps that I intend to take are to complete diaries of my research, detailing and evaluating the content that I discover.

My idea(s) for topic/title Topic: Behavioural Economics Title: How far are traditional economic theory outdated in light of modern spending habits?

My ideas for research and development of my project To begin my research, I feel it necessary to focus on one point and from there I can elaborate and develop my knowledge and understanding of the topic. Though it may be easy to get caught up in the abundance of topic areas that behavioural economics covers, just prioritising one basic element to begin will put me in the best position to grow the project.   Instead of jumping straight into the middle of what behavioural economics is and what it stands for, I thought that I would be best suited to researching the necessities surrounding economic concepts and models. For an economist studying at nearly any level, these models would be of second nature and known very well. However, as my current study area is business-based I wasn’t as knowledgeable regarding these areas.   Once I have clearly illustrated these models and concepts and how they work, I will explain how and why they fail in many instances. At the start just focusing on how human behaviour can cause these failures but then also evaluating how other external factors can also contribute. Without these counter-arguments I would not be showing my ability to analyse information, especially when so much is provided, nor will I be showing a capability/willingness to fully understand why humans undermine rational decision-making.   My initial overview of how my research will start is as follows: ·         Summarise traditional market theory and models from core economic literature ·         Highlight examples of where these models do not deliver the expected outcomes ·         Explore how human behaviours and patterns cause these models to not work However, I certainly cannot discount the fact that I may get led off topic and end up in positions I did not intend to find myself in. As a result, the initial plan for research is short and to the point as I am sure as I progress through the task, I will be led rather than leading myself.   My current interest seems to lie in why humans make the decisions they do regarding the failure of economic concepts and structures. This can be as simplistic as ‘they are irrational’, to the complexities of biological interpretations and how the brain operates during these moments. Although it may appear to be an easy topic to conclude and summarise, it undoubtably dips into a variety of subjects including economics, business and psychology. This therefore means that there are opposing arguments to almost every piece of evidence and every theory making it even more interesting.

My summary of the comments and advice from my supervisor I have been informed that compiling a reading list would be beneficial for me so I can get a grip with what exactly I need to have completed. She advised me to be more specific with my title/idea so I am able to go into more depth and detail for each of my points rather than having breadth and not much detail over the whole of behavioural economics. I must also account for how many economic models that I am going to use and effectively select the most appropriate ones. I must also ensure there is a counterbalance as I must give a fair analysis and not just a biased point of view from either perspective.

Modifications I have made as a result of my discussion with my supervisor For my title, I cannot refine too significantly as the topic I am going to be working with is so broad I cannot afford to neglect any research. However, within my research I will be cutting down to ensure that I bring forward rich detail rather than a vast summary. I just do not think this is appropriate in the title, nevertheless I do have improvements to be made with the title. I have already created a list of books that I will be reading. Of course, this is still just a starting point so that list will gradually increase the more that I research. I have made sure that now, when I choose my economic models for the final dissertation, they are the most fitting for the review. I have also made sure that there are not too many models; this will ensure that there is not an overwhelming amount of new (and potentially confusing) content for the reader to take in all at once. I have also made sure that now, when selecting my sources, I pick ones which do not have a great deal of bias within them. Understandably, each writer will have their own opinion, but I must make sure that that doesn’t affect the content of the books or websites themselves. I will do this by running a background check regarding each author/publisher and a review of their writing. This way I know what exactly to expect.