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However, because the students had to specify the “variables” of
that question – What particular “mass media” product? What
particular “influence” and upon what particular “perceptions”?
Whose “perceptions”? What particular “audience”? – it afforded
them a great deal of room to pursue their very own personal
interests. Ideally, I wanted students to mold and shape that
question based upon what they felt had relevance or significance
to their own experiences and identity: how they perceived the
reality or “truth” of their world and their place in it and how
those perceptions influenced their sense of “self.”
Furthermore, as I stated in the assignment: “What I want you to
do is come to a research question of your own that exhibits
uncertainty and, thus, will allow you to explore what you DON’T
know about some issue.” But the exploration of those thusly
developed questions was only a part of the research paper.
Because the research paper was based upon the “I-Search
Paper” model, the assignment was also very much a “meta-research
paper,” demanding that students reflect upon their research: to
explain their process, their findings, their analysis, and their
conclusion. As a result, their final report was separated into
these respective parts, much like a laboratory report.
Furthermore, besides this step-by-step method of the final
report, the research itself was also separated into required
parts: a research question and proposal, an annotated
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