Capella University ?Issue of Cultural Diversity in Social Media Discussion

Capella University ?Issue of Cultural Diversity in Social Media Discussion

Question Description
Write a 6-8-page essay analyzing a chosen diversity issue covered in the media.

In this assessment, you will have the opportunity to take a deeper look at the connection between the media and the cultural diversity of U.S. society. You will discuss how a current program or article in current news media approaches diversity-related issues and explain how we can use the sociological perspective to better understand both the portrayal of diversity-related issues and the media’s broader role in U.S. society. Effectively evaluating the accuracy of the information provided in your chosen media piece will require some additional research and fact checking, something that sociologists also do when they are weighing the validity of opposing arguments.

DEMONSTRATION OF PROFICIENCY
By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the course competencies through the following assessment scoring guide criteria:

Competency 1: Describe theoretical ideas of power in relation to policy.
Discuss sociological theories appropriate for promoting understanding of a diversity concept.
Discuss how a media piece may affect or might have been influenced by policy and/or power.
Competency 2: Identify historical and contemporary influences of discrimination in U. S. culture.
Discuss how minority and dominant groups are portrayed in a media piece to understand influences on discrimination.
Competency 3: Analyze the effects of social policy using aggregated data.
Analyze data that is appropriate for supporting or refuting the central tenets of a media piece.
Competency 6: Communicate effectively.
Write coherently to support a central idea in appropriate format and with few errors of grammar, usage, and mechanics.
INSTRUCTIONS
Choose a news media piece from a reputable source that is focused on an issue related to race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religion, age, physical or mental disability, or social class. Examples of acceptable media include newspaper articles, editorials, and radio or television news segments. Write an essay in which you complete the following:

Briefly, in one or two paragraphs, summarize the main events or issues presented in the specific media piece you have chosen and describe how they relate to cultural diversity studies.
Compare and contrast how minority and dominant groups are portrayed in your chosen media article or program.
Consider how your source material demonstrates this dominant/minority group differentiation. For example, is there differentiation along racial or ethnic lines, or other variables, such as gender or social class?
Discuss at least two sociological theories that are most appropriate to understanding the diversity issues in your chosen media piece. Include specific relevant examples from the article or program to illustrate your points. Examples of theories include:
Functionalist perspective.
Conflict perspective.
Labeling theory.
Marx’s and Weber’s theories of inequality.
Park’s race relations cycle.
Gordon’s theory of assimilation.
Human capital theory.
Scapegoat theory.
Authoritarian personality theory.
Exploitation theory.
Contact hypothesis.
Noel hypothesis.
Blauner hypothesis.
Culture of poverty theory.
Do one of the following—choose which is appropriate for your chosen article:
Discuss how one or more of Merton’s four categories of prejudice and discrimination apply to the media piece you chose.
Explain whether assimilation or pluralism best describes how race and ethnic relations are presented in your media piece.
Find and analyze two credible sources of data (statistics) that are appropriate for supporting or refuting the central tenets of your chosen media article or program.
If data is cited in your media piece, you may go to that source and analyze it yourself; then consult an additional source that supports or refutes the data presented.
Make sure to include citations for any sources used.
Discuss how the content of the media piece may affect or might have been influenced by power. For example, consider how individuals in power influence decisions regarding how issues are portrayed.
This can include corporate executives, lobbyists, special interest groups, or those who own a particular newspaper, channel, or media conglomerate.
Suggest, in your concluding paragraph, a viable policy strategy—one that could be implemented at the local, state, or federal level—for addressing the particular diversity-related issue presented in your news article or program.

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You must proofread your paper. But do not strictly rely on your computer’s spell-checker and grammar-checker; failure to do so indicates a lack of effort on your part and you can expect your grade to suffer accordingly. Papers with numerous misspelled words and grammatical mistakes will be penalized. Read over your paper – in silence and then aloud – before handing it in and make corrections as necessary. Often it is advantageous to have a friend proofread your paper for obvious errors. Handwritten corrections are preferable to uncorrected mistakes.

Use a standard 10 to 12 point (10 to 12 characters per inch) typeface. Smaller or compressed type and papers with small margins or single-spacing are hard to read. It is better to let your essay run over the recommended number of pages than to try to compress it into fewer pages.

Likewise, large type, large margins, large indentations, triple-spacing, increased leading (space between lines), increased kerning (space between letters), and any other such attempts at “padding” to increase the length of a paper are unacceptable, wasteful of trees, and will not fool your professor.

The paper must be neatly formatted, double-spaced with a one-inch margin on the top, bottom, and sides of each page. When submitting hard copy, be sure to use white paper and print out using dark ink. If it is hard to read your essay, it will also be hard to follow your argument.

ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE CLASS

Discussion Questions (DQ)

Initial responses to the DQ should address all components of the questions asked, include a minimum of one scholarly source, and be at least 250 words.
Successful responses are substantive (i.e., add something new to the discussion, engage others in the discussion, well-developed idea) and include at least one scholarly source.
One or two sentence responses, simple statements of agreement or “good post,” and responses that are off-topic will not count as substantive. Substantive responses should be at least 150 words.
I encourage you to incorporate the readings from the week (as applicable) into your responses.
Weekly Participation

Your initial responses to the mandatory DQ do not count toward participation and are graded separately.
In addition to the DQ responses, you must post at least one reply to peers (or me) on three separate days, for a total of three replies.
Participation posts do not require a scholarly source/citation (unless you cite someone else’s work).
Part of your weekly participation includes viewing the weekly announcement and attesting to watching it in the comments. These announcements are made to ensure you understand everything that is due during the week.
APA Format and Writing Quality

Familiarize yourself with APA format and practice using it correctly. It is used for most writing assignments for your degree. Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for APA paper templates, citation examples, tips, etc. Points will be deducted for poor use of APA format or absence of APA format (if required).
Cite all sources of information! When in doubt, cite the source. Paraphrasing also requires a citation.
I highly recommend using the APA Publication Manual, 6th edition.
Use of Direct Quotes

I discourage overutilization of direct quotes in DQs and assignments at the Masters’ level and deduct points accordingly.
As Masters’ level students, it is important that you be able to critically analyze and interpret information from journal articles and other resources. Simply restating someone else’s words does not demonstrate an understanding of the content or critical analysis of the content.
It is best to paraphrase content and cite your source.
LopesWrite Policy

For assignments that need to be submitted to LopesWrite, please be sure you have received your report and Similarity Index (SI) percentage BEFORE you do a “final submit” to me.
Once you have received your report, please review it. This report will show you grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors that can easily be fixed. Take the extra few minutes to review instead of getting counted off for these mistakes.
Review your similarities. Did you forget to cite something? Did you not paraphrase well enough? Is your paper made up of someone else’s thoughts more than your own?
Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for tips on improving your paper and SI score.
Late Policy

The university’s policy on late assignments is 10% penalty PER DAY LATE. This also applies to late DQ replies.
Please communicate with me if you anticipate having to submit an assignment late. I am happy to be flexible, with advance notice. We may be able to work out an extension based on extenuating circumstances.
If you do not communicate with me before submitting an assignment late, the GCU late policy will be in effect.
I do not accept assignments that are two or more weeks late unless we have worked out an extension.
As per policy, no assignments are accepted after the last day of class. Any assignment submitted after midnight on the last day of class will not be accepted for grading.
Communication

Communication is so very important. There are multiple ways to communicate with me:
Questions to Instructor Forum: This is a great place to ask course content or assignment questions. If you have a question, there is a good chance one of your peers does as well. This is a public forum for the class.
Individual Forum: This is a private forum to ask me questions or send me messages. This will be checked at least once every 24 hours.