Identify if the topic you chose—as presented by both articles—is a problem or an issue, and explain what makes it a problem or a question. If you believe, the essays show both problems and issues, identify, and explain what the issues are and what the problems are
The articles chosen for discussion include the study by Huesmann and Taylor (2006) where the topic is discussed as a problem that should be solved and a study by Sparks and Sparks (2002) where the item is considered as an issue that should be resolved.
The topic of violent behavior and its connection to media violence is regarded as a problem when it is discussed as a real threat to health, and it should be solved to prevent the increase of violent behavior while it is viewed as an issue when it is dwelled on as one of the concepts typical of contemporary society.
Were the problems or issues expressed effectively? Describe how the problems or issues were or were not best expressed
Both problems and issues were expressed effectively in the articles under discussion. For instance, a study by Huesmann and Taylor (2006) reflects the statistics of violent behavior which supports the hypothesis on the influence of media violence on increase of occurrence of violence in society.
Besides, Huesmann and Taylor (2006) identified short-term and long-term effects of media violence on the behavior of children and adolescents.
Sparks and Sparks (2002) do not approach the media violence as a problem but discuss it as an issue or a concept that inevitably exits in contemporary society. As such, they ask questions to analyze the media violence controversy.
How would you determine the credibility of the sources of information used by the authors in the articles when investigating the problems or issues presented by your topic?
When investigating the problem, Huesmann and Taylor (2006) presented a set of information on the topic of media violence as one of the strongest public health threats.
As the authors reviewed information on the demographic peculiarities of viewers including their gender and age, social setting, and the popularity of media characters, it is necessary to infer that all sources used to collect evidence are credible, and statistics are not invented.
Moreover, many sources were retrieved from scholarly journals on psychology and social psychology which means that the psychological effect of human behavior after watching violence on TV was analyzed and evaluated to conclude on the problem.
Compare two steps that would be most effective in refining solutions to the problem and resolutions to the issues presented by your topic
Two steps that would be most effective in refining solutions to the problem of increased media violence and its effects on human behavior include monitoring and control of the media content and improved control of weapon traffic and increased number of police patrols in the streets and public places.
For instance, coding of TV channels and limited access of children and adolescents to media having violent scenes can be performed.
At the same time, resolving the issue can be performed using different databases and researching on the media violence controversy which seems to be ineffective compared to the practical application of steps to solve the problem.
Identify three strategies that could help you foster criticism when evaluating both arguments for your topic
The main arguments for the topic of media violence and its impact on behavior consist in preventing children and adolescents from witnessing the instances of violence in media and other sources such as video games and related literary sources and analysis of long-term and short-term effects of media violence on human behavior and encouragement of researches on the issue of the scope of violence after witnessing the violence in media.
Thus, three strategies can help foster criticism include: a 1) analysis of related literature that provides support and refuting evidence; 2) analysis of measures taken by public organizations; 3) review policies introduced by governmental organizations on this issue.
Identify three approaches that would be most effective in refining solutions to the problem
When refining solutions to the problem, it is necessary to take one of the approaches or, preferably, all three approaches.
The first approach includes analysis of the current situation and research on the problem of violent behavior and violent actions of people. The research may include a survey of people who experience the occurrence of violent behavior after watching violent media and opinion of people on this problem.
The second approach includes analysis of literature and research on the readiness of public organizations to take some steps and reduce the violence in the streets caused by media violence.
The third step includes analysis of readiness of the governmental organizations to solve this problem.
Identify at least three errors affecting truth and validity in the arguments for your chosen topic
The errors affecting the validity of arguments in the chosen topic include the following:
- Not all children and adolescents who witness violence in media and during playing video games with violent characters become violent. As such, it is necessary to review the statistics and conduct more profound research on the effects of media violence.
- It is impossible to trace all gun traffics and install security systems to all educational institutions.
- Censorship cannot be the only measure to prevent children and adolescents from witnessing media violence. In this respect, these arguments can be refuted, and more well-grounded arguments can be found.
Summarize the steps you completed while evaluating both sides of your topic
The steps completed on the topic evaluation include reading and analysis. Reading of articles and analysis of topics used by authors was the first step.
The next step included identification of problems and issues, discussion of the effectiveness of the presentation of problems and issues, and evaluation of the credibility of sources used by authors of the articles.
Further, analysis of strategies and approaches used for identification of problems, refinement of solutions to the problems, and fostering of criticism was performed.
Finally, analysis of gaps in the argument was fulfilled about the errors in the validity of arguments on the topic of media violence and its effect on behavior.
Explain what techniques you would use to present your ideas on this topic and persuade others effectively
To persuade others effectively, it is necessary to provide strong arguments and supportive or refuting evidence on the topic of media violence. In this respect, the first step would include an explanation of the main reasons for increased violence in human behavior with sufficient evidence.
The next step would include visualization of the argument; for instance, it is possible to demonstrate scenes from a movie of screenshots.
Then, the identification of the main resources of media violence and major situations in which violent behavior occurs should be enumerated.
Finally, it is necessary to discuss the major strategies in reducing media violence effect and reducing violence in the streets.
Identify three approaches you will use to apply these techniques to effective writing and speaking skills
The first approach that should be used to apply effective writing and speaking skills are to collect evidence and outline the way the information should be presented in the most effective and thought-provoking way.
The second approach includes the organization of the visual aids and appendices for the research so that all sources are mentioned and all materials are referenced properly.
The third approach includes practicing speaking and proofreading for writing. As it is possible to write the paper in a few steps, it is necessary to create a skeleton of the essay first and fill this space with creative ideas and strong evidence
Reference List
Huesmann, L. R., and Taylor, L. D. (2006). The role of media violence in violent behavior. Annual Review Public Health, 27, 393-415.
Sparks, G. G., and Sparks, C. W. (2002). Effects of media violence. In J. Bryant, and D. Zillmann (Eds.), Media effects: Advances in theory and research (pp. 269-287). Mahwah, NJ: Routledge.