According to Penn State’s official Mass Media and Society syllabus:

“Mass communications in the United States: organization, role, content, and effects of newspapers, magazines, television, radio, books, and films. The Mass Media and Society is an overview of the interaction between mass media and society. By drawing from selected topics, the course pays particular attention to the social influences (e.g., economics, politics, technology, law, and culture) that shape media messages. Among others, the course examines the nature of media controllers as well as the character of users and consumers of media products. By so doing, students are informed about the overall structure and scope of the mass media and are led to understand the power and influences associated with media messages and practices. By the end of the semester, each student should have a better understanding of the dynamic nature of the mass media in an information society.”

For this project, I had to identify a topic related to the class’s material and write a research paper on it. The research paper had to be set up such that a question, hypothesis, data, analysis, and conclusion were present.