Number of course COM-360 Name of course Communication & Media Research & Analysis Name of the assessment item FINAL RESEARCH PROPOSAL Investigating influences behind Emirati girls’ perceptions of physical beauty Name of student/s Alia Adel Almidfa 200819267 Hessa Salah 200705817 Mariam Hussain Alrand 200819414 Maryam Mahmood 200705269 1
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Investigating influences behind Emarati girls' perception of physical beauty
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Number of course
COM-360Name of course
Communication & Media Research & Analysis
Name of the assessment item
FINAL RESEARCH PROPOSAL
Investigating influences behind Emirati girls’ perceptions of physical beauty
Name of student/s
Alia Adel Almidfa 200819267
Hessa Salah 200705817
Mariam Hussain Alrand 200819414
Maryam Mahmood 200705269
1
OUTLINE
- Statement of research problem
- Literature review
- Research goals and methods
- Sample
- Data analysis
- Research schedule and deliverables
- Budget outline
- Principle investigator expertise
- List of selected feasibility and background literature
- Conclusion
- References
2
STATEMENT OF RESEARCH PROBLEM:
It has been noted lately by journalists that our society is obsessed with beauty. Young
Emirati women are undergoing superficial and extreme measures to achieve the perfect face,
nose, lips, or body. This is a serious issue, negatively affecting young women’s perception
and how they feel about themselves. In our study, we will be exploring what influences
Emirati girls’ views on physical beauty in the 21st century since the topic has sparked much
debate in society. The research will aim to find out what female students in the UAE think the
ideal image is. The research will also explore the effect of media on beauty ideals. Moreover,
the study will try to explore why is the media affecting Emirati student’s perception of
beauty. It is common knowledge that the images are almost not real, and many factors
including digital airbrushing are involved.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Body image and beauty is a big issue when it comes to young women.
Women try to be beautiful, because physical beauty is associated with positive outcomes.
Some people think that Individuals who are attractive do better in our society; they are more
successful, happier, and more self-sufficient (Hendriks & Burgoon, 2003). Researchers tried
to answer the question of what affects a young women’s perceptions of beauty and body?
Some researchers focused on media and its effect on young women, while others focused on
family and peers’ influence. Some studies demonstrated that the media portrayal of the ideal
body affects family and peers who then influence the ideal body image of young women
(Giles & Helm, 2008).
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People have this stereotypical image of woman and beauty and how some women
take drastic measures to enhance their beauty through cosmetic surgery and applying makeup
(Lachover & Brandes, 2009). Studies on the effect of media on body image are contradicting.
One area of research believes that a connection exists between media and eating disorders.
Another area of research implies that media affects young women’s body image positively. A
third area of research argue that there is no connection between media and body image
(Holmstorm, 2003).
The media’s potential influence on young women’s body image can be particularly
witnessed in fashion, celebrity, or fitness magazines. These magazines promote thin bodies as
the ideal, and they also contain countless advertisements that relate to diet and weight loss
(Giles & Helm, 2008). Research showed that heavy consumption of fashion magazines is
associated with lower body satisfaction in females who are of average weight or overweight
than in those who are underweight. This effect is less pronounced in females who are light
consumers of fashion magazines (Hendriks & Burgoon, 2003).
Another study focuses on fashion magazines, television programs and commercials,
especially the ones that deal with image. This study surveyed of Canadian women to study
their satisfaction with their own bodies. It tried to connect the roles of television and fashion
magazines in Canadian women life. The conclusion was that women compare themselves
with what they see which leads to a body image dissatisfaction. The research also mentions
social comparisons, and the role of the media in projecting subjects that young women end up
comparing themselves with (Want, Vickers, & Amos 2009).
The media’s promotion of highly idealized thin bodies can have three different
outcomes. The first outcome is exhibiting high body esteem and disregarding the ideal. The
second outcome would be engaging in hazardous activities in attempt to reach that ideal
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image. The last outcome is illustrated by continuing to be quite healthy while being unhappy
with it (Giles & Helm, 2008).
All people have the ability to develop themselves and they can differentiate
themselves from others, and it happens through the process of social experience and
movement. It is the process through which people develop ideas on how they are actually
themselves, how they would like to be, and how they would like to believe how others would
like them to be (Hendriks & Burgoon, 2003).
Media can be used to educate people, particularly young women about the body
image issues they face. By encouraging young women to become more internally motivated,
and to become less competitive, people may also be encouraging women to increase their
body satisfaction and indirectly decreasing the likelihood that these women will develop
eating disorders (Hendriks & Burgoon, 2003).The Dove campaign for real beauty aimed to
change the perceptions of people about how they think of women and the meaning of real
beauty to women. People associated with the campaign believe that there is real beauty in
every woman and it comes in different shapes, sizes, and ages (Lachover & Brandes, 2009).
In addition to the media, elements that affect females’ attitudes towards their body can
also be interpersonal. Children who have been subjected to unconstructive criticism and
remarks about their body by their parents are more likely to be unhappy with their bodies as
they get older. Peers also affect a young woman’s body esteem by directly commenting on
her weight or body, or even by pointing out their own unhappiness with their bodies. The idea
that media and peer ideas of beauty affect young women is said to be agreed upon in
American culture. Young women’s unhappiness with their bodies has been proven in clinical
trials to result in eating disorders and psychological depression (Giles & Helm, 2008).
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The norms communicated interpersonally by family and peers have an important
effect on a young woman’s regard for her body. The young women whose family and peers
communicated to them messages about the value of a skinny body had a lower self esteem.
However, the effect of the media on young women’s body esteem underwent two direction.
First, the interpersonal messages received from family and peers had the power to enforce or
deny the media’s project body ideals. The second process is when a young woman own
“social comparison” has the ability to enforce or deny projected media influence (Giles &
Helm, 2008).
The social norms regarding the ideal body bodies is a result of the perceptions of
young women’s family and peers. Parents are very influential when it comes to their
children’s body image. Research showed that girls with eating disorders are more probable to
have mothers with eating disorders, as well as being more probable to be negatively
commenting on their daughter’s body (Giles & Helm, 2008).
RESEARCH GOALS AND METHODS
Our research will be quantitative and qualitative. First, we will conduct a survey that
will aim to measure and quantify what Emirati girls’ think is beautiful. Our survey questions
will start with a scale of 1-5 measuring the importance of beauty, what is beautiful, and the
respondent’s openness to extreme measures of physical modification. Second, we will gather
the qualitative data through university-wide focus groups. The focus groups will include
individuals with possibly the same preferences to make them feel more comfortable
expressing their views on beauty.
The research will be design will be cross-sectional; it will involve observations of the
young Emirati women as a whole . The research design will be observed through a defined
short period of time, approximately less than a year. The setting is not really important 6
because people’s attitudes and beliefs are always with them, hence setting is not important to
our data collection.
The survey will be implemented using email. The emails will be sent using systematic
random sampling (see below). While focus groups will be held at the university in a
comfortable setting. A well practiced moderator will be running the discussion to achieve
maximum accuracy of results. The focus groups’ discussions will be recorded and then
analyzed.
Our ultimate goal is to evaluate the Emirati girls’ perceptions of physical beauty. We
will focus especially on the influence of media, since mediated messages are increasing in
our society. We are interested in beauty and know that many girls are, thus we plan to
research how important physical beauty is in the daily life of the Emirati girls between the
ages of18 to 24. Another key goal for the research is to study the reactions of the girls
towards beauty ideals based via specifically designed surveys. Qualitative data and sharing
knowledge and experiences is a major goal in this research.
SAMPLE
1. Sample characteristics
The sample will consist of female Emirati nationals between the ages 18 and 21. All
participants will be students at higher education institutions in the UAE.
2. Sample size
The study aims at including a sample of five hundred young Emirati women. A
hundred participants from each of the higher education institutions we chose for this survey.
3. Sampling procedure
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The study will be employing two sampling procedures. Our target population is young
Emirati women. We used cluster sampling to divide our population into groups based on
higher education institution. In each of these institutions, we will be using systematic random
sampling. In which, participants of the survey would be chosen at random based on a random
chosen interval, in our case it is going to be every 50th student on the student names list.
DATA ANALYSIS
In our research paper we will include “Quantitative and Qualitative Analysis ”. In
order to measure qualitative data we have to quantify the subjective data which means
converting subjective observation into an objective data set. As we are using an online
survey, we will be recording information and measurements in a count unit. The result
section of the research paper will contain descriptive statistics and inferential statistics. In
the descriptive statistics section measurements of central tendency and the variability of the
average will be given to the reader. In addition, we will include images and graphs of
collected data which represents beauty items such or similar tools that are used in the
research. The second part is inferential statistics where samples or students will be
experimenting beauty statistical tests to find the outcomes of the whole process. This will
help to make some deductions from the collected data. However, for our qualitative data the
results relative to the research hypothesized independent variables. Layout of graphs and
charts may be effected but an immediate correlation will be obvious and will ease the
formatting and organizing.
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RESEARCH SCHEDULE AND DELIVERABLES
No. Deliverables Target Date
1 Course overview, choose a topic and inform the professor.
27 September
2010
2 Hand in research idea. Research problem. Research proposal.
6 October 2010
3 Writing the literature review. Researching more about your topic. Research purpose
18 October 2010
4 Formulating questions. Choosing the right method for surveys and
interviews.
29 October 2010
5 Handing out surveys. Interviewing people, using face to face
communication.
18 November 2010
6 Study sample. Sample characteristics, who will included in
the sample. Sample size. Sampling procedure, the techniques we will
use.
30 November 2010
7 Research design Study setting
6 December 2010
8 Study instrument Study type
19 December 2010
9 Hand in research 10 January 2011
10 Research presentation 18 January 2011
BUDGET OUTLINE
Overall, we did not spend that much on the project since we have done it mostly inside the
campus and it also aimed the students in there. Due to the process of doing our research, all
the tools were used in our research paper available and provided for free. We have used, 9
laptops to type the information gathered from reliable resources. The resources were taken
from Zayed University Databases that we searched all the information from articles, books,
and other research papers which the University provide them free of charge. A Note book and
pencils were also available since we started the semester. Therefore, no money was spent to
buy new notebooks or pencils. Finally for the process of printing the research paper, A4
papers and printers are there and available inside the campus, but we choose to print the final
paper colored to make it look neat, colorful and professional. It cost us five AED only to print
the colorful papers in business centre inside the Zayed University campus.
PRINCIPLE INVESTIGATOR EXPERTISE
Deana L. Jefferson: co-personal investigator
Dr. Deana Jefferson practices clinical psychology and have PHD in psychology in
University of Missouri St. Louis, Missouri, Unites States of America. She is also one of the
authors of "Appearance Self-Attitudes of African American and European American
Women: Media Comparisons and Internalization of Beauty Ideals" research papers who
discussed the role of media in framing beauty ideals.
Thomas F. Cash PH.D: co-personal investigator
Thomas F. Cash PH.D, professor Emeritus of psychology of Old Dominion
University, Norfolk, VA. He is also a clinical and research psychologist for over 35
years. His work primarily focuses on the Psychology of Physical Appearance.
Daniel Clay: co-personal investigator
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Daniel Clay, author of "Body Image and Self-Esteem Among Adolescent Girls:
Testing the Influence of Sociocultural Factors" a passionate writer. his first short story
wasn't published until 1998, and it would be another ten years before Harper Press
bought the rights to his debut novel, Broken, in the UK. As well as being nominated
one of Amazon's best eight debut novels for 2008, Broken was shortlisted for The
Commonwealth Writers' Best First Novel Award and The Authors' Club Best First
Novel Award. The film rights have been optioned by BBC Films.
Sarah Grogan: co-personal investigator
Sarah Grogan, a Professor of Health Psychology at Staffordshire University, director
of the Centre for Health Psychology, director of the MSc Health Psychology program.
She an author of book "Body Image: Understanding Body Dissatisfaction in Men,
Women, and Children", who is interested in body image and its impact on health-
related behaviors.
Helga Dittmar: co-personal investigator
Helga Dittmar, University of Sussex Brighton, United Kingdom, author of
"Understanding the Impact of Thin Media Models on Women’s Body-Focused
Affect: The Roles of Thin-Ideal Internalization and Weight-Related Self-Discrepancy
Activation in Experimental Exposure Effects" research paper. Also know for her best
rated book " Consumer Culture, Identity". She is interested in eating behaviors and its
impact on perfect body image.
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LIST OF SELECTED FEASIBILITY AND BACKGROUND LITERATURE
Appearance Self-Attitudes of African American and European American Women: Media
Comparisons and Internalization of Beauty Ideals. Authors: Deana L. Jefferson & Jayne E.
Stake. [research paper]
Beauty in the "I" of the Beholder: Effects of Idealized Media Portrayals on Implicit Self-
Image. Authors: Inbal Guarari, John J. Hetts, & Michael J. Strube. [research paper]
Body Image: http://brown.edu/Student_Services/Health_Services/Health_Education/