Drugs & Society

Here is a very helpful and detailed website:

http://www.sas.upenn.edu/anthro/CPIA/METHODS/Fieldnotes.html

Some helpful hints for writing survey/interview questions:

http://www.accesswave.ca/~infopoll/tips.htm

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/559/06/

For a great overview, see this link:

 http://writing.colostate.edu/guides/research/content/

 

See “Readings” page for a couple of good samples of content analysis.

 

If you are resubmitting your topic assignment for a higher grade, I would like for you to focus on writing a detailed research plan and your annotated bibliography (unless you are satisfied with your grade in one of these areas).  No need to resubmit the rationale for your project.  I have spoken with each of you enough that I am satisfied.  Depending on the type of project you are doing, I have listed below the kind of information you should include in your plan.  To see a substantial increase in your grade, I want you to develop a plan that is as detailed as possible. (If you are unsure about how to answer one of these questions, you should see me ASAP).

All resubmissions are due one week after our meeting.

Content Analysis

What are you going to look at (websites, articles, commercials, etc.)?  Be as specific as possible.

-If you are looking at websites, identify the websites. How much of each site do you plan to cover?*

-If you are looking at commercials, news articles, etc, what is your plan for locating relevant items? How much do you plan to look at?*

*You want to convince me that altogether you will be looking at about 10 hours worth of material.

 

What are the themes (or codes) that you think you will be looking for as you review your material?

-Will you be counting how much a particular item comes up?  Or will you be gathering relevant references and then analyzing how particular matters are discussed? Or some combination of the two?  Explain.

 

What do you expect to find?

 

Interviews

Who will you be interviewing (students at IC, people in the community, etc.)?  How do you plan to recruit people? How many people will you interview?

 

How will your interview work?

-Will you be talking with people face-to-face? Ask people to fill out a questionnaire? Etc.

-What kind of questions will you ask?  Multiple choice (like a survey)? Open-ended?

-Will all of your respondents answer the exact same questions (a structured interview)?  Or will you use the questions as a guideline and then build on the conversation as it develops (semi-structured interview)?

-How long do you expect each interview to take?

-How will you capture the information that you collect (record or write down brief notes as the person is talking)?

-What is your plan for protecting the identities of your respondents?

 

Give a list of sample questions that you plan to ask.

 

Field Observations

Where are you going to conduct your observations?  Will you go to one site multiple times or will you go to several different sites?

-How long will each observation take and how often do you expect to return?

-Do you need any special permission to gain access? Or is it a public place?

-How do you plan to capture what you see (so that you can write up detailed field notes later)?

 

What are some of the things you are looking for while you are in the field?

-Will you be interacting with people while you are in the field?  Do you plan to ask them questions?  If so, what kind of questions do you have in mind?

-What is your plan for protecting the identities of your respondents?

-Do you have any concerns about being in the field?

 

What do you expect to find?

 

About APA format:

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/

 

Helpful Hints on Writing an Annotated Bibliography

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/614/01/

 

A document containing these instructions can also be downloaded:

resubmission-guidelines

Here is a link to the full text of the poem:

http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/stc/Coleridge/poems/Kubla_Khan.html

This article from the LA TIme analyzes YouTube’s new policy.  The author points out that the wording of the policy is purposefully vague and teases out some of the implications.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/webscout/2008/09/inspecting-yout.html

What do you think?  Is this a drug scare?  Will we see new laws emerging?  Who are the moral entrepreneurs?

The video from the NY Times:

http://video.on.nytimes.com/?fr_story=d0f02290fde26184ea2b4de517bb9a5d035c9007

The corresponding article from the NY Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/09/us/09salvia.html?ei=5070&emc=eta1

A clip from the Today Show

http://www.truveo.com/Salvia-Herbal-remedy-or-narcotic/id/2520230458

A brief overview on the legal status of Salvia Divinorum:

http://www.sagewisdom.org/legalstatus.html

Here is the link to the series of Montana Meth commercials:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYlwSepW7Bs

Here is the link to the Frontline clip from “The Meth Epidemic”

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/meth/view/

Here is an additional documentary on the Montana Meth Project (including an interview with Tom Siebel (who sponsored the ads)

http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/335/index.html

Here is the clip of Reefer Madness that we watched in class: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMrzGauQJdk

If you’d like to watch the entire film, you can see it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZdhcNegZgU&feature=related

 

For more information on Moral Panics/Drug Scares, you can read

Stanley Cohen’s Folk Devils and Moral Panics

Craig Reinarman and Harry G. Levine’s Crack in America: Demon Drugs and Social Justice

Clayton J. Mosher and Scott M. Akins; Drugs and Drug Policy: The Control of Consciousness Alteration