Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Unrealistic Weeds Of Love And Romance: The Korean Drama And The "Flower Boy" Genre, Colby Y. Miyose

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The concept of love has intrigued many social critics, and has led them to accuse media of perpetuating unrealistic notions of romance that are unattainable for a healthy and satisfying relationship. Unrealistic expectations of love and romance are a primary cause of relationship dissatisfaction among real couples. It is imperative to critically analyze media sources in order to gain knowledge of how to counter unhealthy notions of romance. Korean dramas (K-dramas) typically present a scenario in which strong mutual love and desire between two people come into conflict with existing sociocultural values. The kkonminam (Flower Boy) genre in particular, caters …

The End Of The World (Eotw) Scientist And The Framing Of Science In Science Fiction Films From 1950 To 2010, Jennifer Naoko Lui

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The current study looks at scientists in End of the World (EOTW) films spanning from 1950 to 2010 through stereotypes and gender roles. Eighteen films, 12 representing EOTW films and 6 that are considered “regular” science fiction films, were analyzed in terms of Goffman’s (1976) 6 aspects, first introduced in Gender Advertisements, as well as aspects of visual and textual frame analysis. The analysis of these films provided a way to look at the portrayal of scientists in EOTW films and add to the limited body of literature on this particular sub-genre of film.

Previous research identified that scientists were …

Depictions Of Beauty On Cosmopolitan Magazine: Content Analysis Of Covers (1959-2014), Azalee Maslow

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The media, especially advertisers, have long used beautiful women as an ideal image for attracting viewers and selling products. American women have been portrayed as, ideally, thin Caucasians with blonde hair and blue eyes. Research has found that women compare themselves to the beautiful women in advertising and in turn have negative feelings towards their own appearance. This thesis’ goal is to find whether the ideal American woman has changed through a content analysis of the women on the covers of Cosmopolitan magazine over the past 55 years, 1959 through 2014. This content analysis will focus on how the covers …

Analyzing Television News: Pro-Social & Anti-Social Effects Of Criminal Depictions & Information Processing On Race Perceptions, Eunette Gentry

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This quantitative research is a content analysis of network affiliate crime reporting statistics in Las Vegas. As part of this study, six months of news content in Las Vegas was recorded in order to gather pertinent sociological information about crime reporting techniques and its potential effects on public perceptions of crime and race. Pertinent issues such as media-image affect on viewers, biases within reporting information, and gatekeeping within the media are analyzed. This study adds substantive knowledge through empirical research to existing literature that asserts media depictions do shape and/or affect perceptions and attitudes about crime and race. Data sources …

Siren Song: A Rhetorical Analysis Of Gender And Intimate Partner Violence In Gotham City Sirens, Katlin Schmidt

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This project investigates comic book discourse. Specifically, I investigate how comic narratives provide readers with an interpretation for how they should discern and assess “appropriate” behaviors for women. The artifact of analysis included in this project is DC Comics Gotham City Sirens (2009). This text features popular female superheroes, Catwoman, Harley Quinn, and Poison Ivy. Because comic books utilize both textual and visual means to disseminate a message, this project evaluates the visual rhetoric of these characters within the narrative. Walter Fisher’s narrative paradigm is used to provide an understanding to how these visual means contribute to the meanings assigned …

"Breaking Up Is Hard To Do": An Analysis Of Parasocial Relationships And Breakups Among "How I Met Your Mother" Viewers, Sara Montes De Oca

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The study of one-sided mediated interactions, commonly known as parasocial interactions, have generated significant investigations which have examined both mediated relationships through television, the Internet, other media, and the discontinuation of these relationships (also known as parasocial breakups). These studies have specifically identified certain trends in which respondents have tended to form strong emotional connections with subject(s) within narrative fictional depictions. This study examines the relationship between parasocial breakup and the dissolution of a viewer following the end of primetime series, How I Met Your Mother. The following measures were used in the survey; 1) age, gender, and ethnicity; 2) …