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Case Study

The purpose of this assignment is to link theoretical/scholarly material about media effects and content to a “real world” case. For example, past students examined a number of subtopics related to the media and COVID-19 through the lens of theories such as agenda-setting or framing. 

This assignment calls on you to select a case of interest to you that recently (the last year) played out publicly via some type of media channel. This could include traditional news outlets, blogs, social media or some combination of these channels. You will then critique and analyze the case from the theoretical framework(s) and perspective(s) in the scholarly literature you have chosen. You can choose from the following theoretical frameworks: framing, situational crisis communication theory, agenda building, or fear appeal. Your case study should conclude with a summary of lessons learned from the case and/or any recommendations you have for how the individuals and/or organizations involved could have used media more strategically to realize more favorable outcomes. The final assignment should be approximately 12-15 pages in length (double-spaced, Times New Roman 12 or Calibri 11; page count excludes title page and references page).

A complete Case Study will include all of the following components:

• Introduction: Describes overall purpose of paper (includes description of case for background/context; briefly previews type of media content that will be analyzed and theoretical/scholarly literature that will be used; makes argument for why that area of scholarly literature is best suited to understanding the case).
• Literature Review: Summary of theoretical/scholarly literature reviewed for the case (at least 10 sources cited). This should be updated from your proposal literature review based on your findings. 
• Methodology: Identifies media content analyzed, provides rationale for media content selected, describes how media content was collected, briefly identifies qualitative content analysis as the method of data analysis.
• Media Review: Provides analysis of the chosen media that derives from insights related to the theoretical framework outlined in the literature review. For example, if you reviewed crisis communication theories/principles, you should be analyzing your data to report if and how those principles were used; if you reviewed framing theory, you should be looking for types of frames used, etc.). Findings from analyzed media texts are written in a narrative/thematic/descriptive format with example quotes interspersed to serve as evidence. In other words, describe the media sources (videos, text, images, etc.) and themes, using quotes to illustrate, enough so that the reader can understand how these examples are related to the prior sections of the paper. There is no specific required number of media sources as the sources will vary depending on your topic, however, please be sure to provide enough to analyze and justify your points. At a minimum, you should expand on what you started in the proposal assignment. 
• Discussion/Conclusion: The discussion and conclusion can occupy a single section, or individual sections can be created for the discussion and conclusion, respectively. Either way, provide comparisons/contrasts to previous literature and practical lessons learned, as well as an analysis of how the individuals and/or organizations involved could have used media more strategically to realize more favorable outcomes and/or why favorable outcomes were achieved in the case. You should also discuss what communication practitioners should take away from this case to inform similar situations in the future – i.e., key recommendations or lessons learned. Furthermore, provide a conclusion that summarizes the broader Case Study and what it has contributed to our understanding of the issues/theories discussed.
• References: All sources (including media sources, scholarly articles, etc.) should be cited APA style in the text and in a full reference list at the end of the paper. 

Scoring

Students can earn up to 60 points by delivering an essay that adheres to the guidelines described no later than 11:59 pm EST on Sunday, December 15th.