I need to write a 20 page research paper. I have chosen to analyze piracy with the communication theory social constructionism. I want to take the angle that people do not even know they are stealing music, videos, software, etc. (piracy), so how can we prosecute this law. The majority of violators do not even know they are breaking the law. There are obviously people who do know what they are doing, but for the majority I would guess not.
Does anyone have any ideas of how to start this paper and sources I can use? The requirements of the paper are below.
Objectives:
1. To acquaint students with the processes of choosing, reviewing, and critiquing the pertinent literature on a given topic.
2. To understand the relationship between the research question (or hypothesis) and the chosen method.
3. To articulate and justify the research design for the chosen method.
4. To identify how the data would be analyzed.
5. To articulate any foreshadowed problems and/or limitations that the researcher experienced in conducting this study.
Organization of the Final Paper
1. Statement of Purpose & Overview of the Proposal's Content
2. Literature review
3. Research Question(s) & Justification
4. Statement of Method
5. Discussion of Strengths, Limitations, & Ethical Considerations
6. Analysis of data
7. Reporting results
8. Implications and limitations
It's going to be so difficult if you set yourself up with an outline to follow before you write about any articles!
If you read one article and write one paragraph, you will have gotten started. You are only progressing toward that goal of 6,000 words when you are typing. You can revise and improve later. If you decide what you are going to argue before you start to write about the articles and books, that does not even make any sense, but it is how many students try to write papers... and it is how many professors expect papers.
No, the title and intro paragraph should be written according to what you have discovered. Do not try to make a theme in advance, because it is likely to be wrong. Does anyone really pirate music without knowing it? I think people know.
Write your body paragraphs FIRST, before writing the intro or outline. Let the plan be based on what you have learned from recent articles. Start reading & writing, and enjoy it! :-) ONE article for now... one good one that interests you.
Here is a good one:
Boyajian, Armen. "The Sound of Money: Securing Copyright, Royalties, and Creative "Progress" in the Digital Music Revolution." Federal Communications Law Journal 62.3 (2010): 587+. Questia. Web. 16 Jan. 2011.
And a few others:
Liebowitz. Pitfalls in Measuring the Impact of File-Sharing on the Sound Recording Market. CESifo Economic Studies (2009) 55(2): 326-352.
McQuail. McQuail's Mass Communication Theory, 6th ed. Sage, 2010.
Peitz and Waelbroeck. "Piracy of Digital Products: A Critical Review of the Theoretical Literature, Information Economics and Policy 18.4 (2006): 449-76.
