Body Image Research Proposal

I have chosen to study this topic because body image is such a controversial issue in today’s society, especially with adolescent boys and girls. While reviewing select articles on this topic, I noticed that there was a drastic difference in body image between boys and girls. I began to wonder what the reason for this was and through further study of these articles, I realized it had a lot to do with media influences and the role that friends family play in developing body image and so my questions revolve around studying these roles and influences. Much of the media targeted towards girls focuses on portraying only women that fit societys unrealistic expectations of the perfect woman whereas media targeted at men has much more variance in the types of men they portray. According to much of the literature on this topic, this is seen as one of the largest contributing factors to negative body image in adolescent girls. PURPOSE OF THE STUDY RESEARCH QUESTIONS 1) How does the media and advertising contribute to adolescents body image? 2) How do body image issues differ among adolescent boys and girls? What role do family and friends play in developing adolescents’ body image? RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ROLE OF THE RESEARCHER PARTICIPANTS -individual interviews -observation in this situation would be too difficult as it develops over a length of time, not an instantaneous thing -interviews allow to create open ended questions that help the conversation flow to understand how body image has been influenced, types of friends, family involvement, interests, hobbies (are they into pop culture, do they admire celebs, do they spend lots of time watching tv/movies)