Example Of Research Synthesis Essay

PROBLEM(S)

(I have not yet decided the problem/s)

RESEARCH QUESTION(S) (RQs)

(I have not yet decided the RQs)

TEMPTATIVE HYPOTHESIS

Some statements (that could turn into hypothesis):

1. The investigative journalism developed in post-dictatorship contexts doesn’t fit with the liberal model of investigative journalism conceptualized in more stable democracies, with a strong tradition in practicing and conceptualizing what does mean investigative journalism, as US context. The Chilean case is an example of that: according anecdotal, its investigative role has been an exception more than the rule.

2. The model of transition to democracy and the model of democracy itself both shaped the Chilean investigative journalism after the dictatorship. This is not a univocal process: there are movements, peaks, subtlety, and the likes. In other words, there are continuities and ruptures –Stuart Hall- and critical junctures –Gramsci, McChesney).

3.

The neoliberalism in Chile (privatization, deregulation, etc…) has defined the Chilean media system and, therefore, the kind of journalism deployed during the period of inquiry. In other words, neoliberalism is the main force that has shaped the Chilean journalism. There are some clues that can be helpful to track this statement/hypothesis and that could become a way to address methodologically the goals of the research:

a. Budgets of investigative journalism TV shows and how they have systematically shrunken during the period analyzed.

b. The place that the investigative journalism TV shows have occupied in the programming and how volatile/stable is his position on it (part of the evening news, own show, prime-time or not, and the likes).

c. Team: number of members, experience, training, and so

on.
d. Relevance of PR in the way that the investigative journalism has been shaped in the Chilean television, in the period under inquiry.

SOME EPISTEMOLOGICAL/METHODOLOGICAL IDEAS
Even I’ve not yet explicitly developed the problem(s) that the research will address and the research question(s) (RQs) that should guide the inquiring; I have some general ideas about what I would like to do.
Epistemologically, I would like to explore the idea to build the stance in which I am standing (as a journalist, as a journalism educator, as a researcher in investigative journalism, as a woman, as a Latin American person, and the likes). This is relevant for methodology because I should deal with the peer relation (I will interview colleagues who also are aware of the practice of interviewing, and so on).
Chile as a case of study
Investigative journalism stories
Post-dictatorship period: I choose this idea instead of transition to democracy because there is no agreement among authors in a single date in which the process finished. Actually, there is more than one moment in which literature settled the beginning of the transition to democracy.
Period 1990-20XX: Unlike the flexible periodization of the transition process, there is a more fixed moment in which we can affirm that the dictatorship formally ended, that was in March 11, 1990. However, I haven’t yet decided which will be my final year to include in the research. Some options: Considers the most close year to the starting of the research or to consider the last year of the presidency of the Concertación de Partidos por la Democracia (March 11, 2010), the political conglomerate that beat the dictatorship. In 2010, a right-wing candidate was democratically elected president for the first time since 1958. However, I feel that there will be a significant period of the period that will be missed if I don’t consider the last five years.
Television: Focus on television is problematic because it is a medium which delivers wide types of content, not only journalistic and/or non-fiction content. So, should I pay attention in the specific characteristics of the television and if so, how this approach should/could looks like?
Broadcasting television (not cable television)
Investigative journalism TV shows: They were building an identity as specific television products of investigative journalism or good quality journalism or in-depth reporting. That will be a kind of self-definition or self-identity of what they consider was doing.