Choosing a method

Is it a family affair?

The aim of this project is to provide an academic study of one of the industry level questions which have been discussed thus far.  By constructing small groups of three, we will concentrate on one of the questions and aim to provide a detailed and informed research study surrounding one question.
We have talked a lot about varying research methods during a lecture, these take form under two categories:

Quantative and Qualitative as well as Primary and Secondary data collection

It is important, I feel, to gain an understanding of how to use these methods correctly and for them to support/ develop the study of the hypothesis which will be constructed.

The question that my group are going answer is

Do media platforms and genres have specific gender appeal? Why don't more women play console games?

After having a group meeting we discussed some of the key areas that we would look at:

• Role models for young girls, provided on television shows and reflected in games such as Grand Theft Auto and the derogatory image of women only being portrayed as prostitutes. Does this negative representation have a key impact or does is this simply over looked and are young girls having to look towards celebrities/ in more recent months royalty for a positive role model?
•  The history behind women's role within society, we want to find out/ look into the 'Hunter and Gatherer' theory, and focus on the stereotypes as well as the social norms within the gaming industry. Are females discouraged to use online gaming platforms because they are filled with testosterone fuelled men who favour violence and vulgarity. We should also look at the issue of violence within games, are these the only games that become popular and is it simply because they create a sense of escapism. Whereas females generally favour games that will help to improve skills?
• Linking closely with the social side, we want to focus on the family side. Is it simply a case of the person and not the gender? 
• As well as the advertising, do platforms such as the Nintendo Wii use specific individuals to sell the product? We will look to analyse some of the campaigns that a variety of companies use. 
• It is also interesting to look at the technology behind it, as it is becoming common for users to create their own avatar. Why is this? How did the need or recognition for this change become apparent? 
• One key thing to consider is whether any of the information exists? Have gaming companies done research into the problem of gender appeal and neglect? 

It is important as a group that we conduct academic research, which will done using LJMU online journals because these are generally up to date. 

The next stage of our research is to create and circulate a questionnaire, I also believe that online surveys can be very beneficial.

Children are the future?

"How can we create a safe environment for children without discouraging participation?"

Jim Fleming from the Childrens department at the BBC, CBBC, is determined to deliver a safe online platform for children however, in a world of increased "stranger danger" and fear on the Internet, is this even possible?
The safe age for children to join most social networking sites is 13, these days however it could be suggested that children as young as 7 have access to devices that allow for these applications to run. Whilst working for a summer camp in America I ran into this demographic head on, it is strictly prohibited for the children to have any electronic devices for the time that they are there which is why it shocked me so much when kids would hand in their two iPhones (one is usually a dummy) and their new iPod. It is so easy to access the world wide web, but due to legality issues the BBC cannot even reach out to the young "Facebook generation" because they shouldn't even legally be on there.
Which is why this question has been formed, there is a huge gap in the market from when children lose interest in CBBC to when they can legally be on social networks and Jim Fleming is trying to fill this gap. Is there also a gap within the transition from Cbeebies to CBBC?
With the success of social networking sites (SNS) such as Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, StumbleUpon, CBBC needs to be relevant and engaging for children. It needs to offer 3 core elements; personalisation, interactivity and communication. However, with increased personalisation and communication comes risk. If you look closely at range in multi-media devices from the television, interactivity, games consoles to social networking, there is an increase in risk and a decrease in parental control. There is an enormous leap from innocent child orientated sites to the online social networks.
There is an important question that needs to be asked, why do people use social networks?
In the beginning sites such as Bebo and MySpace formed the foundation of social networking, they were seen very much as a tool for sharing information as well as communication.
The first social networking site was established in 1997:

Social Networking Timeline

The diagram above clearly shows that around 2005 there was a boom in SNS, it was also the year that YouTube materialised, which is the largest video sharing site closely followed recently by Vimeo. 

It's the idea of creating a network of friends and being able to communicate 24/7, and this is the biggest pulling factor that even the internet itself has to offer. 

CBBC clearly recognise the pull of SNS and the comfort and danger that they present, they look to allow children to  have safe access to an online and interactive platform. But is this even possible? Youngsters want to be able to connect with people, talk about what interests them, play games and learn. They don't want to feel like they are alone, they want to become part of the technological age.  One idea that Jim Flemming had was using profile pages, which would allow children to customise their own page and display high scores on games. The need for regulation would be even more important in this instant, making sure children do not divulge personal information or pictures to strangers will be very important. This makes it very difficult to provide a sense of freedom and inclusion, and so would a personal profile page work? How will they monitor age restrictions and will it become harder if the quantity of children using the site increases dramatically? 

I feel that the only way to create a space that children want is to ask them, possibly run a competition on the CBBC channel. If they are truly motivated to create such a site then including children is key, not only would it stimulate creativity but it may be an easier solution to the issue. The problem with creating an extended social media world is that the internet itself is dangerous and parental control is down to parents, and how much attention they pay to what their children are doing online.