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Kelsey Woods John Foran, Sociology

This sociological study delves into how TV media represents interracial relationships, exploring misconceptions and societal impact. The research identifies the lack of accurate representation in the media and discusses the implications of misrepresentations on public perception. Preliminary studies revealed discrepancies in popular beliefs versus reality, highlighting the need for a more sophisticated research approach. The study aims to conduct both quantitative and qualitative analyses to provide a comprehensive understanding of the topic, with a focus on human subjects and funding through URCA. The research is at a pivotal point, considering avenues for advancing theories or investigating TV media's role in shaping interracial romance narratives. Feedback and suggestions on survey design revisions are welcome for the upcoming data analysis and content analysis phases.

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Kelsey Woods John Foran, Sociology

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  1. The Color of Romance: Exploring (Mis)Representations of InterracialRelationships in Television Media:A Sociological Study in Race/Media Issues Kelsey Woods John Foran, Sociology Bryan Kim, Graduate Department of Education, Counseling Psychology Amanda Stansell, Writing

  2. Media as Technology • Media (as social abstraction): Hypothesized to influence the normalization process of social phenomena

  3. Existing Social Theory • Problems: • 1. No common vocabulary among researchers • a. interracial relationships • b. interdating/marriage, outdating (Fujino), racial exogamy • c. Miscegenation • 2. Interesting but outdated…theoretical framework lacks real world application

  4. Social Proximity Theorists • Yancy—Propinquity (psychology) • Fujino—Group Size Relativity (sociology) • Joyner—Racially heterogeneous background

  5. Socio-environmental Theorists • Mandac—group vitality (communications) • Mills et al.—nurture

  6. Questions • Are these theories relevant in contemporary interdating/marriage circumstances? • If so, are they represented (accurately) in television media? • More importantly, does the general public take notice? • Or, are there other things we should look at?

  7. Preliminary studies • Non random sample (n=5) • Interview survey design (15 minutes each) • Conducted in Fall 2004 • Limitations: • Sample population (not diverse, random, or big enough) • BUT, the population makes the study interesting

  8. Findings • Theories not represented accurately largely because they are vastly underrepresented (according to interviewees)

  9. More importantly • Misrepresentation of interracial romance in the following ways: • 1) The popular “Love Conquers All” mentality. • a. Mariya • 2) Due to lack of minorities in media, interracial relationships are skewed • a. Cat • b. Pete

  10. So, what now? • Study sophistiphication • Quantitative/Qualitative • Hybrid Design • Survey (data analysis) + Interviews (explorative substantiation) • Human Subjects • Undergrad Research Creative Activities (URCA) Funding

  11. Here we have a fork in the road … • Do I: • 1) Try to discredit existing theories’ pertinence to the contemporary interrelationship dynamic • 2) Suggest television media as alternate facilitator of interracial romance and theorize television as social learning institution • Not really where I want to go with this, but opens up some interesting

  12. … fork in the road … • 2) Suggest television media as alternate facilitator of interracial romance and prove television as social learning institution • Not really where I want to go with this, but opens up some interesting inquiries: • How would accurate representation of interracial relationships in television media affect the normalization process?

  13. Feedback • Suggestions on survey design revision • To Do: • Data Analysis • Content Analysis (interview transcriptions)

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