Does anyone have an idea how I can pose a question about social norms and the media for a research paper?

[Lustful&Envious]

I'm currently taking a mass media and society class and one of the requirements is a research paper. In this research paper, we are intructed to pick a topic, pose a question on that topic and discover the answers found. Being that it is a media course, the question has to involve any type of media that us out as a news source today, He gave us a list of topics and going through them I saw song lyrics and social norms. I liked the social norms idea because I am a sociology major. The question I came up with he said was the right track but not enough. Can anyone help me pose a question that I can research the answers to involving any kind of media and social norms? My original question was how does media today affect social norms.

Thanks in advance

[GeorgieGuy]

Hi Lustful,
Try narrowing your question by selecting one specific aspect of media.. Social networking for example.. like Facebook, or talk radio, or cable TV. Then consider a specific norm that you suspect is being affected. For example.. How family members interact during supper. Or who students select as friends from among their classmates. By narrowing your topic and being specific you'll be in a better position to find a way to test your hypothesis. If you want to impress your instructor you could develop your assignment into a hypothesis with the independent variable being something about the media [The amount of time spent on Facebook...] and it's effect on the dependent variable [likelihood of eating supper with family members]. Then a simple survey asking participants how much time they spend, if any, on Facebook, and how often they eat supper with family. Regards.