Entry 5 - One more Primary Research Method

Questionnaire

in order to discover what the viewing public think of the way that criminals are glamorised in the media, i have devised a questionnaire in order to not only capture the way they feel, but also how they are effected and influenced by it.

I asked them:

1. on a scale of 1 to 5, 5 being that u vigorously agree, would u say that crime was glamorised in the media?
2. Does the way crime is glamorised in the media influence u to want to break the law yourself?
   
3. Do you agree that fictional crime drama sensationalise issues in the news. on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being that u agree strongly
4. Who would you rather be, a Mob leader or a Supreme court Judge?
   
5. Do you believe that the main characters in games such as GTA and Saints row show criminals in a positive light?

Results

my results have shown that 70% of people vigorously agreed that crime was glamorised in the media, this shows that my topic was well chosen and that people will be interested and able to relate to my findings.

65% of people also believed that they themselves had been tempted to break the law after watch criminals on tv. the general consensus was that this was due to the wealth and power linked with the "criminal" in the media

50% of people believed that crime dramas sensationalised issues in the news. this shows that up to half the people we interviewed thought that crime in the media is an example of art imitating reality, making the glamorisation of criminals in fiction more exceptable.

When asked weather they would like to be a supreme court judge or a mob leader, in order to show weather the law or those breaking it are portrayed as more appealing and weather or not viewers are effected by this, 90% of people said they would rather be a mob leader, showing that the status thought to come with being the "criminal" is worth the risks conveyed in films.

When asked if the main playable character is violent crime based action games such as GTA were portrayed in too much of a positive light, 60% responded that the answer was no as they believed the games were only reflecting other perspectives throughout the media, comparing films and dramas to the games.

Conclusion

That although the public seemed to take an analytical view on criminals in the media rather than being influenced, i believe it is clear from my results that, if criminals are portrayed as more appealing than the law itself, there is clearly an issue either in society or within the media of how to entertain the masses with protagonist villains without being hypocritical.