Thesis Questions Flashcards
What inspired your research topic?
The reactions to covid inspired my curiously about conspiracy theories. I wanted to more about the subject thar decided so many people.
Please explain the hypothesis of your thesis.
The hypothesis maintains that family cohesion and comm. is negatively impacted. Meaning families where Cts thrive tend to have low levels of trust and poor communication.
What data gathering methods did you use?
Mixed methods where employed, both qualitative (guided interviews) and quantitative (survey) where used to gather data.
How did you select people for your survey and interview?
A combination of convenience sampling (survey) and targeted outreach (guided interview)
What were the key findings of your surveys?
The survey and interview revealed that: family members that believed in conspiracy theories faced higher levels of conflict, mistrust and lower communication levels.
Can you describe an impactful interview during your research?
One interview she’d light on how a rift was created between siblings,because one of the believed a 9/11 CT highlighting the significant damage a conspiracy theory causes
How do you define a conspiracy theory?
a belief that some secret but influential organization is responsible for an event or phenomenon
Types of conspiracy theories
1.Event 911,moon
2.Systematic Government, healthcare
3.Super illuminati
What impact do conspiracy theories have on families?
- Erode trust
2.foster suspicion - Combats cohesion
4.quells or strains communication
Cognitive biases
Confimation bias-people who to commit to their beliefs and see evidence for them everywhere regardless of contradictory info
Pattern Bias- people who see patterns in things which are objectively unrelated to one another. creates meaning out coincidence
How do different family types deal with Cts?
Permissive: yes parents
Blended: mixed families
Authoritarian: strict from head
Neglectful: lack of supervision
Democratic: open discussion
Enmeshed: structure less
Disengaged: indifferent.
Media literacy
The ability to critically evaluate the media and understand media content.
How do conspiracy theories impact mental health
Exposure to conspiracy theories can increase: depression,anxiety, paranoia
All of which can lead to deeper mental issues
Recommendations for families dealing with conspiracy theories
1.promte open communication
2.verify info and sources
3 media literacy
How did you analyze the qualitative data from the interview?
Thematic analysis, looking for deeper insights through the common themes and patterns
The role of social media in the spread of conspiracy theories:
The facilitate the rapid dissemination of cts and can create a echochamber
How do conspiracy theories creat conflicts in families
- Heated arguments
- Mistrust
- Estrangement
How can families foster critical thinking skills
1.Encourage questioning and skepticism
2.provide Access to diverse sources of info
3.open discussion with evidence evaluation
Inductive reasoning
Drawing general conclusions from research. I did this with the survey and interviews
Deductive reasoning
Testing the hypothesis derived from existing reasoning. My research did this to prove the hypothesis that ct negatively impact family cohesion and communication.
How did you proceed with the selection of the responding families? What were the selection criteria?
I utilized a combination of convenience sampling and targeted outreach. For the survey component, I selected students from my language school as participants. For the interviews, I leveraged my social network, primarily acquaintances from Facebook, including family and friends whom I believed would provide candid responses.
How did you determine the variables called ‘family type’ in your research? Is there available literature that you used for defining these family types? Where is this secondary source described in the theoretical part of the thesis?
Authoritarian, Permissive, and Democratic are derived from Diana Baumrind’s seminal work. The ‘Neglectful’ type was added by Eleanor Maccoby and John Martin The ‘Blended’ family type is more commonly discussed in sociological and family studies. Finally, ‘Disengaged’ and ‘Enmeshed’ are from Salvador Minuchin’s Structural Family Therapy.
