STUDENT RESEARCH WORKSHOP 2009- SESSION 4 –

TASK: Read the following article and identify the following elements:

- research topic

- researchers

- time of study

- place of study

- key concepts in the study

- participants

- data collection method

- data collection instrument

- major findings

- implications/recommendations raised from the findings

In your opinion, why is the study worth doing (significance of the study)?

GOOD NEWS IS GOOD FOR YOU

Washington, DC, 28 February 2006

According to a recent survey, good news has a positive impact on our lives and people want more of it.

The survey concerns Americans' attitudes toward news. It was conducted by Monitor Services, a company that studies trends. 300 people on the street were asked about hearing good news and how it makes them feel:

"You hear a good news story, you hear something nice happening in the world, it makes me feel good. I like it."

"When I hear good news, I feel more optimistic, not only about the world as a whole, but also for my own life. When I hear good news, it does make me feel better."

The survey shows that bad news: news about war, death and calamity has a negative psychological impact.

Bad news increases people's anxiety according to Dorree Lynn, a psychologist who analyzes news. "Anxiety and depression are increasing and part of it is the way media impacts on them and the rapidity of the terror stories in the news. People feel badly. They get scared."

In contrast, good news makes people feel motivated, inspired and more optimistic about the future, and it even increases their productivity at work. According to Dr. Bersoff. "for example, in this study alone, we found that 65 percent of people thought that things weren't going very well in the country today."

Dr. Lynn says the same would hold true anywhere. "Of course there has to be a global impact because the world is shrinking and anything that happens one place is instantly available someplace else."

Dr. Lynn says the media must change and present a more balanced account of events. She sometimes tells her clients to turn off the TV.

(Adapted from http://www.voanews.com/english/archive/2006-02/2006-02-28-voa23.cfm?textmode=1)