Scholarly Vs. Popular Media Focus

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Scholarly Vs. Popular Media Focus

Summary on Journal of Family Psychology Article

David M. Frost has written an article on stigma and Intimacy in same-Sex Relationships: A Narrative Approach in the Journal of Family and Psychology. In his article, Frost gives an explain that the homosexuals and the bisexuals are still undergoing the stigma that comes in being in this kind of status and that the stigma is directly relates to how intimate the partners will be. The study is conducted on ninety–nine individuals who are either homosexuals or bisexuals. In other words, they are in a same sex relationship. It also focused on the emotions they go through when they are in these relationships, i.e. the high and low points, goals to be met, decisions to be made, the experiences of stigma and how it affects their relationship.

Although 6,360 people took part in the study, only 99 of the lesbians, gays and bisexuals gave narrative information for this study. They were 51 women and 48 men. This group had an average age of 34.83 years. The relationships they had been involved in lasted for 6.86 years on average. I/4 of the participants were married while the majority of the rest lived with their partners. Majority of the participants were of White then came the African Americans and then the Asians consisting of 77, 11 and 6 participants respectively. Ninety-one participants had some college education and had full time jobs. The total number of stories told was 495 with each participant giving at least five stories.

Many of those who participated confided that the stigma experience was “an ever-present negative factor in their experiences of intimacy and relationships” (Frost, 2011). However, there are those who confided that the stigma drew them close to their partners. To a couple of other individuals, the stigma was of no relevance to their relationship. The author quotes the stories of three different participants whop tell of how the stigma affected their relationships. With all the factors taken into consideration, the study showed that most of those in the same sex relationships had successful and satisfying relationship.

Summary of Psychology Today Article

Paula J. Caplan has written an article about Overcoming Homophobia: Progress despite the Rocky Road. The author starts by giving us an anecdote of a memorial service she had attended of fallen veterans who were either homosexuals or bisexuals in the only memorial in the United States. The author continues by telling us what the military personnel go through especially since they have to hide their love lives for fear of the repercussions experienced when one status is known. This is normally on top of what other difficulties they go through everyday as military personnel.

In a gay veteran’s own words when he was interviewed by the author, he says, “although those who went through basic training with him did not know that he was gay, he watched the horrible beating of a heterosexual soldier whom someone erroneously said was homosexual” (Caplan, 2011). Although changing the practices and the law will help a little way, the homophobia experienced by many will still not be washed off. Most people view those who are gays, lesbians, bisexuals or even the transgendered as people who are mentally ill or people who lack morals and are unworthy to stay in the society.

Some research carried out by Spitzer in the year 2003 indicated that being a homosexual was pathological. This meant that one could change to be heterosexuals if they put their mind to it. However, the research he carried out did not quite give slid evidence to his allegations. He conducted 200 interviews through telephone calls. The participants were people who had gone through a kind of treatment of transforming the homosexuals into heterosexuals. The sad news is that the people who helped him find the participants were religious groups, which had helped the participants go through the program. The participants admitted that they had heterosexual sex once in a month, which was not evidence enough to show that they had changed.

Comparing and Contrasting

A number of things stand out as similar in both articles from the different sources. The authors’ names are given in both of the articles. This means that can always give credit to whom it is due. One can be able to analyze an article depending on who has written it, as they will be judged with the articles they had written earlier. Another outstanding similarity is that they both address the same issues being faced by the society. In most cases, they will address the issues that are currently being a challenge or a matter of concern (Pfeiffer, 2007).

Another similarity is that they are both written by professionals. For example, Paula J. Caplan is a PhD holder in the psychology profession and David M Frost is an assistant professor at the department of Sexuality Studies in San FranciscoStateUniversity. Another evident similarity is that they have both included some spastics and analysis to support their argument or the topic of the article. This gives the evidence some strength on the basis, which the article is laid upon. However, this is not very common in the other types of popular media. The credentials are not normally displayed leaving one to wonder whether the writers are professionals in the field in question.

One of the differences in the two is that the evidences used to support the topic are different. One is gotten from ones own personal research (journal article) while the other is gotten from another source where somebody had already conducted the research earlier. Another evident difference is that the journal articles are harder to access more than the articles in the popular media. In most cases, one has to have access (by logging in, which requires payment or special access sometimes) in order to get hold of a full text journal article, unlike with the other articles where one need to only make a few clicks (Pfeiffer, 2007).

Another difference is that the journal is reviewed and has to be verified by professionals in the field of the topic in question before it is published while the other articles just go through an editor before they are published. This makes the journal articles more credible and reliable than the popular media articles. A difference in their length is also quite evidence. Journal articles are much longer than the articles in the popular media. A journal article can take tens of pages while that in the popular media will only take not more than five pages. Some may take even half a page. The journal articles are written under strict guidelines while those in the popular media do not follow strict guidelines as such.

The journal articles are preferred over the popular media articles because their information is based n real research and evaluation. It has also been reviewed by a couple of other professionals in the field of the topic in question before they are published. This is the reason why most lectures will advocate one to use the journal articles more than popular media articles. Most of the other articles are not necessarily based on the any facts of statistics that have been tested. This makes them quite unreliable.

On the other hand, the popular media articles are good in their own way. They are easily accessible, easy to read and more interesting to read unlike the journal articles. They are written for a more diverse population, who might loose interest in the topic in question if difficult terminologies are used. Most of the readers also need a top understanding of the topic in question but not a deep and an analytical revelation of the same. This is why an ordinary person will enter a bookstore and buy a magazine or a newspaper rather than buy a copy of the latest volume of a journal. The popular media articles have diverse topics in different fields, which people need and experience while the journals articles deal with particular fields depending on the journal types. For example, Journal of American Medical Association deals with topics on the medical field (Eysenbach, 2006).

It is very important for people to learn about sex in schools and to read about it. Although it may seem like an obvious topic, many have gotten into trouble and even died for lack of knowledge or even ignorance. Although there are many who talk about it as though they were professionals, it is best to learn about sexual education from a real professional. It makes one know about it in depth, it benefits/use, what are the consequences if one is not careful and other issues that arise in its context such as homosexuality, bisexuality and heterosexuality (Brewer, Brown & Migdal, 2007).

Conclusion

In accordance with the review and the research conducted, it best that the college students and the scholars use the journal articles if they want to acquire good information. For the other people who just want to get a glimpse of a particular topic, the popular media articles can be relied on. They are more interesting, easy to access and use simpler terminologies to comprehend. On the long run, one can incorporate both in their research; after all, there are some popular media articles, which are written by professionals and there is an indication on the same is made (Eysenbach, 2006). One can also get a better response from an article in the popular media articles (in case one needs public response), as they are widely read by the people. For example, the response on homosexuality can be easily gotten in an article in the popular media rather than an article on the journal. Both types of media have their role to play.

References

Brewer, G., Brown M. B. & Migdal, M. J. (2007). The Importance of Appropriate Sexuality Education. Washington, D. C: Centre for Inquiry Office of Public Policy.

Caplan, P. J, (18 May, 2011). Overcoming Homophobia: Progress despite the Rocky Road. Psychology Today. 1:1-2

Eysenbach, G. (2006). Citation Advantage of Open Access Articles. PLoS Biol, 4(5): e157.

Frost, D. M, (2011). Stigma and Intimacy in Same-Sex Relationships: A Narrative Approach. Journal of Family Psychology, 25 (1):1-10.

Pfeiffer, M., (2007). How to Distinguish Peer Reviewed/Scholarly Journals from Popular/ Trade Magazines. Bell Library, TAMUCC.