For my literature review, I’m setting out to accomplish a couple key things that I think will help me out later as a researcher and a writer. The purpose of the lit review, for me, is to start off my research paper with a sense of purpose. Up to this point I haven’t quite written anything that resembles a research paper and I hope to change that with this review. It’ll help the reader by channeling to paper to prove a point and explain how this paper came to fruition. The introduction did that in the sense that it provided the brief overview for this paper. Now this lit review will delve deeper into it and flesh out some of the ideas that I mentioned earlier on. My goals for this lit review are to flesh out the ideas that I mentioned previously in the introduction. I would like to lead the audience into the paper with my literature review as well. Provide real life examples that deal directly with my paper, and then provide other situations that reflect this as well. Maybe they aren’t exactly true, but that’s what my research will set out to prove. My target audience for my paper is family. I’m shooting for the family with the mom, dad, teenage children. This paper focuses exclusively on this family setting so the dialogue and style of writing will appeal to those who live in that setting. Let’s see what happens.
Cyberphobia – The fear of computers. Is that possible with today’s technological advances? As technology grows day by day, so has the interest about them. Because computers have “evolved from bulky, expensive, and mysterious equipment” to “functional tools for work and fun at the office or home” (Kayany & Yelsma 215) they have been popping up in more and more frequently in homes and businesses as time progresses. My research paper asks the very basic question: “Do computers bring families together, or pull them apart?” Many studies have already been conducted on this subject, but to a more refined question. An article such as Gustavo S. Mesch’s “Family Characteristics and Intergenerational Conflicts over the Internet” studies the changes in family interaction patterns with “conflicts arising over adolescents’ autonomy” as well as “parental authority and control of the computer” (Mesch 473). Many researchers have stated that the internet can be a good thing in the sense that “the Internet has the potential to exert positive effects on the family” and “provides access to online information on family issues such as parenting, children’s school needs, and divorce” (Mesch 477). The internet, however, isn’t all sunshine and smiles though. Computer dependence, information overload, and online sexual predators are all very real and very dangerous (Oravec 310). Online pornography has also crept into the scene causing additional trouble but has been passed onto the role of the parent, questioning the parent-in-question’s “ability to control the dissemination of information inside the confines of the home” (Oravec 312). Additional problems spring up when adolescents, or “e-teens”, have access to the internet. Cybersex, overexposure to information, and compulsive internet use provide whole new issues for families and therapists to deal with (Delmonico & Griffin 431). Clearly with all these risks, one would think that the internet is a dangerous place for adolescences. As each day passes, more young people explore what the internet has in store for them. Services such as AOL Instant Messenger, Internet Relay Chat (IRC), and E-mail have increased communication between family members near and far.
As computers have developed, so have the people that use them. No longer are these machines confined to laboratories held within research facilities. With the rise of technology, the internet, and personal communication devices, these machines have made their way into virtually every home and work place, affecting the way we communicate and do business. As David Watt and James M. White have studied, computers have affected each step throughout our life. From education to business, and from mate selection to retirement, computers are present at each step of the way. And as Gustavo Mesch has researched, many families will experience a significant boost from having a computer in the household, or in some cases, serious negative effects. One sentence within his research journal states that “Domestication implies that families with access to information and communication technology differ from those without them, not only in access to technology but in family dynamics as well.” (Mesch, 120). With that statement, there has also been a divide within the researchers. Some believe that there has been a change in the way that they communication, and others believe that family communication has stayed the same, even with technological advances within that particular field.
Starting from childhood, if computers are present, that immediately sparks a change in the way children perceive education, friends, and even family. With that change in mind, we can study the way the child interacts with his or her family. In addition to computers and the internet, the television also plays a part in communication, as it too has been advancing with each technological breakthrough. As more time is spent in front of the television and not with family members, this breaks down communication patterns and therefore weakens family bonds. Some families benefit from the use of the internet for communication purposes. “Other studies present different evidence on the effects of the Internet on family time and suggest that rather than isolating children from their parents the Internet has become a shared household activity” (Kaiser Family Foundation, 2003).
So there it is, my literature review. It’s nothing too fancy and could probably use a good deal of work. Just like my introduction, I’ll probably go back through and re work most of it. It’s late and I got pretty lazy near the end. I felt that I did a fairly decent job at projecting my paper to an appropriate audience by not using too big of words that may be difficult for the average reader to understand. And by average reader I mean the man or woman who has a family and works a regular 9 to 5 job. This is my target audience and it will most likely stay the same throughout this paper, I can’t imagine it changing for any reason. My goals I feel like I haven’t quite achieved just yet. The paper feels slightly empty and without character. I’m never the best at writing papers for classes but when I do I usually can inject some kind of character that represents me in some way, shape, or form. Maybe because it is a research paper and requires straightforward research. I hope to change this with further revisions and additions.
Works Cited
Mesch, Gustavo S. “Family characteristics and intergenerational conflicts over the Internet.” Information, Communication & Society 9, no. 4 (August 2006): 473-495. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed February 18, 2010).
Watt, David, and James M. White. “Computers And The Family Life: A Family Development Perspective.” Journal of Comparative Family Studies 30, no. 1 (Winter99 1999): 1-15. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed February 18, 2010).
Oravec, Jo Ann. “Internet and computer technology hazards: perspectives for family counselling.” British Journal of Guidance & Counselling 28, no. 3 (August 2000): 309-324. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed February 18, 2010).
Schneider, Mary F., and Seymour Schneider. “The Computer Age and Family Life.” Individual Psychology: The Journal of Adlerian Theory, Research & Practice 40, no. 1 (March 1984): 61. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed February 18, 2010).
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