How Digital Technologies are Altering Our Conception of Self: A Theoretical Analysis

A thesis statement is developed according to a question that populates in your mind as you read academic material. This is why your Research Notebook is so important – if you are using it strategically, you are leaving yourself notes capturing your thoughts about the reading material that you are invested in. your thesis is a hypothesis that you will try to prove is cogent (true) using evidence and a strong argument. Write your thesis statement in an assertive tone. A solid thesis statement is focussed, debatable, and makes claims. Here are some examples of strong thesis statements: “Canadians should eliminate the regular consumption of fast food because a fast food diet leads to preventable and expensive health issues, such as diabetes, obesity, and heart disease.” “The homeless in Toronto should be given access to services—such as regular food donations, public restrooms, and camping facilities—because it would improve life for all inhabitants of the city.” “Second-hand smoke is just as harmful as smoking and leads to a higher prevalence of cancer and heart disease; therefore, smoking in any public place should be banned.”

1. “Digital technologies alter our conception of the self by reifying our experiences of our bodies, our minds, and our agency.”

-Identify your Theoretical Paradigm Theory equips scholarly writers a logic or a “lens” to guide our evaluation and analysis. Some theory provides a framework for quantitative analys provides a framework for quantitative analysis while other provide models for qualitative analysis. Some even propose a “mixed methods” of both. There are essentially five paradigms that most theories in Communications and Media Studies fall into: 1. Mechanical: assumes that communication is a mechanical process transmitted from one point to another

• Mechanical Theory

• Information Theory

• Computer Theory

• Actor-Network Theory

• Data Visualization

• Communication Engineering Theory

• Systems Theory

• Materialism (physicalism, historical materialism, material feminism, postmaterialism)

2. Psychological: Communication involves a flow of feelings, thoughts and information from sender to receiver, involving all of the psychological dimensions that contribute to the meaning inscribed within the information being communicated.

• Psychoanalysis

• Attribution Theory

• Shannon and Weaver

• Media Psychology (Bernard Luskin)

• Domestication • Attribution Theory (Fritz Heider)

• Cognitive Dissonance Theory

• 3. Social: Communication is a social process that involves several social subjects interacting with one another. “What” and “how” communication is transmitted are both important aspects within this paradigm. We look at patterns in conversation and in relationships to understand the

Thesis Statement

• Communication Accommodation Theory

• Transactional Model • Constructionist

• Social Exchange Theory

• Social Interaction Theory

• Strong and Weak Ties Theory

• Ethnography of Communication

• Haptic Communication (non-verbal communication through the body)

• Interactive Models (Weber’s Protestant Ethic of Capitalism, George Herbert Mead’s Mind, Self and Society, Charles Hortan Cooley “me” as the “looking-glass self”, Herbert Blummer’s three principles of symbolic interaction – we act toward others based on the meaning we attach to them, those meanings are produced through our interactions with them according to cultural constructs, and meaning-making and understanding is an ongoing process)

4. Systemic: the viewpoint carried by the communication is dependent upon the sender and the receiver’s interpretation. Personal and social experiences inform how the communication will be interpreted.

• Symbolic Interactionism (George Herbert Mead, Charles Hortan Cooley)

• Semiotics (Marcel Danesi, John Deeley,

• Abductive Reasoning (Pasquinelli)

• Meaning, Language, Thought (Herbert Blummer and John Dewey)

• Lasswell’s Model (Harold Lasswell) – who? said what? Through which channel? To whom? With what effect?

• Cultivation Theory (George Gerbner)

5. Critical: communication is a medium through which those with authority or access to communication resources can exert their will to bolster their power. Power can be used to oppress.

• Marxist Theory

• Feminist Theory (Bell Hooks, Judith Butler,

• Critical Theory, The Frankfurt School (Adorno, Marcuse, Horkheimer, Benjamin, Fromm, Habermas, Gramsci)

• Critical Theory, The Toronto School (McLuhan, Innis, Postman, Hall, Northrop Frye

• Communication Rationality

• Praxis 3.

Solid evidence and a good argument Once you have identified what it is you want to prove or disprove with your essay and through which theoretical lens you wish to adopt in arguing your point, you must begin to compile your evidence, which can be empirical (statistics) or may be based on the solid argumentation put forward by scholars within academic journals and books. This is where your Research Notebook comes in handy, once again.

(1) the statistic or notational fact presented in the literature

(2) the author(s) name(s) credited with the information

(3) the year of the publication containing this information, and

(4) the page number where it is cited. This will allow you to cite the stat or fact in-text. Here is an example of what recording this information into your Research Notebook will help while you are writing. In Practice: Let’s say that you were discussing how technology has increased the wealthy members of our society ability to make themselves richer. You might include a stat that demonstrates that the gap between the rich and the poor is widening with the following statement: A study conducted by the UN on global poverty noted a 23% increase in people living below the poverty line between 2007 and 2013 (Gerber, 2017: pp. 89). Gerber was the author of the UN report, it was published in 2017 and the stat can be located on page 89. You will not have to go searching for your information if you have recorded it as important in your Research Notebook. Think of your notebook as your repository of important information for your written projects.

Now that you know what you are going to argue, how you are going to frame your argument theoretically, and what sources you are going to tap into to substantiate your argument (stats, facts, citations, quotes, etc.), you need to construct your argument with supporting sub-arguments. So, let’s take our example above: “Digital technologies alter our conception of the self by reifying our experiences of our bodies, our minds, and our agency” What do we need to prove is true within this statement?

1) That digital technologies reify our experiences

2) That digital technologies reify our minds

3) That digital technologies reify our experiences of our bodies

4) That digital technologies reify our agency

5) That digital technologies alter our conception of ourselves Now, fill in the gaps within this structure: Introduction.

Provide a compelling narrative that contextualizes what you are going to talk about and a brief description of how you are going to present your argument. At the end of this paragraph(s), state your thesis in clear terms (make what you want to argue clear). Theory and Method: Explain what theory you are using, how it helps guide your discussion / argument, how it applies to your subject.