To label or not to label? Research regarding the potential
of open ended sexual representation on British TV - call for
participants

I am conducting research at the University of Sussex in the Media and
film and music department investigating the potential of open-ended sexual
representation on British television - that is representation of
sexuality without labelling. As part of this I am looking for
volunteers to give just 1 and 1/2 hours of their time to attend a screening of the
BBC TV series Torchwood and a follow up discussion of 45 minutes. All
research will be treated in complete confidence and results used will be
anonymous.

The focus groups will take place in Central London on the Tuesday the 7th and Wednesday 8th
June 2011 at the Drill Hall starting at 6.45pm at the Drill Hall , 16 Chenies Street, London WC1E 7EX
near Tottenham Court Road tube. If you think you can help
please get back to me at cdh22@sussex.ac.uk with the date you can make and whether

you're employed and if so what your occupation is.


Please pass on to friends and colleagues who you think might be

interested. I am looking for people from a variety of backgrounds. £10 is available to cover expenses.

Thanks in advance


Craig Haslop
Doctoral Researcher, Media and Cultural Studies
University of Sussex

Am student living in London and very, very much considering this if you'd like me.

Will email as soon as I've got a better idea of my availability.

Is this how my taxes are being wasted by the universities ? This is disgusting, really. People are leaving secondary schools unable to read and write their own language properly and money can be found for this rubbish. In a period where the cost of higher education is under threat and students are being charged more to study at least the universities could show taxpayers the courtesy of spending their money sensibly. What possible justification for this jolly can you offer.

I totally agree! What's the point of trying to understand how society works so it can be improved. I assume this is part of a larger research project into understanging social mores and is probably quite useful as part of a bigger picture.

Well, it is the media department.

Do you really think the study is being set up so "society" can be "improved"?

I'm afraid I'm more cynical.

And only £10 expenses!!!!! Where's the rest of my money for doing nothing expect watching TV eh? EH?

(although to be fair, this does sound like a piss poor course that anyone should be embarrassed to be on)

Oh and finally, although I hate the fact that the English language is slowly being eroded into text speak etc, thats just how its going to be. Language has always evolved - look at Shakespeares writing and then ours. Then project that forward regarding text speak etc. its not pretty, but there's no going back. We are in an evolutionary period in our written language.

What a sad set of responses from posters who have no real knowledge of this OP's work, yet feel compelled to make such antipathitic, reactionary, churlish remarks - frankly, I think such attitudes say so much more about what is wrong with UK society.

Apologies OP, I can't be involved in your exercise, however, I definitely would if I could......and also apologies for some of the neanderthal attitudes on display! Good luck with the work.

I would agree that there are more worthwhile things to spend money on but that could be the argument for many projects. It certainly isn't taking money away from schools and if children are leaving school unable to read or write I don't think all they need is money!
Unfortunately I'm not able to come to London but good luck with the research

Assuming an annual income of £15,000, approximately 26p per day goes to universities. Divide that up by the number of universities in the country, then all the different projects going on at the university, also bearing in mind that funding isn't always from taxes. You are paying a tiny, tiny amount if any.

And your opinion isn't mandatory. You don't like where your taxes are going, complain elsewhere, vote differently, move countries or stop paying taxes. Do not attack someone for choosing a project you don't deem worthy.

I will attack who I like. This is a worthwhile thing for an after dinner discussion, perhaps, but NOT for taxpayers money to be spent on. The elevation of non-subjects to academic status devalues the currency of higher education.

Sorry to be so Neanderthal. Good luck to the OP if he'she can get the money to fund his/her little idea for a nice time.

I'd rather my money were spent on that than dropping bombs on people, but don't let's elevate it to something that's going to be of benefit to people, please.

I don't know who is funding the "project" but if it is the taxpayer, then any taxpayer is entitled to complain, especially as they can see things that do need money spent on them going down the drain.

It would be interesting to know how many people who support the project are students.....or even media studies students? Just out of interest?

As a forty-something father I am most certainly not a media student, in fact I am actually one of those pesky taxpayers - I am also not someone who would be so arrogant as to disparage the work of a student without really knowing much about it, demanding that only work I understand or agree with be funded!

It is somehow sort of odd to see such reactionary views in a forum about Doctor Who!

Hahahaha

LOL........amusingly, for a post from someone earlier denigrating the linguistic / grammatical abilities of young people, this post is itself littered with errors!

1 Who demanded anything? And I don't understand much scientific stuff, but think it worthwhile.

2 Maybe it is odd. I agree most posters are quite PC, but it is not a prerequisite for watching the programme. However, anyone can post, even people who disagree with you.

This project's not important enough to get in a tizz about, imo.

As a former student of Sussex University who spent some considerable time working in the Humanities department at that fine and noble institution I wish the OP good luck with their endeavour. It sounds fascinating and I only wish I was able to take part.

Knowledge is in itself valuable, the pursuit of knowledge is in itself worthwhile. More education produces a better society and suggesting that the choice is between social sciences and child literacy doesn't sound very convincing to me. I wish the originating poster good luck.

Good luck to you and I hope you get people involved. I'd love to but live far too far away.

From someone else that has an Humanities Degree, from a time when education was considered to be meaningful in itself.

Is this study on the programme or mainly about Jack? If it's about Jack, hasn't he labelled himself thus rendering this discussion void?

While I entirely agre that it ought to be up for dicussion. It would at least be polite to make a thread, rather than what is seemingly having a go a one Uni student who is doing what society expects of him (attend Uni), perhaps even to go into media. Perhaps he should take Economics instead considering he wants to become an editor, producer etc. (Yes, I understand that degrees don't, and are not always relevant to the job that a person has. Let's just assume that this person actually makes sense in the choice of education he made.) So instead of having a go at the Uni student, bring it up somewhere that will actually make a difference - rather than just uselessly complaining. He's just doing what is, annoyingly (as am I) expected of all those that come out of education, as it is pushed as our only choice (ha!).
Also, taking taxpayers money, how do you know? I thought most student were on loans where they tend to pay most of it back with inflation included. So, unless they went to Uni and earned £15,000 and under for the odd 25 years that it takes to be written off, and I would imagine that a minority and is one of the main reason people go to Uni, in order to be able to earn more than that. So all the money borrowed, tends to get paid back eventually as well.
It's under the new system, which is worrying may I add. Where people will may well end up paying back more than they(government, university charged) paid for the course and may even not have the choice to overpay.

Surely, rather than basing your judgements of what should and should not be academic subjects - it should be on the basis of how much it benefits you. So, for example those people earning that wage, pay taxes (directly and indirectly) and also contribute to economic growth (that good!). So in many ways, it's done in order to support you, especially if you decide to take a state pension, and with us all living longer, we need as much being paid in taxes as we can.


I hope that made sense.

It's the attitudes of those individuals that reject the search for knowledge, attitudes that get passed on to the kids around them, that make the biggest contribution to the lack of educational standards in this country.

I once knew somebody who got a funded scholarship to study Shakespeare's use of the semi-colon. Compared to that, I would have thought a study looking into how contemporary media represents sexuality was rather more useful and relevant.

How do you decide what is worthwhile research and what is not? The responses on this thread are rather harsh and uncalled for IMO. The OP was not rude or impolite or inappropriate and he did the right thing posting this on a Doctor Who forum.

Unfortunately, OP I'm nowhere near you, otherwise I would have taken part. However, I wish you the best of luck with this.

I have to agree. Even if one doesn't agree with the OP's project, I don't think some of the comments in this thread are uncalled for in response to a polite request.

Unfortunately the dates in question aren't good for me, else I'd have been more than happy to help out.

craig

if i were your supervisor and the study is as you describe, as opposed to studying people for an unstated 'true' purpose, i would be concerned with your sampling method, unless you are intending to compare enthusiasts with a control group. also i cant help thinking as a media student you should have a firm grasp of semiotics and therefore must know that its impossible to have any representation (or differentiation of behaviour) without some form of labelling. language and understanding is impossible without. there is no such thing as open ended representation, and at best you can only hope to record different cultural responses from labelled behaviours -- you can track how people label behaviour which only tells you something about their cultural context, peer network values etc. as all good media students should know, the battefield is who gains closure on definition.

I wish you luck and hope that your study is actually based on more pertinent lines than they seem here.