Formal Research Proposal Example

 

 

Project title: The desensitizing effect of studying horrors on the Sympathetic Nervous System

 

Researchers: Pat Bowne, Alverno College(382-6207)

 

Introduction: Horror in literature and the arts is thought to provide a catharsis by activating the sympathetic nervous system (Foreman, 1996; Boeree, 1997). Catharsis, a term from Aristotle’s Poetics, can be partially defined as “purification of the audience's feelings of pity and fear so that in real life we understand better whether we should feel them,” and as “purgation of our pity and fear so that we can face life with less of these emotions or more control over them.” (Evans, 1995).  However, this might also be viewed as ‘desensitization,’ making the person exposed to horror less compassionate and less likely to react appropriately to real-life horrors (Newson, 1996). The research on this topic has concentrated on video images rather than on reading, and has dealt with mere exposure to horrors rather than with rational analysis of them.  The question I wanted to investigate was whether reading about, analyzing, and attempting to understand horrible events would desensitize the sympathetic nervous system response to them.

 

Hypothesis: Subjects will have a decreased sympathetic nervous system response to news of horrible events after exposure to a course in understanding and analyzing them.

 

Experimental Design:

 

            Subjects: Alverno students from the two Philosophy classes, ‘’Confronting Evil’ and ‘Love and Friendship.’

 

            Experimental Procedure: 20 Students from each section of the classes will be tested at the beginning and the end of the semester. During each test, the subject will sit for 5 minutes. Then heart rate and finger vasodilation will be measured using the MacLab with a finger pulse transducer. Both heart rate (BPM) and the height of the peaks (in mV) will be recorded. Subjects will then be asked to read a short report (3 paragraphs) on the murder of supposed witches in Rwanda (beginning of semester)/Indonesia (end of the semester). The reports are equivalent in length, number of murders reported, graphic detail, and number of emotional words. Heart rate and vasodilation will be measured during the reading of the report.

 

            Analysis: I will make the following comparisons using a T-test:

 

  1. To determine whether reading about horrors causes sympathetic activation:
    1. Heart rate (HR) before reading and HR after reading
    2. Pulse peak height (PPH) before and after reading
  2. To determine whether exposure to study of horrors blunts this response:
    1. Change of HR and PPH during reading a the beginning of the semester vs. the end in the ‘Confronting Evil’ subjects

 

  1. To determine whether the study of horrors has a greater effect than the study of love and friendship:
    1. The difference between change of HR and PPH at the beginning and end of the semester for CE subjects vs. LF subjects

 

 

Timeline/ resources needed: The research will be carried out in TL 219, using five students at a time, five finger pulse transducers, and two MacLab setups. It will require approximately 2 hours of time for each session. Statistical analysis will use Microsoft Excel.

 

References:

 

Foreman J., 1996. Don’t be afraid of the... Boston Globe. July 1, 1996: 25

 

Boeree, C. G., 1997. SIGMUND FREUD , 1856 – 1939. [unpaginated] retrieved May 13, 2002 from the World Wide Web at http://www.ship.edu/~cgboeree/freud.html

 

Evans, W., Ed. 1995. The humanities handbook. Augusta State University, Augusta, Ga. [unpaginated] Retrieved May 13, 2002 from the World Wide Web at http://www.aug.edu/langlitcom/humanitiesHBK/handbook_htm/aristotle_tragedy.htm

 

Newson, E., 1996. Video violence and the protection of children. In Gill, T. (Ed.). (1996). Electronic children: How children are responding to the information revolution. London: National Children's Bureau.