Video: Michel Teló - Ai Se Eu Te Pego

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcm55lU9knw

Preliminary Research Topic

  I would like to research why non-Koreans like K-pop music videos on Youtube even though they don't understand the lyrics of the songs. There has been an influx of Korean popular culture throughout the world since the last few decades. “Hallyu (Korean Wave)” is the phenomenon called for the popularity of South Korean pop culture in other countries, especially Asian countries. When Psy’s Gangnam Style music video became a huge hit around the world including the US, I began to wonder why non-Koreans would like the song and its video while they have no idea what the song’s lyrics are about. 

  This is yet a very early stage of a research process. However, I plan to analyze the research topic by using content analysis: analyzing the comments posted on Youtube. By doing so, I hope to figure out how popular music portrayed on media (in this case, on Youtube) can attract and affect international fans regardless of its lyrics. The research can give a clue to the understanding of how sustaining local identities in the global context can successfully work towards the globalization, particularly in the realm of popular culture. Some of the articles below gave me the idea of this research topic.
 

Jang, G., & Pail, W. K. (2012). Korean Wave as Tool for Korea’s New Cultural Diplomacy. Advances in Applied Sociology, 2(3), 196-202.

Shim, D. (2006). Hybridity and the rise of Korean popular culture in Asia. Media, Culture & Society, 28(1), 25-44.

Problem based on my own observation

A problem based on my own observation: as K-pop and Korean dramas have been receiving a huge popularity all around the Asia countries for the last few decades, there has been a worried talk of losing identity. Because Korean dramas receive such high ratings, for example, Taiwanese drama industries have been slowing down producing their own dramas. Does Korean dramas being popular in other Asian countries really affect their own identities?

Exploring Journals

1. Name of Journal: Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly
Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly (JMCQ) is a quarterly, peer-reviewed journal that focuses on research in journalism and mass communication. Each issue features reports of original investigation, presenting the latest developments in theory and methodology of communication, international communication, journalism history, and social and legal problems.

One Article From the Journal that Interests Me:
Vu, HT., Lee, TT. (2013). Soap Operas as Matchmaker: A Cultivation Analysis of the Effects of South Korean TV Dramas on Vietnamese Women's Marital Intentions. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 90(2), 308-330.

Abstract:
This cultivation study examined the effects of South Korean soap operas on Vietnamese female audiences. It also assessed cultivation effects in combination with the theory of reasoned action. Based on a survey of 439 female viewers, it explicated the link between South Korean soap opera consumption and the emergent phenomenon of transnational marriages involving Vietnamese women and South Korean men. Cultivation effects were confirmed in an international setting. Results also have important real-world implications.

Find at:
http://jmq.sagepub.com/content/90/2/308

2. Name of Journal: Media, Culture & Society
Media, Culture & Society provides a major peer-reviewed, international forum for research and discussion on the media, including the newer information and communication technologies, within their political, economic, cultural and historical contexts. It regularly engages with a wider range of issues in cultural and social analysis. Its champions research on substantive topics and critique and innovation in theory and method.

One Article from the Journal that Interests Me:
Shim, D. (2006). Hybridity and the Rise of Korean Popular Culturenin Asia. Media, Culture & Society, 28(1), 25-44.

Abstract:
Recent developments in East and Southeast Asian media markets provide an opportunity to revisit a common assumption about media globalization. A newly coined phrase - Korean wave - which refers to the popularity of Korean media culture across East and Southeast Asia, is a metaphor for thinking about this recent regional media development. Through an examination of the recent big leap of the Korean media industries, this article argues that the US dominance thesis regarding globalization is not entirely justified. Although popular entertainment forms such as film and television are a Western invention, Koreans have provided their own twists to these media by blending indigenous characteristics and adding their unique flourishes in often innovative ways.

Find at:
http://mcs.sagepub.com/content/28/1/25

Scientific Way of Thinking

   “Theoretical models can be of great value even if they are never supported by empirical testing.” As Kevin and David argued in the article, social sciences are different from hard sciences, and not every academic field has to be operated by hypothetico-deductivism. People have been emphasizing on the importance of individuality for a long time, especially in the US. It should also apply to the importance of individual academic field as well; individual academic field also should be respected with the aspect that each field has its own criteria just like each human being has its own character and behavior. The term 'social science,’ is itself a study of society and people living in the society. Human nature and behavior are different, so shouldn't its study be?

   Kevin and David mentioned that the analysis of empirical data can be valuable even if it doesn't prove any theoretical model. In my opinion, some of those empirical data will eventually form a scientific theory one day as a deductive way of scientific method. Einstein once said, "No amount of experimentation can ever prove me right; a single experiment can prove me wrong.” Thus, it is reasonable to say that hypothetico-deductivism, which proves theories by experimenting, isn’t yet a perfect scientific way and isn’t yet the only scientific method. Empirical data is important, therefore, ruling out every empirical data only because it doesn’t prove any theoretical model is seriously dangerous way of thinking as a scientist.