DEVIREDDY AP RESEARCH PROJECT
Acknowledgments and Final Postings
Reflecting on Content:
From my research and findings, we can learn that Criminal Minds is not an accurate crime television show that depicts custodial processes such as Miranda Rights. The data analysis showed that Miranda warnings were noticeably absent from all of the cases that were looked at and that suspects rarely used their rights to remain silent or seek legal representation. This implies that the show could put more value on entertainment and narrative simplicity ahead of representing actual legal processes.
There are a few directions I could follow this information in the future. One possible course of action I'm interested in would be to compare and contrast this series with other crime procedurals to see how they depict legal rights and custodial procedures. This could give more understanding of recurring themes, patterns, and disparities in diverse media portrayals.
Reflecting on PRODUCT:
The importance of clearly communicating to an audience the relevance of my research, methods, and conclusions was one of the most important lessons I learned during the final presentation and oral defense. I developed the ability to explain my research conclusions, interact with other students and teachers with questions and comments, and communicate challenging concepts clearly and concisely through practice and feedback. Writing the academic paper has helped me better understand the nuances of research techniques and scholarly writing. Writing the whole paper, from the literature review to the conclusion, has helped me develop my writing skills and my ability to organize arguments, synthesize previous research, and make conclusions from data.
Reflect on PROCESS:
Reflecting on my project, I have learned a lot about myself as a researcher, a student, and a human being.As a researcher, I've learned the value of curiosity, tenacity, and adaptability. Overcoming the difficulties of data collection, processing, and interpretation required patience and resilience. I've grown to value the ability to think critically and get to know challenging topics on a deep level—a skill set that will be helpful to me in my future research projects. I've improved as a person and as a student in my ability to take responsibility for prioritizing tasks and manage my time well. I was challenged by this research project to step outside of my comfort zone, accept confusion, and not give up. I will use the knowledge and skills from this project as a foundation for my future academic and personal endeavors.
Acknoledgements
I would like to thank Mrs. Dobos and Mr. McBride for helping and supporting me throughout my research process. Their guidance has helped me shape my project and make it the best I could. I am also very thankful to Mr. Paul, my mentor, for his advice and for offering different opinions, which have improved my approach and helped me overcome obstacles with my project. I appreciate their constant encouragement and support!
Link to Final Slideshow: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1NirX0lMK6t_8g1n34e5SGcIlAEt-UieWXBBO2AQ8bpA/edit#slide=id.g2169ed7291e_0_0
Abstract
In this research, I look into the depictions of Minrada Rights in the crime television show Criminal Minds. To conduct this research I randomly selected 7 episodes from a total of 5 seasons to code for Minrada Rights. I used the coding rubric provided by Nancy Leong and Ian Farrel's research 'How Crime Dramas Undermine Miranda'. I collected my data in separate data tables I made for each coding question. The data I found supported that Criminal Minds lacks a representation of Miranda Rights. Out of the 35 episodes, there were no depictions or references to Miranda rights as a whole. Therefore my data doesn't support my hypothesis that there would be a moderate amount of Miranda rights visible and that they increase as the seasons evolve.