About this Project
This project was completed in Spring, 2012, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a Master of Arts in Journalism and Media Studies at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg.
Master’s students in the program are required to submit a thesis or applied research project (ARP) before graduation. Past students from this accredited program have submitted theses and projects involving media ethics, gender studies, economics, and more. Students are encouraged to pursue a subject in which they have a special interest.
I chose to create an applied research project instead of a more traditional thesis for three reasons:
- First, research published online can be accessed by a greater variety of people.
- Second, this project’s interactive database of headlines allows audiences to “play with” the data.
- Third, people wishing to replicate or add on to this study have access to the “raw” data files used throughout the course of research. Among people who could potentially use these files are educators, students, journalists, and (my personal favorite) space buffs who can’t seem to stop looking up.
About the Author
I’m no scientist or physicist. I’m just a guy who thinks space travel and exploration are neat. I couldn’t have completed this project without the help and motivation of my esteemed departmental committee members, Dr. Mark Walters (chair) and Dr. Tony Silvia.
Also, thanks to my parents who haven’t yet invoiced me for childhood. I’m hoping that one got lost in the mail.
And, as an aside to anyone who randomly stumbles upon this page after an ill-fated Google search: this is a great school. I love it here.
Digital Colophon
This website was created with WordPress 3.31 using Manishg’s target theme. All calculations and charts were generated with Microsoft Excel for Mac 2011. The interactive database is powered by Tobias Bäthge’s WP-Table Reloaded plugin.
Images of spacecraft obtained from nasa.gov are not copyrighted and are used in accordance with NASA’s fair use policy.
Contact
Email: capeterson@mail.usf.edu
