Communication Research Assignment 3 Submitted to: Dr.

Nagamallika Submitted by: Ranadeep Bhattacharyya

Introduction Most popular channels in India during the prime time (8-11pm) are filled with mega serials, which are basically family dramas or in other words Soaps. These soaps espouse family traditions, values and religious beliefs particular to the Indian populace. Star plus is such a channel where there are mainly family dramas during the 8-11pm slots. Kyunki Saans Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi is one such serial that comes on Star Plus from Monday to Thursday every week at 10:30 p.m. In this serial not only family values but also religious sentiments are given prominence. This study aims to look into how many religion-related activities are shown in the serial. Problem Statement. What is the prominence given to religious related activities in soaps like Kyunki Saans Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi. Research Question. Is prominence given to religious activities in the soap Kyunki Saans Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi? Literature review. Any such study related to this subject will be reviewed. The Universe of the study. All the episodes of the serial Kyunki Saans Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi will be the universe of the study. The Sample for the study. The time span for the study will be taken as one years from 1st January 2004 to 1st January 2005. Within this time span there would be 12 months. In each month there will be four weeks. So by applying systematic random sampling method, we chose four episodes from each month, taking the Monday episode from the first week, the Tuesday episode from the second week, the Wednesday episode from the third week and so on. Thus there would be 48 episodes as the total sample size.

The Unit of analysis The unit of analysis for the study would be each shot showing religious activity in it. Operational definition Religious activity in a shot is meant in this study as any shot where some sort of religious activity is shown. It can be the presence of pictures and photographs of gods and goddesses in a shot or the presence of idols or the wearing of religious ornaments by the characters in the serial or the worshipping of the gods and the sacred trees or any other religious festivals showed in a shot. Constructing categories The categories can be constructed under: Presence of pictures and photographs of gods and goddesses in a shot Any shot showing picture or photograph of any god or goddess of any religion either in foreground or background will be categorised under this category. Presence of idols All shots that have the presence of idols of gods and goddesses in them of whatever religion either in foreground or background will be put in this category. Worshipping of gods, sacred trees and any other symbols. All shots that portray worshipping of gods and goddesses, sacred trees or any other symbols in them of whatever religion either in foreground or background will be put in this category. Religious festivals All shots that show any religious festival of whatever religion either in foreground or background will be put in this category. Wearing of religious ornaments by the characters All shots that show the characters wearing religious ornaments with pictures or symbols of gods of any religion either in foreground or background will be put in this category. Others Religious events having low frequency of occurrence will be placed in this other category. If any shot has more than one religious activity being performed in it then that shot will be counted as separate units under each of the above category where it falls.

Establishing a quantification system As the smallest unit of analysis is taken to be one shot, so the quantification will be at nominal level of measurement where each shot would be counted. Coding the content After the categories have been framed, inter-coder reliability will be tested to see whether the categories are reliable or not. If the inter-coder reliability holds well, then we apply it to code the whole study. Analysing the data and interpreting it. After the content is coded then we analyse the data and interpret it by relating it to the problem statement to arrive at conclusions on the research.