An outline of your paper is due Friday, May 7 in class. Suppose your paper is on negative political ads. Below is a sample outline (with made-up references).

Working Title: Negative campaign ads and how they affect voters= decisions

I. Background and rationale for studying

A. Brief history of negative ads (Hillier & Coble, 1992; Swampscott, 1987)

B. Summary of negative adverstising in other realms (Gerkin & Flabble, 1988; Henceworth, Genovini, & Maples, 1985)

1. Consumer products

2. Referenda

C. Recent increase in negative ads (Bizawald & Soupspoon, 1993; Carter, 1994; Houston & Doan, 1995)

II. How negative ads work

A. Negative information more salient than positive (Skowronsky & Carlston, 1989; Pratto & John, 1994)

1. APoliteness norms@

2. Diagnosticity of negative information

B. Negative information and effects on attribution (James & Hensel, 1992)

C. Feature matching (Hodges, 1997; Houston & Sherman, 1995)

III. Impact on political system

A. Voter apathy (Houston & Doan, 1995)

B. Shift in perception of issues

1. Changes in what=s covered (Graham, Isez, & Merengia, 1991)

2. Changes in voters= perceptions of importance (Rier, 1986; Tevlodetz, 1991)

C. Distrust in politicians (Houston & Doan, 1995; Haddock & Zanna, 1998)

IV. Suggestions, unresolved issues and conclusions

A. Freedom of speech issue (Conyer, 1990)

B. Attempts to and results of controlling negative ads (Actonnell & Smith, 1991; Pembo & Hasselt, 1994)

 

References:

Actonnell, J. E., & Smith, P. (1991). A successful block in the use of negative campaign ads. Journal of Political Psychology, 23, 12-27.

Bizawald, Y. & Soupspoon, G. O. (1993). Going negative. Journal of Marketing Behavior, 16, 44-56.

Carter, J. E. (1994). The disintegration of civility: The recent trend for negative political ads. In H. Hasselt (Ed.), American politics at the end of a century (pp. 87-112). New York: Academic Press.

Conyer, B. (1990). Negative political ads: Freedom to criticize? Journal of Social Issues, 17, 33-41.

{etc., listing the additional references cited in your outline}