Introduction
According to www.encyclopedia.com, many people take a weak view of cosmetic surgery, as they see it as perky. It does, at any rate, involve some risk (like any operation) and should therefore not be undertaken lightly. Basically, this paper discusses in detail the research proposal on cultural study of the phenomenon of cosmetic surgery from post World War II to the present or rather a semiotics of cosmetic surgery in culture. In particular, the research will focus on the question: “How war/military contributed to the rise of cosmetic surgery as a medical specialty and therefore cosmetic surgery as a military technology?” In this research proposal, the background, context and theme of the study are presented; the objectives of the study and the research statements are formulated. Here, vital concepts, questions and assumptions are stated. Finally, the scope and limitation of the study, methodology to be used and the significance of the research are discussed. Further, this paper briefly reviews related literature.
Purpose of the Study
Generally, the purpose of the study is to conduct a critical analysis to determine how military culture contributes to the rise of cosmetic surgery. The research will specifically identify the different factors related to military culture and cosmetic surgery development. This paper aims to explore the development in cosmetics surgery in relation to technology, culture, medicine and military. Moreover, this study would review relevant literature on the same topic. Based on the preliminary review of literature, the researcher assumed that the Internet has a significant effect/ impact to our society.
Research Question and Null Hypothesis
The focus of this problem statement is to establish and determine the contribution of military/war to the development of cosmetic surgery. Currently, there are limited studies that provide a definitive answer regarding the negative and positive influence of cosmetic surgery to the society. The researcher is hopeful that this study will yield a significant result in terms of both positive and negative impact of respect to our modern community.
This study will attempt to answer the following questions:
1. Do modern society benefit from cosmetic surgery development?
2. Is the society aware of the advantages and disadvantages of cosmetic surgery development? What is the level of their awareness?
3. Does the development in medicine affect the culture in relation to cosmetic surgery development?
4. What are the usual problems in achieving the development in cosmetic surgery?
5. Does the development in military significantly affect the progress of cosmetic surgery?
6. What are the significant contributions of cosmetic surgery to military, medicine, culture and technology?
Hypothesis
This paper aims to work on the following hypothesis:
- There is a significant relationship between the progress of military and cosmetics development.
- The development of cosmetic surgery has significant effect to cultural change.
Background of the Study
Cosmetic surgery plays significant effect to the history of military. Advances in technology provide quality contribution to plastic surgery development. Basically, plastic surgery is divided to two groups, namely: cosmetic surgery and reconstructive surgery. www.encyclopedia.com defined cosmetic surgery as aesthetic surgery, which most is often done to change features the patient finds unflattering. In a few cases, however, there may be medical reasons (for example, breast reduction when orthopedic problems are present) while reconstructive surgery includes microsurgery, which focuses on undoing or masking the destructive effects of trauma, surgery or disease. Such plastic surgery may include closing defects by transplantation of tissue from other parts of the body.
Basically, there is a long history of cosmetic surgery that has changed and is continuing to change every day. In addition, the development of cosmetic surgery techniques by surgeons was facilitated in order to have a response to birth disfigurement and war caused deformities. According to www.encyclopedia.com, the history of cosmetic surgery started because the 20th century wars outcome in more destroyed facial and head features. Because of these war injuries, the progression and experimentation of plastic surgery and rapidly became the preliminary point for the history of cosmetic surgery.
Actually, Haiken, E. (1997) stated that the end of World War I and the high number of shattered faces that were rebuilt by new constructive surgical procedures was put in the press as a way to restore hope amongst soldiers. Therefore, Haiken, E. (1997) believes that surgeons began to appreciate the capabilities of the reconstructive procedures and began to appreciate the possibilities. The history of cosmetic surgery has evolved a great deal from changing birth deformities to shifting ideas of beauty based on the times.
According to the history, cosmetic surgery reserved for just the rich and famous, the history of cosmetic surgery did not permit the average person to have assistance from the procedures that could reshape society's elite (Haiken, E. 1997). There was also more of disgrace in talking overtly about any cosmetic work performed. There was also a more significant idea of beauty in the early history of cosmetic history, with people seeking procedures to a more conventional idea of beauty.
Currently, cosmetic surgery has transferred from the early history of cosmetic surgery views. From time to time, there have been many supplementary measures developed, improved systems formed, a wider range of patients, and a higher recognition and ingenuousness than the early history of cosmetic surgery. American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery (2002) believes that the idea of beauty has become more diversified, with a greater acceptance for unique and ethnic features and has become a more open forum to discuss than early history of cosmetic surgery.
Moreover, the shift in views from early history of cosmetic surgery to now has been attributed to many things. Currently, the focus on health and fitness has led to a natural succession of wanting to look as good as people feel, and there are more media outlets than in the history of cosmetic surgery. The history of cosmetic surgery was not yet done but more information and more people are speaking about cosmetic surgery. In comparison to the perception of people about cosmetic surgery today and previous times, people today are ashamed that they have gotten surgical work performed on areas there were previously totally pleased with.
In 2002 alone, there were close to 6.9 million cosmetic surgery procedures performed, a vast increase of 228% from 1997 which is not a long history of cosmetic surgery but merely five years (American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery 2002).
Moreover, the history of cosmetic surgery is designed to continue to change. With the increasing acceptance and openness of cosmetic surgery, it is also necessary to remember the history of cosmetic surgery and not misplace sight of how it should be used. Although cosmetic surgery is an immeasurably optimistic practice for many people, studies and history of cosmetic surgery shows that it can be a pessimistic tool if used incorrectly.
The Research Design
In order to come up with the most suitable research approaches and strategies for this study, the research process “onion” is undertaken. This is because conducting a research is like peeling the back layers of an onion—in order to come to the central issue of how to collect the necessary data needed to answer the research questions and objectives, important layers should be first peeled away. With the said process, the researcher was able to create an outline on what measures are most appropriate to be applied in the study. Moreover, this paper aims to determine the significant contribution of military to the development of cosmetic surgery.
Accordingly, while it is not unusual for a researcher to first think of his research undertaking by considering whether one should, for instance, administer a questionnaire or conduct interviews, thoughts on this question should belong to the centre of the research ‘onion’. That is, in order to come to the central issue of how to collect the data needed to answer one’s research questions, there are important layers of the onion that need to be peeled away: the first layer raises the question of the research philosophy to adopt, the second considers the subject of research approach that flows from the research philosophy, the third examines the research strategy most applicable, the fourth layer refers to the time horizon a researcher applies to his research, and the fifth layer is the data collection methods to be used Saunders et al (2003).
Description of the Data Used in the Study
This study utilized secondary data. Secondary data include raw data and published summaries, as well as both quantitative and qualitative data. Saunders et al (2003) deduced that secondary data fall into three main subgroups—documentary data, survey-based data, and those compiled from different sources.
Documentary secondary data, accordingly, are the ones often used in research projects that also use primary data collection data methods, although such data can also be used on their own or be combined with other secondary data. This type includes: written documents (notices, correspondence, minutes of meetings, reports to shareholders, diaries, transcripts of speeches, administrative and public records, as well as articles from books, journals, magazines and newspapers) that can be important raw data sources on their own right, a storage medium for compiled data, provide qualitative data, and can be used, as well, to generate statistical measures (e.g., data on the performance of cosmetic surgery); and, non-written documents (like tape and video recordings, pictures, drawings, films and television programmes, digital versatile disks and CD-ROMs) that can be analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively, as well be used to help triangulate findings based on other data such as written documents and primary data collected through observations, interviews and questionnaires (Saunders et al, 2003, pp. 190-191).
With this particular study, the researcher utilized documentary secondary data (in the form of articles from books, journals, magazines, and newspapers) that are generally about the military, war and cosmetic surgery development as well as relevant literatures in order to answer the objectives of this study.
Locating the Secondary Data Used
Accordingly, finding relevant secondary data involves two interlinked stages. The first stage is identifying whether or not the data that a researcher looks for are available as secondary data, while the second stage is finding the precise data that is needed for the study. (Saunders et al, 2003)
For this study, the researcher was able to establish that the pertinent data needed for the fulfillment of this research’s objectives are available through the literature review previously conducted. Because of the review, the researcher was able to gather full references to the sources of the needed data. Tertiary literature (like indexes and data archive catalogues) also helped especially those on-line indexes and catalogues of Universities, organizations (such as Brookings Institutions) and U.S. Government websites.
After determining the availability of the data, the next step for the researcher was to locate them. For this, the researcher had gone to several libraries within the researcher’s area of vicinity in order to locate the books, journals and magazines that are needed. But more importantly, the researcher utilized the Internet, which had provided the pertinent secondary data needed, thanks to the numerous websites on international and political affairs available.
Evaluating Secondary Data Sources (Validation of the Data)
According to Stewart and Kamins (1993), the use of secondary data is advantageous for a researcher since one can already evaluate the suitability of a data as it is already in existence, thus, much time can be saved. Needless to say, an evaluation of potential secondary data is very important before one incorporates it in his/her study.
In this study, the researcher adopted the three-stage process devised by Saunders et al (2003, p. 205):
The first stage is assessing the overall suitability of data to research questions and objectives. During this stage, the researcher paid particular attention to measurement validity (measuring / estimating whether the secondary data will result to a valid answer to the research questions and objectives) and coverage (this includes ensuring whether or not the data is wanted and can be included, as well as making sure that sufficient data remain for analyses to be undertaken once unwanted data have been excluded).
The second stage is evaluating precisely the suitability of data for analyses needed to answer and meet the research questions and objectives. In this stage, the researcher made sure of the validity and reliability of the secondary data by assessing how it was previously gathered, who are its sources, and the likes. Also, the researcher was cautious not to commit measurement bias (which can occur due to deliberate distortion of data or changes in the way data are collected) had been paid close attention.
Finally, the researcher judged whether to use data based on an assessment of costs and benefits in comparison with alternative sources.
Analyzing the Gathered Data
When all the needed and pertinent data are gathered, the researcher will employ on them the documentary analysis technique, which is more commonly known as content analysis to come up with the findings needed for the fulfillment of the objectives of this research undertaking.
Content analysis is a research tool used to determine the presence of certain words or concepts within texts or sets of texts, wherein researchers measure and analyze the presence, meanings and relationships of such words and concepts, afterwards making inferences about the messages within the texts, the writer of the text, the audience, as well as the culture and time of which the text is a part of. (Busch et al, 1997) It is for the objective, systematic and quantitative description of the manifest content of communication. (Berelson, 1952, p. 18) Meanwhile, texts can be broadly defined as books, book chapters, essays, interviews, discussions, newspaper headlines and articles, historical documents, speeches, conversations, advertising, theater, informal conversation, or any occurrence of communicative language. (Busch et al, 1992)
Accordingly, content analysis is currently in wide use in diverse fields, ranging from marketing and media studies, to literature and rhetoric, ethnography and cultural studies, gender and age issues, sociology and political science, psychology and cognitive science, and many other fields of inquiry. (Busch et al, 1997) Also, a content analysis manifests a tight relationship between socio and psycho linguistics and is playing a vital role in the development of artificial intelligence. (Busch et al, 1997) Other possible uses for content analysis include: to reveal international differences in communication content; to detect the existence of propaganda; to identify the intentions, focus or communication trends of an individual, group or institution; to describe attitudinal and behavioral responses to communications; and, to determine psychological or emotional state of persons or groups. (Berelson, 1952)
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