blog post #2

My Research Begins

In the early weeks of January, my investigation of missing white woman syndrome encouraged by media bias began. While I made great progress, I was met with several dead ends, forcing me to seek answers.

Details of My Research Process

Researching

I had to email several sources in order to gain access to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation Missing Persons list.

retrieving

After thorough deliberation, I chose to print out a comprehensive list people that have been continuously missing.

encoding

Since printing the list, I have created a coding system to take out all males that have been missing and other details (more details below.

The Coding System

Narrowing Down the Suspect: Investigating Each Person's story

My project consists of racial bias in the media for women only, and since around 40% of missing people are women, that eliminated the majority of the list. This left me with all the women that have ever been missing, however, I'm only research women in the last 5 years, so that is another group cut out. For the select women that fit my criteria, I have a separate coding system that rates each case on a scale of 0 to 4 on the level of coverage they received (which includes none). This process requires me analyzing and researching to what extent did each woman receive coverage before referring to my detailed guidelines for each number:

0: No media coverage
1: Local news or missing persons signs posted (ex. The Parker Chronicle)
2: Regional or Statewide news (ex. The Denver Post)
3: National News (ex. The New York Times or Washington Post)
4: International

Setbacks I've Encountered

After realizing that the list I was using was ongoing of all the people that have ever gone missing, I wondered how many had been found. According to a CBI agent, only 1 person in the last 5 years has been found and is no longer available on the list due to privacy laws.

I now wonder how many women went missing and then were found dead, and if those names are accounted for on the list as that data is what is most similar to Gabby Petito's case. I hope to have more answers soon.

Please check back in a couple weeks to see how my research has progressed.

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