Niko Salinas 

Class of 2019

Day to day you are constantly being flooded with information. Every turn you take, every move you make; you are met with tons of information that affects your perceptions of day to day life. The worst part is, you don't even know about it. 

Perception: The way that an individual regards the procedure to own a firearm and to purchase a firearm as well.

Media coverage: The views of credible news outlets that hold views about the procedures of owning and purchasing firearms. This will be measured with the survey that I administer. 

Voter turnout: Voter turnout will be based upon the last General Election in Washington state (2018). 

My proposed method of study is to utilize a stratified survey as well as using Descriptive Research. This will gather necessary information to form a logically based conclusion on the process of purchasing and owning a firearm within Washington state. My survey will also measure the extent of coverage on firearm procedures and the rights of owning a firearm. I will also conduct research of many texts that will help stabilize my research and my understanding of my research as a whole. 

My initial assumption of the media's effect on individuals' perceptions, was that they negatively effected individuals. Through lack of information or misinformation all together it would worsen their perceptions on certain aspects of policies that they may possibly vote for with a lack of information. 

The method of Inquiry that I utilized was Descriptive Research as well as using a Qualitative Survey, that was issued with Stratefied Sampling. 

It was discovered that, although individuals viewed other medias that differed in politcal backgrounds, many individuals on all sides of the political spectrum agreed on one thing, keeping the American people safe. No matter what type of media they viewed, an overwhelming majority supported enforced background checks with restrictions. Such as restricting individuals with criminal backgrounds for example. This was the main takeaway.  It was also noted that, a majority of individuals did not know that firearm policies varied from state to state. This could be used to blame the medias that individuals view for a lack of information. 

It was surprsing to see that a majority of the individuals who partook in the survey seemingly agreed on one main solution. Considering the fact that they viewed different types of media. Which refutes my initial hypothesis of the different types of medias that individuals view, having negative effects on their perceptions of policies. Which creates disruption amongst people.