A 9 page paper that begins with a proposal that includes the reason for selecting the topic and the sources that will be used. The major part of the essay is a literature review of celebrity obsession or worship, including a scale developed to measure this phenomenon and some reasons some people are obsessed with specific persons who are famous. Bibliography lists 8 sources.
Name of Research Paper File: MM12_PGclbob.RTF
Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
are in what a family member did. What is it about fame that it goes so far as to invade our major newscasts? This writer was so irritated when all
the news broadcasts devoted time to Britney Spears breakdown and Paris Hiltons time in jail that she/he stopped watching the news. Clearly, obsession with famous persons, especially in the
entertainment and sports fields, and at the time of this writing, politics, is a major pastime for our population. This is evidenced by the hundreds of tabloids, magazines, Web sites
and other venues that earn their profits by reporting gossip, most of which is exaggerated or outright lies. The question is why are so many people driven to this state
of consciousness? What is the fascination, what is the obsession? What do researchers conclude about the reasons for celebrity worship? The writer will use the Internet to search for
articles and books about the topic of celebrity obsession. Searches will be made on Google and Infotrac. One must be careful about articles on the Web so criteria are established:
the author must have credibility, either from their own background or that of their association, e.g., associated with a college or reputable organization; the writer personally knows the content is
reported elsewhere, or the writer personally knows the content is true based on news broadcasts or other knowledge the writer has. Investigative Analysis Obsession with celebrity
is not new but it has grown exponentially over the last three decades. This phenomenon has also changed over the years. Douglas (2003) explains that "in the ancestral environment" (p.
26), certain individuals gained prestige because they were elders or good hunters and members of the community who wanted that type of prestige would copy what those celebrities did or