Plan of Action for the CBBC Question

Introduction:
In order to answer the question posed there needs to be a plan of action. The research needs to be split into two categories which will be academic research and primary research techniques. The academic research will not only provide a theory to prove right or wrong but it will provide more stability to the main argument.


The primary research techniques will involve some sort of interaction with the target demographic for the CBBC question in order to find out what the age range of 8-12 want out of a website and more importantly, how they use the internet.


Plan of Action: De-Constructing the Question

How can we create a safe environment for children online without discouraging participation?

The question posed at first could be misleading and suggest that the focus is on the specific section of signing in or logging on. The main focus should be placed on "create" as the CBBC are looking for a way to life their website to the next level and attract more users. However, they still have to maintain a safe environment and they definitely do not want to discourage participation as this would possibly make them lose members. 

The logging in stage for the CBBC website is time consuming and has a lot of agreement forms that can confuse and discourage their members. Therefore, the website needs to add more features that resemble their top competitors such as Facebook without breaking any of their rules. 

Plan of Action for Academic Research:

There are many media and social studies theorist that have many ideas about technology and participation, however, the research for this question needs to be specific and focus on theorist who have specialised in children's participation habits. David Buckingham and Sherry Turkle have done an in-depth study on technology and children and therefore, some research on these two theorist would be a valuable source. 

Also, in the plan of action there needs to be an argument that supports the primary research which gives the whole presentation some credibility. 

The Next steps are to research theorists and link them to suitable areas in the question posed. 

Plan of Action for Primary Research:


Primary research such as questionnaire and focus groups will give a further understanding to what children want out of the internet.  The next plans for the primary research is to draw up a plan for a suitable research method that will be relevant and understandable to children aged 5-11.