This study investigated the relationship between absurd humor in meme stills and the perceived humor among Generation Z students. Students of a high school in Northeast Ohio were given one of two seemingly identical surveys, each with a selection of six memes and individual Likert scales corresponding to the presented memes. A rubric was created with guidelines for visual components that was used to assign the presented memes an absurdity score with categories of “minimal absurdism,” “semi-absurd,” and “absurd.” Participants (n=298) were asked to rank the memes on the Likert scale ranging from a value of 1—not at all funny to a maximum value of 5—extremely funny. Following a chi-squared test, we can be over 99% confident that there is a present relationship between absurdist humor content in meme stills and how humorous they are rated by Generation Z students. These findings can be applied to the usage of memes in marketing, an ever-increasing function of meme humor, to make advertisements and communication more effective.
Critical discourse analysis is a qualitative research approach used to study social inequalities, in which it creates the connection between social practices and the social context. The use of film analysis variables of non-discourse and discourse practices relating to this analysis approach was examined from one film representative of each decade; the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s. The heterosexism found within the acting and directing process of films within the comedy genre while structuring a gay character in screenplay was examined through the research process by honing in on specific variables. The conducted study’s research process involved multiple viewings of each movie: Victor/Victoria, Clueless, and Bridget’s Jones Diary where 3 scenes were chosen from the film regarding variables such as materialisations, speech, and actions that held correlation to the portrayal of a homosexual character. By the film variables directly corresponding with the characterization, the research analysis demonstrated heterosexist actor’s and director’s choices throughout the filming process and their correlation to common stereotypes against homosexuals being drawn off of for comedic effect. Over the span of 3 decades, the use of stereotypes within homosexual movie media representation; although progressive towards inclusion, has strictly portrayed such characters in comical, non-serious scenes. It is with a comparison of the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s take on gay portrayals that the founded extremity of the use of such common stereotypes was recognized as they continuously, negatively impact the LGBTQ community through the continuation of use constituting these portrayed personas as correct.
The nursing profession is heavily saturated with long hours and night shifts. Oftentimes new nurses spend months to years working on the night shift which influences biological processes such as the circadian rhythm. Their eating habits, digestion, sleep, and metabolism are all affected. Using the platform Google Forms, night shift nurses from the past and those currently working the night shift were questioned on their night shift experience, focusing on their diet and dietary habits. After the data collection was analyzed in Google Sheets, I drew conclusions and found trends among the participants. There were forty participants due to method limitations, but the participants showed many negative implications of being a night worker. In order to evaluate multiple perspectives from the participants, there were two groups of participants. The first consisted of nurses currently working the night shift, and the second group had nurses that have worked the night shift in the past but no longer do. Current night shift nurses were negatively impacted the most, but to my surprise, there were still dietary implications for those who do not work the night shift currently. For the most part, both groups of participants’ diets and overall health had declined; something needs to be done to help those helping us.
