Nikita Ford Research Into Topic With stereotypes not being a topic in which you would usually find

statistics or opinions on, I have decided to look more at what people would define a stereotype as and the different types of stereotypes there are amongst teenagers as this is primarily what the main focus of our documentary is going to be. What is a stereotype? A stereotype is a belief that may be adopted about specific types of individuals or certain ways of doing things, but that belief may or may not accurately reflect reality A stereotype is a set of characteristics which we associate with a certain individual or social group A person who is regarded as embodying or conforming to a set image or type A simplified and standardized conception or image invested with special meaning and held in common by members of a group= Sociological definition http://changingminds.org/explanations/theories/stereotypes.htm Changing Minds is the largest site in the world on all aspects of how we change what others think, believe, feel and do They define stereotypes as generalizations about a group of people whereby we attribute a defined set of characteristics to this group. These classifications can be positive or negative, such as when various nationalities are stereotyped as friendly or unfriendly. The purpose of stereotypes is to help us know how to interact with others. Each classification has associations, scripts and so on that we use to interpret what they are saying, decide if they are good or bad, and choose how to respond to them (or not).It is easier to create stereotypes when there is a clearly visible and consistent attribute that can easily be recognized. This is why people of colour, police and women are so easily stereotyped. We often accept stereotypes from other people. This helps us agree on how to understand and act towards various groups of people in a consistent way. This definition is useful too us as it is a very detailed analysis of what a stereotype is and how they work. Also their description of a stereotype is highly valid as it is taken from the Changing Minds consulting and publishing company website. which is and I quote the largest site in the world on all aspects of how we change what others think, believe, feel and do David Straker is the principal consultant and author of the site who has a long background in a range of mind changing areas such as counselling, psychology and education, He also has postgraduate qualifications in changing minds such as M.Sc. Psychology. Why do we use stereotypes? Do they Influence our Behaviour without us realising?

Nikita Ford http://counsellingcentral.com/why-do-we-use-stereotypes/ Here this article explains why we use stereotypes Although I am not sure on the reliability of this piece. The validity of this piece is increased by the fact it is taken from a counselling website created by Steven Lucas MBACP, MNCS (Acc.) a professional Counselling Psychologist working in Northamptonshire, England. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Psychology, and Diploma's in Counselling, Abnormal Psychology and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. http://www.spring.org.uk/2010/01/stereotypes-why-we-act-withoutthinking.php Here this article looks at how stereotypes can influence our behaviour without our knowledge. Again although I am unsure of the reliability of this piece, the validity of this article is increased as it is taken from a psychology blog about scientific research on how the mind works and again is presented in a professional way. The blog is also written, designed and coded by Jeremy Dean a researcher at the University College London, who is working towards a PHD. He also previously completed an M.Sc. In Research Methods in Psychology and before that he obtained a Graduate Diploma in Psychology, so clearly he has a good level of knowledge on the topic. Social Consequences of Stereotyping? Stereotypes allow individuals to make better informed evaluations of others whom they possess little or no individuating information. In many, but not all circumstances, stereotyping helps individuals arrive at more accurate conclusions.[Negative effects of stereotyping may include forming inaccurate opinions of people, scapegoating, erroneous judgmentalism, preventing emotional identification, and distress. This piece of information was taken from Wikipedia, so the reliability and validness of the piece is questionable as although Wikipedia is a professional, well known and used site, it is also known that as anyone can update the information on pages that some information found on the site can be invalid.