Limitations of the method in this study

collectively by year, eliminating the individual films. This was carried out at the variable and sub-variable level.

Table 4.2: Variables and Sub-variables of dissolved panopticon

Liquid Technology Solid Technology Non Technology

Satellite CCTV Watchtower

Telecommunications Recorded (audio/visual) Participant

Biometric Old Media Extrasensory w/o technology

Card/Data based Institutional setting New Media

Extrasensory w/ technology

After the overall figures were determined, the data was analyzed at the sub variable level. These sub-variables are found in Table 4.2. Once again, the data was tabulated and averages were determined for each of the sub-variables.

4.9 Limitations of the method in this study

Finally, while the study has attempted to be inclusive and up to date, there have been limitations on the basis of medium, subject. These include the selection of movies over comic books, the exclusion of television and theatrical renditions, subjectivity versus objectivity, the lack of female representation, and the matter of conducting research during a period in time where there was a vast evolution of the subject matter, particularly regarding surveillance.

First, there is the issue of selecting movies over comic books. Films were selected for the project because they provide a densely packed narrow source. Comic books tend to be lengthy in their storytelling techniques, setting up characters and situations over the course of many issues. In addition, many comic books are written in the form of a graphic novel. These are as detailed as written novels, including sequences and characters that would not fit into the time constraint of a movie. Like written novels, there have been film adaptations of graphic novels. This study includes two: V for Vendetta and The Watchmen. Films condense the character and situational set ups, while also forcing the audience to absorb what is happening much quicker than with a comic book or graphic novel, where the reader can linger or revisit certain portions of the story. Films are more easily consumed repeatedly over time because they demand less time than a book.

Second, movies were selected as the visual medium over television or theatre for similar reasons as comic books. Superheroes have emerged on television in recent years, notably Heroes, Arrow, and Marvel’s Agents of S.H.E.I.L.D.. Like comic books,

television dramatization allows for longer episodic storytelling. Character development can occur over many hours of a television show’s season, while film is confined to 2 or 3 hours. As a result, there is a time constraint for the completion of project, which makes utilizing television shows as a source more difficult. Meanwhile, theatre is an unstable source, with only one superhero play on stage, Spider Man: Turn Off the Dark, which closed on Broadway while data was being collected for this study.

A third limitation has to do with the subjectivity of the viewer. I, as a researcher will bring my own biases to the viewing, which will have an affect on the interpretation of the films. As a result, there is a possibility that my subjectivity will have affected the qualitative analysis.

The fourth limitation is the inequality of gender representation. It is very clear that there is a lack of first order female representation within the superhero genre. Characters such as Elektra, Catwoman, and G-Girl are the stars of the films they are in. However, the remainder of female superheroes, including villains, are either part of a larger male-dominated team (for example, Storm, Rogue, and Mystique in the X Men franchise, Black Widow in The Avengers, Sue Storm in Fantastic Four, and Silk Spectre II in Watchmen) or are secondary characters (such as Mary in Hancock, Elektra, who was in Daredevil before getting a stand-alone film, and a different Catwoman in The Dark Knight Rises).

Therefore, because of the dearth of samples to work from, it is not possible to get a definitive understanding of female interaction with surveillance technology that is unencumbered by a dominate male presence.

Finally, throughout the process of research and writing, there has been an evolution in the nature of surveillance at the state and corporate level. This is an

important limitation because it has changed the scope of what the state is actually capable of rather than just theoretically capable of. The whistle has been blown by Edward

Snowden and Bradley Manning revealing the nature of the surveillance program conducted by the National Security Agency in the United States, the level of access to data given by Google, and Facebook amongst others through the PRISM program, and

the level of co-operation with the GCHQ in United Kingdom, along with Canada, Australia, and New Zealand through the Five Eyes program. Incorporating information about the breadth and scope of data gathered from an unsuspecting public, then shared with foreign nations, while the revelations spill out in real time has been a challenge.

4.10 Chapter Summary

To summarize, this chapter has been dedicated to laying out the methodology of the study. The chosen method for this study is the manifest content analysis, also referred to in the literature as summative content analysis (Potter & Levine-Donnerstein, 1999;

Hseih & Shannon, 2005). While manifest content analysis has been determined to be the best method for the project, limitations have been recognized. These include a bias towards scientific findings, the bias towards quantitative units of analysis over qualitative data; the replicability of results, due to the difficulty of researcher/content objectivity;

and the contribution to social theory, whereby the results are limited by theory, or can not say more beyond the data of the study. Reviewed literature revealed research into the content of films goes back to the 1930s; the most well known study being David Bordwell’s genre-crossing examination, which covered a broad timeframe.

This chapter also delved into how the study was established. Films were

purchased, rented, or streamed from licensed distributors. The films that were selected for the study had to meet the following criteria: they had to be superhero films, meeting a specific definition (Coogan, 2009); they had to be live-action; the films had to have a wide theatrical release; and they had to be released between 2000 and 2013. Data was gathered in two stages: first, field notes were taken of a small sample of the films to determine the suitability of the topic; then, each of the films was viewed and quantitative data based on the categories of the dissolved panopticon concept, with field notes taken augment the data gathered. The data was then totaled, averaged, and cross-tabulated for analysis based on years of release, a bi-section of years, and by groupings based on characters (either in a group of sequels, prequels, and reboots, or as a collection of singular films). Frequencies were also determined the rate at which surveillance was put on screen.

Finally, the chapter also included a section on the limitations of the study. The first and second limitations were tied together. They spoke to the narrowness of superhero films compared to the longer form media, such as television, theatre, and comic books. The third limitation is one that is common to content analysis based studies, that of objectivity of the viewer. The last limitation involved the problem of writing while events were unfolding simultaneously. This presented issues regarding the ability to reflect on how events could influence the study and the consistency of the writing.