IntroductionGreat importance is placed on the body and appearance in American culture. As a result, many studies have been conducted to investigate the effects of media on individuals of both sexes. In my personal experience, media has the greatest impact on teenagers and college students, as these are the prime years where individuals of both genders measure themselves in relation to society's expectations. One of the many ways that individuals stay up to date with the latest trends is by consuming a large amount of media, such as reading fashion magazines or watching television shows. Today, both men and women face unrealistic expectations every time they open a fashion magazine. Our society promotes an unrealistic image of beauty that is virtually impossible for the majority of the population to achieve. However, the reality is that most magazines airbrush photos in order to “perfect” their models. Unfortunately, this unattainable body image contributes to low self-esteem, negative body image, as well as the development of destructive eating disorders in both sexes. According to Bell and Dittmar (2011), this negative body image is the result of environmental pressures to conform to a culturally defined body and beauty ideal. This research will focus on the effects of a specific type of media, magazines related to fashion, celebrity news and lifestyle, on women and men. We will measure the degree of exposure of individuals to the thin ideal image as well as the degree of their body satisfaction. Research Method The unit of analysis for this study will be students currently enrolled at CSU Northridge. My research team and I will contact the institutional research offices of the middle of paper......a specialized information technology consultant will create an online survey that will be sent to our random sample of students. The university will then send 1,750 email surveys to selected students. April-May: After receiving completed surveys, we will collect data and limit the number of respondents to the first 1,500 acceptable respondents. We will also send them the gift cards promised for their participation. The research team will analyze the data. June: After analyzing the data, we will write the final report summarizing the results. Study Costs • Specialized information technology consultant required to create the online survey to be emailed to the pool of respondents selected by simple random sampling - $5,000 • Cost of gift cards that will be sent to 1,500 respondents ($10 each x 1,500 respondents) - $15,000 • Total cost: $20,000