Through taking Research Methods as a precursor to senior thesis, I conducted a content analysis study and wrote an accompanying research paper on female athletes representation on Instagram.

After coding many different Instagram posts, I was able to reject the null hypothesis which was: Sports media coverage of female athletes on Instagram reinforces gender stereotypes by focusing on reporting on traditional feminine traits such as appearance, social image, or personal life rather than athletic accomplishments or skills.

While my initial hypothesis was rejected from my original research, this shows there is progress in fair reporting on female athletes in the media.