The proposal titled “An Investigation of Guns, Masculinity, and Nationalism” is written by Professor Bill Rocque of the University of Redlands staff. The purpose of this study is to examine gun enthusiasm and gun culture and their relationship to masculinity and nationalism in the United States. Professor Rocque also aims to better understand the ways in which guns are important in the lives of the people who own and use them, the meanings people make from guns and shooting, as well as the ways in which guns function in discourses at the center on freedom, democracy, and citizenship. Professor Rocque also examines gun violence and the regulative attempts that raise important sociopolitical issues. The research on gun ownership and gun shooting provides an exploration of this largely male practice. The topic of this research is connecting guns, masculinity, and nationalism to the political, legal, and social debate. Professor Rocque provides several research questions, such as “How do boys and men use guns to construct themselves as men, and what social, emotional, and psychological payoffs are there for them in the process?”, “What are the narratives that circulate in American culture about guns, freedom, manhood, safety, and power?”, “How do these narratives contribute to the construction of a national manhood?”, among a few others about gun violence, gender, and gun regulations.

The type of data needed to answer these research questions are acts/behaviors/events, reports of acts/behavior/events, deeply held opinions and attitudes, and cultural knowledge. These data types show that qualitative methods are employed to assess the symbolic and material relationships between guns, masculinity, and nationalism in the United States. The data collection methods that are essential for this research are in-depth interviews, participant observation, and discourse analysis. Professor Rocque attends gun shows, shoots at ranges, enrolls in gun training courses, and discusses guns with owners of gun related businesses. He engages in the gun culture in the most common ways that gun enthusiasts in America do today. Since he aims to describe a particular population of people, namely males and gun owners, the research requires a non-random sample. To recruit participants, he utilizes snowball sampling methods, internet, email, telephone, and in-person solicitation. The data analysis method employed in this research is coding. Professor Rocque aims to internally code the interview transcripts to identify patterns that the interviewees describe as pertinent. Along with internal coding, Professor Rocque analyzes cultural texts such as social media, films, magazine articles, and websites to contextualize the interview data.

I think this research is well-thought out and successfully utilizes various data types to provide extensive background on the topic of guns, masculinity, and nationalism. Since Professor Rocque is using multiple data types and data collection methods, the research may take a significant amount of time to complete. I think it is interesting that his goal is to help gender theorists better understand the processes of masculinity, role of guns and media in these processes, and the connection between masculinity and violence. If we can improve understanding about gender construction of boys and men who engage in gun violence, then we might eventually reduce it.