I need to complete my thesis for a MA in communications. My chosen subject is issues advertising, and I''d like to know if issues advertising helps large corporations close the perceived legitimacy gap in the minds of the general public/viewing audience. In other words, does this type of advertising (discussing issues and how they will solve them rather than simply touting their products) make companies look better in the eyes of the public, or do people notice or care? I want to focus on three often-scrutinized companies that are currently running issues advertising types of campaigns: G.E., B.P. and Chevron. I want to do a conceptual content analysis of the company''s advertising (TV and print) and web site materials (rather than try to run through the IRB process, which is necessary to hold focus groups or survey subjects). Because of that, I may need to modify it a bit to pose a question that does not involve people''s perceptions. Perhaps I will gauge the media''s perception of these companies and their advertising efforts by also evaluating media content……like, are companies who do this type of advertising looked upon more favorably by/in the media? (Thoughts on that?) For the content analysis, I''ll need help defining a variety of categories to code. Also, we have to incorporate or test an overarching communication theory, so I''d like to examine social cogntion theory as related to mass media. Right now, I just want the thesis statement (proposal). It must be 5 to 8 pages and follow APA style (my entire thesis needs to). It should include: the background for study, research questions and hypotheses, and methods used.