Research proposal

I tried to focus the research as much as I could, to make it more clear and easy to understand. This is my final version of the proposal:

Financial blogging is becoming a popular activity in the 2008. Several signs could demonstrate the increasing popularity of financial blogging. Karyn McCormack (2008) argues that recent events in the financial market have been “great fodder for the growing community of financial bloggers” (p.3). Blogpulse, a service of Nielsen BuzzMetrics found 178,435 messages on economic crisis; 217,705 messages on financial crisis; and 784,375 messages on economy over the period from June, 2008, through November, 2008. A search for financial blogs on Technocrati produced 17,686 blogs (November, 2008). McCormack (2008) points that over the last few years some financial blogs have become popular and widely-read enough to make money using such tools as Google’s AdSense. Media organizations also followed this trend by starting financial blogs that cover the financial markets, deals and the economy, for example, Herb Greenberg's MarketBlog and The New York Times' DealBook (2008).
In the light of the recent Pew Research, which documented that often the press coverage of the economy state has lagged behind economic events, sometimes by months, the question posed by McCormack (2008) “where can you find the smartest, savviest takes on the markets and the economy?” becomes very relevant. The media coverage of economy right before the September 14, 2008, filled only 4.8% of the media newshole (The Lull before the storm). Financial crisis coverage during September 15 October 26, 2008, varied across different media (The meltdown and the media). From August 15 to September 14, 2008, coverage of the economy—which includes themes such as gas prices, banking industry trouble fills, the housing crisis, and retail sales—filled 4.8% of the media newshole. This is only about half the coverage (9.3%) the economy generated from January 15, 2008, through August 14, 2008.
One of the available resources of information on economy and finance matters could be financial bloggers. Russel Bailyn, the author of “Navigating the Financial Blogosphere: How to Benefit from Free Information on the Internet,” pointed out that he started a financial blog as “a forum for discussing commonly asked financial questions,” so it enhances “understanding of this field and improves your performance within it.” Bailyn believes that it is the main reason why it has become a “widely syndicated resource for both ordinary investors and industry professionals.”
The review of the prior research on blogs and blogging revealed that there is little studies on what topics do financial bloggers discuss on their blogs. This category of blogs is a growing area of blogosphere. A search for finance blogs on Technocrati produced 17,686 blogs. Technocrati has a separate blog category: business, which includes business finance, economy, investing, personal finance, real estate, and stocks and bonds, and entrepreneurs.
In the current paper the researcher will look at what are the most popular topics discussed by financial bloggers.

Professional literature on financial blogs
McCormack (2008) believes that financial blogs could be become the place where the most intelligent insights and opinions on the markets can be found. In addition to the mainstream financial media and advisors, investors’ blogs could be a reliable source of information on stocks, since the blogs are updated several times a day with analysis of firms like AOL's BloggingStocks (McCormack, 2008). Investor blogs are a source of both financial news and stock analysis. Such blog as 10Q Detective by David Phillips, a former equity analyst, provides trade alerts as well as the analysis of companies' SEC filings. There are blogs that are devoted to economy in general, such as Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis. According to McCormack (2008), financial blogs could be a way to “gather intelligence to become a better informed investor.”
As McCormack (2008) points out some financial blogs have gathered a big enough audience to generate advertising money using such tools as Google AdSense. There are different motivations behind starting a financial blog. Hogan (2007) describes how one of the bloggers, full-time independent investor, uses his blog to collect his thoughts. Moran (2007) points out that financial advisors use their blogs to share their views on investing and finance management. By being present on the web, the advisors create a cumulative effect on clients’ ability to find them (Moran, 2007).
Leland (2007) points out that there is a category of financial blogs maintained by ordinary people who decided to launch a blog to provide details of their financial life. Dozens of blogs have appeared on the web taking an advantage of online anonymity to talk about fiscal details that they will never share with their closest friends or family members. Some of the bloggers point out that blogging exposure imposes discipline to reduce their debt. According to Leland (2007) blogs reveal the everyday finances of American households during the time of financial uncertainty. People start blogs on personal finances as a way to communicate about those issues and as a way to increase their own awareness of their everyday spending.
Some of the nation’s leading academic economists, such as Paul Krugman, Nouriel Roubini, and Tyler Cowen, along with financial-industry insiders, participated in public, on blogs, discussion of different ways to cope with the financial crisis (Mihm, 2008). As the economic crisis developed financial bloggers provided their analysis and critique as well as various suggestions on how to address the crisis. Mihm (2008) argues that although, it is still not clear how big is the impact of financial blogosphere on Washington’s response to the financial crisis, there is an evidence that every step taken by policy makers are analyzed and critiqued by highly informed economic blogosphere (Mihm, 2008). According to the author, financial blogs provide a crash course on economics but in a much easier and comprehensible way. Mihm (2008) argues that bloggers helped to make the process of policy making more open by discussing publicly various matters ranging from recession to government bailout. There are bloggers who not only discuss economic issues, provide their opinions and suggestions, but also take a more activist role. Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis blog instructed its readers to write their senators and representatives (Mihm, 2008).

Methodology
For the current research, I will conduct content analysis of blog postings on financial blogs. The focus of the current content analysis is to identify, quantify and analyze the most common thematic patterns present in those blog postings. In this particular work I will conduct conceptual analyses, in which a concept (most common themes discussed by bloggers) will be selected, coded and counted. It will serve as a springboard for identifying the coding categories for the further more extensive analysis of financial blogs.
Sampling procedure
I will use Google search to identify five blogs, which are devoted to the discussion of the financial or economy matters. After selecting the blogs I will do a random sample of blog postings on those blogs. The availability of the archive on the blogs allows me to do random sample. The time period of postings which will be chosen for the study is one year, starting 2008, January through January 2009. I will compose a composite month by conducting random sample of blog postings.
RQ: What are the most common themes discussed by financial blogs?