Media and Communications Research

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2011:

None

Research is a vital activity of media professionals and academics. This subject offers a critical introduction to the fundamental tools for research into media institutions, technologies, texts and audiences. Students will be introduced to the gathering and analysis of data, the principals of researching organisations, various tools for the analysis of audiovisual and verbal texts, the use of archives and databases, and techniques in audience research. They will also be introduced to the ethical and theoretical principles underpinning research methods. The subject will draw on expertise across social science and humanities approaches to media analysis, and will encourage critical awareness of the comparative strengths and weaknesses and appropriate selection of research methods. On completing the subject, students should be able to design and undertake a successful media research project. This subject is designed to introduce students to the major branches of media and communications theory at an intermediate level. It covers approaches drawn from both humanities and social sciences, including medium theory, textual analysis, political economy, and theories of the information society. Key topics include ideology and semiotics, narrative and genre analysis, audiences, media globalisation and new media. Students will be presented with a range of case studies engaging with representations of gender and sexuality, class, race and ethnicity, and will investigate the pressures that contribute to patterns of media stereotyping. Students completing this subject will gain a deeper understanding of the diverse forces shaping the contemporary mediascape, and of the different theoretical traditions underpinning various research methodologies in the field of media and communication.

Students completing this subject will:

• be able to understand a variety of theoretical perspectives that are relevant to the study of media and communications;
• be able to compare and contrast different approaches, recognising different theoretical concerns and emphases;
• be able to apply theory in attempting to explain media and communications in the modern world.

A subject reader will be available.

• Media Resarch Methods: Audiences, Institutions, Texts Bertrand, I & P Hughes (2005) Palgrave, Basingstoke
• Research Communications: A Practical Guide to Methods on Media and Cultural Analysis Deacon, D, M Pickering, P Golding & G Murdoch (eds) (1998) Arnold, London
• Analyzing Discourse: Textual Analysis for Social Research Fairclough, N (2003) Routledge, London
• Mass Communication Research Methods Hansen, A, S Cottle, R Negrine & C Newbold (1998) Macmillan, Houndsmills
• A Handbook of Qualitative Methodologies for Mass Communication Research Jensen, K B & N W Jankowski (eds) (1991) Routledge, London

This subject potentially can be taken as a breadth subject component for the following courses:

• Bachelor of Biomedicine
• Bachelor of Commerce
• Bachelor of Environments
• Bachelor of Music
• Bachelor of Science
• Bachelor of Engineering

You should visit learn more about breadth subjects and read the breadth requirements for your degree, and should discuss your choice with your student adviser, before deciding on your subjects.

Students successfully completing this subject will:

• be able to demonstrate competence in reading relevant academic literature and in reflecting critically on that body of literature;
• be able to demonstrate conformity to appropriate forms of written presentation in academic work;
• be able to demonstrate a general awareness of the role of theory in understanding social life.