Blog Entry One
My name is Simon Mojolwane; I am currently a BA Honours in
Media Studies candidate at the University of South Africa. I have obtained my
undergraduate BA Communication Science in the previous year on 11th
September 2009 with UNISA as well. It has been a quite interesting journey
towards obtaining my first degree.
I choose to do this course on Media Research (COM4802 Theme
01) because upon my exposure to its overview, I realised how important it is
for a potential media researcher. The concepts and methods covered in the
syllabus are well suited for a media researcher. Most importantly, the content
of the course material (textbook, recommended readers and the tasks) is in par
with the everyday developing media industry.
I hope by the end of this year, to have understood the skill
of blogging about the knowledge I will gain while doing this course. Also what
is more important for me is to gain more ability to understand the requirements
and guidelines of conducting a media research. This will help a lot when coming
to implementing such abilities in a practical life situation.
The purpose of my blog is straight and forward, to blog on
“doing media research”. However, the most its important purpose as it is an
academic affair, is to be able to share my efforts on doing media research with
my fellow scholars who are also engaged in this task. In other words I may put
it that, this blog will serve as a platform for interaction with my fellow scholars
in terms of evaluating each other’s progress via our blog entries respectively.
When conducting a research in media studies, four important
concepts come to one’s attention namely; the research process, textual analysis,
qualitative research and ethics in media studies research. Now, what does
each mean?
Ø
The research
process
Regardless of how the word research is
used, it essentially means the same thing: an attempt to discover something as Wimmer & Dominick (2006:2) note. In their chapter
on research process, they systematically introduces a potential researcher to
what a research is and more importantly what are the steps to be taken when conducting
a mass media research. To make it more understandable one may refer to the
research process as the important layout of the format one must employ when
conducting a research. A topic on research procedures details exactly the steps
one is to follow in doing research (Wimmer & Dominick. 2006:14).
Ø
Textual analysis
The insights of textual studies may help to remind other
qualitative researchers that while data sets hold information, they are, first
and foremost, texts which must be analysed and interpreted to yield that information
as Jensen & Jankowski (2006:133) note. In
contrast with the quantitative analysis which merely counts the occurrences of
texts rather than discussing their purpose and meaning in a narrative approach,
one may argue that textual analysis attempt to dig deep in understanding the
purpose and effects of the text in solving a research problem. It is important
to note that when doing media research, one is in most cases confronted by
dealing with problems relating to social intangible phenomena such as
behaviours or attitudes.
Ø
Qualitative
research
Qualitative research involves several
methods of data collection, such as focus groups, field observation, in-depth
interviews, and case studies (Wimmer & Dominick. 2006:48). They further
establish that; the variables in qualitative research may not be measured or
quantified. In other words, unlike in the quantitative research, the analysis
in the qualitative research draws much from a narrative form. However Winner
and Dominick warn against the smaller nature of a qualitative research sample which
may prevent the researcher to generalise their findings beyond the sample
selected for the study. This may imply that, qualitative research is suitable
to investigate a specific phenomenon at a specific time frame.
Ø
Ethics in
media studies research
Ethical behaviour is the right thing to do
(Wimmer & Dominick. 2006.67). How does this relate to media studies research?
One may ask. It may put as; ethics are those set of rules and guidelines set by
the research council that stipulate how researchers must conduct themselves in
a more accepted human behaviours when conducting their studies. Given the fact
that media studies researchers mostly deal with other human beings when
conducting their studies, it is important to respect the subjects of your study
and never violate their moral rights. They may be compiled in different forms
for a specific part of research. Wimmer and Dominick (2006: 76-78) provide a
discussion in these purpose specific ethical conducts; ethics in data analysis
and reporting and ethics in the publication process.
Core principles
of qualitative research ethics and textual analysis for media studies scholars
Ø
Media research scholars must stick to the research
process guidelines when embarking on conducting a media research.
Ø
The research should be original, but must also
engage with your field of study (Stokes .2003)
Ø
Follow the regulations stipulated by the council
concerning the research
Ø
The media studies scholars must refer from their
fellow scholars or previous studies when they are confronted by a whole new
situation to study (Literature review).
Ø
Never present a deceiving act to the
participants of your study
List of sources
Jankowski, N.W. and Jensen, K.B. 2006. A Handbook of qualitative methodologies for mass communication research. New York:
Routledge [O]. Available:
Stokes, J. 2003.
How to do media and cultural studies research. London: Sage [0] .Available:
Wimmer, R.D. and Dominick, J.R. 2006. Mass media research: an introduction. Belmont, Calif: Wadsworth.
posted by Unknown @ 08:19
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