Monash University Handbook

The unit introduces critical and practical approaches to research in the media and communication industries. It presents a critical overview of the rationale for research in industry and academia. Various traditions of inquiry are explored and applied to typical research studies conducted in communication and the media with specific reference to South Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa. Specific quantitative, and qualitative research methodologies are investigated. Various key ethical and critical research issues are deliberated.

Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, students should be able to:

Understand the uses of quantitative and qualitative research methodologies in academic and industry contexts.
Understand the uses of quantitative and qualitative research methodologies in science and non-science environments
Understand the nature and use of a theoretical framework in a research project
Define and formulate a research project, including hypotheses, research problems and questions, goals, ethical considerations, literature reviews, theoretical frameworks, and data collection, analysis and interpretation methods.
Demonstrate sound awareness of ethical principles in research practices.
Demonstrate familiarity with specific methodologies, including, for example, ethnography, case study, survey, textual-, thematic-, discourse- audience- and quantitative content analysis
Reflect on relationships between local and global frameworks in developing approaches to research.

Assessment

Within semester assessment: 70% + Exam: 30%

Workload requirements

Minimum total expected workload to achieve the learning outcomes for this unit is 144 hours per semester typically comprising a mixture of scheduled learning activities and independent study. A unit requires on average three/four hours of scheduled activities per week. Scheduled activities may include a combination of teacher directed learning, peer directed learning and online engagement.