This paper is designed to develop an understanding of research approaches and methods employed in contemporary media. Students will focus on an area of research and topic related to contemporary media. The paper invites students to develop media research skills, covering topic mapping, annotated bibliography reporting, research designing, essay writing and the production of a video essay. The paper content and assessment structure follow a linear progression, covering multiple aspects connected to media research, data gathering, methodology, analysis and synthesis of research findings into elaborated research outputs.

Ongoing documentation of your research is compulsory through the use of an online blog. The blog will function as a repository for all your research materials, covering academic, media and other sources. Students are expected to cover a wide range of materials. As an online tool the blog will bridge research materials and routine documentation, offering students a chance to compile media related materials, notes and reflections through a multimedia online platform.

By taking this paper students will gain a critical appreciation of the contribution of research to the understanding of surrounding cultural systems within a range of media formats and contexts.

Students will be exposed to the complexities (and versatility) of research processes, the role of cultural values in and during the research process, and the various problems that researchers have to pre-empt.

Three aspects of research and media will be examined:

• research for the media: the work done by media professionals should be accurate, their ideas are unbiased, and the research process ethical.

• research about the media, especially research that investigates individuals' and populations' engagement with the media.

• research through various media: that relates to the ability that various media have to record, articulate, interpret, represent and provide data or research materials about society and cultural practices.

The paper will outline different kinds of conceptual frameworks and research methodologies and methods to collect and interpret data and research materials.

Students will develop a deeper understanding of various research strategies and will also explore ways to engage prospective participants in potential research.

If necessary, applicable and ethical, research projects could involve other students or people who are physically on campus. This possibility has to be discussed with the lecturer prior to starting projects.

Students are encouraged to explore topics of research with curiosity and are expected to read widely, as well as actively participate to lectures and tutorials.

You will be attending a weekly lecture and a weekly tutorial. The tutorials will not be recorded.
Please notify me as soon as possible if you are studying from abroad.

• All material produced by myself will be accessible online through Moodle (including lectures within a day or two of their scheduled delivery, reading list, various resources, assessment guidelines, etc… .)

• Students will upload their assessments on Moodle so that they can be checked for potential plagiarism or similitude to others’ work.

Assessments sent via email to the lecturer will not be looked at, commented on, and/or marked.

Please check Moodle announcements regularly.

Ensure you check your UoW student address email regularly.

Do not hesitate to use Studiosity prior to submitting assessments. (the link is on your Moodle page).

There is an online Moodle community for this course. Moodle can be accessed via iWaikato, or use the URL http://elearn.waikato.ac.nz/. Lecture notes, tutorial exercises, assignment details, and the paper outline will become available on this site.

As a 15-point paper, MEDIA 201 requires a consistent commitment from you (approximately 10 hours per week)

Three of these hours are the timetabled classes (lecture + tutorial). You will be attending a weekly lecture and ONE

weekly tutorial. So you are expected to devote approximately 7 hours per week to independent study for this paper,

This paper is core for the Screen and Media Studies major in the BA. It is intended to provide a foundation for students to design and conduct their own supervised research projects (such as directed studies, or research at graduate level).