ALC208- Researching Media: Texts, Audiences & Industries ALC208- Researching Media: Texts, Audiences & Industries Week 2- TOPIC 1 The Research Process 1

Criteria of a Good Theory Theoretical scope- generalisability Power- higher in scope or more situations covered Appropriateness Heuristic Value- extends our knowledge Parsimony- ‘short & sweet’ Internal consistency Falsification Ethical and morally responsible 2

Theory, Research & Practice Theory in research Theory on practice e.g. Research during the 1992 US Presidential campaign Some theories and research challenge or contradict each other e.g. Evolution vs Creationism or Intelligent design 3

The Research Process The Research Process (Research) inquiry starts with curiosity, an idea or with the questions: What is? Why? If then, what? and What if? Anomaly Alternative explanations 4

Alternative Explanations to Gen Y Violence Reading 1.1: McCrindle (2010) Population increases New technologies and increased media reporting; easy and fast to gather as groups Changes in rules of the street Culture of binge drinking/by women & knife culture Permissive parenting (‘peerents’) Lack of boundaries: choices without understanding consequences Freedom too early and ‘safety net syndrome’ 5

The Research Process (Contd.) The Research question – idea for research Methods - techniques of collecting data Methodology - Strategy, plan, design Theoretical perspectives - Philosophy guiding the methodology Epistemologies - Theory of knowledge 6

Types of Epistemologies Objectivism- ‘Truth is out there’; An objective/absolute truth /reality/meaning exists even if we do not know of its existence; Researcher must find it. Most often used in the natural sciences 7

Constructionism No objective truth/meaning waiting to be discovered Meaning not discovered but ‘constructed’ as the same thing means different things to different people. e.g. A car. The subject (a person) and object (the thing made meaning of) join together to create meaning Often used in qualitative research 8

Subjectivism Sees meaning as imposed on the object by the subject. Meaning based on what society has placed on the object e.g. A Ferrari Object as passive Subject as active 9

The ‘Great Divide’ between Qualitative & Quantitative Research Not seen as polar opposites anymore Just different- no hierarchy Some projects combine both methods Methods considered quantitative and positivist in the past, today considered qualitative and constructionist. e.g Ethnography. 10

Quantitative Research Involves ‘counting’ and provides numerical data e.g. Surveys, content analysis Data seen as objective as the researcher stays away from data during collection Uses standard procedures and instruments to collect data. e.g. questionnaires for surveys 11

Qualitative Research Data non-numerical and embedded in their context. e.g. Texts, opinions expressed during interviews Data are subjective and carry values of the researcher Researcher is the data collection instrument. e.g. Interviewer, participant observer Not conducted under strict conditions as with quantitative 12

Qualitative vs Quantitative Differ at the methods level - not epistemological or theoretical perspective levels Quantitative is generally objectivist/ positivist and qualitative is constructionist/ subjectivist But sometimes quantitative is used in non- positivist research Use whatever is best suited to the project Be conversant with both quantitative and qualitative methods 13

Word of Caution Not practical to be both objectivist and constructionist/subjectivist as they are contradictory One says there is an objective meaning and the others say there is not. Therefore, needs to be consistent when using them together. 14

Any Questions? 15