Research Methodology in Media, Communications and Culture
| Code | School | Level | Credits | Semesters |
| MLAC4002 | Media, Languages and Cultures | 4 | 20 | Spring Malaysia |
- Code
- MLAC4002
- School
- Media, Languages and Cultures
- Level
- 4
- Credits
- 20
- Semesters
- Spring Malaysia
Summary
This module combines training in general research and subject-specific practices of Cultural Studies. It is designed to introduce MA students to Cultural Studies research; to the dominant paradigms, and some of the most widely-used epistemologies and methodologies. The module conceptualises research as a productive moment situated between the theory and the practice of cultural work. It explores how Cultural Studies is both an intellectual account of the world and a political engagement with it. By drawing from a range of approaches within Cultural Studies and the social sciences, the module focuses on the development of Cultural Studies research from its early engagement with historical analyses of popular culture, showing how it instigated new research objects and opened new fields of intellectual endeavour using a variety of qualitative methods from textual analysis and image analysis, to ethnography and interviews. The module is delivered via monthly workshops and presentations of practical work.
Target Students
This is a module designed for students registered on the MA in Cultural Studies. There are limited places on this module. Students are reminded that enrolments which are not agreed by the Offering School in advance may be cancelled without notice. Available to JYA/Erasmus students.
Classes
- One 2-hour tutorial each week for 12 weeks
- One 1-hour lecture each week for 12 weeks
Assessment
- 40% Coursework 1: 2000 words - Critical Review or Research Essay
- 60% Coursework 2: 3000 words - Research Report
Educational Aims
This module equips students with the most appropriate theoretical and analytical tools, with which critically to address questions relating to the analysis of culture. It will provide a sense of the history of Cultural Studies research. It will also explore the role of Cultural Studies research in relation to the wider 'cultural economy'. Core questions to be addressed include: What is culture? How is an understanding of culture determined by already existing notions of high and low, mass or popular culture? What qualifies as a legitimate object of research? What research paradigms have dominated Cultural Studies research thus far, and how suitable are they for analysing contemporary culture? How do conventional Cultural Studies approaches that usually focus on national issues, apply to a globalising world? What are the challenges for research in International and Transnational Cultural Studies?Learning Outcomes
Knowledge and understanding:
on completion of this module, students will demonstrate:
- The ability critically to assess current developments in Cultural Studies research.
- Specialist knowledge and understanding of a range of research methods, supplemented by specific empirical examples.
Intellectual skills:
students of this module will have developed:
- The cognitive skills of critical thinking, analysis and synthesis, including the ability to identify assumptions, evaluate statements in terms of evidence, to detect false logic or reasoning, to identify implicit values, and to define terms adequately and to generalise appropriately;
- An appreciation of the complexity of the concepts of ‘reliability’, ‘validity’, ‘comparability’, ‘generalisation’, ‘interdisciplinarity’, ‘reflexivity’.
- The ability to gather, assess and interpret evidence;
- The ability to make reasoned arguments;
- The ability to reflect critically on the production of knowledge.
Professional/Practical skills:
on completion of this module, students will demonstrate:
- Research skills
- Use of the Internet for literature and data search
Transferable skills:
on completion of this module, students will demonstrate:
- The capacity to conduct library and internet-based independent research.
- Enhanced written and oral communication skills and information retrieval skills.
- The capacity critically to evaluate different sources of information.
- The ability to apply abstract theoretical paradigms to empirical examples and to evaluate their value.
- Self-management in terms of time planning and management
Conveners
- Dr Bee Yin Joanne Lim