CW MS3 Research & References [03/05/2023]

A Level Media / Introduction

05/03/2023 Term 1, Lesson 1 1

Learning Objective/ Outcome Level

All: there will be evidence of research from a reasonable number of sources

2

Most: Research will be good, covering a good range of sources 3

Some: Research will be excellent, covering a wide range of sources 4

MS3: MEDIA INVESTIGATION & PRODUCTION

WJEC A2 Media Studies

05/03/2023 Term 1, Lesson 1 2

TASK A: RESEARCH INVESTIGATIONMS3: MEDIA INVESTIGATION & PRODUCTION

05/03/2023 Term 1, Lesson 1 3

Task A: Research Investigation

• This piece of work will be done individually.

• Students will formulate their own research field of study that is focused on one or more of the concepts of genre, narrative or representation.

• The teacher should have an instrumental role in negotiating the title for their assignments, reminding students that there must be clear potential for the development of the investigation into a production piece.

05/03/2023 Term 1, Lesson 1 4

Five Steps to a good Essay

1. FIRST IDEAS– Note down some initial ideas and reactions. Which area do you want to explore?

2. INITIAL RESEARCH– Expand your knowledge of the area you’re interested in. See the following slide for more information about how to

do this.

3. FOCUS– Which texts or research area do you want to focus on? N.B. Remember to focus on contemporary media (i.e. within

the last five years) for your final title

4. TITLE– Come up with a title for your investigation, to be discussed and finalised with your teacher.

5. FOCUSED RESEARCH AND WRITING– Get on with it!

05/03/2023 Term 1, Lesson 1 5

First Steps to your EssayStep 1

• Decide on a Medium and a Product you want to study

• Keep a brainstorm of your initial plans

• Fill in your Research Proposal

Step 2

• Do some Initial Research on your medium and decide on an area of GENRE, NARRATIVE or REPRESENTATION to investigate

• Keep a research Log of what you find and where you find it

Step 3

• Choose 2/3 specific texts to use in your study

• Decide on some possible titles for your research paper

• Keep your title focused and mention specific texts you wish to study

Step 4

• Submit your plan and research log to CPP to agree

• Get Researching and Writing!

05/03/2023 Term 1, Lesson 1 6

Research Tips• At each step of your research, try to have clear objectives in mind.

• Are you clear about what you are trying to get out of each piece of research you do?

• It's useful to set yourself questions that you want your research to find answers to. This should help direct you and help you to set priorities.

• Make a record in your log of every source you use and every piece of research you do, because if you don't, you'll forget the sources you've used. You will need to note these sources in your bibliography, so it's important you have a clear record of them.

• You will need both primary and secondary research in your essay…

05/03/2023 Term 1, Lesson 1 7

Methods of Research

• There are 2 main methods of Research that you will undertake during this project.

• These 2 methods are different from each other and have their own advantages and disadvantages depending on what you want to do with the results

Primary Research

• Do you have any ideas on what the term Primary Research means?

• Spend a couple of minutes discussing it with the person sitting next to you and be prepared to feedback your answer

Primary Research

• Primary Research is research that is done by you!

• Primary research (also called as field research) involves collecting data first hand.

• This can take many forms, the main ones being interviewed, questionnaires, panels and observation.

• The idea behind primary research is to gather a range of data that is new and original.

Secondary Research

• Do you have any ideas on what the term Secondary Research means?

• Spend a couple of minutes discussing it with the person sitting next to you and be prepared to feedback your answer

Secondary Research• Secondary Research is research that is done by someone else

and used by you.

• Secondary research(also called desk research) involves collecting data which already exists.

• Secondary research is available from a number of different sources

• These includes using information from reports, publications, Internet research and company files.

Where will you go?

• Imagine you want to conduct research into the generic conventions of horror films.

• Log onto the computer and go to the first site you would use.

Did you go here?

What’s wrong with this?

Visual Thinking

• How can we critically evaluate secondary sources?

• Silent reflection – one answer per post-it• Group sharing• Can you group your ideas in any way?• Give each group a heading

Feed back your headings

• Did we get...– Accuracy. If your page lists the author and institution that published

the page and provides a way of contacting him/her and . . .– Authority. If your page lists the author credentials and its domain is

preferred (.edu, .gov, .org, or .net), and, . .– Objectivity. If your page provides accurate information with limited

advertising and it is objective in presenting the information, and . . .– Currency. If your page is current and updated regularly (as stated on

the page) and the links (if any) are also up-to-date, and . . .– Coverage. If you can view the information properly--not limited to

fees, browser technology, or software requirement.

Unpicking the levels

What do you think gets a level 4?Research will be excellent, covering a wide

range of sources.

One minute’s thinking timeBe ready to share

Begin your research

• Conduct research into your chosen area.

Use appropriate, academic resources and keep a detailed log

of where your information was found and record direct quotation

where possible.

Research Log

• It is important that you keep a log of ALL the research you do during this

05/03/2023 Term 1, Lesson 1 19

SourceInternet site or book title/author/ date

Research FindingsIn your own words (DO NOT copy and paste)

http://www.filmsite.org/horrorfilms.html2014AMC Movie Classics

e.g. Themes/ Audience reaction: Horror Films are designed to frighten and panic, cause dread and alarm.They often feature our hidden worst fears, often in a terrifying, shocking finale, while captivating and entertaining us at the same time in a cathartic experience which is one of the main appeals of the horror genre. Horror films effectively deal with our most primal nature and its fears: Often focusing on nightmares, vulnerability, alienation or revulsions. It also examines our terror of the unknown, our fear of death and dismemberment, loss of identity, or fear of sexuality.

Referencing- an Introduction

• Many referencing styles – Harvard easy to learn/simple to use

• Start when search for sources- record all the details- enable accurate referencing later

Why reference?• Demonstrate researched appropriate literature/ undertaken reading • Acknowledge used ideas of others (avoid plagiarism)• Key to good academic practice• Enhances the presentation of your work• Shows writing based on knowledge/informed by appropriate academic

reading• Enables person reading your work to trace source used/give credit for

effort/quality

What to reference/cite

• What should I reference?- all sources of information used in

writing your essay• What is a citation?

- acknowledging others’ work in your work

- referring to them individually- using a direct quotation

• Authors– Author’s name followed by date of publication– E.g. Gabe (2011) argues that..

– Quoting an author briefly: – E.g. Gabe (2011:75) states that `Health inequalities are...

– Longer quotes – 2+ lines – start new line and indent.quotation marks are not need

The concept of exclusion has come into ever-greater use with the deepening social crisis. Contrary to what occurred in the industrial Revolution of the last

century... (Bessis 1995:13)

Referencing in the text

If there are two authors, cite bothe.g. (Morris and Scott 1996)

If there are more than two authors use et ale.g. (Williams et al, 2012)

Quotations from journals follow the same format. E.g. Author + date of publication- give full details in bibliography

Citing sources that have not been read directly... (Denney 2005, cited in Moore 2008)- in the bibliography just reference Moore 2008- only list texts in the bibliography if you have actually read them!

Referencing in the text

• For essays divide bibliography into Texts and Websites• Do NOT split into journals and books• Sources cited in main text should be in the bibliography• Publications by a single author should come before joint

publications by the same order• Don’t use et al in the bibliography• If there are two books/articles by the same author in the same

year, distinguish by using ‘a’, ‘b’ etc after the date• Titles of books and journals should be in italics• Don’t use numbers/bullet points before each source

Bibliography

• Single author:Denney, D. (2005) Risk and Society. London: Sage Publications.

• Joint authors:Crawford, A. and Newburn, T. (2003) Youth Offending and Restorative Justice. Cullompton: Willan.

• Edited book:Lee, R. and Stanko, E. (eds) Researching Violence. London: Routledge.

• Chapter in an edited book:Bury, M. and Gabe, J. (2006) ‘Television and medicine: Medical dominance or trial by media?’ In D. Kelleher, J. Gabe and G. Williams (eds) Challenging Medicine. London: Routledge.

Examples

• Justice. (2012[a]) Disposals. [online] Available from: http://www.justice.gov.uk/youth-justice/courts-and-orders/disposals [Accessed 19 December 2012]

• Justice. (2012[b]) Youth custody data. Available from: http://www.justice.gov.uk/statistics/youth-justice/custody-data [Accessed 19 December 2012]

Examples in Bibliography

How To Reference

• http://www.neilstoolbox.com/bibliography-creator/

• https://www.citethisforme.com/

05/03/2023 Term 1, Lesson 1 28

Housekeeping

MS31. Your initial Ideas Sheet

2. Your Draft proposal

3. Your FINAL proposal (After CPP signs off)

4. Any example work you have been given

5. Any of the guidance sheets on the shared area you have printed

6. Completed RESEARCH log

7. DRAFT ESSAY – COMPLETED & Marked

8. PLANNING WORK – Completed

9. DRAFT PRODUCTION WORK – Marked

MS41. Your FROZEN PowerPoint (completed)

2. Any past paper questions attempted + any feedback received

3. Any additional homework completed

4. Summary Sheet of Notes

5. Your AFIE PowerPoint (completed)

6. Any past paper questions attempted + any feedback received

7. Any additional homework completed

8. Summary Sheet of Notes

05/03/2023 Term 1, Lesson 1 29

Plenary – Audit your research

• Have you used a wide range of sources?

• What research do you still need to do?