Conducting Research

1. CW MS3 Research & References [14/10/2015]
A Level Media / Introduction
10/14/2015 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

2. MS3: MEDIA INVESTIGATION &
PRODUCTION
WJEC A2 Media Studies
10/14/2015 Term 1, Lesson 1 2

3. TASK A: RESEARCH INVESTIGATION
MS3: MEDIA INVESTIGATION & PRODUCTION
10/14/2015 Term 1, Lesson 1 3

4. 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.
10/14/2015 Term 1, Lesson 1 4

5. 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!
10/14/2015 Term 1, Lesson 1 5

6. First Steps to your Essay
Step 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
REPRESENTA
TION 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!
10/14/2015 Term 1, Lesson 1 6

7. 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…
10/14/2015 Term 1, Lesson 1 7

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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.

11. 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

12. 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.

13. 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.

14. Did you go here?
What’s wrong with this?

15. 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

16. 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.

17. 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 time
Be ready to share

18. 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.

19. Research Log
• It is important that you keep a log of ALL the
research you do during this
10/14/2015 Term 1, Lesson 1 19
Source
Internet site or book title/author/ date
Research Findings
In your own words (DO NOT copy and paste)
http://www.filmsite.org/horrorfilms.html
2014
AMC 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.

20. 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

21. 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

22. 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

23. • 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

24.  If there are two authors, cite both
e.g. (Morris and Scott 1996)
 If there are more than two authors use et al
e.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

25. • 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

26. • 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

27. • 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

28. How To Reference
• http://www.neilstoolbox.com/bibliography-
creator/
• https://www.citethisforme.com/
10/14/2015 Term 1, Lesson 1 28

29. Housekeeping
MS3
1. 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 
MS4
1. 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 
10/14/2015 Term 1, Lesson 1 29

30. Plenary – Audit your
research
• Have you used a wide range of sources?
• What research do you still need to do?