1. MAC201
Assessment 1
2014

2. Overview
1.
2.
3.
4.
Assessment submission
Assessment 1
Assessment 2
Extensions

3. 2 essays
• Deadline for first assignment: Wednesday 19th
Mar 2014 3pm (week 8)
• Deadline for second assignment: Wednesday
14th May 2014 3pm (week 13)

4. Submission
• A paper copy (the most important)
• A digital copy
– Screened for plagiarism
– Needs to be submitted too
– Grade can be withheld unless provided
• Use the Dropbox button in Sunspace

10. Assignment 1 – Television Texts
• Wednesday 19th Mar 2014 by 3pm (physical and digital submission)
• This assignment requires students to assess and critically analyse
one or two of the key issues, concepts or themes raised in the
Television Texts section of the module. The assignment must
address the above by paying specific reference to examples drawn
from one of the following formats:
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–
–
–
–
–
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Broadcast news (eg The Channel 4 News)
Political discussion show (eg Question Time)
Current affairs (eg Newsnight)
The talk show (eg The Jeremy Kyle Show)
Documentary (eg The War You Don’t See)
Reality television (eg The X-Factor)
Lifestyle television (eg How to Look Good Naked)

11. Guidance for students (1/3)
• The essay should focus principally on one concept. It
can refer to others in passing if there is significant
overlap - eg if discussing impartiality in broadcast news
it may be appropriate to briefly mention balance or
objectivity.
• Similarly, the essay should focus principally on one
television example.
• If your analysis refers to specific episodes, you must
ensure you reference the text in full (eg original date
of airing, URL for online viewing, channel name, etc).

12. From 2011-12 student
• Question: “What is a concept?”

14. Guidance for students (1/3)
• The essay should focus principally on one concept. It
can refer to others in passing if there is significant
overlap - eg if discussing impartiality in broadcast news
it may be appropriate to briefly mention balance or
objectivity.
• Similarly, the essay should focus principally on one
television example.
• If your analysis refers to specific episodes, you must
ensure you reference the text in full (eg original date
of airing, URL for online viewing, channel name, etc).

15. Guidance for students (2/3)
• Be careful not to dilute your analysis by trying to cover
lots of areas superficially.
• The essay requires students to be critical rather than
descriptive. Describing the narrative of a text achieves
very little in isolation other than to pad out the word
count inefficiently.
• Similarly, long general historiographies of concepts or
formats are seldom conducive to critical analysis.
Significant moments or developments are acceptable
providing they pertain to the selected example.

16. Guidance for students (3/3)
• The best work will demonstrate knowledge of the subjects,
contextualising relevant themes and issues in relation to
historical shifts and the contemporary television landscape.
• The assignment should consist of your own analysis of a
television text rather than paraphrasing an article by an
established author. Higher grades will be awarded to work
that is able to apply an argument/framework from one
area and apply it to a different example
– eg taking the work of Lunt and Stenner on The Jerry Springer
Show and applying it to The Jeremy Kyle Show or Higgins’ work
on newspapers and applying it to television news.

17. Put simply
1 or 2 of these
1 of these
• Ideas, concepts, etc
• Television formats
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
News values
Ideology
Impartiality
Public sphere
Plurality
Celebrity
Celetoids
Propaganda
Distortion
‘Dumbing down’
Infotainment
Discourse
Neoliberalism
Governmentality
Etc, etc
Broadcast news
Political discussion shows
Current affairs
Talk shows
Documentary
Reality television
Lifestyle television

18. Put simply
1 or 2 of these
1 of these
• Ideas, concepts, etc
• Television formats
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
News values
Ideology
Impartiality
Public sphere
Plurality
Celebrity
Celetoids
Propaganda
Distortion
‘Dumbing down’
Infotainment
Discourse
Neoliberalism
Governmentality
Etc, etc
Broadcast news
Political discussion shows
Current affairs
Talk shows
Documentary
Reality television
Lifestyle television
NB: you can use more than one
example from a given genre/format:
•Big Brother and X-Factor
•What Not To Wear and How To Look
Good Naked
•Geordie Shore and Made In Chelsea

19. Put simply
1 or 2 of these
1 of these
• Ideas, concepts, etc
• Television formats
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
News values
Ideology
Impartiality
Public sphere
Plurality
Celebrity
Celetoids
Propaganda
Distortion
‘Dumbing down’
Infotainment
Discourse
Neoliberalism
Governmentality
Etc, etc
Broadcast news
Political discussion shows
Current affairs
Talk shows
Documentary
Reality television
Lifestyle television
Make sure you pick a concept that fits
the format you are looking at.
For instance, news values can be
applied to broadcast news or current
affairs content but less so with reality
TV

20. Plan of action
•
•
•
•
100 hours allocated to Assessment 1
6 weeks @ 3 hours contact = 18 hours (82)
10 hours of screenings (72)
60 hours of reading/researching/watching
(12)
• ~12 hours remain

21. Plan of action
• Approx. 10-16 hours needed
Identify and gather
resources:
~ reading 3 hours
~ notes 2 hours
Sketch out essay
plan:
~ 500 words
~ 1 hour
Rough draft #2:
~ writing 2 hours
~ redraft 1 hour
Rough draft #1:
~ writing 2 hours
~ redraft 1 hour
Proof-reading:
~ 1 hour
Rough draft #3:
~ writing 2 hours
~ editing 1 hour
WEEK 6
WEEK 8
Week 6
end
Cut-off point for
advice from staff
SUBMISSION
Week 7
end
21

23. Assignment 2 – Audience Consumption
•
•
8th January 2014 by 3pm (physical and digital submission)
This assignment requires students to design a small-scale research project
seeking to investigate a form of media consumption of their choosing,
whilst being sensitive to the appropriateness of the research.
•
The assignment should include suitable space dedicated to a
consideration of the following:
– An appropriate area of media consumption and a rationale for investigation
– The development of a key research question
– A critical reflection upon and an engagement with relevant literature
regarding the study of audience consumption practices
– An appropriate methodology to investigate the form of
consumption/engagement
– A consideration of the limitations of the study (eg what will be considered?
What will be ignored? How justifiable is this?)
– A consideration of indicative areas that might be difficult to engage with and
the measures required to address these concerns (eg how might you gather
data regarding consumption of internet pornography given that respondents
might difficult to obtain?).

24. Guidance for students (1/2)
• Depending on the area of media consumption the intended
sample size may be subject to negotiation with your
seminar/module leader.
• Students should be mindful of the different methods that
can be employed to undertake research – eg qualitative
research, quantitative research, participant observation,
self-selection, etc – background reading is essential
• Audience research can be time and labour intensive – you
will need to provide a feasible time-frame for the data
gathering, processing and summary of findings.

25. Guidance for students (2/2)
• You are encouraged to reflect upon the type of
questions you build into the project:
– Are ‘open’ or ‘closed’ questions appropriate?
– Are multiple choice questions appropriate?
– Do the questions presume a specific behaviour rather
than seek to identify that behaviour?
– Are the questions consistent in delivery?
– Are the questions likely to cause offence?
– How will the project be targeted?
– Will the project involve focus groups, online surveys,
questionnaires, face-to-face interviews, etc?

26. Assessment 2
• We will cover this in more detail at the end of
the first block of sessions (week 7)

27. Extensions
• AQH-F6-13
• Regulations Governing
Extension of Assessment
Deadlines and
Consideration of
Extenuating Circumstances

28. Extensions
• 1.1 All assignments have
hand in dates set in
advance and published in
the module guide. It is a
student's responsibility to
meet these deadlines. If the
assignment is not
submitted on time the work
will be failed.

29. Extensions
• 1.2 In all cases it is the
student's responsibility to
present to the University
supporting evidence to
justify their claim.

30. Extensions
• Maximum extension period
= 72 hours
• Inclusive of weekends and
bank holidays
– Saturday submission
• NB: subject to module
leader approval

31. Seminars