Unit rationale, description and aim
This capstone unit explores the varied approaches to audience scholarship; from early 20th century visualisations of mindless consumers, drip-fed by a continuous flow of ‘messages’, to the study of new media as a site of participatory culture and community. Particular emphasis is given to fans, whose online production practices may push the boundaries of genre, taste and copyright law. Students will demonstrate the skills acquired in this unit through the piloting and evaluation of their own audience research project.
Campus offering
No unit offerings are currently available for this unit.Learning outcomes
To successfully complete this unit you will be able to demonstrate you have achieved the learning outcomes (LO) detailed in the below table.
Each outcome is informed by a number of graduate capabilities (GC) to ensure your work in this, and every unit, is part of a larger goal of graduating from ACU with the attributes of insight, empathy, imagination and impact.
Explore the graduate capabilities.
Identify and explain historical and contemporary a...
Learning Outcome 01
Discuss the varied relationships that may occur be...
Learning Outcome 02
Use a selection of audience research methods to st...
Learning Outcome 03
Evaluate and communicate the findings of audience ...
Learning Outcome 04
Content
Topics will include:
- Historical concepts of the media audience (i.e. passive receptors of messages)
- Ratings, and the commodification of audiences
- Citizenship, public opinion and the public/private sphere
- New media, participatory culture, and the disruption of cultural monopolies
- Fandom, and the pleasures of identification
- Contemporary methodologies suitable for the study of media audiences
Assessment strategy and rationale
The goal of this unit is to lead students through the process of designing their own honours-level audience research project, for which they will informally pilot one research instrument. An evaluation of this pilot will be presented as Assignment 3 and could form the basis of an honours application, should the student be interested in pursuing it.
In order to get there, students will first select a topic, survey the academic literature on that topic, and formulate a research question (presented as assignment 1). Once students know WHO they are wanting to research, and WHAT they wish to find out, the next step is to work out HOW they will go about it (presented as assignment 2).
Biggs (1989, pp17-18) argues that motivation is key to deep learning, and that students are more likely to be motivated when they are involved in the planning of a task; when there is a sense of “ownership”. In MEDA304 students will be invited to develop a research project around an audience product, practice, site or subculture (within taught ethics guidelines) that reflects their own interests and obsessions.
To meet the learning outcomes of this unit students must pass assessment three, which is an evaluation of and report on the outcomes of audience research.
Overview of assessments
1. A review of published audience studies themed ...
1. A review of published audience studies themed around an audience product, practice or site.
This formative task will encourage a critical engagement with published scholarly research (LO1) into the various engagements that exist between audiences, producers and texts (LO2).
20%
2. A research design for a student-led engagement...
2. A research design for a student-led engagement with a ‘real-world’ audience.
This formative task will help students to establish a research methodology (LO3) for their proposed audience research project, and to place that methodology within an ethical framework.
30%
3. An evaluation of and report on the outcomes of...
3. An evaluation of and report on the outcomes of audience research undertaken by students (which might include written, oral and audio-visual components, depending on the nature of the research undertaken and methodologies employed).
In this summative task, students will demonstrate an ability to gather and communicate the results of research via an informal pilot. All learning outcomes are demonstrated via successful completion of this task.
50%
Learning and teaching strategy and rationale
Students value tools of instruction that have immediate uses (Slade 2010, p37), and are seen to develop skills that employers will value (Nicol 2009, p36). One of those skills is research. In this unit, students will research and pilot their own audience research project and will therefore be able to demonstrate facility with basic data gathering techniques to a prospective employer.
Each tutorial will consist of activities that transition from skills of acquisition to skills of application. Students will be asked to analyse examples of media audience research before undertaking practical exercises which model the research technique in small groups. This will prepare students to deploy a selection of those techniques for their final assessment task without the same level of supervision.
Representative texts and references
Cultural Protocols
Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Cultural Protocols for Indigenous Reporting in the Media https://www.wipo.int/export/sites/www/tk/en/databases/creative_heritage/docs/abc_cultural_protocol.pdf
Australia Council, Protocols for Using First Nations Cultural and Intellectual Property in the Arts, https://australiacouncil.gov.au/investment-and-development/protocols-and-resources/protocols-for-using-first-nations-cultural-and-intellectual-property-in-the-arts/
Terri Janke, Pathways and Protocols: A Filmmaker’s guide to Working With Indigenous People, Culture and Concepts, Screen Australia, https://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/getmedia/16e5ade3-bbca-4db2-a433-94bcd4c45434/Pathways-and-Protocols.pdf
REPRESENTATIVE TEXTS AND REFERENCES
Aarons, H 2021, A Practical Introduction to Survey Design: A Beginner's Guide, SAGE, Los Angeles.
Berger, A 2020, Media and Communication Research Methods, 5th edn., SAGE, Thousand Oaks.
Budarick, J & Han, G (eds.) 2017, Minorities and Media Producers, Industries, Audiences, Palgrave Macmillan, London.
Cyr, J 2019, Focus Groups for the Social Science Researcher, Cambridge University Press.
Duffett, M 2014, Understanding Fandom: An Introduction to the Study of Media Fan Culture, Bloomsbury Academic.
Hight, C, & Harindranath, R (eds.) 2017, Studying Digital Media Audiences: Perspectives From Australasia, Routledge, New York.
Kwaymullina, A (2016) “Research, Ethics and Indigenous Peoples: An Australian Indigenous perspective on three threshold considerations,” AlterNative, 12.4, pp. 437-449.
Mytton, G, Diem, P & van Dam, P 2016, Media Audience Research: A Guide For Professionals, 3rd edn., SAGE, California.
Sullivan, J 2020, Media Audiences: Effects, Users, Institutions, and Power, 2nd edn., SAGE, Thousand Oaks.
Tuhiwai Smith, Linda. Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples 2nd ed. London & New York: Zed Books, 2012.