Researching Media and Communication (P5016). Essay

Media and Communication 
Name
Institution: University of Sussex
Course: Researching Media and Communication (P5016)
Date
 From Week 1: Write a short reflective piece, drawing on Silverstone and other relevant literature, responding to the following questions:
Media is a process that is eternally social and political, and in many cases ideological    where meaning is offered through communication (Silverstone, 1999:5).  There are two paradigms of research approaches in media and communication studies the quantitative and qualitative methods.  The quantitative methods were mainly used in natural sciences, but have been adapted into the social sciences, and they include survey research, content analysis and even archive research, and these approaches are based on numerical information mostly mathematical modelling, survey methods and network analysis (Stokes, 2012:3).  Qualitative research is mostly associated with meaning and interpretation and these methods are mostly common in the humanities including narrative and genre analysis that are most common in literature. The focus groups and interviews are some of the most common qualitative research methods useful to understand the media influence and the audience (Stokes, 2012:3). Nonetheless, the two approaches are not necessarily used separately n media studies, which focus on both number and meaning. 
Rigour in media studies focuses on credibility, reliability and conformability as there are both qualitative and quantitative research approaches.  When identifying the research participants and respondents in media studies research, there is emphasis on relying on professional research. The case for this, is that it ensures that the research is appropriate based on the target audience and aim of the study. For instance, in focus groups the set of subjects are carefully selected to better understand what influences the audience. Nonetheless, to ensure there is rigor there is a need to reflect on  the researchers beliefs to better understand the likely biases even as it is difficult to be exhaustive in a saturated media space. Silverstone (1999:1) pointed out that it is difficult to evade media presence and presentation where the media influences the economic social, cultural and political spheres of life. The media is now closely intertwined with the sense of identity and everyday experience more than ever before, where people have a wide variety of options to choose from including new media. 
To appraise the media and cultural studies research there is a need to look into how different voices are represented and how these impacts the way subjects are framed.   The case for determining the dominant views and issues addressed in traditional media is that this provides insights on whether there is presentation of all the facts (Bennett and Kidd, 2017:166). even when news media has all the information in certain subjects, the way the subjects are presented differs and it is easier to evaluate the objectivity of press coverage based on how facts are treated and whether there is a conflict of interests when reporting on certain news stories and even the opinion pieces that receive the most attention in the news media.  Even legislators seek to influence news coverage even as there is a need to keep the citizenry more informed.  As such, researchers ought to be observant and have high integrity to be more objective in the study. In this way, the researchers are likely open-minded, fair and accountability as they are interested in advancing knowledge and not framing issues in certain ways as is common in press coverage. From Week 2: Discuss how you would potentially define and build up an archive for one of the hypothetical research projects discussed in the seminar, including practical and ethical considerations.
  In the seminar, there was focus on constructing archives including using detailed historical investigations to achieve this. Arching helps to identify and document rich evidence  and  would defines an archive as a collection of information documenting past events, people, places, institutions and a group of people.  Douglas (2010:9) highlighted that it is now easier to create personal archives using digital platforms and there is less reliance proprietary databases among media historians and since it is possible to get information from various sources it is likely that one can build a robust archive.  Archives are important in the age of digital transition as there is focus on authenticity and power dynamics, which influence the choice of archiving, location and emphasis on historical relevance. I would focus on the changes in digital transition archiving how the TV and film industry has remade previously popular programs and films. 
It is necessary to consider the availability information and how useful this is to creating an archive. From a political standpoint looking at what other archives address the digital transition in TV and film provides insights on the common themes and areas of interest. Previous woks on the works are useful sources and even and while the seminar highlighted the importance of making the archives as o...