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Research is a key role in the media industry because without it, the industry would be a chaos of repetition and inaccuracy. By doing research it allows you to create the best possible product. To explain a bit more about what research is, the reading for this topic was Chapter 1: What is Research? from Media and Communication Research Methods: An Introduction to Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches by Arthur Asa Berger. In this chapter, Berger uses eight different points to explain how research works.

The first point is called We All Do Research All The Time. Berger explains how everyone is constantly doing research, even if they are unaware of doing it. This refers to everyday research such as deciding what new laptop to get, or who is the actor in that show who I recognise? Berger defines research as meaning ‘to search for; to find’, or ‘looking for information about something.

Next, Berger introduces the fact that Scholarly Research Is Different From Everyday Research. Here he explains the key differences between the two. Scholarly research is systematic, objective, carefully thought through, and concerned with facts. Based on theory rather than thought, it presents structured, logical focus about knowledge of reality – facts rather than opinions. However, this doesn’t make it quantitative research as much scholarly research doesn’t include statistics at all. History is a prime of example of this, based on firsthand accounts of events and evidence. On the other hand, everyday research is less about facts and more about opinions. It is intuitive and casual, and often happens on the spur of the moment, such as looking up what musical you should see based on your mood and money situation (we saw Wicked by the way!).

Berger’s third point discusses The Problem of Certainty, and how we rarely, if ever, get certainty from our research as even statistics are open to disagreement because of the way each individual interprets information. The author suggests that this doesn’t mean that ‘anything goes’, but it is our research that gives us the ‘reasons’ to interpret information the way that we do. In order to support those reasons, evidence is needed which you get from doing research. Berger reckons that the evidence you reference can be used to identify how good the research you have done is.

Diachronic and Synchronic Research – terms that sound rather confusing, and are easily confused. Diachronic simply means “we focus on change over time”, while Synchronic means “we study change over distance.” Oxford Dictionaries simplifies this for us again explaining the difference. Diachronic is defined as “concerned with the way in which something, especially language, has developed and evolved through time.” Synchronic is defined as “concerned with something, especially a language, as it exists at one point in time.” Historical studies mostly use diachronic research whilst synchronic research is often used in comparative studies.

On How The Mind Works brings us back to considering how people view the world we live in. Berger references Swiss linguist Ferdinand de Saussure, who argued that people make sense of the world by forming binary oppositions such as raw and cooked, tall and short, fat and thin, etc. Facts don’t always tell us everything we want to know so by forming these binary oppositions we can deduct more information. This then leads onto the next segment, entitled Overt and Covert Oppositions, and explains how sometimes in research the information can be either Overt (it is shown openly; very apparent) or Covert (it is not openly acknowledged; it is there but it is hidden).

The next explanation is probably the most important within media research and is entitled On Quantity and Quality in Media Research. There are four main types of research with the media industry: Primary, Secondary, Quantitative, and Qualitative research. Here, Berger looks at the latter two, Quantitative and Qualitative research. Quantitative research is done using numbers and calculations, data that is collected in numerical form, and often presented through graphs and statistics. It can be collected using surveys, carefully constructed questionnaires featuring closed questions, which means that the respondent can only choose from a selection of answers that do not allow for elaboration or explanation. Quantitative research is important in the media industry especially when considering who the target market is, and is there actually a market for the media product in question as quantitative research can give the producers closely accurate statistics. Qualitative research is the opposite, and relies on opinions, explanation, and elaboration of answers. Whilst quantitative research can reveal how big the target market could be, qualitative research can tell you who they are, what they like, what they don’t like, what they would change, and so on and so forth.

Media and Communication explains the five aspects of communication. • Intrapersonal which covers our communication with ourselves • Interpersonal which covers our communication and interaction with others • Small group discusses how one person communicates with a small group, such as a teacher communicating to their class of students • Organisational which covers an organisations communication with members of the organisation or interested parties • Mass Media which covers who the media communicates with its audience (humanity) and vice versa

Week 4 Reading:

There is no singular answer to this, but in fact many. Roger Silverstone discusses numerous of these reasons in his Why Study The Media? (1999), and though written sixteen years ago, it’s just as viable today, if not more-so.

 “…it raises so many questions, questions that cannot be ignored, questions that emerge from the simple recognition that our media are ubiquitous, that they are daily, that they are an essential dimension of contemporary experience.”

Media has always been a part of human existence. From writing on stone slabs, drawings on cave walls, scrolls, letters, journals, art, books, newspapers, telegrams, to radio, phones, television, and the internet; the media has always been a part of our lives. It is through these various media forms that we have learnt about the world around us, and the world before us. Scraps of history that have survived, left to us by previous generations to share news of their lives, reports of major world events, and just their general living. We think of media as being a modern invention of the modern world, but it has always been there, slowly evolving over time until the early 1900′s when it began to accelerate. Look back at history - all the accounts of events that have been shared across hundreds of years.

To study the media is to study, understand and try and make some sort of sense of our world.

The media gives people a voice. It allows us to challenge and understand the world more intricately. Why study the media? Because we want answers to questions.

Readings for Week 2:

Roger Silverstone, Why Study The Media? (1999) Chapter 1:The Texture of Experience [Book] Available in eBook format or physical copy. Accessed October 2015

In truth, I don't believe there any one set answer for the question, 'what is university education for?' because it is probably a different answer for each individual student, and then another answer for university boards and professors. For me personally, my university education is for several different reasons.

Reason 1: To further develop my knowledge and skills within my chosen field of Television Production. I've been studying the subject for six years both in BTEC college and in my spare time, and university is my chance to learn even more about the industry, develop my skills, gain experience, make contacts, and work in industry standard environments. Come second year, I can also concentrate on the areas I want to work when I leave uni for the real world.

Reason 2: To better myself and meet new people. At home - Northern Ireland - I don't have the same opportunities to meet new people, especially ones who share my interests and who have different life experiences.

 tWhat is media and society? This was the very first thing we are asked to consider, which led into a discussion about Social and Political Debates within Media. However, I don't think of Media and Society directly relating to debates, but rather the existing, and changing, relationship between the Media and Society (the audience, or consumer). As media technology develops, the relationship changes, because suddenly society - the consumers - have access to so much more information that they wouldn't have had access to less than a decade ago. You can find anything on the internet, television and film has few boundaries left to break, anyone can voice their opinion to an audience, magazines/newspapers have the technology to be more invasive, privacy is a long forgotten dream, stories can be shared to millions within hours using social media platforms; with the media technology developments these days, nearly anything is possible. Years ago, the Media was a world known to an exempt few, and to everyone else it was where you got your evening home entertainment and news, and that was the limit of the relationship between them. Now? The media controls the world and the world controls the media. One can no longer live without the other.

If you want to work in the media, you need to understand the relationship between media and society. Society fuels the media and it's content, and the media makes it content for society, for it's audience. Media can make stars out of society members, and members of society can use the media to build a reputation for themselves - to fuel their fame. The Kardashians, anyone?

Despite this precious relationship between the two, Britain apparently still seems to consider Media Studies as a 'mickey mouse' subject, according to a student blogger on The Guardian (theguardian.com). The blog quotes Professor Philip Thickett, head of Birmingham City University's school of media, as saying, "You don't live in a 'mickey mouse' world and media studies is certainly no 'mickey mouse' degree." I quite agree with him. Having studied media at BTEC level in college for four years before coming to university, I can honestly say that I have learnt far more about working in an industry of an incredibly high standard, than many of my acquaintances have about their chosen field of work whilst studying at university, because so many other courses tend to concentrate on the theory and academic side of the subject, whereas, the media courses teach you the theory but dedicate themselves to teaching how to do your job properly and under the pressures of working in the industry in the real world. By giving you the experience within the courses, they are already setting you up for jobs once you leave uni. And believe me, if you think that media studies is 'soft or an 'easy ride' subject, please, try working on a live studio production the week before Christmas with no rehearsals, a drunk guest, and then throw in some technical problems halfway through the show, and then come back to me and tell me  media studies is a 'mickey mouse' degree.

An additional point as to why any Media Studies degree is awesome - you have a blast! You get to do some incredible projects, learning a large range of skills (including working with people), as well as meeting a lot of really interesting folk along the way.

Week 1 Reading List:

The Guardian (2014) Media studies: it's not a 'mickey mouse' degree. [Online] Available from http://www.theguardian.com/education/mortarboard/2014/feb/03/why-study-media-studies-students Accessed October 2, 2015

Nine Top Tips For Media Students 

Thinking about the topic for this documentary for several months, I finally decided to investigate and share information about a medical condition that is close to my heart. For the past seven years I have lived with chronic pain, although it had subsided for a few years. Last year the pain returned with more intensity, and overwhelming my whole body. However, it was only in December 2014 that I was finally diagnosed despite hundred of tests, scans, and examinations. The condition is called fibromyalgia. It wasn't the first time that I had heard of the condition however, as a few family members had suffered mildly from it in the past, and one or two others I know have the condition also. Despite this, I didn't know an awful lot about the condition - what it is, how affects a person, or what causes it. One thing I do know about it though, is that not many people are aware of it despite so many sufferers. Even the people around me, including those who have suffered mildly from it, have no idea the effect it has on a person and how much pain it causes. So to find out more, and to inform people, what better opportunity than to use fibromyalgia as the topic of my documentary?

In the documentary I want to share several things. Firstly, what is fibromyalgia? And how does it affect a person? Secondly I want to share what it is like living fibromyalgia every day. I don’t want the documentary to completely come from a personal POV, it’s about making people aware of the condition and what it is, but this is one point that will be personal as I am one of the many people who suffer from fibromyalgia, and have to deal with it every day. Thirdly, I want to cover treatments, is there a cure, doctors, getting diagnosed, and that side of things. When I initially started having pain the amount of doctors, hospitals, and tests I went through was mental and researching other peoples experience this is pretty common. It’s such a hard diagnosis from a doctor’s POV so discussing the medical process is important, especially as there may be people out there suffering who have no idea what the cause is either.

In order to document all of this information, it will all be told via a scripted voiceover and represented visually through GIFs, mostly found online and some I have created myself. This technique was suggested to me by a tutor as I was struggling with how to film the documentary. Visually it will be rather abstract due to all the GIFs which come from moives, television programmes, animations, vine videos, and many other sources. I was basically told that I was weird enough to pull this kind of visual off (which I’m taking as a compliment, thank you very much!), and scrolling through Tumblr for hours reblogging GIFs has been brilliant. After gathering all the GIFs together, I’m really excited about the final outcome of this documentary as it is really different to all my other work, but really reflects my quirky style and outlook on life.

The target market for this documentary is a wide audience as this is a condition that can affect anyone. However, thinking it through I would say that the primary target market is for those over the age of twelve years old, female, middle class, and from an English speaking country. How did I agree upon this? Well, with the use of graphics from modern, and old, media I think visually this is a documentary that will connect with a younger audience. Also the condition fibromyalgia, is one that can affect all ages. I was 12 years old when the pain first started and I had no support from friends or medics. Now, with social media, young and old alike can be reached out to through online support groups, mini documentaries, and information pages and having support is something that I think is really important whatever age you are. Why primarily target females? My recent research tells me that roughly 75% of fibromyalgia sufferers are female. That’s a huge percentage, and therefore females are the target audience. This is going to be a bit stereotypical but it is a general thought that documentary viewers are usually from a middle class to upper class background. This documentary probably wouldn’t appeal to the upper class visually but I think middle class young people would be interested in the style of the documentary and what it has to say. 

As part of my research portfolio for my documentary I created another Tumblr blog in order to reblog gifs for use in my documentary. If you see the previous post, they are now all currently saved onto my external hard-drive, ready for Photoshop conversion and then editing. To view this blog click on this link: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/docclutter

The topic I have chosen for my documentary is about the medical condition that I, and many other, suffer from, a condition called Fibromyalgia. Fibromyalgia is a chronic pain disorder which affects many but yet so few people know about it. It is difficult to diagnose as lab tests reveal nothing and there is no tissue injury which is the normal evidence of pain. This is a condition that has taken over my life and with this short documentary I hope to educate those around me about the condition.

In order to keep all my research about the condition together I have created another blog for this purpose: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/greengoatjaye