• Offered for Year: 2025/26

• Module Leader(s): Dr Bethany Usher
• Other Staff: Dr Graeme Mearns, Dr Barbara Henderson, Professor James Ash, Dr Gareth Longstaff, Professor Darren Kelsey, Dr Tina Sikka, Dr David Bates, Dr Steve Walls, Dr Murray Dick, Dr Majid Khosravinik, Dr Chris Haywood, Dr Clifton Evers, Dr Florian Zollmann, Dr Nick Rush-Cooper, Dr Mercy Ette

• Owning School: Arts & Cultures
• Teaching Location: Newcastle City Campus

Semesters

Your programme is made up of credits, the total differs on programme to programme.

Aims

Media and Journalism Research Project is an exercise in creative and immersive research practice. Students work as independent scholars and apply advanced research, strategy and critical thinking as developed across their programme of study to produce a journal article for the field of media, journalism, culture and/or communication studies. The module encourages students to apply interdisciplinary approaches and methods relevant to contemporary research. This includes a detailed awareness of the appropriate scholarship and theory, advanced creative and critical skills and the analysis of both primary and secondary sources. In short, this module aims to support students to become advanced postgraduate level researchers and scholars through an opportunity to demonstrate their learning from the programme of study and how it relates to the media, journalism, cultural and communication industries.

Outline Of Syllabus

Students conduct independent study and research activity through the retrieval of information, location of evidence, analysis, interpretation and synthesis of materials, critical thought and evaluation, questioning of assumptions and relating theory and practice. They explore issues of common concern relating to research design, methods and the conduct of their planned enquiries including ethics.

The negotiation of an appropriate research problem and a proposal for an 8,000-word journal article is supported in the pre-requisite module MCH8054. Students then revise this from feedback, working with the module leader and supervisor in the second semester. Substantive research work in conducted in the third semester. The syllabus during the supervisory process is tailored and reactive to the students' areas of interest through supervisions.

The research is produced for one of four journals set by the module and provided in advance from the area of media, journalism, culture and communication studies. The approval of topics is subject to the agreement of the module leader and ethical approval and the expansion and refinement of project is supported by learning that focuses on:

1. Revising and planning a research project and organising a research calendar;
2. Engagement with learning opportunities around study skills, library skills and research;
3. Regular meetings to support to research and development.

Teaching Methods

Teaching Activities

Teaching Rationale And Relationship

The module uses a combination of scheduled learning and independent study to build key competencies and skills in the ability to produce self-directed research, apply critical analysis and the written articulation of key concepts and ideas.

Group Drop-in Tutorials support students to refine their ideas using feedback from the proposal stage of their studies and with the transition from MCH8054 (K1, K3, S4)

Lectures and interactive lecture materials support student knowledge learning outcomes, assessment and teaching methods, how to complete and present research, how to collect and gather data and present it effectively and how to edit and refine scholarly writing. (K1, K2, S4, S5)

Group and the one-to-one tutorials with a designated supervisor help students to critically identify, design and develop their self-directed research project into a sustained piece of scholarly writing. They support students to define their aims, define their subject area, show their grasp of the material involved and receive bespoke scholarly support. They provide students guidance on the research, content, structure and presentation, and offer critical feedback on the strengths and weaknesses of the project. (K3, K4, K5, S1, S2, S3, S4)
Guided Independent Study enables students to deepen core skills in planning and implementing self-directed research developing an appropriate research methodology, time-management and critical thinking, and producing an extended piece of writing which reflect best academic practice in Media, Journalism, Culture and Communication studies. (K2, K3, K4, K5, S1, S2, S5)

Assessment Methods

The format of resits will be determined by the Board of Examiners

Other Assessment

Assessment Rationale And Relationship

The assessment is an independent, critical and academically stringent research dissertation presented in the format of an 8,000-word article for a pre-determined journal as directed. Students must include an abstract with key words, introduction with research questions; theoretical framework; method and ethical considerations; research data, analysis and findings; conclusion and full bibliography.

Task-specific assessment criteria are as follows:
1. Quality of the theoretical and research framework and argument, drawing on a range of primary and secondary sources (K1; K2; S2)
2. Design and methodology of the research including a clearly defined scope, duration and data sample and ethical considerations, drawing on a range of pertinent literature to define and apply methodologies (K3; K4; K5);
3. Use of appropriate methodological and theoretical frameworks to develop and then answer clearly considered research question or questions, using primary and secondary data and evidence, (K6; S2; S3; S4);
4. Coherence and written structure of the journal article, including appropriate academic written tone for postgraduate-level research and effective display of data and analysis (S1, S5).

Reading Lists

• MCH8098's Reading List

Timetable

• Timetable Website: www.ncl.ac.uk/timetable/
• MCH8098's Timetable