Name:
Busisiwe “Mabusana” Shibambo
Assignment
1: Qualitative Research, Textual Analysis and Ethics in Media Research
Media
Research: Blog Entry No 1
Unique
No: 879121
1. INTRODUCTION
My name is Busisiwe
aka “Mabusana” Shibambo. I was born and bred in a small town of Giyani, Limpopo
Province. I remember back in the days when I would wake up early in the morning
just to catch up Morning Live (Mlive) before I go to school. The late Mr Vuyo
Mbuli was my role model and inspiration. He had a way presenting and reading
news that made me want to listen to him. He style was different and unique to
all news readers and journalist. Each morning I looked forward to his special
greetings to his views and listens. He would read a breaking news story in a
way that you feel part of the family and I desired that special gift in his
career. He had ways with words there was no dull moment with him when his on
air. Every day to him it was about touching people’s lives and brings hope. He made
me fall in love and want to be on television and radio. As I completed my
matric I immediately registered with the University of Free State and enrolled for
a degree in Baccalaureus Artium (BA) Media Studies.
Reading the news and
talk shows fascinated me and I could see myself being one of them (Vuyo Mbuli,
Leane Mannas, Sophie Moekena etcetera).
The
new media brought with it lot of changes
in communication industry and if you don’t equip yourself with what’s happening
around you such as getting information and being inquisitive then you are out
of the game in the media fraternity. I
decided to enrol for an honours degree in Media studies and Com4802 is one of
the compulsory modules I have to study in order to meet the requirements for
completing honours degree in Media. Though it is a compulsory module since I
have started reading the tutorial letter I have discovered that it is actually
a challenging yet interesting module to learn and discover the world of social
media.
As I
reflect on research process, textual analysis, qualitative research and ethics
in the media studies research I will also elaborate on the basic principles of
how to conduct media research on a specific topic.
At the
end of the year I believe I would have acquired enough knowledge to last me a
life time, knowledge that will empower me as a media practitioner. I also believe
that by doing the practical work in this case- blogging regularly will improve
my writing and communication skills. Already I can see that blogging is
improving my thinking capacity and my confidence.
2.
PURPOSE OF THE BLOG
The purpose of this blog is to provide space for students
in order to engage and have robust discussion pertaining to issues of media
research. Furthermore the blog will encourage students to read and think
critically about topics of their interest such as qualitative research
(University of South Africa 2017:21). This
blog will serve as a platform for students to share their feeling, thoughts and
ideas of common topics for discussion and for feedback. This will also improve
the thinking skills of bloggers and boost their confidence.
3.
REFLECTION ON RESEARCH PROCESS
According
to Blankenship [sa] research process is a multiple-steps process where steps
are connected with other steps in the process of conducting a research project.
Every day in our lives we encounter research process. For example when you want
to purchase a property you first do background checks (research) before you can
actual make the decision of whether to buy or not. There are several steps that
one needs to follow based on research
process principles such as: statement of the problem, generating a hypothesis,
review of relevant studies, creating measures, choosing the sample, collecting
data, analysing data and reporting results.
3.1 Qualitative research
According to Denzin and Lincoln (cited by Weman, Kruger
& Mitchel 2005:8) indicate the aim of qualitative research method is to establish the socially constructed
nature of reality to stress the relationship between the student and the object
of the study as well as to stress the value- laden of the inquiry. Qualitative
research seeks to understand or investigate the nature of people such as why
people behave there way they do and do things the way they do. Wagner C, Kawulich B & Garner M (2012:126)
states that to do this qualitative research employs a wide range of data
gathering techniques such as interviews, focus groups, observation and many
more. This seeks the insights through
structured, in-depth data analysis that is mainly interpretative, subjective,
entertainer and diagnostic.
3.2 Textual analysis
Frey,
L., Botan, C and Kreps, G (1999) indicates
the textual analysis
as
the method of communication researchers use to describe and interpret the
quality of a recorded or visual messages. In this instance text can be viewed
as pictures on magazine covers, television, film, billboards, paintings and it
could be words recorded on audio visuals, cassette or spoken. The most
important thing is that text can be verbal or non-verbal but people are able to
interpret by seeing or hearing.
3.3 Ethics in
media studies and the core principles of qualitative research
Christians
[sa] suggest that the key role
of the researcher is to understand that all questions are subjectively
important. Meaning there are questions that might be uncomfortable to
participant and therefore make them reluctant to participate on the research
yet those question are still relevant in terms of gathering data that will be
credible at the end of the research project. Researchers can use different
strategies to develop ethical ways of dealing with gatekeepers during the
research process. Gate keeper and community leader play a vital role in
permitting the researcher to gain access into the community and conduct
research.
There
are ethical principles that a researcher must adhere to before conducting the
research. It is crucial for the researcher to provide accurate information to
willing participants about his/her intention of study and not deceive them as this might compromise
the credibility of the research. It is only fair for participants to
be told that they are part of a research project and to be clearly informed
about all aspects of the research to easy their minds and fears. The researcher
must also avoid making promises that they cannot keep as this might compromise
the validity of the data gathered. Individuals who take part on the research
project should do so willing and must sign a
consent form without feeling pressurised, manipulated, threaten or
being forced. Participants need to know that they can withdraw from a research
project at any time they wish to without compromising their status. When
appropriate, participant’s privacy and confidentiality should
be protected and secured and the research should be based on facts and reality.
4. CONCLUSION
Based
on the literature review, the student observed the importance of textual
analysis in media research. Text is interpreted differently by different
cultural groups or society either in oral, written or recorded in an audio.
Culture plays an important role in analysing text. Textual analysis forces the
inventors of messages to adhere to ethical codes. According to the view of the
student messages, pictures and films must be edited before is produced and sold
to the audience to avoid offensive language and pictures that might harm the
audience. The creation of blog in this
module will allow the student to gain confidence and freely share ideas and
feelings on the topics of their interest, however for this purpose it will
focus on academic research pertaining to media studies. This exercise provided
the platform for the student to preparing to conduct qualitative research.
SOURCES CONSULTED
Blankenship, D. [Sa]. Steps of research
process: applied research & evaluation methods recreation. [O]. Available
http://ww.humankinetics.com/excepts/excepts/
steps-of- research-process
Accessed
on 11/05/2017
Christians, C. [Sa]. The ethics of being in communications
context. SAGE: London. [O]. Available:
Accessed on 10/05/2017
Du Plooy GM (ed). 2009. Communication Research
techniques, methods & applications. Claremont: Cape Town
Frey,
L., Botan, C., & Kreps, G. 1999. Investigating
communication: An introduction to research methods. [O]. Available
Accessed on 11/05/2017
University
of South Africa. Department of Communication Science. 2017. Media Research: Tutorial letter 101/0/2017 for COM4802.
Pretoria
Wagner,
C, Kawulich, B & Garner, M. 2012. Doing
Social Research a global context. New York, NY
Welman,
C. Kruger, F & Mitchell B. 2005. Research methodology. Cape Town: Republic
of South Africa
