A2 Media Studies

Unit 2734: Critical Research Study: Student Guide

you need to demonstrate your ability to
• Independently research
• Investigate and analyse a media topic and present your findings.

The media topic that you will investigate is

CRIME AND THE MEDIA

The research should be active investigation into

• Areas of audience and institution
• Academic and critical perspectives
• your own independent critical response (your own opinions based on research findings)

An important note is that it must be

BRITISH MEDIA

You can use foreign media as point of contrast however.

This topic area is broadly defined as: ‘the representation of crime in and across a range of media’

This includes UK crime films, UK television crime series, True Crime magazines, press representations of crime and criminality, broadcast news reporting of crime, radio and internet crime coverage, moral panics, show case trials, crime and news values, the media and public perceptions of crime’

You must find a specific focus or ‘micro research’ area within the main topic. This will be presented as a

HYPOTHESIS

Definition

You will sit a 2 hour exam on Monday 23rd January 2006 which is split into two questions.

Question 1 Research will ask you about your research methods. A typical example will be ‘Give an account of the research methods and examples you used to investigate the relationship between crime and the media’.

You will need to use a wide range of primary and secondary research methods (more than 5), use complete and accurate referencing. You need to clearly explain the logistics of the research process and evaluate your methods fully. You should also support your points with reference to specific examples.

Question 2 Presentation and Analysis will be quite open and broad asking you what you discovered about the topic through your research.

You will need to consider how your research relates to the wider topic and need a good sense of what the topic entails. You need to present an argument and discuss the issues, relate your own research to the question and use your finding as supporting evidence.

Your answers need to reflect individual effort and ability.
The teacher’s role in this unit is as a supervisor who will explain

• When
• Where
• And how to start your critical research study.

Extract from the OCR Chief Examiner’s Report, 2005

‘There were few interesting interpretations and effective studies, few identified an appropriate micro-topic within which to explore the representation of crime. Many candidates focused on effects debates surrounding violent video games or films and their influence upon audiences but too many relied exclusively upon evidence from films other than British.
Some candidates employed crime statistics as evidence that, while crime levels are falling, many people perceive crime to be increasing because of the coverage of crime in the news media.
Successful areas of study included crime, moral panics and the tabloid press; crime in television drama and aspects of British gangster films and representations of female criminals.

Definition of Crime
A crime in a broad sense is an act that violates a political or moral law. In the narrow sense, a crime is a violation of the criminal law. For example, most traffic violations or breaches of contract are not crimes in a legal sense. (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.)
What you have to do now.
1. Use a separate folder/file to organise your work for this unit.
2. Consider the broad topic area and decide on a focus for your research and write a hypothesis.