Thursday 11 June 2009

EVALUATE, EVALUATE, EVALUATE

This wholly relevant trinity is key to Q1 - and also important for Q2. Evaluate each source you used as part of your secondary research - but also the veracity (usefulness, accuracy, validity etc) of each research method (see handouts for detailed breakdowns of strengths/weaknesses of research methods, including web searches as well as specific primary research methods - but also use text books in lib/photocopied chapters/F6). Again, I've raised this issue earlier in the blog, but consider as examples:
  • NEWSPAPERS: The Guardian takes a centre-left editiorial line, so will tend to be anti-censorship and in favour of tighter regulation of media ownership, as two examples; The Times is not only right-wing (in common with all national dailies except Gdn + Mirror [centre-left] + Independent [liberal/centrist], so likely to be pro-censorship and often at the forefront of creating/fuelling 'moral panics' and (contradictorily) against tighter media regulation, but as part of a group owning BSkyB, 20th Century Fox etc will tend to be biased in favour of minimising regulation, especially as regards advertising and ownership controls. There is clearly an issue of ideology here.
  • DISCUSSION LISTS: did you pick out a general forum (eg Yahoo!) or a niche, specialist forum/discussion list? You need to discuss the likely make-up of the users of this, considering their interests, knowledge, social class, age, gender etc. A forum within a horror fans site will be unlikely to find many in favour of censorship; a forum on a parents/mothers site will be more likely to do so. A forum on the Daily Mail might find some saying producers of horror films should be hung up and/or flogged! Ideally you might have looked at both - but at least address the issue, using a commutation test - hypothesise the binary opposite of the group you looked and speculate on their likely responses. In general terms, are you looking at a group with a broad or narrow demographic range?

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