Preparing for a future job is a difficult task. It’s made more difficult when you don’t know the specifics of what you want to do. I chose Marketing and Advertising because it interests me, but it is a huge industry with many options. I don’t know what specific area interests me the most and I don’t know if I have the skills to succeed yet. That’s why I need to prepare. I must start with the build-up steps. I…
This year I joined a society called Book Club. Joining societies is a task a large majority of students will do in order to be more social, so it may not seem like a stand out activity. However, personally I believe that joining this society played an important part in developing me as a person. After all, I did run for president and got the position for the next academic year. Looking back at the first day I walked into…
China’s Media in Africa: Expansion, Perception and Reception The first guest speaker event I attended this academic year was one by Herman Wasserman, who was talking about his research project on China’s Media in Africa. Upon hearing the title, I was unsure as to what this topic would be about, because it is not something I had heard of before. The following presentation provided me with a new look at the world and opened my eyes to how there are…
Personal Reflections on Module Feedback 105MC – Key Concepts I was marginally worried about the quality of this essay because it was the first essay I had written this academic year, and I felt out of practise. Thankfully I got a good mark and feedback. This made me more confident in my ability to write an essay and additionally allowed me to identify ways to improve and maintain this level. A new element to me was exploring ideas through other…
Reflection on Digital Ethnography: Principles and Practises by Pink et al. Digital Ethnography is a research method with no real set definition because this method has yet to be fully designed. It is the research method ethnography – observing a group of participants overtly or covertly for an extended period – transferred to the digital. As Pink et al explained, it’s ‘mediated contact with participants rather than direct contact.’ (2016: 3) This means that the contact is no longer at face…
Reflection on Making Photographs as Part of a Research Project: Photo-Documentation, Photo-Elicitation and Photo-Essays by Gillian Rose Gillian Rose writes about three different methods to research the digital. The first method that can be used is photo-documentation. According to Rose, this method ‘assumes photographs are accurate records of what was in front of the camera’ (2007: 301) and then these photos are put in systematic order ‘to provide data which the researcher then analyses’ (2007: 301). This method is especially useful…
Reflection on ‘The Great Interview: 25 Strategies for Studying People in Bed’ by Joseph C. Hermanowicz. Interviews are a common research method whereby you ask people questions but, Hermanowicz suggests that while the method is quite simplistic, it is a method that can really look into understanding a person because you can get them to explain themselves. I’ve always found interviews to be quite basic but Hermanowicz points out the reason behind this I because researchers “remain bound to conventional norms…
Reflection on ‘Analysis of Space and Analysis’ by Paula Saukko The prospect of analysing space was completely new to me before this reading. Paula Saukko explains space mostly in reference to Castell. What I found interesting about Castell’s trilogy is the ease in which he organises global space. These categories are created through ‘binaries’ and Saukko points out this a ‘problematic feature’ (2003: 162) of Castell’s analysis. This reminds me of the first reading, when Arthur Berger pointed this out…
Reflection on ‘Discourse Analysis’ by Rosland Gill. Discourse Analysis is a research method with benefits and drawbacks. It is a form of ‘interpretation, warranted by detailed argument and attention to the material being studied’ (Gill, 2000: 188). It is a long process of looking at transcripts and understanding them. Due to its close analysis, it means it is a very reliable source of research. Unfortunately, it is a time consuming process, especially when transcripts aren’t collected through secondary research and…
Reflection on ‘What is Ethnography?’ by Hammersley and Atkinson Ethnography according to Hammersley and Atkinson “involves the researcher participating overtly or covertly, in people’s daily lives for an extended period of time” (1995: 3). This informs me that ethnography is a method of observatory research where the researcher can alter how much participation they will have within their chosen study field. By preforming this research covertly, the information collected should be more accurate. Research is still interpreted differently by everyone,…