MECM90038 Researching Media & Communications
The Complete Study & Assessment Guide · S2 2026MECM90038 Overview
- University of Melbourne
- Semester 2, 2026
- Postgraduate
- Four tasks, one project
- Weekly lecture and tutorial
Researching Media & Communications is a postgraduate subject at the University of Melbourne in which you design, conduct and communicate one independent media and communications research project across the semester.
- Assessed by A literature review, a methodology, a poster with a short talk and a research report worth half the mark.
- Hardest step Turning reading into synthesis with an argument of your own, which the Week 4 lecture says every review needs.
- Pass condition Attend at least 80% of tutorials, seminars or workshops: attendance is a hurdle requirement.
- How to prepare Pick a feasible topic in Week 1 or 2 and keep one research log that every later task can draw on.
How MECM90038 is assessed
| Component | Weight | Format |
|---|---|---|
| Introduction & literature review | 20% | 1,000 words: a 200 to 300 word introduction and an 800 to 900 word review of at least four peer-reviewed sources, ending with a research question. The lecture plan gives 11:59pm, Monday 24 August 2026; the Canvas subject summary lists Thursday 27 August 2026 |
| Methodology | 20% | 1,000 words on research design, data collection and sorting. The lecture plan gives 11:59pm, Monday 14 September 2026; the Canvas subject summary lists Thursday 17 September 2026 |
| Research poster & presentation | 10% | Equivalent to 500 words, due in Weeks 10, 11 and 12; the poster carries 8 of the 10 marks and the talk 2, with five minutes maximum |
| Research report | 50% | 2,500 words, due 12:00pm, 2 November 2026 |
| Attendance hurdle · hurdle | Attend 80% or more of tutorials, seminars or workshops; lectures are expected in person or by recording |
Weights and lengths follow the 2026 lecture plan and Week 1 slides; check the University handbook too. Attendance is a hurdle: attend 80% or more of tutorials, seminars or workshops, with waivers through the subject coordinator. Canvas also lists a requirement on late penalties and assessment; read it there. Dates differ: the lecture plan gives 24 August (review) and 14 September (methodology), Canvas 27 August and 17 September. Late penalties differ too: 5% of available marks per day in the plan's assessment section and on the extension page, 2% per working day on a later plan page. Follow each Canvas assignment page.
Assessment structure
Segment widths are the four published weights, which total 100. Half the mark rests on the research report at the end of semester, and each earlier task becomes a section of that report.
Current MECM90038 dates
| Date | Item | Control |
|---|---|---|
| 24 August 2026, 11:59pm | Introduction & literature review | Lecture plan date; the Canvas subject summary lists 27 August 2026. |
| 14 September 2026, 11:59pm | Methodology | Lecture plan date; the Canvas subject summary lists 17 September 2026. |
| 9 October 2026, 11:59pm | Work-in-progress poster on the tutorial Padlet | Lecture plan, Week 10. |
| Weeks 10 to 12 | Research poster & presentation | Lecture plan and Week 10 slides; presentations run in tutorials. |
| 2 November 2026, 12:00pm | Research report | Lecture plan and Canvas subject summary agree. |
Dates are as published in the 2026 lecture plan and the subject's Canvas pages. Confirm exact deadlines and submission settings in the live LMS.
What MECM90038 covers
Twelve chapters follow the lecture plan from choosing a topic and reviewing literature, through text-based methods and data sorting, to analysis, the poster and the research report. Each topic links to its free chapter guide.
Media and Communications Research and Its Ethics
Week 1. Research as knowledge production; the four areas the field studies (audiences and users, industry, content, technology); the four tasks as one project; desktop research and research ethics.The opening week sets up the whole semester.
- Research as the production of new knowledge about the world
- Audiences and users, industry, content and technology as areas of study
- Four assessments that together form one semester-long project
- The three teaching blocks and the tasks each one feeds
- Desktop research: secondary data and publicly accessible online material
- Ethics as a process running through every stage of a study
From an Idea to a Scoped Research Problem
Week 2. Where ideas come from; turning an idea into a topic within media and communications; what a research problem is; the dimensions of scope and how to judge feasibility.Every assignment in Researching Media & Communications grows from one project, and that project only works if its first question is narrow enough to answer.
- Three sources of research ideas: experience, established inquiry and public conversation
- Treating a topic as an approach to a branch of knowledge
- Filtering topics so the project stays in media and communications
- Defining a research problem as a gap, perspective or data need
- Six scope dimensions from discipline to historical period
- Four factors that size scope to one researcher's resources
Searching and Judging Scholarly Literature
Week 2. What literature means in research; topic area versus case study; keywords, Boolean operators, phrase searching, truncation and filters; judging credibility, peer review and recency; following citations.A literature review is only as strong as the sources behind it, and this chapter covers both halves of getting them right.
- Literature as previous studies plus existing knowledge in a field
- Starting a search at topic areas rather than your exact case
- Building a search string with AND, OR and NOT
- Phrase searching, truncation, wildcards and filters as refinement techniques
- Judging credibility through peer review and searchable scholarly authors
- Recommended databases, citation trails and library access tools
Research Paradigms: Ontology, Epistemology, Methodology
Week 3. Ontology, epistemology and methodology defined; positivist, interpretative, critical and postmodern paradigms in media research; how a research question carries a paradigm.Week 3 introduces the vocabulary that sits beneath every research design, and this chapter explains it in plain terms.
- Ontology as an account of what exists and what is real
- Epistemology as a theory of how knowledge is produced
- Methodology as the rationale linking techniques to knowledge and reality
- Four evolving paradigms of media studies and research
- Ontological and epistemological questions specific to media and communications
- Reading the paradigm embodied in a draft research question
Formulating a Feasible Media Research Question
Week 3. What a research question is; main and sub-questions; open, analytical and scoped questions; questions that are not media research; the checklist for a feasible question.This chapter turns a scoped problem into a research question that can carry a semester of work.
- Defining a research question as a clear, concise and focused query
- Building one primary question with supporting sub-questions
- Four qualities: openness, depth, visible scope and fit with method
- Three musts for a principal question in media and communications
- Running the five-point checklist on a draft question
- Diagnosing and rebuilding presumptive or closed questions step by step
Writing the Introduction and Literature Review
Weeks 3 to 4. The first assignment's requirements; why a review justifies your study; synthesis rather than summary; the four questions a review answers; ending with the research question.This chapter guides you through Assignment 1, the 1,000-word introduction and literature review worth 20% of the subject.
- Reading the Assignment 1 task: lengths, weight and word count rules
- Reconciling the due dates listed in the lecture plan and on Canvas
- Building a six-column reading matrix before drafting the review
- Separating the job of the introduction from the job of the review
- Answering the four principal questions to move from summary to synthesis
- Drafting a synthesised paragraph that ends on a knowledge gap
Media Texts, Case Studies and Platform Walkthroughs
Weeks 4 to 6. What a media text is; researching texts through a case study, a media event or document inquiry; the platform walkthrough, algorithms and researcher reflexivity.This chapter opens Block 2, where the project shifts from reading literature to collecting data.
- Defining a media text as representation built from one or more signs
- Seeing how changing technology reshapes what counts as a text
- Using media events as bounded case studies for collecting texts
- Pairing policy or document inquiry with media coverage of it
- Studying interfaces with the platform walkthrough method
- Recording positionality when algorithms shape what you can collect
Selecting a Sample and Coding Themes
Week 7. Hansen's steps for selecting media and a sample; familiarising, generating initial codes, searching for, reviewing, defining and naming themes; keeping coding memos.Week 7 connects data collection to data sorting, the two jobs at the heart of the methodology.
- Defining the body of media before any data is collected
- Choosing outlets, a time window and rules for relevant content
- Familiarising yourself with raw data through repeated close reading
- Generating initial codes for sources, issues, word choices and stances
- Grouping codes into interpretive themes linked to the research question
- Reviewing, defining and naming themes with quotations and a coding memo
Writing the Methodology Section
Weeks 7 to 8. The methodology assignment; explaining and justifying data and method; reliability, validity and limitations; the criteria the methodology is judged on.The methodology is the second assessment: 1,000 words worth 20%, titled on Canvas as research design, data collection and sorting.
- Task facts: 1,000 words, 20%, and two printed due dates
- Explanation of what you will analyse and how you will analyse it
- Justification of data and method, including reflection on limitations
- Understanding the requirements of your method, with reliability and validity
- A logical section order from research question to limitations
- Showing a systematic process and offering an annotated dataset appendix
Discourse and Framing Analysis of Media Texts
Weeks 8 to 9. Discourse and power; Fairclough's textual, discursive and social practice levels; what to look for in language and context; framing analysis and ethics in the analysis phase.Weeks 8 and 9 move your project from sorted data to analysis.
- Discourse as patterned ways of speaking about and depicting the world
- Fairclough's micro, meso and macro levels of a media text
- Textual prompts: vocabulary, voice, tone, metaphor, actors and layout
- Contextual prompts: author, genre, timing, interdiscursivity, power and ideology
- Phase one and phase two language features, from labels to silences
- Framing analysis and the ethics of studying user-generated content
Research Posters and Creative Communication
Weeks 10 to 12. The poster and presentation task; what the poster must contain; the poster and presentation criteria; creative research communication as ethical practice.The research poster and presentation is worth 10% and is equivalent to 500 words, delivered across Weeks 10, 11 and 12. This chapter sets out the four parts the Padlet poster must contain and where each comes from in your earlier submissions, the split of marks between poster and talk, the three poster criteria, the five-minute limit and the work-in-progress upload date.
- Four poster parts: background, methodology, preliminary findings and what comes next
- Reusing literature review and methodology content instead of new research
- Eight marks for the poster and two for the presentation
- Content, layout and style as the three poster criteria
- Work-in-progress upload, tutorial talks and a strict five-minute limit
- Creative communication as ethical practice, following Hague's critique of research
Writing Findings, Discussion and the Final Report
Weeks 11 to 12. Presenting evidence, linking analysis to the research question, discussion writing and the research report submission.The research report is the largest task in the subject: 2,500 words, worth 50%, due at 12:00pm on 2 November 2026. This chapter shows how to turn an annotated data set into findings that answer your research question, how to choose between ordering findings by analytic level or by theme, and how to write a paragraph that moves from claim to evidence to interpretation to the literature.
- Findings as answers to the research question, backed by textual evidence
- Ordering findings by Fairclough's levels or by coded themes
- A four-move paragraph: claim, evidence, interpretation and link to literature
- Discussion as the step from separate findings to an overall argument
- A systematic, explained analysis process with an annotated data appendix
- Report length, weighting, due time and the Week 12 revision support
The lecture plan describes the full research lifecycle: choosing a topic, reviewing literature, building a methodology, analysing data and disseminating the results, with ethics introduced early and revisited at every stage.
The subject is organised in three blocks. Block 1 moves from an idea to a topic, a research problem, a scoped research question and a literature review.
Block 2 turns to text-based research: what counts as a media text, case study approaches such as media events and document inquiry, platform walkthroughs, and sorting data through thematic coding.
Block 3 covers analysis, including discourse analysis and framing analysis, then poster communication and the writing of findings.
Because of research ethics, projects rely on desktop research: credible secondary sources, for example news coverage, policy papers and industry reports, and publicly accessible online material such as posts, blogs and audio-visual content.
Assessment is entirely coursework, and the four tasks build one study: an introduction and literature review (20%), a methodology (20%), a research poster and presentation (10%) and a research report (50%), with an attendance hurdle of at least 80% at tutorials, seminars or workshops.
This guide follows the same path, with a model answer, practice questions and a figure in every chapter so each task can be planned before it is due. Read the chapters in order the first time, then return to the chapter that matches whichever task is due next.
Worked example · free
Narrowing a broad idea into a feasible research question
- 1Name the topic inside the field: news consumption on platforms, a media and communications topic rather than a psychology or education one.
- 1State a problem worth solving: little is known about how one specific group meets news through one platform's features.
- 1Scope it: choose a medium (TikTok), a population (international students), a place (Melbourne) and a period (one semester of public posts).
- 1Check the data: public TikTok videos and comments are publicly accessible, so the plan fits the desktop research rule.
- 1Write it as an open question with media driving the inquiry, avoiding yes/no and presumptive wording.
Key terms
- Research question
- A research question is a precise, tightly framed question naming the issue a study sets out to investigate and guides its literature search, design and analysis.
- Research problem
- A research problem is the knowledge gap, underdeveloped perspective or need for new data that gives a study its aim.
- Scope
- Scope is the set of boundaries, such as platform, population, place and period, that limits what a study investigates and what it can conclude.
- Literature review
- A literature review synthesises existing scholarship on a topic to show the key debates, locate a gap and justify a new study.
- Peer review
- Peer review is the independent quality check by experts in the field that most credible academic sources pass before publication.
- Ontology
- Ontology is the theory of existence, being or reality that sits beneath a research design.
- Epistemology
- Epistemology is the theory of how knowledge is, or has been, produced.
- Methodology
- Methodology is the rationale behind the techniques a study uses to produce knowledge, linking its view of knowledge to its methods.
- Media text
- A media text is any representation of ideas, messages or values made of one or more signs, from written words to a logo, a song or a physical object.
- Thematic coding
- Thematic coding is the systematic labelling of features in qualitative data and the grouping of those codes into broader, interpretive themes.
- Discourse analysis
- Discourse analysis examines how language, images and representations construct meaning and relations of power across texts.
- Framing analysis
- Framing analysis studies how media texts emphasise certain interpretations of an issue and so guide public meaning making.
- Desktop research
- Desktop research uses published secondary sources and publicly accessible online material instead of collecting data from people.
MECM90038 FAQ
Is Researching Media and Communications hard?
Its difficulty lies in sustained independent work rather than memorising content. You carry one project through four connected tasks, so an unfeasible topic in the first weeks weakens every later submission. The Week 4 lecture stresses that a literature review needs synthesis and your own argument, and the research report carries 50% of the mark, so steady progress across the semester matters more than any single deadline.
How is the subject assessed?
Through four connected pieces of coursework. The tasks are an introduction and literature review worth 20%, a methodology worth 20%, a research poster and presentation worth 10% and a 2,500 word research report worth 50%, due at 12:00pm on 2 November 2026.
What is the attendance hurdle?
You must attend 80% or more of your tutorials, seminars or workshops, and the subject expects you to attend lectures in person or watch the recordings. Attendance is a hurdle requirement, so meeting it is needed to pass. Students who need a waiver because of exceptional circumstances must seek approval from the subject coordinator, which may involve alternative tasks.
Can I interview people or run surveys for my project?
No. The Week 1 lecture limits projects to desktop research: credible secondary sources such as news coverage, policy papers and industry reports, and publicly accessible online material such as posts, blogs and audio-visual content. Interviews, focus groups and surveys count as human research, which needs ethical clearance that takes about three months.
Can I use generative AI in this subject?
Only in limited ways. The lecture plan allows generative AI for initial research, checking the grammar of individual sentences and confirming translations of key words, and Padlet's built-in AI for poster visuals. It may not produce substantial parts of any assessment, and any use must be declared after your reference list.
How many sources does the literature review need?
The Week 4 slides set a minimum of four peer-reviewed scholarly sources, which may be books, chapters or journal articles, all relevant to your topic. The 1,000 word task splits into a 200 to 300 word introduction and an 800 to 900 word review, which must end with a research question informed by that discussion.
What happens if I submit late?
Sources give two figures, so check Canvas. The lecture plan's assessment section and the extension page state a penalty of 5% of the available marks per day, with work not accepted after 20 University business days. A later page of the plan describes 2% per working day. Extensions of up to 10 working days are requested before the due date.
Questions students ask in each MECM90038 chapter
- Can I interview people or run a survey for my project?
- No. The Week 1 lecture explains that the subject relies on desktop research only, so primary data from people through interviews, focus groups, surveys or experiments is excluded. Human research needs institutional ethical clearance, which takes about three months on average, longer than the time available in one semester. Chapter 01 · Media and Communications Research and Its Ethics
- How do I know if my research idea is good enough to become a topic?
- The Week 2 lecture offers a simple first check: the idea must raise a question mark in your mind. A second check asks whether you can link it to key terms, theory or readings from media and communications. If you can name neither a question nor a field connection, choose a different idea before investing reading time. Chapter 02 · From an Idea to a Scoped Research Problem
- Why does my literature search return nothing about my exact case?
- Your case is usually too specific to have its own body of research. The Week 2 lecture tells students to search topic areas instead: for a case about international students' social media use in Melbourne, that means youth media, migrant media and transnational digital research. Studies from those areas supply the concepts you then apply to your own case. Chapter 03 · Searching and Judging Scholarly Literature
- What is the difference between ontology and epistemology in media research?
- Ontology concerns what reality is, so in media research it asks how media shape our sense of the real and of being human. Epistemology concerns how knowledge is produced, so it asks from whose perspective media are studied and who has defined communication over time. A study usually leans more toward one of the two. Chapter 04 · Research Paradigms: Ontology, Epistemology, Methodology
- Can a media research question start with why?
- The Week 3 checklist advises against it. Why-questions tend to become very broad, such as asking why people use a platform, or they carry a hidden assumption, such as asking why people love it. Opening with how usually works better, and every improved example in the lecture does so, but a how-question still needs a named medium, an issue and a feasible scope. Chapter 05 · Formulating a Feasible Media Research Question
- Do in-text citations count toward the literature review word limit?
- Yes. The 1,000-word total includes in-text references, while the reference list, tables, figures and appendices fall outside it. A margin of plus or minus 10% applies to the total. Within that, aim for an introduction of 200 to 300 words and a review of 800 to 900 words, so that neither part crowds out the other. Chapter 06 · Writing the Introduction and Literature Review
- What counts as a media text in media and communications research?
- Far more than printed words. The Week 4 lecture includes static logos, songs, dances and even physical objects such as a ring, provided they represent ideas, messages, values or perspectives through signs. Meanings also change with technology: emoji arrived with computers and the internet, while calligraphy is now unfamiliar to many people. Chapter 07 · Media Texts, Case Studies and Platform Walkthroughs
- How many news articles or posts should my sample contain?
- The Week 7 lecture frames size through representativeness: it asks for a representative sample drawn from a clearly defined body of media, and for each choice to be justified. A workable size is one you can read closely more than once within the weeks left before the methodology and report are due. Check your tutor's guidance on Canvas. Chapter 08 · Selecting a Sample and Coding Themes
- When is the methodology assignment due?
- Two dates appear. The lecture plan lists Monday 14 September 2026 at 11:59pm, and the Canvas subject summary lists Thursday 17 September 2026 at 11:59pm. Treat Canvas as the place to confirm, and note the lecture plan's late penalty of five per cent of available marks for each day late without an approved extension. Chapter 09 · Writing the Methodology Section
- Is discourse analysis the same as content analysis?
- Not quite. The thematic sorting of Week 7 groups material into codes, themes and categories, while discourse analysis interprets how language and images build meaning and power in context. The Week 8 lecture treats that earlier sorting as a stage that comes before discursive analysis, so many projects use their coded data as the starting point for a closer critical reading. Chapter 10 · Discourse and Framing Analysis of Media Texts
- Do I need to do new research for the poster?
- No. The Week 10 slides say the content should come from the other phases of your project: the literature review for background, the methodology report for method, and your analysis so far for findings. The added effort lies in paraphrasing, organising and presenting that material clearly, and the reference list is submitted separately from the poster. Chapter 11 · Research Posters and Creative Communication
- How many words is the final research report and when is it due?
- The report is 2,500 words and carries 50% of the subject. The lecture plan sets the deadline at 12:00pm on 2 November 2026, the Monday after SWOT Vac. Work submitted late without an approved extension loses 5% of the available marks per day or part of a day, and is not accepted after 20 University business days without written approval. Chapter 12 · Writing Findings, Discussion and the Final Report
How to prepare for the assessments
Plan the semester backwards from the research report, because every earlier task becomes a part of it. In Weeks 1 and 2, test three ideas against the desktop research rule and choose one whose public texts you can actually collect.
In Weeks 2 and 3, find at least four peer-reviewed sources, record each one's framework, method, findings and relevance in a reading table, and draft a question that names a platform, a group, a place and a period. Write the literature review as an argument that ends in that question.
In Weeks 5 to 7, fix your sample and practise coding on a small slice of data, keeping memos of every decision; the methodology is judged on explanation, justification, understanding, structure and presentation. From Week 8, analyse the full dataset with one method, then reuse the review, methodology and early findings for the poster before writing the report in SWOT Vac.
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