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MODULE 5: Communications & Audience Theories
Stage 1 Semester (Semester1/Semester2 if applicable) 2 Module Title Communications & Audience Theories Module Number 5 Module Status (Mandatory/Elective) Mandatory Module ECTS credit 5 Module NFQ level (only if applicable) 9 Pre-requisite Module Titles Research Methods Co-requisite Module Titles N/A Is this a capstone module? (Yes or No) No List of Module Teaching Personnel Robbie Smyth Contact Hours Non-contact Hours Total Effort (Hours) Lecture Practical Tutorial Seminar Assignment Placement work Independent 24 12 36 48 120 Allocation of Marks (Within the Module) Continuous Assessment Project Practical Final Examination Total is always 100% Percentage contribution 40 60 100 Intended Module Learning Outcomes On successful completion of this module, the learner will be able to:
- Critically discuss and evaluate leading communication and audience theories and concepts
- Evaluate the spectrum of research and theorization on how media audiences are measured and how audiences behave.
- Apply advanced communication and audience theories to academic and professional situations.
- Critique the major paradigms and theories that have shaped the field of communication, including their historical development and current trends. Module Objectives Understanding how audiences relate to media content and developing an ability to critically discuss research and theories in this field enhances and adds to the skills
developed by creating media content. This module offers a critical depth and context to the media skills acquired in the journalism based modules of the MA programme. It complements the knowledge and understanding acquired through completion of the Research Methods module and also offers an academic introduction to examples of research and theories potentially relevant to learners undertaking the dissertation module. Module Curriculum (1) Media industry audience measures The JNLR, JNRR, ABCs, ABCe, Nielsen, TAM and Box office methodologies The BARB and OFCOM audience research discussed The challenge of measuring online audiences (2) Audience histories and origins Early ideas of audience, the impact of printing The mass media audience from film to TV The online audience (3) Audience Theories Effects Approaches Uses and Gratifications Theory Morley and Hall’s Decoding theory Screen and Reception theories of audiences (4) Categorising audiences Macro and micro approaches: From Demographic and marketing segmentation strategies to Values and Lifestyles methodologies and micro trends (5) Communication theories and audiences The development of mass communication theories and processes including: Coordinated Management of Meaning, Cultivation Analysis, Cultural Approaches, Face-Negotiation Theory, Groupthink, Muted Group Theory. Narrative approaches, Rhetoric, Social Exchange, Social Penetration Theory, Spiral of Silence, Standpoint Theory, Structuration, Symbolic Interaction. (6) Advertising and audiences From Informational Processing to Emotional Meditative models Advertising in practice: Analysing current advertising strategies Reading lists and other learning materials Recommended Reading Berger, Arthur Asa (2011) Ads, Fads, and Consumer Culture, 4 th^ edition, Rowman and Littlefield, Lanham Maryland. Croteau, Hoynes Milan (2012) Media/Society – Industries, Images and Audiences , 4th edition, Sage, Thousand Oaks, California. McQuail, Denis, (2010) McQuail’s Mass Communication Theory , 6th^ edition, Sage, London
A set of hard copy core readings, adapted annually are given to learners. Learners make presentations twice a term with a requirement also to participate in class room discussions on the topics and presentations of other learners. Learners are able to deepen their critical knowledge through the completion of two written assignment pieces. The learner presentations are made through an agreed method using visual slides and other appropriate digital presentation formats. Module Assessment Strategy Learners are required to complete two equally weighted class presentations which account for 20% of the module marks. Alongside this they complete two written assignments. There is one major project, agreed with their lecturer which analyses some aspect of audience research. There is one academic essay taken from a list changed annually. Learners cannot present a project on the same course area as the essay assignment. At least one of the class presentations must focus on a different aspect of the topics discussed in the project and essay academic assignment. Element Number Weighting Type Description 1 10% Presentation Oral presentation on seminar topic 2 10% Presentation Oral presentation on seminar topic 3 20% Essay Critically reflective written essay assignment 4 60% Project Major project which analyses an area of audience research
