Researching the Creative Industries

• Credit value: 0 credits at Level 7
• Tutors: Dr Simone Wesner and others to be confirmed

This compulsory, unassessed module is for all full-time MA students in their first year and all part-time MA students in their second year. It consists of four workshops, which are designed to help you begin the process of research, building towards the submission of your dissertation proposal:

Starting research

We will look at problems and concerns surrounding starting and conducting research, and review the key aspects of writing an academic piece of research and how to go about gathering evidence. We will also consider the main types of research questions and the differences between a variety of research approaches.

Paradigms and methodologies

We will investigate common research paradigms and link these to the individual understanding of what research is and how it is carried out. We then introduce referencing and how to avoid assessment offences such as plagiarism, and discuss the use of AI as well as using the library for research.

Negotiating the process of research

The focus will be on data collection and a discussion of the ethical implications of research.

Structuring your research and answering a question

Finally, we will discuss how best to analyse data collected for your research coursework and for your dissertation.

By the end of these workshops, you will be able to:

• understand what a research question should contain and how to formulate one
• understand the differences between paradigms, methodologies and methods and identify the research material needed to answer a research question
• reference your work properly and avoid plagiarism
• select relevant frameworks, processes and approaches for undertaking research projects for personal and work related enquiries, and specifically for your own MA dissertation project.