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How to Write a Dissertation Proposal | A Step-by-Step Guide

Published on 14 February 2020 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on 11 November 2022.

A dissertation proposal describes the research you want to do: what it’s about, how you’ll conduct it, and why it’s worthwhile. You will probably have to write a proposal before starting your dissertation as an undergraduate or postgraduate student.

A dissertation proposal should generally include:

• An introduction to your topic and aims
• A literature review  of the current state of knowledge
• An outline of your proposed methodology
• A discussion of the possible implications of the research
• A bibliography  of relevant sources

Dissertation proposals vary a lot in terms of length and structure, so make sure to follow any guidelines given to you by your institution, and check with your supervisor when you’re unsure.

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Table of contents

Step 1: coming up with an idea, step 2: presenting your idea in the introduction, step 3: exploring related research in the literature review, step 4: describing your methodology, step 5: outlining the potential implications of your research, step 6: creating a reference list or bibliography.

Before writing your proposal, it’s important to come up with a strong idea for your dissertation.

Find an area of your field that interests you and do some preliminary reading in that area. What are the key concerns of other researchers? What do they suggest as areas for further research, and what strikes you personally as an interesting gap in the field?

Once you have an idea, consider how to narrow it down and the best way to frame it. Don’t be too ambitious or too vague – a dissertation topic needs to be specific enough to be feasible. Move from a broad field of interest to a specific niche:

• Russian literature 19th century Russian literature The novels of Tolstoy and Dostoevsky
• Social media Mental health effects of social media Influence of social media on young adults suffering from anxiety

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Like most academic texts, a dissertation proposal begins with an introduction . This is where you introduce the topic of your research, provide some background, and most importantly, present your aim , objectives and research question(s) .

Try to dive straight into your chosen topic: What’s at stake in your research? Why is it interesting? Don’t spend too long on generalisations or grand statements:

• Social media is the most important technological trend of the 21st century. It has changed the world and influences our lives every day.
• Psychologists generally agree that the ubiquity of social media in the lives of young adults today has a profound impact on their mental health. However, the exact nature of this impact needs further investigation.

Once your area of research is clear, you can present more background and context. What does the reader need to know to understand your proposed questions? What’s the current state of research on this topic, and what will your dissertation contribute to the field?

If you’re including a literature review, you don’t need to go into too much detail at this point, but give the reader a general sense of the debates that you’re intervening in.

This leads you into the most important part of the introduction: your aim, objectives and research question(s) . These should be clearly identifiable and stand out from the text – for example, you could present them using bullet points or bold font.

Make sure that your research questions are specific and workable – something you can reasonably answer within the scope of your dissertation. Avoid being too broad or having too many different questions. Remember that your goal in a dissertation proposal is to convince the reader that your research is valuable and feasible:

• Does social media harm mental health?
• What is the impact of daily social media use on 18– to 25–year–olds suffering from general anxiety disorder?

Now that your topic is clear, it’s time to explore existing research covering similar ideas. This is important because it shows you what is missing from other research in the field and ensures that you’re not asking a question someone else has already answered.

You’ve probably already done some preliminary reading, but now that your topic is more clearly defined, you need to thoroughly analyse and evaluate the most relevant sources in your literature review .

Here you should summarise the findings of other researchers and comment on gaps and problems in their studies. There may be a lot of research to cover, so make effective use of paraphrasing to write concisely:

• Smith and Prakash state that ‘our results indicate a 25% decrease in the incidence of mechanical failure after the new formula was applied’.
• Smith and Prakash’s formula reduced mechanical failures by 25%.

The point is to identify findings and theories that will influence your own research, but also to highlight gaps and limitations in previous research which your dissertation can address:

• Subsequent research has failed to replicate this result, however, suggesting a flaw in Smith and Prakash’s methods. It is likely that the failure resulted from…

Next, you’ll describe your proposed methodology : the specific things you hope to do, the structure of your research and the methods that you will use to gather and analyse data.

You should get quite specific in this section – you need to convince your supervisor that you’ve thought through your approach to the research and can realistically carry it out. This section will look quite different, and vary in length, depending on your field of study.

You may be engaged in more empirical research, focusing on data collection and discovering new information, or more theoretical research, attempting to develop a new conceptual model or add nuance to an existing one.

Dissertation research often involves both, but the content of your methodology section will vary according to how important each approach is to your dissertation.

Empirical research

Empirical research involves collecting new data and analysing it in order to answer your research questions. It can be quantitative (focused on numbers), qualitative (focused on words and meanings), or a combination of both.

With empirical research, it’s important to describe in detail how you plan to collect your data:

• Will you use surveys ? A lab experiment ? Interviews?
• What variables will you measure?
• How will you select a representative sample ?
• If other people will participate in your research, what measures will you take to ensure they are treated ethically?
• What tools (conceptual and physical) will you use, and why?

It’s appropriate to cite other research here. When you need to justify your choice of a particular research method or tool, for example, you can cite a text describing the advantages and appropriate usage of that method.

Don’t overdo this, though; you don’t need to reiterate the whole theoretical literature, just what’s relevant to the choices you have made.

Moreover, your research will necessarily involve analysing the data after you have collected it. Though you don’t know yet what the data will look like, it’s important to know what you’re looking for and indicate what methods (e.g. statistical tests , thematic analysis ) you will use.

Theoretical research

You can also do theoretical research that doesn’t involve original data collection. In this case, your methodology section will focus more on the theory you plan to work with in your dissertation: relevant conceptual models and the approach you intend to take.

For example, a literary analysis dissertation rarely involves collecting new data, but it’s still necessary to explain the theoretical approach that will be taken to the text(s) under discussion, as well as which parts of the text(s) you will focus on:

• This dissertation will utilise Foucault’s theory of panopticism to explore the theme of surveillance in Orwell’s 1984 and Kafka’s The Trial…

Here, you may refer to the same theorists you have already discussed in the literature review. In this case, the emphasis is placed on how you plan to use their contributions in your own research.

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You’ll usually conclude your dissertation proposal with a section discussing what you expect your research to achieve.

You obviously can’t be too sure: you don’t know yet what your results and conclusions will be. Instead, you should describe the projected implications and contribution to knowledge of your dissertation.

First, consider the potential implications of your research. Will you:

• Develop or test a theory?
• Provide new information to governments or businesses?
• Challenge a commonly held belief?
• Suggest an improvement to a specific process?

Describe the intended result of your research and the theoretical or practical impact it will have:

Finally, it’s sensible to conclude by briefly restating the contribution to knowledge you hope to make: the specific question(s) you hope to answer and the gap the answer(s) will fill in existing knowledge:

Like any academic text, it’s important that your dissertation proposal effectively references all the sources you have used. You need to include a properly formatted reference list or bibliography at the end of your proposal.

Different institutions recommend different styles of referencing – commonly used styles include Harvard , Vancouver , APA , or MHRA . If your department does not have specific requirements, choose a style and apply it consistently.

A reference list includes only the sources that you cited in your proposal. A bibliography is slightly different: it can include every source you consulted in preparing the proposal, even if you didn’t mention it in the text. In the case of a dissertation proposal, a bibliography may also list relevant sources that you haven’t yet read, but that you intend to use during the research itself.

Check with your supervisor what type of bibliography or reference list you should include.

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Caulfield, J. (2022, November 11). How to Write a Dissertation Proposal | A Step-by-Step Guide. Scribbr. Retrieved 20 May 2024, from https://www.scribbr.co.uk/thesis-dissertation/proposal/

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What (Exactly) Is A Research Proposal?

A simple explainer with examples + free template.

By: Derek Jansen (MBA) | Reviewed By: Dr Eunice Rautenbach | June 2020 (Updated April 2023)

Whether you’re nearing the end of your degree and your dissertation is on the horizon, or you’re planning to apply for a PhD program, chances are you’ll need to craft a convincing research proposal . If you’re on this page, you’re probably unsure exactly what the research proposal is all about. Well, you’ve come to the right place.

Overview: Research Proposal Basics

• What a research proposal is
• What a research proposal needs to cover
• How to structure your research proposal
• Example /sample proposals
• Proposal writing FAQs
• Key takeaways & additional resources

What is a research proposal?

Simply put, a research proposal is a structured, formal document that explains what you plan to research (your research topic), why it’s worth researching (your justification), and how  you plan to investigate it (your methodology). 

The purpose of the research proposal (its job, so to speak) is to convince  your research supervisor, committee or university that your research is  suitable  (for the requirements of the degree program) and  manageable  (given the time and resource constraints you will face). 

The most important word here is “ convince ” – in other words, your research proposal needs to  sell  your research idea (to whoever is going to approve it). If it doesn’t convince them (of its suitability and manageability), you’ll need to revise and resubmit . This will cost you valuable time, which will either delay the start of your research or eat into its time allowance (which is bad news). 

What goes into a research proposal?

A good dissertation or thesis proposal needs to cover the “ what “, “ why ” and” how ” of the proposed study. Let’s look at each of these attributes in a little more detail:

Your proposal needs to clearly articulate your research topic . This needs to be specific and unambiguous . Your research topic should make it clear exactly what you plan to research and in what context. Here’s an example of a well-articulated research topic:

An investigation into the factors which impact female Generation Y consumer’s likelihood to promote a specific makeup brand to their peers: a British context

As you can see, this topic is extremely clear. From this one line we can see exactly:

• What’s being investigated – factors that make people promote or advocate for a brand of a specific makeup brand
• Who it involves – female Gen-Y consumers
• In what context – the United Kingdom

So, make sure that your research proposal provides a detailed explanation of your research topic . If possible, also briefly outline your research aims and objectives , and perhaps even your research questions (although in some cases you’ll only develop these at a later stage). Needless to say, don’t start writing your proposal until you have a clear topic in mind , or you’ll end up waffling and your research proposal will suffer as a result of this.

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As we touched on earlier, it’s not good enough to simply propose a research topic – you need to justify why your topic is original . In other words, what makes it  unique ? What gap in the current literature does it fill? If it’s simply a rehash of the existing research, it’s probably not going to get approval – it needs to be fresh.

But,  originality  alone is not enough. Once you’ve ticked that box, you also need to justify why your proposed topic is  important . In other words, what value will it add to the world if you achieve your research aims?

As an example, let’s look at the sample research topic we mentioned earlier (factors impacting brand advocacy). In this case, if the research could uncover relevant factors, these findings would be very useful to marketers in the cosmetics industry, and would, therefore, have commercial value . That is a clear justification for the research.

So, when you’re crafting your research proposal, remember that it’s not enough for a topic to simply be unique. It needs to be useful and value-creating – and you need to convey that value in your proposal. If you’re struggling to find a research topic that makes the cut, watch  our video covering how to find a research topic .

It’s all good and well to have a great topic that’s original and valuable, but you’re not going to convince anyone to approve it without discussing the practicalities – in other words:

• How will you actually undertake your research (i.e., your methodology)?
• Is your research methodology appropriate given your research aims?
• Is your approach manageable given your constraints (time, money, etc.)?

While it’s generally not expected that you’ll have a fully fleshed-out methodology at the proposal stage, you’ll likely still need to provide a high-level overview of your research methodology . Here are some important questions you’ll need to address in your research proposal:

• Will you take a qualitative , quantitative or mixed -method approach?
• What sampling strategy will you adopt?
• How will you collect your data (e.g., interviews, surveys, etc)?
• How will you analyse your data (e.g., descriptive and inferential statistics , content analysis, discourse analysis, etc, .)?
• What potential limitations will your methodology carry?

So, be sure to give some thought to the practicalities of your research and have at least a basic methodological plan before you start writing up your proposal. If this all sounds rather intimidating, the video below provides a good introduction to research methodology and the key choices you’ll need to make.

How To Structure A Research Proposal

Now that we’ve covered the key points that need to be addressed in a proposal, you may be wondering, “ But how is a research proposal structured? “.

While the exact structure and format required for a research proposal differs from university to university, there are four “essential ingredients” that commonly make up the structure of a research proposal:

• A rich introduction and background to the proposed research
• An initial literature review covering the existing research
• An overview of the proposed research methodology
• A discussion regarding the practicalities (project plans, timelines, etc.)

In the video below, we unpack each of these four sections, step by step.

Research Proposal Examples/Samples

In the video below, we provide a detailed walkthrough of two successful research proposals (Master’s and PhD-level), as well as our popular free proposal template.

Proposal Writing FAQs

How long should a research proposal be.

This varies tremendously, depending on the university, the field of study (e.g., social sciences vs natural sciences), and the level of the degree (e.g. undergraduate, Masters or PhD) – so it’s always best to check with your university what their specific requirements are before you start planning your proposal.

As a rough guide, a formal research proposal at Masters-level often ranges between 2000-3000 words, while a PhD-level proposal can be far more detailed, ranging from 5000-8000 words. In some cases, a rough outline of the topic is all that’s needed, while in other cases, universities expect a very detailed proposal that essentially forms the first three chapters of the dissertation or thesis.

The takeaway – be sure to check with your institution before you start writing.

How do I choose a topic for my research proposal?

Finding a good research topic is a process that involves multiple steps. We cover the topic ideation process in this video post.

How do I write a literature review for my proposal?

While you typically won’t need a comprehensive literature review at the proposal stage, you still need to demonstrate that you’re familiar with the key literature and are able to synthesise it. We explain the literature review process here.

How do I create a timeline and budget for my proposal?

We explain how to craft a project plan/timeline and budget in Research Proposal Bootcamp .

Which referencing format should I use in my research proposal?

The expectations and requirements regarding formatting and referencing vary from institution to institution. Therefore, you’ll need to check this information with your university.

What common proposal writing mistakes do I need to look out for?

We’ve create a video post about some of the most common mistakes students make when writing a proposal – you can access that here . If you’re short on time, here’s a quick summary:

• The research topic is too broad (or just poorly articulated).
• The research aims, objectives and questions don’t align.
• The research topic is not well justified.
• The study has a weak theoretical foundation.
• The research design is not well articulated well enough.
• Poor writing and sloppy presentation.
• Poor project planning and risk management.
• Not following the university’s specific criteria.

Key Takeaways & Additional Resources

As you write up your research proposal, remember the all-important core purpose:  to convince . Your research proposal needs to sell your study in terms of suitability and viability. So, focus on crafting a convincing narrative to ensure a strong proposal.

At the same time, pay close attention to your university’s requirements. While we’ve covered the essentials here, every institution has its own set of expectations and it’s essential that you follow these to maximise your chances of approval.

By the way, we’ve got plenty more resources to help you fast-track your research proposal. Here are some of our most popular resources to get you started:

• Proposal Writing 101 : A Introductory Webinar
• Research Proposal Bootcamp : The Ultimate Online Course
• Template : A basic template to help you craft your proposal

If you’re looking for 1-on-1 support with your research proposal, be sure to check out our private coaching service , where we hold your hand through the proposal development process (and the entire research journey), step by step.

Psst… there’s more!

This post is an extract from our bestselling short course, Research Proposal Bootcamp . If you want to work smart, you don't want to miss this .

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You’re most welcome. We don’t have any research proposals that we can share (the students own the intellectual property), but you might find our research proposal template useful: https://gradcoach.com/research-proposal-template/

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Writing a dissertation proposal.

What is a dissertation proposal?

Dissertation proposals are like the table of contents for your research project , and will help you explain what it is you intend to examine, and roughly, how you intend to go about collecting and analysing your data. You won’t be required to have everything planned out exactly, as your topic may change slightly in the course of your research, but for the most part, writing your proposal should help you better identify the direction for your dissertation.

When you’ve chosen a topic for your dissertation , you’ll need to make sure that it is both appropriate to your field of study and narrow enough to be completed by the end of your course. Your dissertation proposal will help you define and determine both of these things and will also allow your department and instructors to make sure that you are being advised by the best person to help you complete your research.

A dissertation proposal should include:

• An introduction to your dissertation topic
• Aims and objectives of your dissertation
• A literature review of the current research undertaken in your field
• Proposed methodology to be used
• Implications of your research
• Limitations of your research
• Bibliography 

Although this content all needs to be included in your dissertation proposal, the content isn’t set in stone so it can be changed later if necessary, depending on your topic of study, university or degree. Think of your dissertation proposal as more of a guide to writing your dissertation rather than something to be strictly adhered to – this will be discussed later. 

Why is a dissertation proposal important?

A dissertation proposal is very important because it helps shape the actual dissertation, which is arguably the most important piece of writing a postgraduate student will undertake. By having a well-structured dissertation proposal, you will have a strong foundation for your dissertation and a good template to follow. The dissertation itself is key to postgraduate success as it will contribute to your overall grade . Writing your dissertation will also help you to develop research and communication skills, which could become invaluable in your employment success and future career. By making sure you’re fully briefed on the current research available in your chosen dissertation topic, as well as keeping details of your bibliography up to date, you will be in a great position to write an excellent dissertation.

Next, we’ll be outlining things you can do to help you produce the best postgraduate dissertation proposal possible.

How to begin your dissertation proposal

1. Narrow the topic down  

It’s important that when you sit down to draft your proposal, you’ve carefully thought out your topic and are able to narrow it down enough to present a clear and succinct understanding of what you aim to do and hope to accomplish in your dissertation.

How do I decide on a dissertation topic?

A simple way to begin choosing a topic for your dissertation is to go back through your assignments and lectures. Was there a topic that stood out to you? Was there an idea that wasn’t fully explored? If the answer to either of these questions is yes, then you have a great starting point! If not, then consider one of your more personal interests. Use Google Scholar to explore studies and journals on your topic to find any areas that could go into more detail or explore a more niche topic within your personal interest. 

Keep track of all publications

It’s important to keep track of all the publications that you use while you research. You can use this in your literature review.

You need to keep track of:

• The title of the study/research paper/book/journal
• Who wrote/took part in the study/research paper
• Chapter title
• Page number(s)

The more research you do, the more you should be able to narrow down your topic and find an interesting area to focus on. You’ll also be able to write about everything you find in your literature review which will make your proposal stronger.

While doing your research, consider the following:

• When was your source published? Is the information outdated? Has new information come to light since?
• Can you determine if any of the methodologies could have been carried out more efficiently? Are there any errors or gaps?
• Are there any ethical concerns that should be considered in future studies on the same topic?
• Could anything external (for example new events happening) have influenced the research?

Read more about picking a topic for your dissertation . 

How long should the dissertation proposal be?

There is usually no set length for a dissertation proposal, but you should aim for 1,000 words or more. Your dissertation proposal will give an outline of the topic of your dissertation, some of the questions you hope to answer with your research, what sort of studies and type of data you aim to employ in your research, and the sort of analysis you will carry out.

Different courses may have different requirements for things like length and the specific information to include, as well as what structure is preferred, so be sure to check what special requirements your course has.  

2. What should I include in a dissertation proposal?

Your dissertation proposal should have several key aspects regardless of the structure. The introduction, the methodology, aims and objectives, the literature review, and the constraints of your research all need to be included to ensure that you provide your supervisor with a comprehensive proposal. But what are they? Here's a checklist to get you started.

• Introduction

The introduction will state your central research question and give background on the subject, as well as relating it contextually to any broader issues surrounding it. 

The dissertation proposal introduction should outline exactly what you intend to investigate in your final research project.

Make sure you outline the structure of the dissertation proposal in your introduction, i.e. part one covers methodology, part two covers a literature review, part three covers research limitations, and so forth.

Your introduction should also include the working title for your dissertation – although don't worry if you want to change this at a later stage as your supervisors will not expect this to be set in stone.

Dissertation methodology

The dissertation methodology will break down what sources you aim to use for your research and what sort of data you will collect from it, either quantitative or qualitative. You may also want to include how you will analyse the data you gather and what, if any, bias there may be in your chosen methods.

Depending on the level of detail that your specific course requires, you may also want to explain why your chosen approaches to gathering data are more appropriate to your research than others.

Consider and explain how you will conduct empirical research. For example, will you use interviews? Surveys? Observation? Lab experiments?

In your dissertation methodology, outline the variables that you will measure in your research and how you will select your data or participant sample to ensure valid results.

Finally, are there any specific tools that you will use for your methodology? If so, make sure you provide this information in the methodology section of your dissertation proposal.

• Aims and objectives

Your aim should not be too broad but should equally not be too specific.

An example of a dissertation aim could be: ‘To examine the key content features and social contexts that construct successful viral marketing content distribution on X’.

In comparison, an example of a dissertation aim that is perhaps too broad would be: ‘To investigate how things go viral on X’.

The aim of your dissertation proposal should relate directly to your research question.

• Literature review

The literature review will list the books and materials that you will be using to do your research. This is where you can list materials that gave you more background on your topic, or contain research carried out previously that you referred to in your own studies. 

The literature review is also a good place to demonstrate how your research connects to previous academic studies and how your methods may differ from or build upon those used by other researchers. While it’s important to give enough information about the materials to show that you have read and understood them, don’t forget to include your analysis of their value to your work.

Where there are shortfalls in other pieces of academic work, identify these and address how you will overcome these shortcomings in your own research.

Constraints and limitations of your research

Lastly, you will also need to include the constraints of your research. Many topics will have broad links to numerous larger and more complex issues, so by clearly stating the constraints of your research, you are displaying your understanding and acknowledgment of these larger issues, and the role they play by focusing your research on just one section or part of the subject.

In this section it is important to Include examples of possible limitations, for example, issues with sample size, participant drop out, lack of existing research on the topic, time constraints, and other factors that may affect your study.

• Ethical considerations

Confidentiality and ethical concerns are an important part of any research.

Ethics are key, as your dissertation will need to undergo ethical approval if you are working with participants. This means that it’s important to allow for and explain ethical considerations in your dissertation proposal.

Keep confidentiality in mind and keep your participants informed, so they are aware of how the data provided is being used and are assured that all personal information is being kept confidential.

Consider how involved your patients will be with your research, this will help you think about what ethical considerations to take and discuss them fully in your dissertation proposal. For example, face-to-face participant interview methods could require more ethical measures and confidentiality considerations than methods that do not require participants, such as corpus data (a collection of existing written texts) analysis. 

3. Dissertation proposal example

Once you know what sections you need or do not need to include, it may help focus your writing to break the proposal up into separate headings, and tackle each piece individually. You may also want to consider including a title. Writing a title for your proposal will help you make sure that your topic is narrow enough, as well as help keep your writing focused and on topic.

One example of a dissertation proposal structure is using the following headings, either broken up into sections or chapters depending on the required word count:

• Methodology
• Research constraints

In any dissertation proposal example, you’ll want to make it clear why you’re doing the research and what positives could come from your contribution. 

Dissertation proposal example table

This table outlines the various stages of your dissertation proposal.

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PhD Thesis Proposal & Critique

by Keira Horowitz

Aug. 24, 2017

• Program in Media Arts and Sciences

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Phd thesis proposal.

After completing the General Exam milestone, students can begin preparation of the Dissertation Proposal and register for MAS.950: Preparation for PhD Thesis. The proposal committee must be approved by MASCOM and the proposal must be presented at a public proposal critique by the end of year 3 of the doctoral program, allowing for nine months before the dissertation defense.

To begin the proposal process:

• The student will submit to MAS (via the MAS Degree Tracker ) an abstract (one page maximum) and proposed committee members (with short bios of any non-MAS committee members)
• The student will also be expected to let their advisor and committee members know that we need their confirmation of approval via email.

MASCOM will review and approve the abstract and committee members. Students will receive approval via email confirmation from MAS staff.

After receiving committee/abstract approval, the student may go on to write the full proposal (using the guidelines listed below) for sharing with their committee. The completed proposal must be submitted to MAS via the MAS Degree Tracker .

We would expect that the student will also remind their advisor and committee members to send (via email to the MAS staff) confirmation of approval of the proposal document and any notes/comments. This new requirement means that MASCOM is no longer reading/approving the proposal document. Approval is dependent upon the student’s committee and verified by the MAS staff.

Thesis Proposal Guidelines

The Thesis Proposal should present a plausible argument for a specific approach to a well-defined problem, with the intention of making an original and significant contribution to knowledge in the field.

The proposal should include:

• Abstract: A short overview of the key goals, questions, and expected contributions.
• Goals or Problem Statement: What general problem are you addressing (often illustrated by a scenario)? Why is this a significant problem? What are your motivations? What makes this an especially appropriate problem for an MAS Dissertation?
• Research Questions: What specific questions are you addressing?
• Background: The intellectual framework and historical context for the Dissertation, including related research (with literature references). This section might be derived from the written component of your General Exam.
• Research Plan: How will you carry out your research? What methodologies will you use? How will you evaluate the results?
• Expected Results and Contributions: What results do you expect? What is new in the proposed research? Keep in mind that a PhD is, by definition, an "original and significant contribution to the field". What will you produce besides the document (physical artifacts, software, demos, videos, etc.)?
• Timeline: A set of milestones to serve as checks on reasonable progress. Obviously subject to change in the face of the fortunes of research life! Don't forget there must be a minimum of nine months between the proposal critique and the dissertation defense.
• Resources Required: What equipment or other resources will be needed?
• Suggested proposal length is around 15 pages.

Once the MAS staff receives the completed proposal (with committee approval), the student will be allowed to schedule their proposal critique. MAS staff can book the room and make the announcement. Please allow at least 2-3 weeks from final proposal submission to the date of the critique.

The student will present at a public critique (see below). Afterwards, committee members will provide written feedback to the advisor and student (via email). If necessary, the student may need to edit or rewrite parts of the proposal. MAS and MASCOM will defer to the advisor’s decision on this issue, based on the content of the committee comments.

Proposal Critique Guidelines

The Proposal Critique will consist of:

• a 30-40 minute public presentation (open to all members of the Media Lab community)
• a 15 minute Q & A session with the general audience
• a 30 minute private session with the full dissertation committee

To complete the proposal and critique process, the advisor must confirm to MAS when the committee has given final approval for the proposal. MAS will then confirm acceptance of proposal with advisor and student. A grade for MAS.950 will be given at end of current semester and the student can go forward to register for MAS.THG until completion of program. There must be at least nine months between the critique and the thesis defense.

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Writing a proposal for your dissertation : guidelines and examples

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• 1. Developing the Problem Statement for Your Dissertation Proposal :
• Introduction
• The Doctoral Experience
• The Problem Is the Problem
• Finding a Good Research Problem
• Characteristics of a Good Problem
• Writing the Problem Statement
• The Problem Statement as Part of a Dissertation Proposal
• Summary of Chapter One
• Do You Understand These Key Words and Phrases?
• Let's Start Writing Our Own Proposal
• 2. Writing Purpose Statements, Research Questions, and Hypotheses :
• The Quantitative Purpose Statement
• Purpose Statements for Qualitative Studies
• Defining and Describing a Research Question
• The Methodological Point of Departure
• Research Questions Will Ultimately Lead to the Study's Research Method
• Getting Back to Stating Our Research Question
• A Word of Caution!
• Putting It Together: Problem Statements, Purpose Statements, and Research Questions
• Problem Statements, Purpose Statements, and Research Questions in the Literature
• Stating Hypotheses for Your Research Study
• An Example of Stating Our Hypotheses
• Understanding the Four Basic Rules for Hypotheses
• The Direction of Hypotheses
• Hypotheses Must Be Testable via the Collection and Analysis of Data
• Research versus Null Hypotheses
• All Hypotheses Must Include the Word "Significant"
• Other Parts of Chapter 1 of the Dissertation
• Summary of Chapter Two
• Review Questions
• Progress Check for Chapter 1 of the Dissertation Proposal: The Introduction
• Let's Continue Writing Our Own Dissertation Proposal
• 3. Writing the Review of Literature for Your Study :
• What Is a Review of Literature and What Is Its Purpose?
• There Isn't a Magic Formula for Writing a Review of Literature
• Phase 1. Getting Ready to Write a Review of Literature
• Phase 2. Writing the Review of Literature
• Summary of Chapter Three
• Progress Check for Chapter 3 of the Dissertation Proposal: The Review of Literature
• 4. The First Part of Your Dissertation Research Method :
• Philosophy 101
• The Research Paradigm
• Nonrandom (Nonprobabalistic) Sampling
• Identifying the Population and a Sample for Your Study
• Summary of the Sampling Process
• Data Collection Instruments
• Instruments for Quantitative Research
• Instruments for Qualitative Research
• Reliability and Validity
• Plans for Data Analysis
• Ethical Considerations
• Plans for Presenting the Results
• Summary of Your Proposal
• Summary of Chapter Four: The First Part of Your Dissertation Research Method
• 5. Quantitative Research Methods :
• Different Types of Data
• Quantitative Research Designs
• Survey Research
• Correlational Research
• Causal-Comparative Research
• Hypothesis Testing
• Experimental Research
• The Validity of Your Study
• Threats to the Internal Validity of Your Study
• Threats to the External Validity of Your Study
• Experimental Research Designs
• Preexperimental Designs
• Quasi-Experimental Designs
• Experimental Designs
• Putting This All Together for the Quantitative Dissertation Proposal
• Chapter 3 of a Quantitative Dissertation Proposal
• Our First Example of Chapter 3 of a Proposal
• Summary of Chapter Five
• Progress Check for Chapter 3 of a Quantitative Dissertation Proposal
• Appendix 5.1. Example of a Descriptive Research Study
• Appendix 5.2. Example of a Correlational Research Study
• Appendix 5.3. Example of a Quasi-Experimental Research Study
• Appendix 5.4. Example of an Experimental Research Study
• Appendix 5.5. Threats to the Validity of an Experimental Study
• 6. Qualitative Research Methods :
• An Overview of Qualitative Methodologies
• The Role of the Researcher
• The Format of a Qualitative Dissertation Proposal
• Chapter 1 of a Qualitative Dissertation Proposal: The Introduction
• Chapter 3 of a Qualitative Dissertation Proposal: Research Methods
• Choosing the Right Qualitative Research Method
• Participants and Sampling
• Instruments
• Research Procedures
• The Validity and Reliability of a Qualitative Study
• Summary of Chapter Six
• Progress Check for Chapter 3 of a Qualitative Dissertation Proposal
• Appendix 6.1. Narrative Study Procedures: The Case of the Unfortunate Departure
• Appendix 6.2. Phenomenological Study Procedures: The Case of Sending Your Child to Safety
• Appendix 6.3. Ethnographic Study Procedures: The Case of Climbing the Mountain
• Appendix 6.4. Case Study Procedures: The Case of the Standardized Test
• Appendix 6.5. Grounded Theory Procedures: The Case of Homelessness
• Appendix 6.6. Content Analysis Procedures: The Case of the Eye Witness
• 7. Mixed Methods Research Designs :
• An Overview of Mixed Methods Research
• The Format of a Mixed Methods Proposal
• Chapter 1 of a Mixed Methods Study: The Introduction
• Background, Statement of the Problem, and Significance of the Study
• The Central Purpose of the Study
• Research Questions
• Hypotheses for Mixed Methods Studies
• Chapter 2 of a Mixed Methods Dissertation Proposal: The Review of Literature
• Chapter 3 of a Mixed Methods Dissertation Proposal: Research Methods
• The Mixed Methods Paradigm
• Research Design
• The Three Major Mixed Methods Designs
• Summary of Chapter Seven
• Progress Check for Chapter 3 of a Mixed Methods Dissertation Proposal: The Research Methods
• Appendix 7.1. Sequential Explanatory Design: The Case of the Tutors
• Appendix 7.2. Sequential Exploratory Design: The Case of the Academies
• Appendix 7.3. Convergent Design: The Case of Calling It In
• Epilogue: Have We Accomplished What We Set Out to Do?
• Appendix A. Progress Check for Chapter 1 of a Dissertation Proposal: The Introduction
• Appendix B. Progress Check for Chapter 2 of a Dissertation Proposal: The Review of Literature
• Appendix C. Progress Check for Chapter 3 of a Quantitative Dissertation Proposal
• Appendix D. Progress Check for Chapter 3 of a Qualitative Dissertation Proposal
• Appendix E. Progress Check for Chapter 3 of a Mixed Methods Dissertation Proposal.

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Media@LSE MSc Dissertation Series

This is a selection of the best dissertations authored by students from our MSc programmes.

These MSc dissertations have been selected by the editor and deputy editor of the Media@LSE Working Paper Series and consequently, are not the responsibility of the Working Paper Series Editorial Board.

No 313 The App Keeps the Score: Period-Tracking Apps, Self-Empowerment and the Self as Enterprise , Martina Sardelli

No 312  Envisioning Solidarity: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Chinese NGO Communications on Philanthropic Campaigns , Han Zheng

No 311  Examining the Western Media's Representation of Present-Day China Through the Lense of of Orientalism: A critical discourse analysis on BBC News’ coverage of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics , Danrong (Miko) Xiang

No 310  Bodies That Pain: An Emergent Resistance in Neo/Non-Liberal China. Exploring Weibo Hashtag Activism #FacingBirthInjuries From an Affective-Ethical Perspective , Jialu Sun

No 309  'The Algorithm Will Battle Against You': A Qualitative Study on Disabled Content Creators’ Perspectives and Understanding of the Challenges Presented by Algorithmic Systems on Social Media Platforms , Ishana Rhea Ramtohul

No 308  Why They Don't Trust Us: Chilean Mainstream Media, Metajournalistic Discourses and Repairing Journalism , Phillip Duran Pástene

No 307  A ‘Canary in the Coalmine' for Synthethic Media Regulation: The Emerging Threat of Deepfake Image Abuse , Olivia Otts

No 306  Communicating Inside to People from the Outside: How junior international employees in strategic communications companies in London perceive workplace well-being through internal communications , Nam Nghiem

No 305  The Voices That Build America: Theorizing the Labor Union as a Media Technology , Grace Nelson

No 304  "Art on Wheels": A Semiotic and Visual Discourse Analysis of Graffiti on Nairobi’s Matatus , Frank Mutulu

No 303  News Diversity and Morality in the Climate Reparations debate: A Quantitative Content Analysis of British and Irish News Coverage of the COP27 Negotiations about Loss and Damage , Marlene Jacobse

No 302  'We're all going through it': How the Construction of ‘Mental Health’ in One Pandemic HuffPost Series Positions Readers , Clare Lombardo

No 301 F rench Ecocinema and Young Audiences Environmental Mobilistations: An Exploration of the Intersection Between Film and Politics , Lola Messica

No 300  Balancing Digital Selves: Mediated Self-Presentation of Migrant Women in Germany on LinkedIn , Maya Hemant Krishna

No 299  Solidifying Social Immobility: Representation of Sex Workers within Human Trafficking Discourse in the Philippines , Olivia Austria Kemble

No 298  'Give people the power to build community and bring the world closer together': Illusions of A Global village. A Critical Discourse Analysis of Meta Platforms’ Discursive Construction of the Global Citizen , Nelli Jouhki.

No 297  Enabling Empowerment by Establishing Indian Feminity , Sanskriti Bhhatkoti

No 296  The Forces of Development: Communicating Indigenous Identity in Brazil , Alan Gabrielli Azevedo

No 295  Can women really have it all? A Discourse Analysis of Neoliberal Feminist Discourse’s Roles in the Construction of Media Representation of Professional Working Women in Indonesia , Moudy Alfiana

No 294  Framing Utopia In Emerging Technology: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Financial Media Representation of Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality , Chuyue Zhan 

No 293  Understanding Brand-Culture Interaction: A Social Semiotic Analysis of an Emerging Form of Brand Communications on Bilibili , Xinyu Yang 

No 292  ‘We don’t chase clicks, we chase public interest’: Investigative Journalism Between Democratic Ideals and Economic Realities , Lara Wiebecke 

No 291  A Health Risk Community or A Cultural Tourism Destination? A Critical Discourse Analysis of Intertextual Representation of Wanhua District in Taiwanese Mass Media Coverage of 2021 COVID-19 Outbreak in Taipei City and Official Tourism Promotion , Min Tu 

No 290  A Duality of Shifting Values in Journalism: ‘Responsible Capitalism’ and Public Service Mission – An Analysis of the News Trade Press , Hanna Siemaszko 

No 289  Mediated Social Class Identity Articulation and Performance Over Social Media , Shivani Rao 

No 288  Emotions running high – do they catch the reader’s eye? A quantitative content analysis on emotional frames in climate change news – the case of a significant global news publisher’s Cop26 coverage , Sara Nuder 

No 287  Selling Surveillance by Fixing Femininity: Exploring the Representation and Discursive Construction of the Gaze Between Women in Indian Advertisements , Vaishnavi Nair 

No 286  Development as its own Antithesis: Towards a Multi-disciplinary Exploration of the Neoliberalization of Development , Lisar Morina 

No 285  Can creative labor coexist under an industrial capitalist model? A qualitative analysis of worker subjectivity in production work in Vancouver’s film and television industry , Emily Mckenna Arbogast Larman 

No 284  Nothing to Hide – Everyone to Suspect: A case study of Neighbor, Neoliberal Security Governance and Securitization , Julia Kopf 

No 283  Building a Social Contract for the Network Society: A Discursive Study of How Meta Mediates its Relationship to Users and Society Through Public Policy Communications , Hunter Morgan 

No 282  Big Brother Watch’s campaign against COVID Pass and its implications for science communication , Zichen Jess Hu 

No 281  “Everyone Was Talking About It”: A Thematic Analysis of Audience Interpretation of Squid Game on IMDb , Junhan Gina Fu 

No 280  ‘An Existential Threat’: Right-wing Media and the Formation of Racialised Moral Panics , Sarah Campbell

No 279  ‘Stay at Home, Protect the NHS, Save Lives’: A Critical Discourse Analysis of UK Government Covid-19 press conferences , Morwenna Backhouse

No 278  Datafied Gay Men’s Dating: Ordering of Sexual Sociality on Blued , Hao Wu

No 277  Calculating newsworthiness: Investigating the role that probability plays in newsification and journalistic decision-making , Selina Swift 

No 276  Platformisation as Development: Discourse and Justification in the South American Gig Economy , Lucas Stiglich

No 275  Branding for New Futures: Brand Activism’s Mediation of Collective Prospective Remembering , Kelly M. Smith

No 274 ‘It wasn’t meant to be mine, yea?’ – The impacts of automation on the Brazilian Welfare State A case study of the Covid-19 data-driven emergency aid Auxílio Emergencial , Melissa Lima Silva 

No 273  ‘Toward a better future’: A critical discourse analysis of the Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) reporting on the corporate websites of three large multinational corporations (MNCs) , Kanhai A. Parasharya 

No 272  Looking through the mirror: Finding Hybridity in Al Jazeera English’s Journalism Metadiscourse , Zoe Maria Pace 

No 271  How many more Emoji do we need? Examining the Unicode Consortium’s Vision of World Standard of Emoji , Yuka Katsumata 

No 270  Hate in the Mainstream: Proposing a ‘Keyness-Driven’ Framework to Surface Toxic Speech in the Public Domain , Pica Johansson

No 269  Mapping Networks of Moral Language on U.S. Presidential Primary Campaigns, 2016-2020, Kobi Hackenburg 

No 268  The Role of Selective Exposure in ‘A New Era of Minimal Effects’: The Mediating Effect of Selective Exposure on the Relationship between Personal Characteristics and Conspiracy Theory Beliefs , Eunbin Ha

No 267  ‘Thick girls get low’: Representations of gender, fatness, blackness and sexuality in music videos by Lizzo , Alexandra Grinfeld

No 266  We are raising our voices: The use of TikTok for the public self-representation of indigenous identity in Latin America , Camila Figueroa-Zepeda 

No 265  The Silenced Sound of Drill The Digital Disadvantage, Neocapitalist Media, and Hyper- Segregation , Alexandra Farje 

No 264  Blockchain Island: A critical discourse analysis of the colonial construction of a Puerto Rican crypto utopia , María De Los Milagros Colón Cruz

No 263 From Artists to Creators, From Music to Audio: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Spotify’s ‘Audio First’ Strategy , Ryan Carraro 

No 262  Imprisoned by Partisanship? A Critical Discourse Analysis of Media Bias of United States Print and Online Media in Reporting of Bipartisan Issues through the First Step Act , Kimberly Burton

No 261  “This Art of Being French” A Critical Discourse Analysis on Nostalgia and National Identity in Emmanuel Macron’s Speeches , Capucine Bourges 

No 260  Freedom for whom? Investigating notions of freedom in European media and communications policy, 1989-2021 , Jakob Angeli

No 259  ‘Inspire Creativity, Enrich Life’? A Critical Discourse Analysis on How Douyin Justifies Its Data Extraction and Shapes Public Values in The Platform Society , Jing An

No 258 Changing Humanitarianism For The Better? Virtual Reality and the Representation of the Suffering ‘Other’ in Humanitarian Communications , Francesca Liberatore Vaselli

No 257 We Are Humans Too: Refugees’ Perceptions of Representations of Migration in European News , Hannah Traussnigg

No 256 The Matter of Online Political Participation: A New Materialist Experiment on Emerging Adult Participatory Practices in the United Kingdom, Ireland and the Netherlands , Hanne M. Stegeman

No 255 Rap Music As Evidence: A Prosecutorial Tactic of Institutionalizing Racism , Claire Ruder 

No 254 Put Students Before Your Public Image: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Strategic Communications in the University of Warwick Rape Chat Scandal , Clara Héroux Rhymes

No 253 Set The Record Straight: The Significance of Counter-Archives in Contemporary Struggles of Justice for Apartheid-Era Crimes , Ra’eesa Pather

No 252 Can Stories Change How We Feel About People: The Effect of Older People’s Online Personal Stories on Mitigating Younger Korean Ageism , Jeongwon Leah Park

No 251 The ‘Silent Majority': A Critical Discourse Analysis of Counter-Movement Key Opinion Leaders’ YouTube Coverage of the 2019 Hong Kong Protests , Limichi Okamoto

No 250 Man Up! A Qualitative Analysis of Representations of the Male Body on Instagram and Body Image Among Young Flemish Men , Femke Konings

No 249 Manufacturing The Mapped Metropolis: A Social Semiotic Analysis of Cartographic Representations of Gentrification and Displacement in New York City , Johanne Lahlum Hortman

No 248 The Police Have Confirmed all 39 Victims Were Chinese The Mis/Recognition of Vietnamese Migrants in Their Mediated Encounters Within UK Newspapers , Linda Hien

No 247 Brother A-Zhong For the Win: A Qualitative Analysis of Chinese Fan Communities’ Nationalist Practice of Cyber Expedition , Yannan Du

No 246 Police Facial Recognition in Progress: The Construction of The Notion of Accuracy in the Live Facial Recognition Technology Used by the MET Police in London , Romina Colman

No 245 Polarflation: The Inflationary Effect of Attention-Optimising Algorithms on Polarisation in the Public Sphere , Samuel Caveen

No 244 Out of Sight, Out of Mind: Examining How Representation and Accessibility Impact Each Other With Relation to Visual Impairment , Rebecca Sophie Brahde

No 243 Narrating Economics and The Social Vision of a $100 Billion Fund: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Financial Media Representation of Softbank’s Venture Capital Investments in Digital Technology , Carl Bakenhus

No 242 Look Back in Rebellion: Radical Transparency As Refusal of Surveillance , Beatrice Bacci

No 241  The Quantified (Female) Self: Examining the Conceptualisation of Female Health, Selfhood and Embodiment in Fitbit Strategic Communication Campaigns , Jourdan Webb

No 240  Transitioning from Analogue to Digital Broadcast: A Case Of Communicative Inequality , Boikhutso Tsikane

No 239  “Won’t somebody please think of the children?” A Critical Discourse Analysis of Representations of the Figure of the Child in Western Media Coverage of the Yemeni Conflict , Nadine Talaat

No 238  Embodying Disability: Problematising Empathy in Immersive Experiences of Non-Normative Bodies , Pablo Agüera Reneses

No 237  Democratising Bridge or Elite Medium: An investigation into political podcast adoption and the relationship with cognitive social capital , Steve Rayson

No 236  Manufacturing Consent: An Investigation of the Press Support Towards the US Administration Prior to US-led Airstrikes in Syria , Malavika Mysore

No 235  Intercultural dialogue, ordinary justice and indigenous justice in Bolivia: Between challenges, possibilities or utopias , Johanna Lechat

No 234  When a Woman Meets a Woman: Comparing the Use of Negativity of Female Candidates in Single and Mixed-Gender Televised Debates , Emil Støvring Lauritsen

No 233  “Let me tell you how I see things”: The place of Brexit and the Entente Cordiale in Macron’s strategic narrative of and for France on the international scene , Maud-Lily Lardenois-Macocco

No 232  The Pleasures of Solitude? A qualitative analysis of young Chinese women’s daily-life vlog viewing practices , Yue Jin

No 231  Hegemonic Femininity: A Laughing Matter? A Critical Discourse Analysis of Contemporary Stand-Up Comedy in the United States on the Issue of Female Reproductive Rights , Isabella Hastings

No 230  Nice People Take Drugs: An investigation into the communicative strategies of drug policy reform organisations in the United Kingdom from a social movement perspective , André Belchior Gomes

No 229  The Branded Muslim Woman: A Qualitative Study into the Symbolic Boundaries Negotiated around the Portrayal of Muslim Women in Brand Cultures , Nuha Fayaz

No 228  The Uncertain Decorum of Online Identification: Study in Qualitative Interviews , Samuel DiBella

No 227  Decentring Eurocentrism in Communication Scholarship: A Discursive Analysis of resistance in influential communication journals , Sara Demas

No 226  From Asthetic Criticism to News Reporting: Rethinking the concept of Ecstatic News through the Lens of French Print Cultural Journalism , Elisa Covo

No 225  Datafication of Music Streaming Services: A qualitative investigation into the technological transformations of music consumption in the age of big data , Jingwen Chen

No 224  Transnational, Gendered, and Popular Music in the Arab World: A Content Analysis of a Decade (2010-2019) , Dana J. Bibi

No 223  We the Ragpickers: A case-study of participatory video and counterhegemony , Suyash Barve

No 222  Audience Engagement with Ten Years and the Imagination of Hong Kong Identity: Between Text, Context and Audience , Zhi-Nan Rebecca Zhang

No 221  Straightening out Same Sex Marriage for ‘all’ Australians: A content analysis study of prejudices in Australia's campaign for marriage equality ,Tate Soller

No 220  In Search for ‘Liveliness’: Experimenting with Co-Ocurrence Analysis Using #GDPR on Twitter , Sameeh Selim

No 219  ¿Dónde está mi gente? A qualitative analysis of the role of Latinos in the context of the Hillary for America 2016 presidential campaign , Andrea P. Terroba Rodríguez

No 218 Red, White and Blue for Who? A critical discourse analysis of mainstream media coverage of Colin Kaepernick and Take a Knee , Kim M Reynolds

No 217   ‘Algorithmic Bias’ through the Media Lens: A Content Analysis of the Framing of Discourse , Rocío Izar Oyarzun Peralta

No 216  Civic State of Mind: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Celebrity Language on Citizenship and Democracy , Hannah Menchhoff

No 215  Encoding the Social: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Mark Zuckerberg's Construction of Mediated Sociality , Sam McGeachy

No 214  White for White: An Exploration of Gay Racism on the World's Most Popular Platform for Gay and Bisexual Men , Aubrey T. A. Maslen

No 213  Agent of Change? Malaysian Millenials' Social Media Consumption and Political Knowledge, Participation and Voting in the 2018 General Election , ZiQing Low

No 212  The Netflix Phenomenon in India: A qualitative enquiry into the urban Indian youth's engagement with Netflix , Richa Sarah George

No 211  Do the ‘Rich’ Get Richer? Exploring the Associations between Social Media Use and Online and Offline Political Participation Activities among Kenyan Youth , Eric Gatobu Ndubi 

No 210  The Weinstein Effect and mediated non-apologies: Evaluating the role of #MeToo public apologies in western rape culture , Eleanor Dierking

No 209  ‘No Script At All’. A Study of Cultural Context and Audience Perceptions of Authenticity in Reality Television , Yun Ting Choo

No 208  “It’s funny ‘cause it’s true”. A critical discourse analysis on new political satire on television in the United States , Darren Chan

No 207  In a Mediated Society, Can Indigenous Knowledge Survive? A Network Ethnography Examining the Influence of Internet Use on Indigenous Herbal Knowledge Circulation in a Remote Yao Community , Anran Wang

No 206  Beauty and the Blogger: The Impact of Instagram Bloggers on Ideals of Beauty and Self-esteem , Sanjana Ahuja

No 205  Memories of Babri: Competing Discourses and contrasting constructions of a media event , Sanaya Chandar

No 204  Habitus, Social Space and Media Representation: The ‘Romantic’ Contemporary Taiwanese ‘Wenyi Qingnian’ Discourse in the Local Lifestyle Magazine ‘One Day’ , Hoi Yee Chau

No 203  Stories Untold? A qualitative analysis uncovering the representation of girls as victims of conflict in the global south , Tessa Venizelos

No 202  What is the Norm? A study of heteronormative representations in Bollywood , Saachi Bhatia

No 201 Live Streaming and its Audiences in China: Making sense of authenticity , Qisi Zhang

No 200  Berniebros and Vagina Voters: Content Analysis of Gendered Facebook Communication in the 2016 U.S. Democratic Presidential Primary , Meredith Epstein

No 199  ‘Othering’ the ‘Left-Behind’? A Critical Discourse Analysis of the representation of Leave voters in British broadsheets’ coverage of the EU referendum , Louise S. Thommessen.

No 198  Social Media as Civic Deliberation Space: A content analysis study of the public discussion about the legalization of surrogacy on Weibo and Zhihu , Liu Yu

No 197  Stories of Dismantling the White Patriarchy: A thematic narrative analysis of the imagined futures in 2015 science fiction films , Kylie Courtney

No 196  Too Small to Succeed? The Case of #NoAlVotoElectrónico and the Limits of Connective Action , Juan Floreal Graña

No 195  How we remember and forget via Facebook: The Mediatization of Memento and Deletion Practices , Jacopo Villanacci

No 194  Mediated Japanophile? Media consumption and Chinese people’s attitudes towards Japan among different generations , Han Xiao

No 193  Digital Mediatization in the Lifestyle Sport Slacklining , Friedrich Enders

No 192  Recipe for Success: A qualitative investigation into the role of social capital in the gendered food blogosphere , Fiona Koch

No 191 Access and Beyond: An Intersectional Approach to Women’s Everyday Experiences with ICTs , Fatma Matin Khan

No 190  Not Manly Enough: A Quantitative Analysis of Gender Stereotypes in Mexican Political Advertising, 2010‐2016 , Enrique López Alonso

No 189  Loudspeaker Broadcasting as Community Radio: A qualitative analysis of loudspeaker broadcasting in contemporary rural China in the framework of alternative media  Shutong Wang

No 188  21st Century Cholos Representations of Peruvian youth in the discourse of El Panfleto  Esteban Bertarelli

No 187  Representations of Calendar Girls and An Ideology of Modernity in 1930s Republican Shanghai  Yifan Song 

No 186  Reality Television as a Neoliberal Technology of Citizenship? A Critical Discourse Analysis of Điều Ước Thứ Bảy  Vu Anh Ngoc Nguyen

No 185  Truth on Trial: Indigenous News Media and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada  Tomas Borsa

No 184  No Place Like Home: Analysing Discursive Constructions of ‘Home’ in Canadian Mainstream Newspaper Coverage of the Elsipogtog Protest  Brooklyn Tchozewski

No 183  Modiplomacy and Diaspower: The discursive construction of modernity and national identity in Narendra Modi’s communication with the Indian diaspora  Saanya Gulati

No 182  “The centre must hold”: Partisan dealignment and the rise of the minor party at the 2015 general election  Peter Carrol

No 181  ‘Rapefugees Not Welcome’. Ideological Articulations of Media Discourses on Migrants and Refugees in Europe: New Racism and Othering – A Critical Discourse Analysis  Monica Ibrahim

No 180  Constructing Connectivity: A Qualitative Analysis of the Representation of the Connected and Unconnected Others in Facebook’s Internet.org Campaign  Minji Lee

No 179  Space and Place: The Communication of Gentrification to Young People in Hackney  Kimberley Brown

No 178  Adherence to the protest paradigm? An examination of Singapore’s news coverage of Speakers’ Corner protests from 2000 to 2015  Joann Tan

No 177  The system is rigged: A discursive analysis of Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders  Jessica Cullen

No 176   An Examination of American Mainstream Media Discourse of Solidarity and Citizenship in the Reporting of the Black Lives Matter Campaign  Eilis Yazdani

No 175  Are All Lives Valued? Worthy 'Us', Unworthy 'Others'. A Comparative Content Analysis of Global News Agencies’. Pictorial Representation of the Paris Attacks and the Beirut Bombings . Dokyum Kim 

No 174  Imperial remains: A Critical Discourse Analysis of a Televised Retelling of the Portuguese Colonial Period  Beatriz Serra

No 173  Unmasking USAID Pakistan’s Elite Stakeholder Discourses: Towards an Evaluation of the Agency’s Development Interventions  Anum Pasha

No 172  Boundary Work between ‘Us’ and ‘Them’ Global News Agencies’ Double Standard on the Construction of Forced Migrants by Geographical Proximity  Woo-chul Kim

No 171  Why Did Our Watchdog Fail? A Counter Perspective on the Media Coverage of the 2007 Financial Crisis  Tran Thuy-Anh Huynh

No 170  Unmasking ‘Sidekick’ Masculinity: A Qualitative Investigation of How Asian-American Males View Emasculating Stereotypes in U.S. Media  Steffi Lau

No 169  The Silence of the Lamb: Animals in Biopolitics and the Discourse of Ethical Evasion  Sana Ali

No 168  The Tartan Other: A qualitative analysis of the visual framing of Alex Salmond and the Scottish National Party in the British Press  Ross Alexander Longton

No 167  The Unmasking of Burmese Myth in Contemporary Thai Cinema  Pimtong Boonyapataro

No 166  Neoliberal Capitalism, Transnationalism and Networked Individualism: Rethinking Social Class in International Student Mobility  Nguyen Quynh Tram Doan 

No 165  The New Media Elite: How has Participation been Enabled and Limited in Leaders Live Online Political Debates  Matilde Giglio

No 164  Constructing a Sense of Place through New Media: A Case Study of Humans of New York  Mariele O’Reilly

No 163  The failure of cosmopolitanism and the reinforcement of hierarchical news: managing the visibility of suffering throughout the Multimodal Analysis of the Charlie Hebdo versus the Baga terrorist attacks  Maria Paola Pofi

No 162  Imagining (In)security: Towards Developing Critical Knowledges of Security in a Mediated Social World  Kathryn Higgins

No 161  Tweens Logged In: How Social Norms and Media Literacy Relate to Children’s Usage of Social Media  Kalina Asparouhova

No 160  Finding Ferguson: Geographic Scale in the United States’ National Nightly Network News  John Ray 

No 159  Solidarity as Irony: Audience Responses to Celebrity Advocacy  Isabel Kuhn

No 158  Phantasmagoric Nationalism: State power and the diasporic imagination  Felicia Wong 

No 157  Investigating Music Consumption ‘Circuits of Practice’  Eva Tkavc Dubokovic

No 156  A complex history turned into a tale of reconciliation: A critical discourse analysis of Irish newspaper coverage of the Queen’s visit to the Republic of Ireland  Ciara Spencer

No 155  Economic power of e-retailers via price discrimination in e-commerce: price discrimination’s impact on consumers’ choices and preferences and its position in relation to consumer power  Arina Vlasova

No 154  Exploring the Boundaries of Crowd Creation: A study on the value of voice in neoliberal media culture  Ana Ecaterina C. Tan

No 153  “Songs of Guilt”: When Generosity is to Blame - A Content Analysis of the Press and Social Media Reactions to U2’s “Songs of Innocence” Giveaway on iTunes  Alessandro Volonté

No 152  Hybridity within Peer Production: The Power Negotiation of Chinese Fansub Groups  Zongxiao Rong

No 151  Writing On the Wall: Conversations with Beirut's Street Artists  Zeina Najjar

No 150  'Gaining Control with the Power of the Gun and Maintaining Control with the Power of the Pen': A Content Analysis of Framing the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) in the  People's Daily   Yuanyuan Liu

No 149  Let My Voices be Heard: A Qualitative Study of Migrant Workers' Strategies of Mediation Resistance in Contemporary China  Yijun Chen

No 148  'Popular Politics': A Discourse Theory Analysis of Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa's TV/radio Program Citizen Link  Veronica Leon Burch

No 147  A Comparative Analysis of Chinese, Western and African Media Discourse in the Representation of China's Expansion of Economic Engagements in Africa Tong Wei

No 146  Ideological Trafficking of God and the Other  Sultana Haider

No 145  The Maasai and the Internet: Online Civil Participation and the Formation of a Civic Identity in Rural Kenya  Stine Ringnes Wilhelmsen

No 144  Wood in Water Does Not a Crocodile Make: Migrants Virtual Place-making, Ontological Security and Cosmopolitanism in the Transnational Social Field  Sheetal Kumar

No 143  Droning On: A Critical Analysis of American Policy and News Discourse on Drone Strikes  Sadaf Khan

No 142  The Impact of Mass Media Sentiments on Returns and Volatility in Asset Markets: Evidence from Algorithmic Content Analysis  Panu Kuuluvainen

No 141  Problematising the Self-Representation of Race and Gender in Vines: Who has the Last Laugh?  Shaikha Nurfarah Mattar

No 140  Corporate Public Apologies, or Capitalism in Other Words  Nina M Chung

No 139  Agenda Setting and Framing in the UK Energy Prices Debate  Nicholas Davies

No 138  'It is of Inestimable Benefit': Communicating American Science Policy in the Post-Cold War Era  Mercedes Wilby

No 137  Beyond Twenty Cents: The Impact of the Representation of Violence on the Coverage of the Brazilian Protests of June 2013 by the Mass Media  Margarida Gorecki Telles

No 136  Framing Françafrique: Neo-colonial Framing Practices in  Le Monde 's Coverage of the French Military Interventions in Mali and the Central African Republic  Lucie Gagniarre 

No 135  Representing Persia: A Discourse Analysis of The American Print Media's Coverage of Iran  Kyle Bowen

No 134  From Fat Cats to Cool Cats: CEOs and Micro-celebrity Practices on Twitter  Julia Regina Austmann

No 133  Critically Imagining Ineternet Governance: A Content Analysis of the  Marco Civil da Internet  Public Consultation  João Carlos Magalhães

No 132  The Ambiguous ICT: Investigating How Tablet Users Relate to and Interact with Their Device  Jessica Blank

No 131  Threats, Parasites and Others: The Visual Framing of Roma Migrants in the British Press  Grace Waters

No 130  Fifty Years of Negativity: An Assessment of Negative Compaigning in Swedish Parlimentary Election Campaigns 1956-2006  Gustav Gidenstam

No 129  The Talking Dog: Representations of Self and Others in Japanese Advertising  Eryk Salvaggio

No 128  The Selfie Protest: A Visual Analysis of Activism in the Digital Age  Clare Sheehan

No 127  Negativity and Australian Political Discourse: A Case Study of the Australian Liberal Party's 2013 Election Television Advertising  Clare Creegan

No 126  What are You Laughing at? A Social Semiotic Analysis of Ironic Racial Stereotypes in  Chappelle's Show  Cindy Ma

No 125  Reconsidering Agenda Setting and Intermedia Agenda Setting from a Global Perspective: A Cross-National Comparative Agenda Setting Test  Christoph Rosenthal

No 124  Big Data Exclusions and Disparate Impact: Investigating the Exclusionary Dynamics of Big Data Phenomenon  Charly Gordon

No 123  Tabloidisation of the Norwegian News Media: A Quantitative Analysis of Print and Online Newspaper Platforms  Celine Storstad Gran

No 122  Red, White and Afro Caribbean: A Qualitative Study of Afro-Caribbean American Identity During the Olympic Games  Ashley Gordon

No 121  The City without Gates: Facebook and the Social Surface  Andrew Crosby

No 120  Yes I Do Mind: Constructing Discourses of Resistance against Racial Microaggressions on Tumblr  Abigail Kang

No 119  Tensions in Urban Street Art: a Visual Analysis of the Online Media Coverage of Banksy Slave Labour  Elisabetta Crovara

No 118  The Sticky Case of Sticky Data: An Examination of the Rationale, Legality, and Implementation of a Right to Data Portability Under European Competition Law  Paul T. Moura

No 117  Pinning Pretty: A Qualitative Study of Pinterest Users' Practices and Views Elizabeth White

No 116  Comparing Perceptions of NGOs and CSR: Audience Evaluations and Interpretations of Communications  Gitanjali Co Devan Anderson

No 115  What is Web-Populism doing to Italian Politics? The Discursive Construction of 'Grillini' vis-a-vis the Antagonist Other  Isadora Arredondo

No 114  Yellow Skin-White Prison: A Content Analysis of French Television News Broadcast  Ngo Bossoro

No 113  A Revisionist Turkish Identity: Power, Religion and Ethnicity as Ottoman Identity in the Turkish series Muhteşem Yüzyıl  Esra Doğramacı 

No 112  Behind the Curtain: Women's Representations in Contemporary Hollywood  Reema Dutt

No 111  From  Liberal Conservative  to  Conservative Conservative : David Cameron's Political Branding  Ignacio José Antonio López Escarcena

No 110  'Micropolitics' and Communication: An Exploratory Study on Student Representatives' Communication Repertoires in University Governance  Nora Kroeger

No 109  Ideology No More: A Discourse of Othering in Canadian Mainstream Newspaper Representations of the Idle No More Movement  Christian Ledwell

No 108  Media Representation of Nationalism and Immigration: A Case Study of  Jamie's Great Britain  Xin Liang

No 107  You're Not Alone : Virtual Communities, Online Relationships & Modern Identities in the Military Spouse & Blogging Community  Elizabeth M. Lockwood

No 106  Harperist Discourse: Creating a Canadian 'Common Sense' and Shaping Ideology Through Language  Mashoka Maimona

No 105  The Spiral of Silence and Social Media: Analysing Noelle-Neumann's Phenomenon Application on the Web during the Italian Political Elections of 2013 Cristina Malaspina

No 104  Participatory Culture on YouTube: A Case Study of the Multichannel Network Machinima  Bryan Mueller

No 103  Up the Cascade: Framing of the Concession of the Highway between San Jose and San Ramon  Marie Garnier Ortiz

No 102  Science in the Headlines: The Stakes in the Social Media Age  Sasjkia Otto

No 101  Representing Disease: An Analysis of Breast Cancer Discourse in the South African Press  Lauren Post

No 100  Blob  and Its Audience: Making Sense of Meta-Television  Giulia Previato

No 99  Streaming the Syrian War: A Case Study of the Partnership between Professional and Citizen Journalists in the Syrian Conflict  Madeline Storck

No 98  Immigration Policy Narratives and the Politics of Identity: Causal Issue Frames in the Discursive Construction of America's Social Borders  Felicity P. Tan

No 97  Behind 'gift-giving': The Motivations for Sharing Fan-Generated Digital Content in Online Fan Communities  Mengchu Wang

No 96  Smartphone Location-based Services in the Social, Mobile, and Surveillance Practices of Everyday Life  Carey Wong

No 95  The Impacts of Design on Voluntary Participation: Case Studies of Zimuzu and Baike  Li Zeng

No 94   Mediated Politics and Ideology: Towards a New  Synthesis. A case study from the Greek General Election of May 2012  Angelos Kissas

No 93   E-Arranged Marriages:  How have Muslim matrimonial websites affected traditional Islamic courting methods?  Ayesha Ahmed

No 92   Hospitality in the Modern Mediapolis: Global Mediation of Child Soldiers in central and east Africa  Bridgette Bugay

No 91   Media Framing of the 2009-2010 United States  Health Care Reform Debate: A Content Analysis of U.S. Newspaper Coverage  Christina Brown

No 90   Behind the Laughter: Mediating Hegemony through Humour  Ningkang Wang

No 89   Saving Europe online?  European identity and the European Union’s Facebook communication during the eurozone crisis  Johannes Hillje

No 88   Like it? Ritual Symbolic Exchange Using Facebook’s ‘Like’ Tool  Kenneth J. Gamage

No 87   Understanding representations of low-income  Chinese migrant workers through the lens of photojournalists  Lee Zhuomin

No 86  The Modernization of Irish Political Campaigning: The 2011 General Election  Liam Murphy

No 85   Online Freedom?Film Consumption in the Digital Age  Luane Sandrin Gauer

No 84   Audience Reception of Charity Advertising:  Making Sense, Interpreting and Decoding Advertisements That Focus on Human Suffering  Magdalini Tsoutsoumpi

No 83  Beneath the Anthropomorphic Veil:  Animal Imagery and Ideological Discourses in British Advertising  Manjula Kalliat

No 82   Mobile Discourses:  A Critical Discourse Analysis on  Reports of Intergovernmental Organizations Recommending Mobile Phones for Development   Maria Paola de Salvo

No 81   We the People:  The role of social media in the participatory community of the Tea Party movement  Rachel Weiler

No 80   SOPA Deliberation on Facebook:  Deliberation and Facilitation or Mere  Mobilization?  Ray Wang

No 79   Discerning the Dominant Discourse in the World Summit on the Information Society  Ria Sen

No 78   The impact of online health information on the doctor-patient relationship. Findings from a qualitative study  Susanne Christmann

No 77   The Influence of Weibo Political Participations on the Political Efficacies of Weibo Users  Wenxu Wang

No 76   In what Forms and Patterns does Inequality Exist in  the Weibosphere?  Xiao Han

No 75   Creating Scandal to Avoid Panic:  How the UK Press Framed the News of the World Phonehacking  Scandal   Zuzanna Natalie Blaszkiewicz

No 74  Measuring media pluralism in the convergence era: The case of News Corp’s proposed acquisition of BSkyB  Davide Morisi

No 73  Observers, Witnesses, Victims or Activists? How Inuit Voices are Represented in Mainstream Canadian Newspaper Coverage of Global Warming  Patricia H. Audette-Longo

No 72  Global journalism, local realities: Ugandan journalists' views on reporting homosexuality  Rachael Borlase

No 71  Why pay if it's free? Streaming, downloading, and digital music consumption in the "iTunes era"  Theodore Giletti

No 70  Peacebuilding and Public Service Media: Lessons from Star Radio and media development in Liberia  Elizabeth Goodfriend

No 69  The Discourse of Protest: Using discourse analysis to identify speech acts in UK broadsheet newspapers  Stefan Brambilla Hall

No 68  Life With or Without the Internet: The Domesticated Experiences of Digital Inclusion and Exclusion  Mark Holden

No 67  We are all well (and undisrupted) in the shelter - the 33 of us: Narratives in the rescue of the Chilean Miners as a Live Media Event  César Antonio Jiménez Martínez

No 66  Critical Failure: Class, Taste and the Value of Film Criticism  Moses Lemuel

No 65  The Story of Egypt: Journalistic impressions of a revolution and new media power  Thomas Ledwell

No 64  Political Fandom in the Age of Social Media: Case Study of Barack Obama's 2008 Presidential Campaign  Komal H. Parikh

No 63  Against all odds: Evidence for the 'true' cosmopolitan consumer A cross-disciplinary approach to investigating the Cosmopolitan Condition  Saskia Scheibel

No 62  Relating to 'Ohio' in Political Advertisements: Interpreting Representations of Culture in Narratives, Myths, and Symbols from Democratic Spots in the 2010 Gubernatorial Campaign  Daniel Schwarz

No 61  Youth Understanding of Climate: Towards a theory of social adaptation to climate change in Africa  Hardi Shahadu

No 60  Translating China:A case study of Chinese-English translation in CCTV international broadcasting  Yueru Zhang

No 59  From watchdog to lapdog?The impact of government intimidation on the public watchdog performance of peace media in processes of democratisation  Michael Spiess

No 58  From Hardback to Software: How the Publishing Industry is Coping with Convergence  Lauren Christina Sozio

No 57  Witnessing War: Blogs from Soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan  Jessica Siegel

No 56  Mediated Cosmopolitanism? The Other’s Mediated Dialogical Space on BBC World’s Hardtalk  Andrew Rogers

No 55  Reconceptualising IT? Policy Learning and Paradigms of Sustainability in the ICT Policy of the European Union  Jussi Nokkala

No 54  ‘Alive with Possibility’: Brand South Africa and the Discursive Construction of South African National Identity  Yasuko Murai

No 53  The Journalistic Identities of Liveblogging A Case Study: Reporting the 2009 Post-Election Protests in Iran  David McDougall,

No 52  Blogging the Gap: A survey of China bloggers  Kerry Arnot

No 51  Young People’s Adoption and Consumption of a Cultural Commodity – iPhone  Hui Jiang

No 50  Preserving the Liberal World Order in an Age of Globalization: Representing the People’s Republic of China in the American Prestige Press  Jasmine Chan

No 49  In the Name of Allah?  Alison Jarrett

No 48  An Investigation into the Meaning of Locally Produced Entertainment Media to Lebanese Women:A Concentration on the Film Sukkar Banat (Caramel)  Carol Haidar

No 47  ‘Discuss This Article!’ Participatory Uses of Comment Sections on SPIEGEL ONLINE: A Content Analysis  Eilika Freund

No 46  Fleeting Racialisation?: Media Representation of African Americans During the California Proposition 8 Campaign  -  App 1  -  App 2  Tiana Epps-Johnson

No 45  The Big Society Will Not Take Place: Reading Postmodernism in Contemporary Conservative Discourse  Matthew Eisner Harle

No 44  Situating the imagination:Turkish soap operas and the lives of women in Qatar  Dima Issa

No 43  guardian.co.uk: online participation, ‘agonism’ and ‘mutualisation’  Mariam Cook

No 42  Freedom or intervention: What is the role of the regulator in achieving competitive pay-TV markets?  Yi Shen Chan

No 41  The united states of unscreened cinema: The political economy of the self-distribution of cinema in the U.S.  Bajir Cannon

No 40  Constructing the virtual body: Self-representation, self-modification and self-perfection in pro-eating disorder websites  Gillian Bolsover

No 39  The Altruistic Blockbuster and the Third-World Filmstar  Olina Banerji

No 38  The Modernisation of Australian Political Campaigns: The Case of Maxine McKew  Evie Watt

No 37  Platform-based Open Innovation Business Models: Bridging the gap between value creation and value capture  Michael Seminer

No 36  Transmit/Disrupt: Why does illegal broadcasting continue to thrive in the age of liberalised spectrum?  Justin Schlosberg

No 35  Domestic Conflict or Global Terror? Framing the Mumbai Terror Attacks in the U.S. Print Press  Kamla Pande

No 34  Information plurality, the financial sector, and the fate of Reuters News agency: Policy and problems surrounding the Thomson Reuters merger  Leila Lemghalef

No 33  The Contested Framing of Canada’s Military Mission in Afghanistan: The News Media, the Government, the Military and the Public  Brooks Decillia

No 32  UK community radio: policy frames and outcomes  Helen Charles

No 31  Bunny Talk: Teenagers Discuss The Girls Next Door  Jennifer Barton

No 30  Psephological Peer Production  Tim Watts

No 29  Domestication of the Cell Phone on a College Campus: A Case Study  Madhuri Shekar

No 28  The Visuals of Violence  Sofie Scheerlinck

No 27  All Work and No Play - Does it Make Jack a Dull Boy?  Ece Inanç

No 26  Perusing Perez: How do Taste Hierarchies, Leisure Preferences and Social Status Interact among visitors to Perez Hilton's Celebrity Gossip Blog?  Ellen Hunter

No 25  Exploring the 'Americanization of Political Campaigns: Croatia's 2003 and 2007 General Elections  Milly A. Doolan

No 24  Acts of Negotiation  Rajana Das

No 23  Banal Environmentalism: Defining and Exploring an Expanded Understanding of Ecological Identity, Awareness, and Action  Ryan Cunningham

No 22  Letting the Other Solitude be Heard: On the Media's Role as a Forum for Multilingual Conversation in Canada  Marc Chalifoux

No 21  Multilateral Institutions and the Recontextualization of Political Marketing: How the World Intellectual Property Organization's Outreach Efforts Reflect Changing Audiences  Sandra Bangasser

No 20  Branding in Election Campaigns: Just a Buzzword or a New Quality of Political Communication?  Manuel Adolphsen

No 19   A Study on Self-regulatory Initiatives in China's Internet Industry  Lijun Cao

No 18   An Exploration of the 2006 Electoral Campaign for the Re-election of Walter Veltroni for Mayor of Rome  Maddalena Vianello

No 17   Creating Global Citizens? The Case of Connecting Classrooms  Mandeep Samra

No 16   Audience Reception of Health Promoting Advertising  Cristian Raftopoulou

No 15   The Game of (Family) Life: Intra-Family Play in the World of Warcraft  Holly Peterson

No 14   Global TV and Local Realities: Constructing Narratives of the Self  Sunandini Pande

No 13   Twitter: Expressions of the Whole Self  Edward Mishaud

No 12   Crowdsourced News: The Collective Intelligence of Amateurs and The Evolution of Journalism  Melissa Metzger

No 11   To Support or Distort: An Analysis of Ontario Referendum Campaign Websites  Anna Mather

No 10   Political Handbags: The representation of women politicians  Eva Markstedt

No 9   Free Speech, Political Correctness and the Public Sphere in a Talk Radio World  Michele Margolis

No 8    Propaganda, Grassroots Power, or Online Public Sphere?  Zheng Liu

No 7   Preventing Drug Abuse in China: Anti-Drug Campaigns in the Eyes of a Drug User  Bo Li

No 6   Taming Technology: Ultra-Orthodox Jewish Families and Their Domestication of the Internet  Josh Hack

No 5   Keeping up Appearances: Candidate Self-Presentation through Web Videos in the 2008 US Presidential Primary Campaign  Nisha Gulati

No 4   The End of the Media's '"War on Terror"? An Analysis of a Declining Frame  Dominik Cziesche

No 3   Fantasizing Reality: Wetware, Social Imaginaries, and Signs of Change  Jennifer Cross

No 2   The Colbert Nation: A Democratic Place to be?  Kristen Boesel

No 1   Media Constructions of Extreme Female Thinness  Nelly Abranavel

Home > FACULTIES > Information & Media Studies (FIMS) > MEDIASTUDIES-ETD

Media Studies Theses and Dissertations

This collection contains theses and dissertations from the Department of Media Studies, collected from the Scholarship@Western Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Theses/Dissertations from 2023 2023

Witnessing Conspiracy Theories: Developing an Intersectional Approach to Conspiracy Theory Research , David Guignion

Canadians Redefining R&B: The Online Marketing of Drake, Justin Bieber, and Jessie Reyez , Amara Pope Ms.

Theses/Dissertations from 2022 2022

Instagram Influencers and their Youngest Female Followers , Amanda Jenkins

A descriptive analysis of sport nationalism, digital media, and fandom to launch the Canadian Premier League , Farzan Mirzazadeh

Influencer Engagement Pods and the Struggle Over Measure in Instagram Platform Labour , Victoria J. O'Meara

Radiant Dreams and Nuclear Nightmares: Japanese Resistance Narratives and American Intervention in Postwar Speculative Popular Culture , Aidan J. Warlow

Theses/Dissertations from 2021 2021

More barriers than solutions: Women’s experiences of support with online abuse , Chandell E. Gosse

Heavy Metal Fundraisers: Entrepreneurial Recording Artists in Platform Capitalism , Jason Netherton

Theses/Dissertations from 2019 2019

Resistant Vulnerability in The Marvel Cinematic Universe's Captain America , Kristen Allison

Unwrapping the Toronto Christmas Market: An Examination of Tradition and Nostalgia in a Socially Constructed Space , Lydia J. Gibson

Trauma, Creativity, And Bearing Witness Through Art: Marian Kołodziej's Labyrinth , Alyssa Logie

Appropriating Play: Examining Twitch.tv as a Commercial Platform , Charlotte Panneton

Dead Men Walking: An Analysis of Working-Class Masculinity in Post-2008 Hollywood Film , Ryan Schroeder

Glocalization in China: An Analysis of Coca-Cola’s Brand Co-Creation Process with Consumers in China , Yinuo Shi

Critiquing the New Autonomy of Immaterial Labour: An Analysis of Work in the Artificial Intelligence Industry , James Steinhoff

Watching and Working Through: Navigating Non-being in Television Storytelling , Tiara Lalita Sukhan

Theses/Dissertations from 2018 2018

Hone the Means of Production: Craft Antagonism and Domination in the Journalistic Labour Process of Freelance Writers , Robert Bertuzzi

Invisible Labour: Support-Service Workers in India’s Information Technology Industry , Indranil Chakraborty

Exhibiting Human Rights: Making the Means of Dignity Visible , Amy J. Freier

Industrial Stagecraft: Tooling and Cultural Production , Jennifer A. Hambleton

Cultural Hybridity in the Contemporary Korean Popular Culture through the Practice of Genre Transformation , Kyunghee Kim

Theses/Dissertations from 2017 2017

Regarding Aid: The photographic situation of humanitarianism , Sonya de Laat

The Representation of the Canadian Government’s Warrantless Domestic Collection of Metadata in the Canadian Print News Media , Alan Del Pino

(Not) One of the Boys: A Case Study of Female Detectives on HBO , Darcy Griffin

Pitching the Feminist Voice: A Critique of Contemporary Consumer Feminism , Kate Hoad-Reddick

Local-Global Tensions: Professional Experience, Role Perceptions and Image Production of Afghan Photojournalists Working for a Global Audience , Saumava Mitra

A place for locative media: A theoretical framework for assessing locative media use in urban environments , Darryl A. Pieber

Mapping the Arab Diaspora: Examining Placelessness and Memory in Arab Art , Shahad Rashid

Settler Colonial Ways of Seeing: Documentary Governance of Indigenous Life in Canada and its Disruption , Danielle Taschereau Mamers

Theses/Dissertations from 2016 2016

Finding Your Way: Navigating Online News and Opinions , Charlotte Britten

Law and Abuse: Representations of Intimate Partner Homicide in Law Procedural Dramas , Jaime A. Campbell

Creative Management: Disciplining the Neoliberal Worker , Trent Cruz

No hay Sólo un Idioma, No hay Sólo una Voz: A Revisionist History of Chicana/os and Latina/os in Punk , Richard C. Davila

Shifting Temporalities: The Construction of Flexible Subjectivities through Part-time Retail Workers’ Use of Smartphone Technology , Jessica Fanning

Becoming Sonic: Ambient Poetics and the Ecology of Listening in Four Militant Sound Investigations , David C. Jackson

Capital's Media: The Physical Conditions of Circulation , Atle Mikkola Kjøsen

On the Internet by Means of Popular Music: The Cases of Grimes and Childish Gambino , Kristopher R. K. Ohlendorf

Believing the News: Exploring How Young Canadians Make Decisions About Their News Consumption , Jessica Thom

Theses/Dissertations from 2015 2015

Narrative Epic and New Media: The Totalizing Spaces of Postmodernity in The Wire, Batman, and The Legend of Zelda , Luke Arnott

Canada: Multiculturalism, Religion, and Accommodation , Brittainy R. Bonnis

Navigating the Social Landscape: An Exploration of Social Networking Site Usage among Emerging Adults , Kristen Colbeck

Impassioned Objects And Seething Absences: The Olympics In Canada, National Identity and Consumer Culture , Estee Fresco

Satirical News and Political Subversiveness: A Critical Approach to The Daily Show and The Colbert Report , Roberto Leclerc

"When [S]He is Working [S]He is Not at Home": Challenging Assumptions About Remote Work , Eric Lohman

Heating Up the Debate: E-cigarettes and Instagram , Stephanie L. Ritter

Limitation to Innovation in the North American Console Video Game Industry 2001-2013: A Critical Analysis , Michael Schmalz

Happiest People Alive: An Analysis of Class and Gender in the Trinidad Carnival , Asha L. St. Bernard

Human-Machinic Assemblages: Technologies, Bodies, and the Recuperation of Social Reproduction in the Crisis Era , Elise D. Thorburn

Theses/Dissertations from 2014 2014

Evangelizing the ‘Gallery of the Future’: a Critical Analysis of the Google Art Project Narrative and its Political, Cultural and Technological Stakes , Alanna Bayer

Face Value: Beyond the Surface of Brand Philanthropy and the Cultural Production of the M.A.C AIDS Fund , Andrea Benoit

Cultivating Better Brains: Transhumanism and its Critics on the Ethics of Enhancement Via Brain-computer Interfacing , Matthew Devlin

Man Versus Food: An Analysis of 'Dude Food' Television and Public Health , Amy R. Eisner-Levine

Media Literacy and the English as a Second Language Curriculum: A Curricular Critique and Dreams for the Future , Clara R. Madrenas

Fantasizing Disability: Representation of loss and limitation in Popular Television and Film , Jeffrey M. Preston

(Un)Covering Suicide: The Changing Ethical Norms in Canadian Journalism , Gemma Richardson

Labours Of Love: Affect, Fan Labour, And The Monetization Of Fandom , Jennifer Spence

'What's in a List?' Cultural Techniques, Logistics, Poeisis , Liam Cole Young

Theses/Dissertations from 2013 2013

Distinguishing the 'Vanguard' from the 'Insipid': Exploring the Valorization of Mainstream Popular Music in Online Indie Music Criticism , Charles J. Blazevic

Anonymous: Polemics and Non-identity , Samuel Chiang

Manufacturing Legitimacy: A Critical Theory of Election News Coverage , Gabriel N. Elias

The Academic Grind: A Critique of Creative and Collaborative Discourses Between Digital Games Industries and Post-Secondary Education in Canada , Owen R. Livermore

We’re on This Road Together: The Changing Fan/Producer Relationship in Television as Demonstrated by Supernatural , Lisa Macklem

Brave New Wireless World: Mapping the Rise of Ubiquitous Connectivity from Myth to Market , Vincent R. Manzerolle

Promotional Ubiquitous Musics: New Identities and Emerging Markets in the Digitalizing Music Industry , Leslie Meier

Money, Morals, and Human Rights: Commercial Influences in the Marketing, Branding, and Fundraising of Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch , Danielle Morgan

If I Had a Hammer: An Archeology of Tactical Media From the Hootenanny to the People's Microphone , Henry Adam Svec

Theses/Dissertations from 2012 2012

Watching High School: Representing Disempowerment on Teen Drama Television , Sarah M. Baxter

Will Work For Free: Examining the Biopolitics of Unwaged Immaterial Labour , Brian A. Brown

Social Net-working: Exploring the Political Economy of the Online Social Network Industry , Craig Butosi

Watching the games: Critical media literacy and students’ abilities to identify and critique the politics of sports , Raúl J. Feliciano Ortiz

The Invisible Genocide: An Analysis of ABC, CBS, and NBC Television News Coverage of the 1994 Genocide in Rwanda. , Daniel C. Harvey

It's Complicated: Romantic Breakups and Their Aftermath on Facebook , Veronika A. Lukacs

Keeping Up with the Virtual Joneses: The Practices, Meanings, and Consequences of Consumption in Second Life , Jennifer M. Martin

The (m)Health Connection: An Examination of the Promise of Mobile Phones for HIV/AIDS Intervention in Sub-Saharan Africa , Trisha M. Phippard

Born Again Hard : Transgender Subjectivity in Paul Chadwick's Concrete , Justin Raymond

Communicating Crimes: Covering Gangs in Contemporary Canadian Journalism , Chris Richardson

Online Social Breast-Working: Representations of Breast Milk Sharing in the 21st Century , Cari L. Rotstein

Because I am Not Here, Selected Second Life-Based Art Case Studies. Subjectivity, Autoempathy and Virtual World Aesthetics , Francisco Gerardo Toledo Ramírez

Day of the Woman?: Feminism & Rape-Revenge Films , Kayley A. Viteo

Theses/Dissertations from 2011 2011

"Aren't They Keen?" Early Children's Food Advertising and the Emergence of the Brand-loyal Child Consumer , Kyle R. Asquith

Immediacy and Aesthetic Remediation in Television and Digital Media: Mass Media’s Challenge to the Democratization of Media Production , Michael S. Daubs

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272 Media Dissertation Topics For Excellent Scores

If you are reading this blog post, it means you are looking for the absolute best media dissertation topics. We know, starting the dissertation can be a daunting task, especially when you don’t know what to write about. To help you out, our experienced writers and editors chimed in and suggested a long list of potential topics. After choosing the best of them, we are proud to present you our ultimate list of 272 media dissertation topics.

We know you are probably reluctant to give our topics a try. After all, there are many websites that promise to give you original topics (yet very few can be trusted). Truth be told, our company has been founded with a simple goal: to help the student get the best possible grades. We are all about helping you succeed. You can find thousands of topics on a wide array of subjects on our blog, as well as in-depth guides and even essay examples. Of course, you can also get help with your academic paper from our team of US and UK writers. With more than 10 years of industry experience, we are your best choice if you need any kind of academic help.

Why Choose Our Media Dissertation Topics?

But why would you want to use any of our media dissertation topics? You can probably find some other topics elsewhere on the Internet. While this is true, there are at least 4 major reasons to pick one of our topics:

Our list of topics is 100% free to use. You can pick any of these ideas and use it (you can even reword our topics). You don’t need to give us any credit. This list of 272 media topics is periodically updated. This means that you can expect to find a unique idea that nobody in your class has thought of. We offer students much more than some social media dissertation ideas. Our list includes mental health issues, cultural studies, communication, social media marketing, and a lot of other fields. Our topics make writing a dissertation easier. We’ve selected topics that have plenty of resources and information about them on the Internet. Doing the research should be a piece of cake.

We know you’re anxious to get to the fun part. Keep in mind that writing a dissertation takes months of work. In other words, pick the topic as soon as possible and start working on your project ASAP. In case you need help with certain parts of your thesis, our PhD experts are here for you. Now, let’s present you the 272 media dissertation topics we’ve promised, organized into 24 major sections:

Social Media Dissertation Topics

Of course, you are probably interested in writing about social media. After all, it’s here to stay. So, why not pick one of our interesting social media dissertation topics:

• In-depth history of social media
• An analysis of viral content
• What are social media bots?
• Discuss new social media technology
• A qualitative comparison of social media services
• Social media and politics
• Social media and school admissions
• Social media court cases
• Analyze social media impact on businesses in the US
• Stereotyping on social media
• Discuss political polarization on social media
• Ownership of content issues
• Decentralization of social media services
• Effects on collective memory
• Data harvesting on social media

Best Social Media Dissertation Ideas

Didn’t find what you were looking for in the list above? No problem, we also have an entire list of the best social media dissertation ideas right here:

• Emotional effects of social media
• Analyze sleep disturbance
• Interpersonal interaction on social media
• Social media as a news source
• Is social media trustworthy?
• Social media and extremist groups
• Social media censorship
• Privacy best practices
• Discuss social media deplatforming
• Social media activism
• Effects of social media on the environment
• Global warming and social media
• Comments and their effects on our perception
• Brands using social media
• PR campaigns on social media

Social Media Marketing Dissertation

If you are more interested in writing about something related to marketing, our ENL writers have put together a list of awesome social media marketing dissertation ideas:

• Campaigns for local businesses
• Best Twitter tactics
• Best Facebook tactics
• Best LinkedIn tactics
• Best WhatsApp tactics
• Best Yelp tactics
• Best Instagram tactics
• Best Snapchat tactics
• Best YouTube tactics
• Best Tumblr tactics
• Discuss influencer marketing
• Ethics of social media marketing
• Most successful campaigns
• In-depth analysis of ROI data
• Compare 3 marketing techniques
• Compare various ad formats
• Passive approach vs. active approach
• Modern SMM algorithms

Freedom of Expression Ideas

Freedom of expression is an integral part of media in the United States and the United Kingdom. Check out our list of free freedom of expression ideas:

• Freedom of expression in India’s Constitution
• Security of the state and freedom of expression
• Contempt of court cases
• Defamation cases in India
• Core political speech in the United States
• True Threats in freedom of speech
• Freedom of speech censorship in the UK
• Freedom of expression censorship in China
• Speech restrictions in Europe
• Obscenity and freedom of expression
• Military secrets and freedom of expression
• Nuclear data in freedom of speech
• Internet speech and its censorship

Complex Media Dissertation Ideas

If you want to impress your professor, you can choose a relatively difficult topic (it also means more work, remember). Here are some complex media dissertation ideas for you:

• The role of mass media during the COVID-19 pandemic
• Media houses: can they be trusted?
• Media people safety in war zones
• Media and its effects on violence
• Al-Jazeera promoting extremism
• Terrorism in the media in Iraq
• Individual privacy affected by media
• Protecting information sources in the media
• States censoring media outlets
• In-depth analysis of China’s media censorship

Topics About Cinema

Would you like to research something related to cinema? It is, after all, a part of media. To help you out, we’ve compiled a list of original topics about cinema:

• Censorship in China cinemas
• An in-depth look at cinema media in 2023
• Censorship in North Korean cinemas
• Censorship in United States cinemas during WWII
• Using mass media in cinemas
• Censoring films: the reasons behind the decision
• Ways to censor cinema movies in 2023

Dissertation Topics in Media and Communication

Here are the best dissertation topics in media and communication that our experts came up with (you can use any of them for free, of course):

• Licensing regulations in the United States
• Self-regulation of media outlets in the UK
• Social impact of media communication
• Social media and privacy issues
• Means of communication in electronic media
• Media and communication in the private sector
• Media and communication in the public sector
• Media and communication in the military sector
• Internet regulation of media in China
• Self-regulation in Eastern Europe
• News literacy in media communication
• Social impact of poor communication in the media
• Communication psychology: an in-depth look

Media Dissertation Titles

Perhaps you are just looking for some interesting media dissertation titles to get you started. Check out these titles and pick the one you like:

• An individual’s right to free press
• An in-depth look at Iran’s censorship program
• The moral right to present the truth
• Censorship and its effects on creative works in China
• Regulating cyberviolence in Europe
• Intellectual property issues in the media
• X-Factor: a case study
• Protecting our children from inappropriate content
• Cross-cultural media: a means of advancing tolerance
• Mass media eliminating stereotypes
• The cultural shift caused by new media in the US
• Copyright laws and their effects on mass media

Social Media and Mental Health Dissertation Topics

Yes, it has been proven that social media can affect mental health. So, why not choose one of our excellent social media and mental health dissertation topics:

• Social media negative mental health effects
• New media and its effects on youth
• Twitter: Trending Topics
• Delayed sleep caused by social media
• Depression caused by social media
• Alternatives to social media in 2023
• Social media and poor academic results
• Social media causing memory loss
• An analysis of negative consequences of social media
• Mood and anxiety disorders
• Real life vs social media
• Social media friends are not really friends

Digital Media Dissertation Topics

Are you interested in digital media? Who can blame you! Here are some exceptional (and 100% original) digital media dissertation topics that you can use right now:

• Definition digital media
• The rise of digital media over the last decade
• Discuss the digital revolution
• Copyright issues in digital media
• Internet-based news outlets
• Major disruptions caused by digital media
• Analyze digital multimedia
• The work of engineer Vannevar Bush
• The importance of a digital edition
• Content creation in digital media
• Restricting access to digital media
• Censorship of digital media in China
• North Korea digital media analyzed
• An in-depth look at a digital media service

Dissertation Topics on New Media

Your professor will surely be more than interested in learning something new and exciting about new media. Pick one of our dissertation topics on new media right now:

• Discuss new media in the music field
• Youth and new media
• Discuss globalization in relation to new media
• Is new media bringing social change to the US?
• Discuss political use of new media
• Ethical problems with new media
• New media and national security
• Wikipedia: a good example of new media
• Compare cyberculture to new media
• New Media and virtual communities
• New media and radical movements
• New media and extremism

Topics About Films

You can, of course, write about movies. They are a part of media, after all. To help students out, we have compiled a list of the best topics about films:

• Femininity in films
• The effects of film media on US youth
• Negative effects of film media on UK teens
• Films: creating an illusion
• Film media in North Korea
• Violence in film media
• Use of film media during wartime
• Introducing revolutionary ideas through film media
• Film media and politics
• The change in perception over the last 10 years
• Compare and contrast 2 films
• Film media and censorship in China
• Analyze film media in Iran

Media and Cultural Studies Dissertation Ideas

You are encouraged to write about cultural studies as they relate to media. In fact, you can simply choose one of our media and cultural studies dissertation ideas:

• Structure of cultural studies
• Sociology in media
• Discuss the globalization of media
• Discuss cultural forms created by media
• Benefits of a Media and Cultural Studies course
• Mass media’s effects on our culture
• Media promoting cultural diversity

Censorship and Media Ideas

Nowadays, censorship is affecting not only the media, but our rights as well. Here are some exceptional censorship and media ideas for you to choose from:

• Censorship of media in China
• Censorship of media in North Korea
• Media censorship in Iran
• Restricting freedom of speech in the United States
• Internet media censorship
• In-depth analysis of censorship in Eastern European countries
• Censorship in films
• Protecting children from inappropriate news
• Censorship in electronic communications
• Government-regulated censorship programs in the UK
• Freedom versus responsibility in the media
• China’s censorship of Hong Kong news outlets

Radio and TV Ideas

Radio and TV are two of the most important parts of media. So, why don’t you take a look at our best radio and TV ideas:

• Is radio still relevant today?
• Radio jamming technology
• TV media analyzed
• Using radio for space communication
• TV and radio: building blocks of mass media
• Different forms of media on TV
• Different forms of media on the radio
• TV media censorship
• Regulations of radio media in the US
• The International Telecommunications Union
• Audio broadcasting vs. video broadcasting
• Radio station licensing regulations
• Fake news on TV news programs

Sociology Media Dissertation Topics

Interested in sociology? No problem! Our experienced writers managed to create a unique list of sociology media dissertation topics. Pick the one you like today:

• An in-depth look at sociology in the media
• Sociology effects on mass media
• How does social media relate to sociology?
• Media sociology and its functions
• Sociological theory and media practice
• Negative effects of the use of sociology in the media
• Most notable sociological concepts in mass media

Social Media and Consumer Behavior Dissertation

Did you know that social media has been shown to affect consumer behavior? Check out these social media and consumer behavior dissertation ideas:

• Social media effects on consumer behavior
• Negative effects on consumer behavior
• Social media increases spending
• Social media and its effects on the buying decision
• Successful social media campaigns
• Social media for brand awareness
• The wrong approach to social media marketing
• Influencer marketing on social media
• Is social media indispensable for consumers?
• Digital marketing on social media
• Decision making in consumer behavior
• Facebook vs. Twitter: consumer behavior
• Instagram vs. Pinterest: consumer behavior

Media Studies Dissertation Ideas

If you want to discuss media studies, we have some interesting ideas for you. Choose one of these media studies dissertation ideas and reword it as you see fit:

• What are media studies?
• The history of the media studies discipline
• Cultural studies
• How much can you earn with a media studies degree?
• Philosophy in media studies
• Social theory in media studies
• Political economy in media studies
• Main parts of a Media Studies course
• Anthropology in media studies
• Studying mass media as part of media studies
• Is media studies a good degree?

Media Effects on Children

This is a very interesting topic for a dissertation. Discussing media effects on children can make your dissertation stand out from the rest. Here are some examples:

• Social media effects on children
• Mass media effects on youth in the United States
• Digital media effects on children in the UK
• Cyberviolence caused by mass media
• Sleep problems caused by social media
• Social media and its link to depression
• What does “constantly connected” mean?
• Fake news and their negative effects
• Violence in the news
• Protecting children from negative media effects
• New media in the US
• Unregulated digital media dangers

Journalism and Privacy Ideas

Discussing journalism and privacy issues will surely make your dissertation stand out. Here are our best and most interesting journalism and privacy ideas:

• Privacy issues in digital media
• Copyright problems in mass media
• Journalism and the right to privacy
• Negative effects of journalism on individual privacy
• Privacy laws in the United States
• Privacy laws in the United Kingdom
• The right to privacy in journalism
• When can a journalist invade your privacy?
• The 5 rules of journalism
• Reporting on personal lives
• The debate over privacy and journalism
• Keeping journalists’ privacy safe
• Information source privacy laws
• An in-depth look at privacy of journalists in war zones

Topics About Newspapers

Newspapers are not dead. In fact, many of them are thriving. Here are some of the best topics about newspapers that you can use for your dissertation:

• Are newspapers still relevant in 2023?
• Newspaper censorship in the US
• Newspaper censorship in China
• Newspapers versus digital media outlets
• Digital versions of newspapers
• Fake news in newspapers in the United Kingdom
• Promoting extremist theories in newspapers in Iran

Interesting Social Media Trending Topics

New and exciting things are happening every day on social media. Why not write about them? Check out these interesting social media trending topics and pick the one you like:

• Discuss the rise of ephemeral content in social media
• Social media versus social commerce in the United States
• The rise of video content on social media platforms
• Live streaming quickly becoming the new norm
• Virtual reality will become the new standard in social media
• Stories are the new content format on social media
• The latest social media trend: augmented reality
• Inclusivity and how brands are using social media to achieve it
• Authenticity of brands on social media
• Chatbots and their importance for social media in 2023

Media and Culture Topics

Studies have shown that media and culture are dependent on one another. This is why you should definitely pick one of our awesome media and culture topics:

• The importance of a Media and Cultural studies degree
• How mass media is influencing our culture
• An in-depth look at popular culture in the media
• Media culture in the United States versus the UK

Easy Dissertation on Social Media Topics

We’ve left the best for last. If you don’t want to spend too much time working on your dissertation, you should choose one of these easy dissertation on social media topics:

• Discuss the impact of online news outlets on the public in the United States
• Social media and the way it promoted tolerance and diversity
• Cultural benefits of social media in African countries
• How social media is improving communication among teens in the UK
• Most notable social media censorship cases
• Is social media really helping us make new friends?
• Most important trends in social media in 2023
• Governments accessing the personal information of individuals on social media
• Social media: the good, the bad, the ugly

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Digital Commons @ USF > College of Arts and Sciences > Mass Communications > Theses and Dissertations

Mass Communications Theses and Dissertations

Theses/dissertations from 2023 2023.

An Experimental Analysis of the Effect of Crisis Response Message Strategies on Consumer Emotions, Perceptual Beliefs and Intended Behavior , Valentina Ahumada

How the Taiwanese podcast Bailingguo News framed the 2019 Hong Kong movement: A framing analysis of the anti-Extradition Law Amendment Bill , Yu-Fei Chiu

Advocating for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: A Study of the NHL’s #HockeyIsForEveryone Campaign on Twitter , Jessica Martinez

Theses/Dissertations from 2022 2022

An Analysis of International Soccer Fans’ Knowledge of Qatar, Perceptions of Qatar’s Country Image, and Intention to Support the 2022 FIFA World Cup , Taleb Al-Adbah

Analysis of Prescription Drug Brand Mentions in Music: Prevalence and Consumer Perceptions , Lisa A. Blake

Elements of Instagram Influencer Posts that Drive Follower Engagement , Yishan Li

Communicating Breast Cancer Awareness: Using the Health Belief Model to Develop Mass Communication Themes to Influence Early Detection Behaviors , Srisai Kamakshi Ramya Harika Pucha

The European Super League (ESL): A Political Economy and Media Framing Analysis , Patrick Sidwell

Inaugural Addresses, Framing Theory, and the Impact on American Perceptions of the Presidency , Kalin Meagan Velez

The Use of Social Media by Leaders in Times of Crisis: 2020–21 United States Election Protests , Cagdas Yuksel

Theses/Dissertations from 2021 2021

The Influence of Hate Speech on TikTok on Chinese College Students , Tengyue Chen

Cultivating Courage: Medical Dramas and Portrayals of Patient Self-Advocacy , Alyssa H. Harrell

The Media Reproduction of Racial Violence: A Content Analysis of News Coverage Following the Death of George Floyd Jr. , Keylon Lovett

Credibility of Spokespersons and E-cigarette Prevention Messages: Elaboration Likelihood Model and The Moderating Role of Perceived Risk , Emmanuel Maduneme

An Examination of COVID-19 Health Behaviors and Public Health Messaging Using the Health Belief Model and Organization-Public Relationship Quality , Aaron L. Nichols

The Extended Parallel Processing Model (EPPM) and Risk Perceptions of Twitter messages related to COVID-19 , Muhammad E. Rasul

Framing #MeToo movement in China A Content Analysis of China Women’s News Coverage , Wenminzi Wu

Theses/Dissertations from 2020 2020

Super Bowl Ads and the Donald Trump Culture War , Jessica Barron

A Case Study on Black Twitter’s Reactions to the Framing of Blacks in Dove’s 2017 Facebook Advertisement , Shereena Farrington

The Roles of Emotional Cues and Purchasing Incentives in WeChat Commerce: A Content Analysis , Xuezhu Hao

People with Parkinson’s and Care Partners of PwPs’ Uncertainty Management Through Information Strategies , Amy Haywood

Asian Male Stereotypes: An Investigation of Current Beliefs About Asian Males and Stereotypes Perpetuated by U.S. Modern Cinema , Noelle Knopp

Developing Design Elements for a Parkinson’s Disease Informative Website: A Social Marketing Approach , Emilie R. Madsen

Evaluation of Native Advertisement though Third Person Effect Theory: An Experimental Design , Inga Nafetvaridze

EPPM and Its Effectiveness in Advertisements of Colorectal Cancer Screening among Young Adults , Anh T. Nguyen

The Role of Threat and Efficacy in Anti-Vaping Ads: A Test of the Extended Parallel Process Model , Ryan Noone

An Experimental Investigation into the Impact of Crisis Response Strategies and Relationship Management in the Pharmaceutical Industry , Nikoletta Pappas

Media Fandom: Social Media Use and Collective Identity in China: A Case Study of Z.Tao’s Weibo Fandom , Mier Sha

'Golden Spike': Examining Atlanta United FC Communications During the Launch of the Team , Maria Tsyruleva

The Role of Influencer Endorsement in Consumer Brand Engagement on Sina Weibo , Xiaofan Wei

One News Event, Three Media Frames , Le Xin

Applying the Situational Theory of Publics to Children's Sex Education in China , Baoyi Zeng

Theses/Dissertations from 2019 2019

The Role of Social Media Journalists in TV News:Their Effects on the Profession and Identity of TV Journalism, the Quality of News, and theAudience Engagement , Yousuf Humiad AL Yousufi

Relationship Management Communications by NHL Teams on Twitter , Kelsey M. Baker

2018 China-United States Trade War: Framing Analysis of Online News Coverage in the United States and China as portrayed by the New York Times and the People’s Daily , Jiangling Huang

The Research on the Determinants of Users' Willingness to Pay for Chinese Paid Sports Model Based on Use and Gratification Theory , Jing Li

Online MMORPG Games in China: Player Motivations and the Mediating Role of Flow , Jiaxin Liu

The Hostile Media Effect and Its Potential Consequences: Examining the Influence of Presumed Influence of International Media Coverage , Zhennan Liu

Womenpreneurs in a Digital Environment: Utilizing Instagram to Build a Personal Brand , Michelle N. Nuñez

Objectification of Women in Bollywood Item Numbers , Zahabia Z. Slatewala

A Research on eSports Users’ Motives and Satisfaction in China The Case of League of Legends , Qianyin Sun

An Analysis of the Language and the Relationship of the President of the USA Related Twitter Accounts toward the National Media , Sait Serif Turhan

Theses/Dissertations from 2018 2018

Perception of Kazakhstan in the U.S through the New York Times Coverage , Tursynay Alikhanova

The Influence of Instagram Selfies on Female Millennials’ Appearance Satisfaction , Diliara Bagautdinova

Women’s Body Image in the Media: Fitspiration on Instagram , Brook M. Bryant

Political Talk Shows in Taiwan: First- and Third-Person Effects, Their Attitudinal Antecedents and Consequences , Shou-Chen Hsieh

An Examination of Image Repair Theory and BP’s Response to the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill , William Anthony Korte Jr.

An Analysis of Organ Donation Presentations on Weibo , Shengfei Li

Gender Sexualization in Digital Games: Exploring Female Character Changes in Tomb Raider , Jingjing Liu

Shithole Countries: An Analysis of News Coverage in the U.S. , Murewa O. Olubela

Self-esteem, motivation, and self-enhancement presentation on WeChat , Xiao Qiu

The Portrayal of Women in the Oldest Russian Women’s Magazine “Rabotnitsa” From 1970-2017 , Anastasiia Utiuzh

Cultural Adaptation and Maintenance: Chinese International Students' Use of Facebook and WeChat , Mengni Wang

The Understanding of Absolute Right to Freedom of Expression in the Case of Hate Speech , Qinqin Wang

Body Image, Self-Esteem and Eating Disturbance among Chinese Women: Testing the Tripartite Influence model , Weiwei Wang

I’m Your Fan – Engaging in Celebrity’s Social Media Page with the Mediation of Parasocial Interaction and Parasocial Relationship , Jiahui Zhuang

Theses/Dissertations from 2017 2017

Household Food Waste Prevention in Malaysia: An Issue Processes Model Perspective , Syahirah Abd Razak

Countering the Questionable Actions of the CPD and FEC , Brian C. Cole

“You Know Who I Am, Don’t You? I’m the One They’re Writing About in the Newspapers and on TV” , Casey Killen Crane

To Tell the Truth: The Credibility of Cable News Networks In an Era of Increasingly Partisan Political News Coverage , Christopher Jadick

Political Media Bias in the United States: Immigration and the Trump Administration , Bryce Josepher

Social Media Use and Political Participation in China: The Mediating Role of Political Efficacy , Bingyang Liu

Framing Genetically-modified Foods Communication in China: A Content Analysis of News Coverage of People’s Daily and Southern Metropolis , Linqi Lu

Conceptualizing Social Wealth in the Digital Age: A Mixed Methods Approach , Kristina Oliva

The Road to the White House: A Correlational Analysis of Twitter Sentiment and National Polls in the 2016 Election Cycle , Melissa G. Pelletier

Using Green Messages to Cue Recycling Tendencies , Danielle Quichocho

Traversing Privacy Issues on Social Networking Sites Among Kuwaiti Females , Shahad Shihab

Chinese National Identity and Media Framing , Yufeng Tian

Smog Pollution in China: News Framing and Issue-Attention Cycle per the , Yingying Zhang

Theses/Dissertations from 2016 2016

Corporate Social Responsibility Communication: Beliefs in Motives, First- and Third-Person Effects and Behavioral Consequences , Nianyuan Cheng

Crimean Referendum: Annexation VS Reunification. Framing Analysis of Online News Coverage in Russia and the U.S. , Anna Dedova

Investigating the Determinants of Recycling Behavior in Youth by Using Theory of Planned Behavior. , Tejaswini Gadiraju

Media Perceptions on Sexual Assault on College Campuses , Maggie M. Hall

The Impact of Emojis and Emoticons on Online Consumer Reviews, Perceived Company Response Quality, Brand Relationship, and Purchase Intent. , Jayme Hill Hill

Media Multitasking and Memory: The Role of Message Modalities , Le Nguyen

Cultivating Philanthropy in Community Colleges: A Dual-Model Approach , Rachel Faith Pleasant

Avatar Self-Identification, Self-Esteem, and Perceived Social Capital in the Real World: A Study of World of Warcraft Players and their Avatars , Melissa Watts

The Effects of Mission Statement Design on Behavioral Intention , Jonathan David West

Impact of a Brand Crisis on Nation Branding: An Analysis of Tweets about VW’s Emissions Crisis , Kara Julie Whytas

Theses/Dissertations from 2015 2015

Responding to a Rumor: How Crisis Response Strategies Influence Relationship Outcomes , Bo Breuklander

Crisis Communication and Celebrity Scandal: An Experiment on Response Strategies , Leah Champion

Speaking Their Language: Textisms in Today's Communication , Adam Lloyd Drum

Direct-to-Consumer Messaging: A Phenomenological Examination of DTC Best Practices , Nicholas Dominick Fancera

Examining Endorsement and Viewership Effects on the Source Credibility of YouTubers , Stephanie Fred

The Cultivation of Eating Disorders through Instagram , Kendall O'Brien

Online Game Advertising and Chinese College Students: Attitudes, First- and Third-Person Effects , Yan Tang

On the Convergence of Cinema and Theme Parks: Developing a Predictable Model for Creative Design , Ryan Luke Terry

I Threw My Pie for You: Engagement and Loyalty on TV Show Facebook Pages , Tracy M. Wisneski

First- and Third-Person Effects of Alcohol Advertising on Chinese College Students , Dong Xue

Framing Occupy Central: A Content Analysis of Hong Kong, American and British Newspaper Coverage , Mengjiao Yu

Theses/Dissertations from 2014 2014

Climate Change, Situational Theory of Problem Solving, and Issue Framing Effects , Michael Eddie Burch

British Cultural Narrative in Winston Churchill's Political Communication , Andres L. Faza

Communication Behavior Study of Support in the Arts Using the Situational Theory of Publics and the Theory of Reasoned Action , Ashleigh Gallant

A Comparison Study on Violent Video Games: Explained by the Gamers Themselves , Christopher John Kneifer

Applying Public Relations Theory to Assess Service-Learning Relationships , Karen Strand

EFFECTS OF COUNTRY OF ORIGIN, COUNTRY ANIMOSITY AND FOREIGN PRODUCT USAGE EXPERIENCES ON PRODUCT JUDGEMENT: A STUDY OF CHINESE CUSTOMERS , Cong Sui

The Accidental Motivator: Florida's Medicinal Marijuana Ballot Initiative's Impact on the Youth Vote , Robert Winsler

An Examination of Motives, Experiences, and Behaviors of MMORPG Players , Theresa Lynn Woods

Social Media Use During The College Transition , Kevin J. Yurasek

Theses/Dissertations from 2013 2013

Media and USF Students' Perception of Terrorism , Mamdoh Suleiman Al-Ameri

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100 Best Media Topics For Research Writing

We know you need the best media topics for your next papers. Otherwise, why would you be reading this blog post? The good news is that you have picked the best place to look for topics. Our experienced writers have put together a list of the best media topics for high school and college students. Furthermore, we work hard to keep the list fresh. This means that these ideas will be most likely original. They will work great in 2023 because the list of media essay topics is updated periodically.

The Importance of Great Media Topics

You are probably wondering why we are putting so much emphasis on getting you the best media topics to write about. There are several reasons for it, but we will only tell you about 3 of them:

• Your professor will greatly appreciate your willingness to dedicate the time and effort to finding excellent topics . Trust us, professors know how to make the difference between students based solely on the topics they choose for their papers.
• It is much easier to write essays if you choose good media essays topics . A topic you know something about is the best choice. Also, a good topic enables you to quickly find plenty of information on the Internet. Following this advice you’ll easily write your literature review and the following components of your paper.
• By choosing a great topic, your essay will immediately stand out from all the rest . Your professor is surely bored of reading papers written about the same things over and over again. An interesting idea will entice him to award you at least some bonus points.

Mass Media Topics

Mass media is something of great importance in modern times, so why not write your papers on some mass media topics? Here are some great examples:

• The effect of mass media on psychological health
• Mass media and emotional health
• Mass media addiction in the US
• The role of mass media in politics
• The First Amendment in mass media
• Promoting sexuality in mass media

Media Research Topics

Did your professor ask of you to write a research paper? No problem, we have some excellent media research topics in our list. Check them out below:

• Discuss children media
• Violence in mass media in the US
• Video games in the media
• Controversial topics in the media in Europe
• Discuss post-truth in the media
• Media regulations in China

Media Analysis Essay Topics for Presentation

Would you like to write a media analysis paper for a presentation? It’s not difficult to do, if you pick the right media analysis essay topics for presentation. Here are some excellent ideas:

• Is the media creating events or reacting to them?
• Media and public relations links
• Discuss 3 major types of media
• The use of media in education (one of the most interesting mass media research paper topics)
• Influence of virtual reality on the media (one of the best media analysis essay topics)
• Discuss journalism ethics

Media Research Paper Topics for High School

Are you a high school student looking for some awesome topic for his next research paper on media? Here are some excellent examples of media research paper topics for high school:

• Major innovations in 21st century media
• Compare mainstream media in India and China
• What makes an outlet a reliable source?
• Advertisements in media
• Benefits of mass media for society
• Compare traditional media with mass media

Mass Media Research Topics

If you need to write a research paper and want to talk about something in mass media, we have some very nice ideas right here. Check out our mass media research topics:

• The right of expression in mass media
• Journalism in mass media
• Compare TV, film and radio
• Mass media in democracy
• The war against terror in mass media
• Discuss the rise of mobile media

Media Research Topics for College Students

College students who are looking to research topics about media should choose something that can bring them a top grade. Here are our best media research topics for college students:

• Influences of technology on media
• Latest innovations in media
• Discuss media censorship in China (a recommended media related topic)
• What is media propaganda?
• Mass media and its preemptive effects

Complex Media Related Research Topics

Do you want to try your hand at some difficult topics? If you want to impress your professor, we advise you to select one of these complex media related research topics:

• Mass media violating civil rights
• Does media benefit the economy of the US?
• Define media addition and discuss its effects
• Perform a qualitative analysis of 3 media outlets
• Media’s scare strategies: a case study
• Media influencing a rise in violence in the UK

Controversial Media Topics

Why should you be frightened by controversial topics? You are free to write about them, of course. Here are our best and most controversial media topics:

• Exercising the First Amendment in media in the US
• Promoting gun violence in mass media
• Mass media effects on terrorism
• Digital media is destroying traditional media
• Artificial intelligence in mass media
• Media effects on the death penalty in China

Digital Media Topics

Discussing digital media is a very good way to impress your professor. Let’s face it; the digital realm is extremely popular these days. Here are some brand new digital media topics:

• Define and discuss digital media
• Climate change in digital media
• What is mobile media?
• The fate of journalism in the 21st century (one of the best digital media research topics)
• Effects of digital media on politics

Media Analysis Topics

Writing a media analysis essay can be a very difficult task, especially if you don’t have much academic writing experience. Here are some media analysis topics that should make things easier:

• How Trump lost the media war
• Biden’s coverage in mass media in the United States
• Advertising revenue in media outlets
• Analyze screen time
• What are deepfakes and how to spot one?
• The crisis of journalism in the 21st century

Easy Media Related Topics

The perfect choice for times when you simply cannot afford to spend too much time writing your essay, our list easy media related topics is right here:

• Define mass media in the United Kingdom
• Should children watch the news?
• Promoting violence in mass media
• Spreading awareness via media
• Are newspapers still relevant today?
• The very first occurrence of mass media

Research Topics in Media and Communication

Would you like to talk about media and communication? It is not an easy subject to write about, but we can make things easier. Here are the easiest research topics in media and communication:

• Discuss body image in media
• Analyze children’s advertising tactics
• Freedom of speech in the media
• Copyright law in the media
• Define symmetrical dialogue in the media

Media Debate Topics

Are you interested in a media debate? Getting the best topics for 2023 should be your primary concern in this case. We have some very interesting media debate topics right here:

• The impact of public relations on communities
• Location-based advertising in modern media
• Analyze the concept of yellow journalism
• Good news vs bad news in the media
• Discuss the concept of proportionality in media

Brand New Media Topics

Just like you, our writers are interested in writing about the latest topics. Why don’t you pick one of our brand new media topics?

• Is radio still an important part of media?
• Newspapers going bankrupt in 2023
• Sexual content on TV shows
• Politicians’ love for the media
• Is the backing of the media important for a president?

Media Ethics Topics

Discussing ethics in relation to media is a very interesting choice. It can also get you an A+ on your next paper. Here are some exceptional media ethics topics:

• Including graphic images in media
• Depicting terrorism on TV
• Regulating newspapers in Europe
• Celebrity gossip in the media
• The influence of large media corporations

Media Law Topics

Yes, there is such a thing as media law. Would you like to write an essay about it? Here are some great ideas for media law topics:

• Discuss the First Amendment and media
• The responsibilities of journalists
• Journalists in war zones
• Fake news in the media
• Showing unsuitable content to children

Research Topics in Communication and Media Studies

Writing about communication and media studies has the potential to help you get a top grade. Here are our best research topics in communication and media studies:

• Analyze media bias in the United States
• Is digital media addictive?
• Influence of media on religion

Interesting Media Topics

We know, you want the most interesting media topics to write about. Pick one of these and write a paper that will impress your professor:

• State-controlled media in China
• Effects of media coverage on criminal trials
• The power of mass media in 2023

Trending Media Topics

You may not know which topics are trending when it comes to media, but our writers do. Here are the latest trending media topics:

• The war in Afghanistan
• Joe Biden’s rise to power
• The fall of Donald Trump
• Climate change problems
• Global warming in the media

But what if you need more topics or professional help with thesis ? What if you didn’t find the media research topic you were looking for in the list above? While this is highly unlikely, we are prepared to help you. Would you like to talk about media literacy? In case you do, our ENL writers can create a list of the most interesting (and new) media literacy topics you can find. For anything you need, just get in touch with us.

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Media Dissertation Topics

The aim of writing a dissertation or thesis is to create an original piece of research work on a clearly defined topic. However, writing a dissertation can be very difficult, especially if the student fails to have a concise research topic. Therefore, the first step to writing a successful dissertation is to identify the area that the student wants to research and then, after a little study of this area, form a clearly-defined topic. A concise research question is very important as it ensures that the dissertation is focused and flowing, and enables students to demonstrate how their research area is relevant. It is also important that the student chooses media dissertation topics that are of interest and bring new insight into the topic. However, the media dissertation topic should have enough literature for the student to form their unique argument, because a dissertation is not a PhD, and does not aim to change the field of research; rather, dissertations are focused on providing a different and unique viewpoint on the existing research and literature. The following article looks at a variety of different and relevant dissertation topics on media, including journalism, mass communication and music, and then identifies several good media dissertation topics and research questions to help the student to identify an area of interest, as well as how to form a good research question. Selecting media dissertation topics can be a challenging task, and therefore this article suggests a wide range of topics within the subject areas of freedom of expression, censorship, culture, communication, government monitoring and social networks.

Journalism and Privacy Dissertation Topics

Journalism and freedom of expression dissertation topics, the artist, censorship and media dissertation topics, cultures in media dissertation topics, music, culture, the artist and intellectual property, communication in the digital age dissertation topics, communication and government monitoring dissertation topics, communication and social networks dissertation topics.

Journalism and privacy have become very hot media-related dissertation topics, especially in the growing world of celebrities and in the developing era of everyone keeping up-to-date about happenings in the world. However, journalism has also brought the concern of privacy to the forefront, as questions are raised about privacy versus transparent journalism. Certain media dissertation topics consider how far a journalist can venture into an individual’s private life without breaching the individual’s fundamental right to privacy (Article 8 of the European Convention of Human Rights), and consider whether there are some different criteria applied for private individuals or popular celebrities. Some topics within journalism and privacy that you could cover within your media dissertation include:

• Although English law does not provide a specific law for privacy, does the common law system provide adequate protection of an individual’s private life from journalists?
• The European Convention of Human Rights has introduced the concept of proportionality; does the United Kingdom’s legal regulations and precedent adopt proportionality towards privacy of individuals and journalists?
• The case of Princess Diana has called into question the ethics of journalism and their invasion into the private life of the public. Should there be stricter regulations?
• The European Law of Human Rights has called for a specific law of privacy to protect individuals from journalists: Does the UK need to adopt this approach?
• A case law approach to Journalism and show-business: Do celebrities, by nature of their career, have a reduced right to privacy?
• The economics of journalism are very important. If there is a stricter approach to protecting the private life of the public, will journalists still be able to engage and maintain their readership?
• The legal case of Naomi Campbell in the UK has highlighted the issue of celebrities being afforded full privacy rights like other citizens. How can the right balance be achieved by journalists?
• Judges in the UK and the USA have argued that celebrities who court the media, by their personal actions and economic gains, should not use privacy laws when and as they wish. Discuss.
• Across Europe there are varying approaches by the courts to protecting privacy. With the European Court of Human Rights and the EU do we need one consistent approach?
• The case of Yahoo v Licra has brought into question the very strict protection of privacy in France. Does the French approach comply with the European Convention of Human rights under the principles of margin of appreciation?
• Data Protection and Journalism. How does the Data Protection Act 1998 influence the issue of peoples’ privacy in journalism?
• The UK currently has a privacy statute set out in the Human Rights Act 1998. However, does journalism operate in the public’s interest?
• Considering privacy in journalism, two major conducts are considered offensive – publication of private facts and intrusion. How can these conducts be regulated?

Journalism and the press offer a platform for various voices to be heard. However, the flipside of protecting the privacy of individuals is the important role of the media as the public watchdog. Indeed, at the international, regional and national level, journalists serve as the public’s watchdog, activist and custodian. These roles are protected by the fundamental human right of freedom of expression. This area discusses the extent to which courts can extend their protection over journalists, and how journalists can avoid court cases. Specific topics for your media dissertation could include:

• Reynolds v Time Newspapers is the key case for recognising the role of press as the public’s watchdog. What are the implications of this case on the courts’ approach to journalists?
• Sources are essential to journalists. Should the freedom of expression laws be used to protect these sources from cases that can result in breach of confidence?
• The First Amendment of the United States Constitution has a tenet that supports a very balanced approach to freedom of expression and journalism. Should the UK adopt their approach?
• Are there any justifications for the journalist’s right of freedom of expression to be breached in the interests of a democratic society?
• Some argue that freedom of expression and the free press is the cornerstone of a democratic society. A comparison of citizens’ attitudes to a free press in the UK and US.
• Journalism relies on the right of freedom of expression; however, should this give journalists the license to destroy the lives of individuals? A discussion of the balance between journalism and responsible reporting.
• The “name and shame” approaches adopted by many newspapers have been questioned as unethical, Is this so, or does this strategy confirm their status as the public’s watchdog?
• Watchdog is a very important consumer protection programme. Is this an example of responsible journalism?
• Breach of confidence is a major factor that contradicts Data Protection laws and regulations; how far can the journalist’s right to freedom of expression be used as a defence of such a breach?
• Is there a different level of freedom of expression for tabloids and broadsheets? The News of the World versus The Times.
• UK citizens have a negative right to freedom of expression under the common law. How does this impact the country’s journalism?
• The Sunday Times vs UK case highlights how courts infringe on journalists’ freedom of expression. How can courts extend their protection over journalists?
• Freedom of expression is protected under Article 10 of the Human Rights Convention. Can journalists leverage on this legislation?

Censorship is the suppression of speech, public messages, and other similar information, that can be provided by journalists, based on the assumption that such material can be offensive, detrimental, delicate, politically incorrect or problematic as determined by government establishments or by public consensus. Therefore, censorship can be referred to as the government’s approach to controlling the media for the good of the society. The question is how far can the government go to protect society and is it really justified or merely a form of citizen control? There are two forms of censorship; the first is direct censorship, which is the banning of certain mediums and topics, while the second form is propaganda censorship, where the media and artists feed the government viewpoint. This is a controversial area, which offers various unique media dissertation topics, including:

• Direct censorship is a direct breach of an individual’s human right to a free press. Discuss in relation to UNDHR
• Journalists have a moral right to provide a balanced approach to the news; however, it is argued that the media is highly politicised. The case study of Fox News in the US.
• Iran currently has a strict censorship programme in relation to its media. Does this approach protect the integrity of the country or is it a form of state control?
• Were the dossiers released by the UK and US government prior to the Iraq war an example of the state using the media for propaganda?
• A review of the differing viewpoints about banning pornography within an independent or democratic society: Is this a form of censorship??
• The Spycatcher Case illustrates that the English courts will allow censorship if there is a threat to national security; however, should there be a limitation to the extent of legitimate whistleblowing, and when does whistleblowing constitute a crime?
• Art has been an object of censorship over the years to protect the morals of the community. Some would argue that certain artistries, such as the BODYWORX art show, is immoral, but has not been censored. How does this compare to the display of foetuses and other controversial artistries?
• Censorship, through propaganda, appears to be more subversive in a democratic society because it is hidden behind supposed legitimate laws. Case Study: The war on terror.
• Political correctness is the new form of censorship in a democracy. Has the liberal view on tolerance caused a breach of the rights that they aim to protect?
• The recent cases on the right of an individual to wear religious symbols have brought into question whether the UK is now censoring the right of religious association. Can this and other similar cases be classed as examples of censorship?
• Censorship of controversial topics (violence, scandals, etc.) – Is there a balance between censorship and the ability to portray the true version of events?
• A review of strict censorship regulations: Does censorship form a barrier to wide-ranging dissemination of creative works in the Arab world?
• Implicit theories of censorship: Has the United States and U.K. Government institutions implemented censorship regulations that have created adverse conditions whereby journalists have to carry out personal-censorship to avoid prosecution?

Media, as a means of communication, has the potential to stretch and strengthen the human capacity for the transmission and exchange of information. The cultural value of media is dependent on those who control the mechanisms of media. For example, mass media, such as television, can produce significant cultural effects. Concerns about threats to media democracy have generated an exciting area for comparative research. Here are some media dissertation topics and case studies that you could research for your media dissertation:

• What is the role of cybernationalism in China?
• Facebook and Fears – A consideration of the ways in which social media networks have been implicated in digital terrorism.
• Celebritisation and class conflict – A critical analysis of British ‘structured reality’ programming and its impact on class identity.
• What is cyberviolence and how can it be regulated?
• Following terror attacks in France, social media has been used to disseminate information in emergency situations. What are public expectations in relation to media messages and crisis management?
• How does individualism-collectivism influence media use? A cross-cultural comparison between the USA and China.
• Can the media be used to breach cultural divides and erase stereotypical images? An argument for responsible journalism.
• Is the growth of media and film making, outside of Hollywood, important to ensure that all cultures are represented? The case of Bollywood.
• In the UK do the British media fail the North/South cultural divide? A comparison of BBC news broadcasting.
• Technological developments have influenced contemporary journalism and news culture. What is the fate of the modern newsroom?
• Considering the ‘multicultural question’, discuss the extent to which the Hall/Morely model of audience reception remains relevant.
• Examine postmodern views of media representation of significant cultural events.
• Identify key debates about how media influences questions of sexual difference and the performativity of gender.

Intellectual property is a key feature of a new idea that an artist puts into practice. In the past, copyright, patents and trademarks have limited the ability to reproduce the work of the artist. However, in the current age of advanced technology, there are less effective regulations and restrictions governing whether individuals can download pirated music and films. Debate about control, ownership, and the values of the artist lead to the question of whether using the work of an artist is, in fact, stealing. This is becoming a more prominent issue within an increasingly globalised and digitised media industry, and the subject would make for interesting media dissertation topics.

• The Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) is the most important intellectual agreement of the 20th century. Discuss.
• There are legitimate situations in the name of education where breaching an artist’s intellectual property rights is permitted. Discuss.
• Intellectual property law fails minority cultural groups, their tribal music and art because it fails to understand communitarian ownership and prioritises the individual. Discuss.
• Copyright law is far more interested in the owner of the copyright, such as record labels, than the artists. Discuss.
• Using The X-Factor as a case study, present reasons why economics, rather than musical style, shapes the role of the music industry in popular culture.
• It is argued that in the UK there is no real choice in music, because there is a monopoly on record labels in the market. A comparison of the UK and Canada’s music markets.
• Music throughout the centuries has been linked to culture. However, in the UK there seems to be a distinct lack of cultural mainstream music. Does there need to be a promotion of British music culture?
• Do the beliefs and attitudes of consumers in the music market need to change to stop music pirating?
• Artists are changing the music market by allowing consumers to choose their price for music purchases. How will this change the face of the music market?
• The Americanisation of the music industry is destroying traditional musical forms. Debate whether cultural imperialism is evident in the context of music censorship in Iran.
• At the turn of the century, 80% of global publishing and recording revenues are appropriated by only five companies: EMI (UK), Bertelsmann (Germany), Warner (US), Sony (Japan) and Universal (Canada). Debate whether this monopolisation will continue.
• Evaluate the role of cultural intermediaries (Bourdieu, 1984) in relation to the active role that personnel in the music industry undertake in relation to the production of particular styles of music.
• The greater control that technology affords has led to more complex patterns of everyday music usage. Discuss.

Communication in the digital age has caused fears that individual privacy will be breached. For instance, different digital technologies have different conceptualisations of privacy. As with any broad social change, as well as fear come new forms of knowledge. The digital age has provided improved access to learning and education. Further to this, advances in communication technologies have supported activism and furthered freedom of expression. Here are some media dissertation topics within this area that you could research on.

• The Data Protection Act (DPA) is soon to be replaced by the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Evaluate this change in data protection regulation.
• France, Germany and the UK have different approaches to Data Protection. Are any sufficient to deal with digital communications?
• Identity fraud and hacking behaviour has grown with the evolution of digital communications. Evaluate research into cybercrime perpetration by adolescents and young adults.
• Education has been improved in the digital age with faster communication and exchanging of ideas. Has this made traditional teaching methods less important?
• In light of the influence of micro-blogging on political campaigning, discuss the effectiveness of e-campaigning on Twitter as a more participatory process.
• Higher education in the digital era – discuss the impact of online forums on distance learning.
• Digital inequality may compound the existing rural-urban disparity in developing countries. Discuss.
• How has the use of the Internet in local economies kick-started sustainable development? A comparison of rural South Africa and rural India.
• Digital communication has been an important tool for human rights campaigners. A case study of Amnesty International’s email petitions.
• In the past, governments have tried to censor information as a form of control. With the emergence of projects such as WikiLeaks, examine whether the Internet has brought about democratic change.
• Does use of the internet stimulate political unrest in the Middle East?
• Virtual Communities of Practice (VCoP) is a useful analytic frame for examining the professional identity and status of media workers. Discuss.
• The individual has the power to design their own information environment. Evaluate Harper’s (1997) notion of the ‘Daily Me’.
• Large corporations and governments have developed new methods with which to analyse social media data. Discuss the implications that dominant uses of data mining and analytics may have for the public.

The growth of mass communication and the technology to enable this communication has brought many benefits. Technological advancement provides the individual with information at the touch of a button, as well as allowing them to participate in politics. The advancements have also provided cheaper and easier formats for communication. However, there are some significant problems, enabling governments to access individual’s private communications with greater ease. Thus, privacy of the individual is threatened. This includes ISP addresses asking for personal information on access and Internet providers allowing government access. Does this mean that although mass communication has benefits it also has significant problems? An important issue to many would mean any of the following topics could create a useful and well-read media dissertation.

• Is it ethical for Internet providers to allow government agencies to access private, individual, personal communications in the interests of justice?
• How does the UK government justify using mass communication interceptors, such as ISP address recording, to access private individual’s personal information?
• What are the implications of governments using the private individual’s access of mass communication as reason to investigate their personal communications?
• How are the boundaries blurring between mass and personal communication with the advent of blogs and social networking sites?
• Privacy is a key factor to limit journalists accessing personal information. How can the government justify breaching the same rights of an individual’s personal information?
• What is the nature of the participatory culture of politics and how has social media encouraged this to individuals and government?
• In enabling governments to access the private information of the individual, what implications has this for society and freedoms for the individual?
• Communication is key to the democratic process; how can individuals be assured of their rights and freedoms?

Digital communications are constantly changing and moving the goal posts at a rapid speed. Social networks, such as Facebook, are changing the way that many people use the Internet and are changing the face of the distinction of private and mass communication. Information is readily available, allowing the individual to participate in a virtual world. Communication is being enabled through the various platforms and mediums available to the user, such as blogs etc. The socialising processes are being updated in link with how social media is operated by connecting individuals. Social media also has its critics who accuse it of damaging personal communication and dumbing down the latest generations. It has also become the site of cyber bullying which on the internet cannot be fully governed. If the area of communication and social networks interests you, you could write about any of the following topics for your media dissertation.

• Social networks are the new form of mass communication, where blogs and ideas are exchanged; however, as technological processes are dynamic this is not the final product of social media. Discuss
• What are the effects of social networking sites on the economics of mass communication?
• Can social networking sites be used as a form of mass communication to trigger sustainable development and trading outside the ambits of corporations, such as eBay.
• Do social networks play an important role in mass communication, advertising and the economic growth of trading over the Internet?
• Are social networks more persuasive than traditional forms of communication, especially in regards to changing attitudes of individuals towards key debates?
• Can we use social networks and blogs as a platform of mass communication to change attitudes to consumers and companies? Social networks and consumer boycotting.
• Social media has been described as the digitalisation of word of mouth; how effective has this format been for marketing business?
• Cyber bullying has become a greater problem using social media. How can this be regulated?
• How true is it that social media can have an adverse effect on social interaction and the dumbing down of the English language?

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