The object of this is to provide an opportunity for students to take a topic of their own choosing, which they will have evolved in and through the Research Practices module, either to conduct an intensive scholarly inquiry into some issue relating to the field of audience and reception studies, which will be well-grounded in an understanding of the research tradition(s) within which the topic is posed; or to conduct a small-scale empirical enquiry on a carefully-formulated topic, having selected an appropriate method or methods. Students will be assigned an individual supervisor who will assist the student within the general framework and limits operated for postgraduate dissertations within the Department. There are two distinct modes of work for the Dissertation (although many topics will combine the two in particular ways). The first, where emphasis falls on primary research, will be measured against criteria emphasizing the effective use of reflexive methods for both gathering and analyzing the dissertation'r research materials. The second, where emphasis falls on scholarly re-evaluation of existing work, will be measured against criteria emphasizing the clarity of identification of conceptual or methodological issues, and the depth and coherence of critical approach to these. In both cases, students? dissertations will be expected to show evidence of an appropriate range of reading, within a critical literature review.