Module Information

The aim of this module is to provide an advanced grounding to students in the questions and methods related to research in film and television studies. Students will be introduced to a range of research methodologies, and will be encouraged to apply and test these methodologies on a range of primary materials in teaching sessions. Throughout the module, students will engage with critical writings on these methods and, through this, will identify key theoretical concepts that inform these methods and practical applications that derive from them. As a result, the module will encourage students to critically reflect on the strengths and applicability of different research methods and, through this, to identify the research questions and related methods that they will employ in their MA dissertations, on which the module will increasingly focus as it progresses. The forms of assessment on the module are designed to support this process, culminating in a research proposal for the MA dissertation.

The module combines encounters with a range of key research methodologies within film and television studies (relating to forms of textual, historical and empirical research) with a focus (particularly in the co-delivered sessions with students on TPM1420) on what it means to conduct research, about wider questions of research and its practical demands, and about the relation of research to issues of disciplinarity and interdiscplinarity. The module will begin with a session which encourages students to think about the broad purposes of research methods both within and outside of film and television studies, and will end with a session where students will be asked to reflect on the purposes of a dissertation literature review and, in preparation for their second assignment, to put forward their initial dissertation proposal ideas. Throughout the module, students will be asked to return to and reflect on discussions about the purpose of research methods conducted in the first session (as they encounter and evaluate different research methodologies), and will also be given the space, in three one hour tutorial sessions, to discuss how their dissertation plans are progressing and how they are drawing on what they have learnt on the module in order to put these plans into action. Students will be encouraged to make use of research facilities available in Aberystwyth (in particular, the National Library of Wales and the e-learning resources available via the Hugh Owen Library) throughout the module.