Exploring Media Research: Theories, Practice, and Purpose

From Donald Trump’s use of Twitter, to social media mourning, to cyber-bullying: the evidence of media influence today is all around us. As such, good media research is more important than ever, and crucially, is something all students can and should do.

Exploring Media Research is an eye-opening exploration of what it means to understand and do media research today. 
Carefully balancing theory and practice, Andy Ruddock demystifies the process, showing you don’t need huge amounts of time or money to do meaningful media analysis. The book:

• Introduces students to the scope and seriousness of media influence
• Shows them how to tie their own interests to academic concepts and research issues
• Explains how to use this understanding to develop proper research questions
• Translates key theoretical concepts into actual research methods students can use to explore the media texts, events, markets and professionals that interest them.

Bringing theory to life throughout with a range of contemporary case studies, Exploring Media Research is a thoughtful and practical guide to gathering and analysing media data. It is essential reading for students of media, communication and cultural studies.

Andy Ruddock lectures in Communications and Media Studies at Monash University. He has authored four books on researching media influence. Andy is known for his work on Cultivation Theory. He has published over 50 book chapters and journal articles, applying this theory to media violence, gaming, reality TV, political celebrity pornography, drug and alcohol abuse, sport and media education. Andy is currently writing Cultivation Theory and Digital Media Challenges. This new book details the history of cultivation theory and explains its relevance to contemporary “isms”; activism, sexism, Trumpism, and extremism.