By Garland-Waide Bradford
Public Service broadcasting now and in the future – audience attitudes
The Title, Public Service broadcasting now and in the future – audience attitudes is an accurate description of the research project
The abstract is representative of the research that was being conducted. It describes the reasons why the research is import. It does draw a comparison between Public Service Broadcasting (PSB) and commercial broadcasting, that is a comparison in terms of the market the BBC shares with a channel like ITV.
The Abstract and the Introduction have some differences. The introduction focuses on the reason for the research. It also describes in detail how the research will be conducted. The abstract describes the current state of broadcasting. It is the justification behind why the research is being conducted.
The research problem can easily be overlooked. It is a single paragraph introducing section four in the research paper. It is logical that it would follow after the Introduction which describes the purpose of the research.
The study is meant to look understand what the audience experience of PSB is. It is trying to determine what role it plays in the lives of the audience.
The research paper does not outline the research questions the research is meant to answer. It describes the purpose of the research task. It could be best rephrased as, What does the audience believe of the PSB the BBC and how did they come to this understanding of the BBC?
The author draws on the findings of the research but does not refer to previous research that had been conducted. There is no references to academic sources. These are not important to the understanding of the purpose of the research. The use of the research would inform the strategic path the BBC would follow moving forward. Therefore, the research is not based on any prior theory on PSBs.
This research could be used a conference paper. It works a look into a type of audience research paper that had been conducted. The paper can also be used by a researcher who would want to condusct similar research as an case study on research.
What prior research on this question is mentioned and what is the author’s explanation of why answers provided by the prior research are inadequate?
The researcher does not mention prior academic research sources. This leaves a big gap in terms of which theory the research is based on.
Has the author examined the relevant literature on the topic and persuasively explained why the research question posed has not yet been satisfactory answered?
There is no indication that the researcher had made use of a literature review to look into past research on the subject. There are indications that the researcher had made use of readily available data but there’s no indication what the source is. All indications point to the possibility that the information was found during the research in the study.
There is no theoretical framework discussed, nor has the author indicated which theorists were made use of to design the framework of the research. This does not hurt the study in that the research paper is interested in answering specific elements of how the audience experience PSB.
The author relies heavily on the information that was gathered during the course of the research to back up the claims that has been made in the research. This helps with the overall formulation of the paper. The information was gathered in a cross sectional study which gives the reader an insight into the audience attitude during a specific point in time.
The sample size was to be as inclusive as possible with regards to representing as much of the BBC’s viewership as possible. However, the type of sampling used was a deliberative sample.
The target audience was all viewers of the BBC and ITV from across the United Kingdom. The available audience is the 126 participants in the interview process and the 4577 respondents in the quantitative part of the research. The populations size was sufficient for the way in which the researchers designed the study
The analytical approach is consistent with the research question that was posed. The way in which research is designed makes it possible for the researcher to more accurately describe the findings of the research question and speak to it.
The research data and results are presented in graphs which is then described using text. It gives a clear indication of what the research was able to come up with.
The research paper does not make use of a theoretical framework to formulate the research around. Nor are there any research questions to answer in the research. The research paper does try to understand what audience attitudes and believes about PSBs are.
The study does not go into great detail in discussing its limitations. However, touches on the limits within what constitutes a PSB. This is discussed from different perspectives within the research.
There is an ample amount to theoretical framework available for researchers to tap into with regards to audience research. This would help shape the research a little more. Through a literature review the research would have been able to look at past trends and understand what type of changes have happened over the period of time in between the first few audience studies and the current study. This would give better insight into the evolution of audience beliefs and attitudes, as well as how they have developed over time.
The conclusion builds on the research that had been conducted. It gives a summary of the findings and what the imlicaitons of the findings are to PSBs in the United Kingdom. It gives a chronological summary of the research that was conducted.
Public Broadcasting in Africa
Yes, the title is an accurate description of the research project.
The abstract accurately describes the research project. It gives a broad overview of why the research is important and what will be researched.
The introduction clearly sets out what the reason for the research is. It is different to the Abstract. It gives a better description of the reasoning behind the research. It links up to the Abstract which describes the organisations larger goals. The research is aligned to the bigger purpose of the organisation responsible for the research.
There is no clear research problem set out. The researchers conducted the research based on data available as part of public record.
The purpose of the study is clearly stated as looking into South Africa’s PBS broadcasting space. The reason behind it being that PBS plays an important role in maintaining an active democratic public. Its role is to not only entertain and educate but to also inform the general public.
The author does not have a research question. It is not possible to turn the description of what the research study wants to achieve into a single research question.
The author draws on data that is available to the public to access. The author also compares the current research to that of research projects conducted in the past. The research is important in that it looks at the role of PBS in a developing country with a young democracy. The role of the media is crucial in maintaining a robust political and economic system in South Africa. This is the type of research that could be published in a major communications studies journal.
The author mentions that this report is similar to that of 11 other reports on PBS in other African countries like Nigeria, Kenya and Mali.
The author references the legal regulations that govern broadcasting as well as the PBS service provider the South African Broadcast Corporation (SABC). This is the sum of the literature review. There is no indication of the theoretical framework that the research is built on. Nor, does the author make use of case studies to discuss how the theory had been applied before. The reference to previous studies did not go in depth with the findings of these studies. It was only mntioned that other countries had been studied.
There is no theoretical framework discussed. The research is being conducted making use of the laws and data available to the public to conduct its research.
The author discusses the importance of the research in the findings that the research had been able to show. The research looks at the challenges facing PBS in South Africa. It also looks at what the future of PBS would look like and how the SABC can chart a way forward. Understanding the current nature of the entity is important in being able to accomplish this.
The data is gathered during a cross-sectional period. The study looked at the information available in public record as well as the laws governing broadcasting in South Africa. The author made use of secondary research sources to conduct the research. There isn’t a discussion on the samples being used to conduct the research.
There is no research question therefore the analysis of the data is not consistent with it but it is consistent with the research design.
The results of the research is discussed in an extended text on the findings and recommendations. This section critically analyses the data that was used to study PBS in South Africa. The statistics that have been used in the study have been explain to give insight into what it the mean as well as their impact on the study.
This study is important because it looks deep into what the current state of PBS in South Africa is. It also looks into how it can be changed and aligned to the overall goal of promoting democracy and social cohesion.
No limitations were discussed in the study.
The conclusion contains recommendations that are directly related to the policy makers as well as institutions regulating PBS in South Africa. No new information is presented but the information within the research paper itself is consolidated.
Sources Consulted
Human Capital. 2008. Public service broadcasting now and in the future — audience attitudes. A report plus research appendix by Human Capital. [O].
Lloyd, L, Duncan, J, Minnie, J, & Bussiek, H. 2010. Public broadcasting in Africa. A survey. South Africa country report. [O].
University of South Africa. Department of Communication Science. 2016. CMNHONE
University of South Africa. Department of Communication Science. 2016. Media research: Tutorial letter101/0/2016 for COM4802.
