A2 Research Investigation

Your first task is to decide on an area of study that interests you and to develop a title.  This can be a hypothesis which is usually a statement which you wish to explore or challenge in your investigation.

Examples given in the specification are;

‘The representation of teenagers in two British films’

‘The generic similarities between Dr Who and Stargate’

‘ The narrative structures of The X Factor and Strictly Come Dancing.’

Your investigation can be based on one or, more usually two texts

The example I will be using in this module is used below;

‘An investigation into the representation of women  in music videos focusing on the artists, Lady Ga-Ga,  and Pixie Lott’

Or create a hypothesis which is a question that you answer at the end of your investigation;

‘Do Lady Ga-Ga and Pixie Lott skilfully use the medium of the music videos to create positive representations of women ? ‘

There are so many possible avenues for investigation that you could explore. You may be interested in the effects of screen violence.  This is a wide area which is very popular amongst media academics so there are a wealth of research sources to investigate.  You could look at the effects of screen violence on children and look at regulation and censorship.  Classic but dated texts include the films ‘Child’s Play’ and ‘Natural Born Killers’.  These have been blamed for acts of extreme violence such as the killing of a child, Jamie Bulger, in Liverpool and high school massacres such as at Columbine High School in America. Alternatively you could explore a more contemporary medium such as violence in computer games.  

The important point is that you choose something that interests you and a medium that you know well.  If you love sport then you could focus on advertising in the London Olympics and how institutions use the media to influence consumers.  Perhaps you feel strongly that fast food conglomerates are the main sponsors of an event which hopes to have a legacy of improving the health and lifestyle of your nation.

Another important point is that you need to focus your research. You will be quickly overwhelmed by the amount of secondary sources and information unless you define your research.  Your teacher should have an instrumental role in negotiating the title for your assignment and will remind you that there must be clear potential for the development of the investigation into a production piece.