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Urgent diss help please

Hi,

I'm currently writing my dissertation - I'm an idiot and left it late.

I know it's a long shot but does anyone know of any published journals which use a qualitative discourse analysis to analyse the portrayal of something (preferably in the media, preferably crime - although it doesn't have to be)?

Would appreciate any help so much!

Thank you
Reply 1
Anyone?? Please help
Original post by stabilo4444
Hi,

I'm currently writing my dissertation - I'm an idiot and left it late.

I know it's a long shot but does anyone know of any published journals which use a qualitative discourse analysis to analyse the portrayal of something (preferably in the media, preferably crime - although it doesn't have to be)?

Would appreciate any help so much!

Thank you


1. Something like this? "Deviant Youth in the News: a critical discourse analysis of media and participant social constructions of a contemporary moral panic."

http://www.did.stu.mmu.ac.uk/MMU_Psychology_Dissertations/2011dissertations/AtoF/Miranda%20Cannon%20%28MMU%29%202011.pdf/download

2. This is the University Life page, you're possibly not looking in the right place for help. It may be a better idea to look into the different subject pages on the top bar.

3. You made an account just to ask this? When is your deadline?
Reply 3
Thought you meant come back :erm:


Was gonna lend you my famous pars.
Original post by Dinaa
Thought you meant come back :erm:


Was gonna lend you my famous pars.



I'm glad you thought that too! I had a mental image of someone furiously messaging TSR in the middle of an argument or something...
Reply 5
Original post by lledrith
I'm glad you thought that too! I had a mental image of someone furiously messaging TSR in the middle of an argument or something...


Same lmao.
Reply 6
Well there isn't much published, which might be why you can't find it! Try 'Communication Research', 'Discourse and Communication' and 'Discourse Studies'. Presumably you have read Fairclough? Or some other guidance on doing CDA?


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Reply 7
Original post by lledrith
1. Something like this? "Deviant Youth in the News: a critical discourse analysis of media and participant social constructions of a contemporary moral panic."

http://www.did.stu.mmu.ac.uk/MMU_Psychology_Dissertations/2011dissertations/AtoF/Miranda%20Cannon%20%28MMU%29%202011.pdf/download

2. This is the University Life page, you're possibly not looking in the right place for help. It may be a better idea to look into the different subject pages on the top bar.

3. You made an account just to ask this? When is your deadline?


Thank you, that's helpful! Deadlines is Monday, I'm completely screwed.
Reply 8
Original post by Dinaa
Thought you meant come back :erm:


Was gonna lend you my famous pars.


Hahaha. Sorry. I wish
Reply 9
Original post by Ftmshk
Well there isn't much published, which might be why you can't find it! Try 'Communication Research', 'Discourse and Communication' and 'Discourse Studies'. Presumably you have read Fairclough? Or some other guidance on doing CDA?


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Argh why have I chosen something with barely anything I can compare it too. Yeah reading Fairclough now, thanks for your help!
Reply 10
Put that down as one of your reasons for choosing the dissertation topic 'Despite the significance and frequency of crime in the media there have been few published papers examining this from a qualitative discourse viewpoint.' Or something like that.


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Reply 11
Original post by Ftmshk
Put that down as one of your reasons for choosing the dissertation topic 'Despite the significance and frequency of crime in the media there have been few published papers examining this from a qualitative discourse viewpoint.' Or something like that.


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Thank you!

Does anyone know if you can say things like 'out of 14 published articles in The Sun on the _____ case study, 5 mentioned ______' in a Critical Discourse Analysis? Or is that too quantitive?
Reply 12
Hi Stabilo,

Would you be able to request an extension? I really think it would be worth it if you could get one.

Have you narrowed your choice of papers and data down?

I think you can say '5 claim' but ideally for Discourse Analysis you want to be analyzing abstracts of text from each of the '5' that claim ... As the discourse that each of the sources use is important.

Usually for a Discourse Analysis paper you would still follow a basic Abstract, Introduction, Methodology, Analysis, Discussion format. It's normal to focus on quite a small amount of data because there's a lot of D.A. to be done in a really tiny section of text.

I wrote a D.A. paper for my Psychology course (I'm not sure if you're studying Psych or Linguistics/Sociology- there might be subtle differences in D.A. depending on the area) a few years ago and got a high A grade. I started with:

‘I know you cant blame the children': discourse, discrimination and dealing with the unaccompanied asylum-seeking child.

A number of recent studies have explored the public response to asylum seekers and immigrants in the UK, yet few have investigated the response to unaccompanied asylum seeking children (UASC). UASC pose a number of conflicts in public opinion, as the socially-accepted fundamental of child protection conflicts with prominent exclusionary anti-immigrant ideology. This discursive study investigates the construction of UASC through contrasting interpretative repertoires and rhetorical devices in online comments left in response to a tabloid newspaper article about UASC. Two alternative repertoires were found to constructed for opposing purposes: A ‘Financial burden’ repertoire, that portrays UASC as an economic burden, is employed to call for exclusionary policies; while an ‘Innocent child’ repertoire emphasises the plight of asylum-seeking minors, and appeals to other commenters to support the provision of financial aid for these children. Implications are discussed.


There are a few key terms in D.A.:

- Interpretive Repertoires
- Rhetorical devices
- Discursive construction

Hmm can't remember the rest, will look into it!
Reply 13
Original post by Katy100
Hi Stabilo,

Would you be able to request an extension? I really think it would be worth it if you could get one.

Have you narrowed your choice of papers and data down?

I think you can say '5 claim' but ideally for Discourse Analysis you want to be analyzing abstracts of text from each of the '5' that claim ... As the discourse that each of the sources use is important.

Usually for a Discourse Analysis paper you would still follow a basic Abstract, Introduction, Methodology, Analysis, Discussion format. It's normal to focus on quite a small amount of data because there's a lot of D.A. to be done in a really tiny section of text.

I wrote a D.A. paper for my Psychology course (I'm not sure if you're studying Psych or Linguistics/Sociology- there might be subtle differences in D.A. depending on the area) a few years ago and got a high A grade. I started with:

‘I know you cant blame the children': discourse, discrimination and dealing with the unaccompanied asylum-seeking child.

A number of recent studies have explored the public response to asylum seekers and immigrants in the UK, yet few have investigated the response to unaccompanied asylum seeking children (UASC). UASC pose a number of conflicts in public opinion, as the socially-accepted fundamental of child protection conflicts with prominent exclusionary anti-immigrant ideology. This discursive study investigates the construction of UASC through contrasting interpretative repertoires and rhetorical devices in online comments left in response to a tabloid newspaper article about UASC. Two alternative repertoires were found to constructed for opposing purposes: A ‘Financial burden’ repertoire, that portrays UASC as an economic burden, is employed to call for exclusionary policies; while an ‘Innocent child’ repertoire emphasises the plight of asylum-seeking minors, and appeals to other commenters to support the provision of financial aid for these children. Implications are discussed.


There are a few key terms in D.A.:

- Interpretive Repertoires
- Rhetorical devices
- Discursive construction

Hmm can't remember the rest, will look into it!


Hi Katy,

Thanks so much for your help! I'm studying Journalism and my dissertation is structured: Intro, Literature Review, Methodology, Findings & Analysis (Discourse Analysis) and Conclusion.

I can't get an extension unfortunately.

My discourse analysis is about how a crime event was portrayed in 6 different newspapers. My tutor told me to analyse the papers and draw out themes which I've been doing but I have no idea if the structure is right or I'm talking about the correct things. I'm not allowed to contact him again before the deadline, so I'm panicking now. He told me to stick with 6 newspapers as it will be a more detailed analysis.

Any help would be really appreciated! I've read Fairclough but finding it hard to get my head around. Think I'm maybe over complicating things.
Reply 14
My discourse analysis is about how a crime event was portrayed in 6 different newspapers. My tutor told me to analyse the papers and draw out themes which I've been doing but I have no idea if the structure is right or I'm talking about the correct things. I'm not allowed to contact him again before the deadline, so I'm panicking now. He told me to stick with 6 newspapers as it will be a more detailed analysis.

Any help would be really appreciated! I've read Fairclough but finding it hard to get my head around. Think I'm maybe over complicating things.
-------------

That sounds like a really interesting topic. If you are looking at 6 different papers then you must be comparing. I think I would approach it by looking for all the similarities and differences, note whether the similarities and differences are in writing style, number of repetitions, length of article and position in the paper, use of metaphor and other devices, etc (whatever your criteria are that you have put in your methodology), and then, referring back to your lit review, comment on the reasons for the differences. Fairclough would link it to use of power by governments and the media and how the reader is being manipulated to a certain viewpoint. I'm sure if you are looking at six texts you will find plenty to say.

What themes have you found?



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Reply 15
Original post by Ftmshk
My discourse analysis is about how a crime event was portrayed in 6 different newspapers. My tutor told me to analyse the papers and draw out themes which I've been doing but I have no idea if the structure is right or I'm talking about the correct things. I'm not allowed to contact him again before the deadline, so I'm panicking now. He told me to stick with 6 newspapers as it will be a more detailed analysis.

Any help would be really appreciated! I've read Fairclough but finding it hard to get my head around. Think I'm maybe over complicating things.

-------------

That sounds like a really interesting topic. If you are looking at 6 different papers then you must be comparing. I think I would approach it by looking for all the similarities and differences, note whether the similarities and differences are in writing style, number of repetitions, length of article and position in the paper, use of metaphor and other devices, etc (whatever your criteria are that you have put in your methodology), and then, referring back to your lit review, comment on the reasons for the differences. Fairclough would link it to use of power by governments and the media and how the reader is being manipulated to a certain viewpoint. I'm sure if you are looking at six texts you will find plenty to say.

What themes have you found?



Posted from TSR Mobile

Thanks!

The crime is a missing child case which then turned into a murder inquiry. I'm just looking at the representation of the victim while it was a missing child case.

So far the themes I've found are:
Support from the town/community,
References to it being a special case (e.g support from celebrities, the fact she had a condition (cerebral palsy), the fact it was the biggest search in UK history),
Emotive language/episodic frame elements,
Family/friends comments about the little girl

Not sure if they can be classed as themes/if they're any good? Just running with it for now!
Reply 16
I remember the case. I imagine it was reported very differently in different papers so I bet you have loads to go on.
I like your themes. If there is time and space it might be interesting to also look at:
Heroes and villains - did they all identify the same heroes? Eg police, neighbours who took part in the search etc. Was the perpetrator identified at the same stage and in the same way in each paper? In such cases Social Services are often blamed but they weren't in this case. Apart from the perpetrator did the publications identify any other villains? Parents?Police for acting too slowly? Etc.

Good luck with getting it done over the weekend 😀.





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Original post by Dinaa
Thought you meant come back :erm:


Was gonna lend you my famous pars.


Same lmao, was disappointed :frown:
Reply 18
Did you get it submitted in time?


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