This Masters provides training that is relevant for further qualitative research at MPhil and PhD level. It also develops your high-level qualitative research skills that are relevant to research-based jobs in the creative industries.
Essential Info
The focus in this Masters by Research is empirically researching and writing a supervised 25,000-word dissertation on an agreed and approved topic in media, cultural and communication studies. It is your opportunity to explore a topic of particular interest over an extended period, which can be a very rewarding experience.
We welcome MA proposals in our areas of expertise. This comprises Media Studies – including radio, TV, new media, print media, cinema, advertising, journalism, media in Wales, European media and global media; Cultural Studies – including masculinities, gender, youth and children’s culture, post-war popular culture, material culture, national culture, consumerism, convergence cultures and musical cultures; and Communication Studies – including risk, war, environment, health, trust and politics.
We have expertise in a wide range of methods, including case studies, ethnography, discourse analysis, archival analysis, political-economy and interviews. For more information, visit our Research page at: Media Research
If you choose to study on a postgraduate course at the Cardiff School of Creative and Cultural Industries, you will also benefit from being part of a vibrant international student community.
What You Will Study
You will study the following modules:
- Research Paradigms
- Research Practices
You will also complete a research proposal, a 25,000-word dissertation and an oral examination (viva voce).
Common Modules
The Faculty understands the importance of a strong grounding in research knowledge and skills, enterprise and innovation as part of a balanced postgraduate education.
We also recognise that each student has different requirements of their postgraduate experience.
You can choose to study one of the following three, 20 credit common modules. Each of these has a different focus, enabling you to select the module that will be most beneficial to you.
Creative and Cultural Entrepreneurship
This module aims to develop your knowledge of the methods to identify, develop and manage enterprise and innovation in the creative sector. It will then help you apply this to your own entrepreneurial project.
Research and Practice in the Creative and Cultural Industries
The focus of this module is on the development of research knowledge and skills, while also encouraging critical engagement with approaches to creative practice. You will also explore ideas, debates and issues in the creative and cultural industries.
Research Paradigms
This module focuses on research paradigms and their theoretical underpinnings. It also looks at key conceptual tools drawn from a wide range of subject areas relevant to postgraduate research in the creative industries.
How You Will Study
Teaching and learning will involve a combination of lectures, seminars, workshops and student presentations. Modes of assessment include essays, projects, individual/group presentations, a dissertation and an oral examination (viva voce). Classes are held during evenings, allowing you the working day to further your dissertation or continue in paid employment. These limited but intensive contact hours will give you maximum flexibility in your study patterns. You will be allocated two dissertation supervisors and meet with them regularly.
Learning Through Employment
Learning Through Employment is a University of Glamorgan framework that offers students who are already in employment the opportunity to gain credits towards a postgraduate qualification.
The programme is structured so that the majority of learning takes place through active and reflective engagement with your work activities, underpinned by the appropriate academic knowledge and skills.
All postgraduate courses at the Cardiff School of Creative and Cultural Industries offer students the opportunity to undertake a 60 credit Learning Through Employment Research Project as an alternative to a traditional final dissertation, major project or production.
The focus of the project is an individual, organisational problem solving, knowledge-based approach.
As such, it has been is designed for practising professionals to provide them with the tools to succeed in the workplace.
This truly flexible approach means that projects can be based on an agreed area of work, benefitting students and employers, and because the majority of the project is carried out in the workplace, it can potentially be undertaken anywhere in the world.
For full details, visit our Learning Through Employment pages.
Possible Career Options
Your research, communication and writing skills will be highly developed by the end of this process. Your work can be used to further your career prospects if your dissertation involves the extended study of media and cultural producers, audiences and/or texts in relevant areas. This Masters provides training that is relevant for further qualitative research at MPhil and PhD level. It also develops high-level qualitative research skills that are relevant to research-based jobs in the creative industries.
Additional Information
Facilities
Our purpose built ATRiuM campus in Cardiff features state-of-the-art facilities for audio and video production and editing, graphic design, studio recording and more. The building is an engine room for the next generation of media practitioners and thinkers. Read more on our facilities page
