Methods of Film and TV Research

This course introduces social science research methods in relation to TV and Film study, including academic wirting (in relation to academic ethics）, qualitative methods, and quantitative methods. We use TV and Film related theories and concepts to illustrate different research methods, but the focus of this course is not TV and Film theories themselves. This course covers four areas: (1) choosing a research topic (e.g., what is a good research question? Why theories are important for choosing a research question? How literature review is related to the research question?); (2) introduction to different research methods commonly used in social sciences (including both qualitative and quantitative methods); (3) describing and interpreting findings (e.g., not to overgeneralize findings). This course combines teaching and classroom discussion, the latter of which is designed to enhance learning by encouraging students to apply what they learn in various settings; (4) writing a research paper, including the construction of different parts of a academic paper, the logics among them, and academic writing norms and the related ethic issues.