Dissertation Proposal: Presentation & Feedback

Presentation & Feedback

As mentioned in one of my previous posts, we were set the task to create a presentation regarding our dissertation proposal to present to our tutor Kath and the rest of the class. This presentation had to propose our ideas, meaning it should include:

   - The idea explained in brief
   - What theories are relevant to back the idea up
   - Potential examples
   - Which books can be used to back up the idea.
   - The structure of the proposal: Chapter 1,2/3.

Below is what I presented:

What Feedback Did I Receive?

All in all, the presentation went quite well. Kath liked my initial ideas and the theories and examples for it worked well together. However, she did pick out a couple of points which can help, such as:

     - That hypodermic needle is a misused and unreliable theory. A class member, Andrei, mentioned
       that the two-step flow theory is more relevant and effective, so I will be researching into this
       theory.
     - To include marxist theory, as this intervenes with a couple of the theories which I've already
        mentioned. This too will be researched.
     - Structuralism and post-structarlism: This is similar to the reception theory however focuses more
       on how audiences now are generally becoming less passive and more active, which could have a
       large effect on my idea.
     - Kath also mentioned that a documentary which supports mediation would be very useful. This  
       will help to keep my dissertation balanced as at the moment my points are only against
       mediation.

Structure of my Dissertation

In term of my structure, I wasn't entirely sure on how to structure it regarding the use of chapters etc. So I spoke about this with Kath after my presentation and she advised that chapter 1 should focus mainly on the documentary genre as a whole - what makes a documentary and whether mediation is effective on this media platform in general or just in certain documentaries. This should also include a section on dominant ideologies - how do we define what makes this dominant ideology and what exactly it is (of course backed up with quotations).

The second chapter should then go in with the examples and show these examples of mediation. Anything which is mentioned in the first chapter should initially be backed up with examples, which is the main purpose of chapter 2. This too should focus primarily on the different audiences as this is a key element as to the influence of mediation.



All in all, the presentation turn out to be considerably useful - if I hadn't gone through my ideas then I could've structured my proposal in a less effective way. Now, I know what exactly I need to research (in terms of theories and books) so I will now find these books and begin to plan my proposal.