Tilmelding sker via stads selvbetjening indenfor annonceret tilmeldingsperiode, som du kan se på Studieadministrationens hjemmeside

Når du tilmelder dig kurset, skal du være opmærksom på, om der er sammenfald i tidspunktet for kursusafholdelse og eksamen med andre kurser, du har valgt. Uddannelsesplanlægningen tager udgangspunkt i, at det er muligt at gennemføre et anbefalet studieforløb uden overlap. Men omkring valgfrie elementer og studieplaner som går ud over de anbefalede studieforløb, kan der forekomme overlap, alt efter hvilke kurser du vælger.

Registration is happing through stads selvbetjeningwithin the announced registration period, as you can see on the Studyadministration homepage.

When registering for courses, please be aware of the potential conflicts between courses or exam dates on courses. The planning of course activities at Roskilde University is based on the recommended study programs which do not overlap. However, if you choose optional courses and/or study plans that goes beyond the recommended study programs, an overlap of lectures or exam dates may occur depending on which courses you choose.

Knowledge

• Knowledge of a specific area within the field of communication, information and media, including knowledge of current practices in relation to the area.

• Knowledge of current theories relevant to the area, including familiarity with important professional communication terms and concepts.

• Knowledge of current methods used to study the area.

Skills

• Skills in the application of relevant theory to a specific communication issue.

• Skills in the application of relevant methods to investigate the communication issue.

• Skills to translate analyses and knowledge into a practical, communication-related context.

Competencies

• Competency to take independent responsibility for one’s own academic development and specialisation within the subject area.

The course encompasses the presentation, critical discussion and testing of knowledge of a specific area of Communications Studies, including presentations and discussions of concepts, theories and methods of research.

This course is about the science, practice and politics of audience measurement and analysis. Audience data analysis is increasingly a needed skill for communication professionals, and the demands have become increasingly complex. The goal of the course is to help students navigate the diverse methods, tools and techniques available for collecting, analyzing and evaluating audience data (offline and online, qualitative and quantitative) while maintaining a critical understanding of these analytical practices.

The course introduces students to the methods, tools and techniques used in the industry and academia to perform audience measurement and analysis. There is therefore a practical dimension to the course which will see students working with audience data, especially with regards to the digital footprints left by audiences in their use of digital media and the harvesting of data on web platforms. One of the main objectives of the course is to help students experiment and work creatively with data as a way to produce insights about audiences.

Throughout the course is maintained a critical understanding of audience measurement. The goal is to be able to relate critically to the science, practice and politics of audience measurement and place these in a larger context of academic, societal and ethical debates. These will include discussions of the validity of audience measurement and analysis, both qualitative and quantitative, being aware of the different interests at stake in audience measurement, as well as ethical considerations such as privacy invasion, surveillance and consent.

The course relates to the communicative and media-related aspects of audience measurement, and not the technical aspects such as programming or statistical analysis. No pre-requisite knowledge of these is required to participate and benefit from the course. We will work with relatively simple tools and if necessary will get help to assist with technical aspects of using softwares. We will have our focus on how these tools help us understand communication and provide insights about audiences.

The course is divided into four modules, preceded by an introductory session:

Introduction: In this introductory session, students are presented with the notion of audience representation. We also cover the formalities and expectations for the course as well as its form of examination: the portfolio assignment.

Module 1: Basics of audience measurement: ratings, segmentation and target group analysis In the first module, we cover the fundamentals of audience measurement that are still in use today, such as target group analysis, segmentation techniques (demographics, psychographics) and stakeholder analysis. This module also involves a lecture by a professional of the industry who will explain how these techniques are used as part of their everyday work.

Module 2: Qualitative approaches to Audiences The second module introduces students to qualitative approaches to audiences. These approaches have been mostly informed by academic research, which conceptualises the audience as active.

Module 3: Audiences and social media The third module is concerned with the transformations that social media have brought to audiences, who are now considered as users in their relation with technology or as produsers, in that audiences are now seen as both consumers and producers of content, which have created new possibilities for audience data analysis.

Module 4: Audiences and Big data With the advent of big data, audience measurement is reaching new territory, such as predictive analytics and the possibility to provide formative experiences to audiences, such as the personalization of content via algorithmic computation and machine learning. But it also brings with it epistemological and ontological insecurity, ethical dilemmas and societal challenges, such as those we are currently witnessing with the growth of the influence industry such as Cambridge Analytica. This module also involves a lecture by a professional of the industry who will explain how big data has changed the practice of audience measurement.

Learning objectives:

Knowledge:

• Knowledge of audience analysis, target group analysis and data analysis within media and communication studies.

• Knowledge of qualitative and quantitative epistemologies, methodologies, methods and techniques of audience, target group and data analyses.

• Knowledge of the critiques addressed to different forms of audience, target group and data analyses and of the politics of measurements in media and communication practices.

Skills:

• Skills in applying knowledge in audience, target group and data analyses to concrete situations of communication or in relation to concrete media.

• Skills in using relevant methods and techniques within clearly defined epistemologies and methodologies.

• Ability to position, criticize and reflect on the politics, challenges and opportunities of such analyses.

Competence:

• Develop and cultivate independently your interests within the framework of the course.

The course format is conceived as a platform to engage with learning about audience measurement. Space is provided for students to pursue their own interests and to make their own contributions to the class learning experience. Each module will involve a mix of small lectures, discussions, exercises, practical hands-on, critical reflections and home assignments.

The course consists of a combination of lectures and discussions, and may involve group work, home assignments and peer feedback. It is organised around a number of themes which will be stated at the beginning of the course.

The course is worth 10 ECTS

The expected workload in relation to the course is 270 hours (1 ECTS point = 27 work hours):

11 x 4 hours of confrontation divided between lectures and assignments

12 hours of preparation per confrontation, which includes reading the course curriculum and solving home assignments

80 hours for the exam including preparation

14 hours of different activities such as evaluation, introduction to the semester etc.

The literature for the course will be available via Moodle.

Written examination (home assignment)

The course concludes with an individual portfolio, consisting of written and/or visual products introduced and partly prepared during the course. The student is given five days to complete the assignment.

Scope

The length of the assignment must be between a minimum of 4,800 characters, including spaces, and a maximum of 36,000 characters, including spaces. The size specifications include the cover, table of contents, bibliography, figures and other illustrations, but exclude any appendices. Papers that fail to meet the size specifications will be refused assessment, and one examination attempt will be deemed to have been used up.

Emphasis is placed on idiomatically, grammatically and orthographically correct language, the presentation must be clear and lucid, and references or other notes must be adequate and in conformity with good practice. The student must demonstrate mastery of a functional typography and layout. The choice of illustration material must be appropriate in relation to the examination’s content and form.

Re-examination takes the same form as the ordinary examination.

The students will receive regular feedback in class exercises and discussions, as well as in relation to the portfolio.

The student(s) will receive teacher and peer feedback in class discussions, exercises and group work. In addition, the student(s) receives feedback from the teacher in connection with the exam. This feedback will focus on weaknesses and strengths of the student work.

Every 3rd year, a formal evaluation takes place. The evaluation takes the form of a digital questionnaire that is sent to the head of studies as well as the study board. Such an evaluation takes place in the 2019 spring semester.

The teacher may carry out their own informal evaluation (during or after the course). Informal evaluations stay with the teacher unless they find it relevant to share it with the head of studies.