Elective course: Audience Data Analysis: From Segmentation to Big Data

E2023

Communication Studies / Media and Communication

Course

English

Read about the Master Programme and find the Study Regulations at ruc.dk

You register for activities through stads selvbetjening during the announced registration period, which you can see on the Study administration homepage.

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

10

David Mathieu (mathieu@ruc.dk)

Chris Peters (cpeters@ruc.dk)

IKH Registration & Exams (ikh-exams@ruc.dk)

U60599

The course contains presentation and critical discussion as well as testing knowledge of a defined media and communication subject area/field of activity, including presentation and discussion of current concepts, theories, and research methods, possibly in collaboration with practitioners within the field.

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. The goal of the course is to help students navigate the diverse methods, tools and techniques used in the industry and academia for collecting, analyzing and evaluating audience data (offline and online, qualitative and quantitative) while maintaining a critical understanding of these analytical practices. There is therefore a practical dimension to the course which will see students working with audience data, including social media analytics.

The course is organised in 3 modules that cover topics such as audience ratings, segmentation, social media analytics and big data, interpretative analysis, as well as data and research ethics. Each session involves a mix of lectures and workshop exercises that will allow students to relate and try their hands at different aspects of audience measurement. If possible, the course will include a visit to DR-byen to meet with the head of audience research at DR (the Danish public broadcaster), followed by a guided tour of the premises.

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 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.

Readings for the course will be made available on Moodle. Reading guidelines are provided for each reading.

The total study effort for the student (ECTS points converted into hours) = 270 hours. The hours are divided as follows:

• Course teaching: 40 hours
• Preparation: 150 hours
• Exam: 60 hours
• Other activities: 20 hours (semester start, literature search, etc.)

In principle, teaching activities take place on campus. The teaching can be arranged so that one or more activities take place elsewhere than at Roskilde University. This can also be online.

Oral and written evaluation at the end of the course. Standardized evaluation in accordance with the rotating evaluation scheme implemented by the Study Board.

The course is organised in 3 modules that cover topics such as audience ratings, segmentation, social media analytics and big data, interpretative analysis, as well as data and research ethics. Each session involves a mix of lectures and workshop exercises that will allow students to relate and try their hands at different aspects of audience measurement. If possible, the course will include a visit to DR-byen to meet with the head of audience research at DR (the Danish public broadcaster), followed by a guided tour of the premises.

At the end of the course, the student is able to:

• Demonstrate in-depth knowledge of a defined subject area/field of activity within media and communication, including nuanced knowledge of common production and project work methods in relation to the subject area.

• Identify and account for current theories of relevance to the subject area/field of activity, including understanding of significant communication professional issues.

• Develop, organize and present a specific communication production or project relevant to the subject area/field of activity.

• Independently and reflectively translate theoretical perspectives and methodological approaches into a concrete communication professional practice.

• Independently take responsibility for one's own professional development.

Individual portfolio exam

The character limit of the portfolio is 24,000-48,000 characters, including spaces. Examples of written products are exercise responses, talking points for presentations, written feedback, reflections, written assignments. The preparation of the products may be subject to time limits.
The character limits include the cover, table of contents, bibliography, figures and other illustrations, but exclude any appendices.

The portfolio is written completely or partially during the course.

The entire portfolio must be handed in at the same time (uploaded to eksamen.ruc.dk). Handing in the portfolio or parts of the portfolio to the supervisor for feedback, cannot replace the upload to eksamen.ruc.dk.

Assessment: Pass/Fail.

Individual portfolio exam

The character limit of the portfolio is 24,000-48,000 characters, including spaces. Examples of written products are exercise responses, talking points for presentations, written feedback, reflections, written assignments. The preparation of the products may be subject to time limits.
The character limits include the cover, table of contents, bibliography, figures and other illustrations, but exclude any appendices.

The portfolio is written after the course has ended.

The entire portfolio must be handed in at the same time (uploaded to eksamen.ruc.dk). Handing in the portfolio or parts of the portfolio to the supervisor for feedback, cannot replace the upload to eksamen.ruc.dk.

Assessment: Pass/Fail.

The exam is an individual portfolio, which is comprised of exercises that the student makes in connection with the course over its duration. The portfolio must meet all formal requirements. In the assessment, depending on the character of the portfolio tasks, emphasis is placed on the extent to which the student demonstrates the ability to:

• Select and potentially combine relevant research-based approaches, concepts, and frameworks from the course to study a given communication problem/practice • Identify key objects of study, and the appropriate empirical data to generate and/or capture, to answer a given research inquiry • Apply selected methods and appropriate analytical approaches to interpret the results of a demarcated study of a given instance of mediated communication. • Reflect critically on the advantages and disadvantages of the different approaches and their basic assumptions about media and communication.