The research brief
Millennials (26-41 year olds, born 1981-1996) are a potential emerging market for newspapers (online). Newspapers need to recreate themselves in order to stay central to the provision and consumption of news, particularly in relation to this “digital native” age group. Millennials have been characterised as a digital generation who have not experienced loyalty to any particular media outlet for their news, as their parents may have. Millennials may also avoid staying informed of current events (Cannon & Mackay 2017).
The news provider – your (hypothetical) client – would like to establish how to be relevant to a millennial readership and explore approaches they can take to encourage and service millennials, in order to keep them engaged with current events. The client also wants to retain millennials as its own news consumers in a competitive news landscape. Your client needs to ensure that they are delivering the right kinds of content through the right kinds of channels to attract this readership.
Intended outcomes:
• Establish the current news content consumption preferences of millennials.
• Establish millennials’ news media engagement practices by identifying the technologies and sources from which millennial get their news.
• Identify how the news provider can more effectively engage a millennial audience in news consumption.
Research stakeholders:
The Client: A news provider with a national focus in a country of your choice, for example, the ABC in Australia.
Case study methodology
You are required to use case study methodology as the overarching framework for your industry report. Please note that this assessment task only asks you to design a proposed study (not conduct the data collection and reporting). This means your research proposal is for practice purposes only. (You will not be carrying out this research in your Masters’ research units later in your course of study.)
In your research proposal, you will need to consider the project constraints presented in the next section and draw upon the range of research methods discussed in the unit to date. You may need to complement these with other data collection techniques or engagement with secondary source material in your proposal design.
Your research design will need to consider the following parameters:
Methodological considerations: provide clarity around the limitations and ethical considerations of the proposed methodology.
Case study methodology: make use of a case study, incorporating a range of relevant methods and providing thick description
Cost feasibility: consider how much the elements of your research design will cost to deploy and provide an itemised cost estimate for your project in a budget section.
Project timeframe: a three-month period from the point of project commissioning to completion.
Study validity: provide statements demonstrating how you will address validity within your methodology, and clarity around what can be extrapolated from the project findings based upon the data collected.
References and further reading
You can use these as a starting place for your reading, and you may include them in your reference list:
Burkey, B. (2018) Millennials at the back gates: how young adults’ digital news practices present a new media logic for news gathering and gatekeeping as user-oriented activities in a participatory news ecosystem, Media Practice and Education, DOI: 10.1080/25741136.2018.1467681
Cannon, D. F., & Mackay, J. B. (2017). Millennials fail to embrace civic duty to keep informed. Newspaper Research Journal, 38(3), 306–315. https://doi.org/10.1177/0739532917722972
Kilian, T., Hennigs, N., Langner, S. (2012) “Do Millennials read books or blogs? Introducing a media usage typology of the internet generation”, Journal of Consumer Marketing, Vol. 29 Issue: 2, pp.114-124, https:// doi.org/10.1108/07363761211206366
Zerba, A. (2011). Young adults reasons behind avoidances of daily print newspapers and their ideas for change. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, (3), 597
Notes on preparing your submission
In this research proposal, you will be writing for a professional, not an academic audience. However, you should still use references. You may choose the style (in-text citation in Harvard style or numbered footnotes, using Harvard style for the end list of references.)
Any image or figure included must be accompanied by a Figure number, title and source.
Any table included must be accompanied by a Table number, title and source.
You may include sub-headings to break up the text and identify sub-sections.
Use third person (do not use ‘I’ or ‘We’, rather, “It will be clear that…” ).
Report layout
Title Page
Include your name/student number.
Table of Contents
Number sections/corresponding page numbers – this is on a separate page.
Introduction (Approximately 100 words)
Sets the scene and gives some background information about the research problem. States the aim/purpose of the investigation and outlines of the sections in the body of the report.
Literature Review (Approximately 1400 words)
Outlines the relevance of the project
Incorporates literature that helps frame the problem and draws from academic research that investigates some of the key themes.
The remaining 2500 words will address the sections below
Research question
Based on the overarching problem, prepare a research question or questions that would help explore the problem to be examined.
Research methodology
This will vary according to your research design, but this section should broadly consider:
The boundaries and scope of the proposed research. Decide on the boundaries for the case study (for example, eg: in time and space.)
Data collection methods
Data triangulation (ie: discuss how your multiple sources of data provide multiple perspectives on the case under examination.)
Selecting research participants (ie: inclusion/exclusion criteria, sampling, recruitment plans).
Measures/instruments/data collection and analysis. What kinds of information is expected to be collected?
You can design and include research tools, such as in-depth interview questions, survey questions, content analysis frameworks, thematic analysis/codes, for example, and these should be included in an appendix to the submission.
An outline of ethical issues that may arise in your research and how these might be addressed?
Limitations
An outline of any research limitations you expect and why.
What are the implications of these limitations?
How they might be minimised?
Research schedule (timeline)
Provide a brief schedule explaining the timeline of the research (you can use Gantt chart)
Budget
Cost feasibility: you will need to consider how much the elements of your research design will cost to deploy and provide an itemised cost estimate for your project (ballpark figures are sufficient: we don’t expect you to research exact costs).
Summary
Provide an overall summary that clearly outlines your recommended research approach
References
Harvard-style referencing.
The reference list should only include the sources you have included in your report.
Draw on the literature provided to you in the reading list and other scholarly sources. Include a minimum of 10 academic references in your reference list.
Appendix
Please use this to provide the data collection instruments, for example a sample survey or focus group question set and/or a sample coding frame. Note that any materials in the appendix are not included in the overall word count.
