COM3706 Assignment 1 (DETAILED ANSWERS) Semester 1 2026 - DISTINCTION GUARANTEED

COM3706 Assignment 1 (DETAILED ANSWERS) Semester 1 2026 - DISTINCTION GUARANTEED - DISTINCTION GUARANTEED - DISTINCTION GUARANTEED Answers, guidelines, workings and references. Topic: A content analysis study to investigate how your newspaper1 covers political stories in South Africa. As a researcher, the Institute of Political Affairs has appointed you to study the coverage of political stories by your favourite newspaper. Therefore, you are required to select a newspaper of your choice to investigate how this newspaper covers political stories in South Africa. You may analyse five chronological issues of your selected newspaper i.e. Monday – Friday or a specific month/s in the case of a weekly newspaper. Therefore, it is important to select a newspaper that is likely to feature political stories. We recommend regional or national newspapers because 1 Insert the name of your selected newspaper Downloaded by Pied Zulu () lOMoARcPSD| these newspapers have wide coverage of political issues. Attach the cover page of your selected newspaper as an addendum. As a student, you need to use your discretion about whether a specific story is a political story or not. In this study, for instance, you could investigate the main political themes that your newspaper is likely to cover. How much space do political stories occupy in the selected newspaper in relation to other themes? You could also investigate where these political stories placed in your selected newspaper (cover page, inside the newspaper or back page). What are the leading political stories during the period of analysis? How many political stories are covered on each newspaper issue and the total number of stories during the period of analysis? You may also investigate the angle in which the stories are covered (positively, negatively or neutral). Which voices were featured the most within the stories (reveal whether such voices are those of politicians, ordinary citizens or political parties)? You may also investigate how the newspaper uses images to convey the message. Therefore, the study is both quantitative and qualitative as you will be required to analyse written text and to count the occurrence of something within the newspaper. As a UNISA student, you have access to some of the leading newspapers in South Africa via the library database called Press Reader. Go to the library databases and select Press Reader. If you are prompted to login, use myLife username and password. If you experience any challenges to access Press Reader, direct queries to the library. Alternatively, you can buy the newspaper at your own cost if you prefer a hardcopy or if the newspaper that you are looking for is not available on Press Reader. You have been requested to first present a research proposal (a research plan, which forms part of Assignment 01) and then to conduct a mini research (which forms part of Assignment 03). Suggested readings: Kotzé, K., 2012. The depiction of Julius Malema in the South African press. Global Media Journal-African Edition, 6(2), pp.231-262. Tyali, S.M., 2017. Public perceptions of the media as a political actor in South Africa: Regarding the Mail & Guardian. Journal of African Media Studies, 9(3), pp.547-562. Wasserman, H., Chuma, W. and Bosch, T., 2018. Print media coverage of service delivery protests in South Africa: A content analysis. African Studies, 77(1), pp.145- 156. INSTRUCTIONS FOR ASSIGNMENT 01 Downloaded by Pied Zulu () lOMoARcPSD| With the above in mind, you are expected to present a research proposal (a research plan) to the Institute of Political Affairs, where you highlight the following: Note: Mention the name of your selected newspaper in your topic, introduction, body and conclusion. Attach the screenshot of the cover page of your selected newspaper as an addendum. INTRODUCTION [5] Briefly explain to the reader the purpose of the study (or assignment) and what to expect in the following sections of the study (assignment). You are also expected to introduce the newspaper that you will be analysing in your study. RESEARCH PROBLEM STATEMENT/MAIN ISSUE [5] Formulate a research problem statement/main issue of the study. Read your prescribed book and study guide for guidelines on how to formulate a research problem statement. SUBPROBLEMS [5] Identify the two subproblems of the study. Ensure that your subproblems are researchable using the content analysis. Read the study guide and prescribed book to learn more about the subproblem(s) in research. Also read the research scenario in more detail to identify the possible subproblems in this research. LITERATURE REVIEW [10] In this section, you are required to review the academic materials that have been written about the similar topic. Identify what other studies reveal about how newspapers cover political stories in South Africa or any other country. You are expected to read the suggested reading material and any other related reading materials. Read your study guide and prescribed book to learn more about a literature review and its importance. Please note that no marks will be awarded if there are no cited sources in your literature review (at least three sources are required). Students are welcome to consult any academic sources other than the suggested readings. As you are aware, we use Turnitin to reveal those who copy and paste from a variety of sources. No marks will be allocated for copying and pasting from recommended readings or any other sources for that matter. You need to paraphrase what the readings are saying to demonstrate your understanding. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK [5] Downloaded by Pied Zulu () lOMoARcPSD| Present a theoretical framework of Agenda setting. Briefly narrate the history of agenda-setting theory; in other words, when was the theory conceived? Who are the key scholars of the theory? Provide a definition of the agenda-setting theory, key theoretical tenets (areas) of the theory, and the arguments of the theory under scrutiny. Note: Agenda-setting theory is featured a lot in other communication science modules such as COM3702 (Media Studies: Institutions, theories and Issues) and COM2604 (Mass Communication and Media Theory). Those who have done these modules can use the study guide or prescribed book to understand the theory of agenda setting. If you have not done these modules, there are many sources on Google Scholar or library databases that explain the theory of agenda-setting. As indicated in the previous section, we use Turnitin to reveal the sections that have been cut and pasted from various sources. You need to paraphrase what the readings are saying to demonstrate your understanding. RESEARCH DESIGN [20] Under the research method framework, you are expected to explain to your client, the Institute of Political Affairs, how you are going to conduct the research; in other words, you explain to the client, the type of research design; the population of the study; the sampling type and size, unit of analysis, and data collection instruments. Briefly describe the different characteristics of qualitative and quantitative research designs. Explain why your research design is both qualitative and quantitative. What is the data collection method in this study? Also explain the process of collecting data. Indicate which newspaper you will collect data from and justify your selection. You will need to attach the screenshot of the cover page of your selected newspaper as an addendum. What is the target and accessible population of the study? What is the sample size of your study? What is the unit of analysis of the study? What is the data analysis method used in this study? Note: Content analysis is both the data collection and data analysis method. The data required to conduct this study is available in your selected newspapers. All you have to do is access the newspaper and start doing your research. Read your prescribed book and study guide to learn more about conducting content analysis. Downloaded by Pied Zulu () lOMoARcPSD| CONCLUSION [5] You are expected to conclude your research proposal with a brief paragraph. In other words, briefly remind your readers of what has been discussed in the previous sections of the assignment.