COM3706 Assignment 1 Semester 2 2026 - Due 1 September 2026

COM3706 Assignment 1 Semester 2 2026 - Due 1 September 2026 COM3706 Semester 02: Assignment 01 COM3706 SEMESTER Important notice: In this module, we use Turnitin to detect similarities between assignments/portfolios and other sources around the world. This means that you will continue submitting your assignment via myUnisa. On the other side, Turnitin which is integrated with myUnisa will generate a report showing the similarity index. Turnitin will be able to detect similarities from internet sources, AI generated answers or previously/currently submitted assignments or portfolios. Do not share/compare your assignment with anyone because you do not know what they will do with it. When the similarity scores are too high, we will investigate your assignment. If our investigations confirm that you cheated or plagiarised, your case will be referred to the disciplinary office. Check myUnisa notices, announcements and Tutorial Letters to learn more about academic integrity. All assignments must be typed. The typed assignment will enable Turnitin to read your assignment content. Only MS Word documents or PDFs that have been converted from MS Word documents will be accepted. Unfortunately, we do not accept handwritten or scanned assignments. If your assignment is handwritten or scanned, it will be returned to you with a zero mark. COM3706 Assignment 01 The research scenario Topic: A social media analysis study to understand how your selected public broadcasting radio station . As a researcher, Karibu Media Strategies, an international company based in Tanzania, has appointed you to investigate how your public broadcasting radio station engages its audiences on social media. This entails that you should select a public broadcasting radio station of your choice in order to conduct the social media analysis 1 engages its audience on social media 2 3 1 Insert the name of your selected public broadcasting radio station. 2 Insert the name of social media platform. 3 Social media analysis/content analysis is both the data collection and data analysis method. The data required to conduct this study is readily available on the social media pages of your selected radio station. All you have to do is access the social media pages and start doing your social media analysis. Read your prescribed book and study guide to learn more about conducting content analysis. Open Rubric COM3706 Semester 02: Assignment 01 to understand how your selected radio station is engaging its audiences via social media such as Facebook, Instagram, YouTube or TikTok (you will need to select one social media platform that is accessible to you and has enough data to analyse). You may analyse the last 50 posts on its social media page to provide a specific answer of how the radio station engages its audiences through social media. For instance, you could investigate the main themes that your radio station is likely to post on social media, whether the audiences are likely to respond positively or negatively to the social media post of your radio station, and/or provide a statistical report of the social media posts (tweets, statuses). The study is both qualitative and quantitative as you will be required to read through the social media posts and comments to provide your general interpretation of the meanings of text, images and video (qualitative). As a communication scholar, you may also be interested in interpreting whether the language used is persuasive, emotive, formal, informal or humorous (qualitative). You may also count how often a specific topic or theme such as news, sports, programme update, questions, community engagement, opinion polls or quizzes are represented on the page (quantitative). You will also be required to categorise the text into various categories such as programme updates, sports, quizzes, news, and the like, or categorise how the viewers respond positively, neutrally or negatively toward the social media posts of the radio station (quantitative). You may also provide a statistical analysis (quantitative) of the social media page by describing how often audiences post; how many followers it has on its page; what the average number of comments, retweets/sharing or likes/reactions is; and what the most popular or less popular posts are. Suggested readings: Al-Rawi, A. 2016. Understanding the social media audiences of radio stations. Journal of Radio & Audio Media, 23(1), pp. 50–67. Bonini, T., 2014. Doing radio in the age of Facebook. The Radio Journal– International Studies in Broadcast & Audio Media, 12(1-2), pp.73-87. Matsilele, T, Makwambeni, B, Nkoala, S & Bulani, GJ. 2023. Youth audiences and social media integration in community radio stations in South Africa: a case study of Zibonele FM and Bush Radio. In Converged radio, youth and urbanity in Africa: Emerging trends and perspectives (pp. 123–153). Cham: Springer International Publishing. 4 4 Some readings will require you to be connected to UNISA Wi-Fi to download them. COM3706 Semester 02: Assignment 01 INSTRUCTIONS FOR ASSIGNMENT 01 With the above in mind, you are expected to present a research proposal (Assignment 01) to Karibu Media Strategies, where you highlight the following: 1.1 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). This entails that you will introduce your public broadcasting radio station 5 and the social media page that you intend to analyse. Note: Mention the name of your selected public broadcasting radio station along with the social media platform you will be analysing in your topic, introduction, body and conclusion. Attach the screenshot of the first page of the social media platform as an addendum. 1.2 RESEARCH PROBLEM STATEMENT/MAIN ISSUE [5] Formulate a research problem statement/main issue of the study. Ensure that your statement identify the research design, time dimension, action(s), issue, method(s). Read your prescribed book and study guide for guidelines on how to formulate a research problem statement. 1.3 SUBPROBLEMS [5] Identify three subproblems of the study. Ensure that your subproblems are researchable using the social media analysis. Read the prescribed book to learn more about the subproblems in research. Also read the research scenario in more detail to identify the possible subproblems. 1.4 LITERATURE REVIEW [10] By means of a literature review (suggested reading material for literature review), identify what other studies reveal about how radio stations engage their audiences/followers in South Africa or other countries around the world. You are expected to read the suggested reading material. Read your study guide and prescribed book to learn more about a literature review and its importance. 5 Note that there is a difference between public broadcast radio station, community radio station and commercial radio station. You will lose marks if you do not select a public broadcast radio station. COM3706 Semester 02: Assignment 01 Please note that no marks will be awarded if there are no cited sources in your literature review (at least three sources should be cited in this section). You may consult other academic sources other than the suggested readings. No marks will be allocated for copying and pasting from recommended readings or any other sources. You need to paraphrase what the articles are saying to demonstrate your understanding. The same principle applies to the theoretical framework (next section). 1.5 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK [5] Present a theoretical framework of the network society theory. Briefly narrate the history of network society theory; in other words, when was the theory conceived? Who are the key scholars of the theory? Provide a definition of the network society theory, key theoretical tenets (areas) of the theory, and the arguments of the theory under scrutiny. 1.6 RESEARCH DESIGN [20] Under the research method framework, you are expected to explain to your client, Karibu Media Strategies, how you will conduct the research; in other words, 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 (mixed methods). • What is the data collection method in this study? Also explain the process of collecting data. Indicate which social media platform you will collect data from and justify your selection. You should attach a screenshot of the first page of your selected social media page 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? 1.7 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. Adherence to the technical presentation [5] COM3706 Semester 02: Assignment 01 TOTAL [60] End of Assignment 01 Please note that Assignment 01 and the examination portfolio (Assignment 03) both deal with the same research topic. Assignment 01 deals with the first seven headings (1 to 7) of the mark scheme, which make up the first half of your portfolio and deal with the technical aspects related to the research issue and research to be done (it tells us how you will conduct your research, what you are investigating, etc.). Your examination portfolio (Assignment 03) deals with the last topics which include presentation of findings and analysis, discussion of findings, ethical issues, limitations and conclusion. See additional guidelines for the examination portfolio under the Assignment 03 folder. The following guidelines may assist you in completing Assignment 01: • Attend the discussion class – check the date and link under Announcements. • Work through the study material, tutorial letters, discussion class notes and additional documents to understand Assignment 01. • Consider the headings and mark scheme applicable to Assignment 01. • Study the relevant chapters and sections in the study material to understand the concepts and their application. • Submit the assignment before the due date. • Please use the mark scheme as a guideline to structure Assignment 01. • Please note: Assignment 01 must be presented according to the listed headings in the mark scheme below. This mark scheme will be used by lecturers when assessing Assignment 01. • Use the headings in bold as the headings in your table of contents. COM3706 Semester 02: Assignment 01 CRITERIA MARK ALLOCATION 1.1 INTRODUCTION 5 marks Briefly explain to the reader the purpose of the study and what to expect in the following sections of the study (assignment). Introduce your public broadcasting radio station and the social media platform that you intend to analyse. 1.2 RESEARCH PROBLEM STATEMENT/MAIN ISSUE 5 marks Does the statement identify the research design, time dimension, action(s), issue, method(s)? 1.3 SUBPROBLEMS 5 marks Identify three subproblems of the study. Read the prescribed book to learn more about the subproblems in research. 1.4 LITERATURE REVIEW 10 marks By means of a literature review (recent academic book chapters and journal articles), identify what other studies reveal about how radio stations relate to their audiences via social media channels in South Africa and other countries around the world. You are expected to discuss how radio stations use social media to retain their audiences and how the audiences follow the social media pages of the radio station that they listen to. 1.5 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK 5 marks Present a theoretical framework of the network society theory. Briefly narrate the history of the network society theory. In other words, when was the theory conceived? Who are the key scholars of the theory? Provide a definition of the network society theory, key theoretical tenets (areas) of the theory, and the arguments of the theory under scrutiny. 1.6 RESEARCH DESIGN 20 marks • Describe the different characteristics between qualitative and quantitative research designs. (3) • Explain why your research design is both qualitative and quantitative (mixed methods). (3) • What is the data collection method for this study? (2) • What is the target population of the study? (2) • What is the accessible population of the study? (2) • What is the sampling category and sampling type of the study? (4) • What is the sampling size of the study? (1) COM3706 Semester 02: Assignment 01 • What is the unit of analysis? (1) • What is the data analysis method in this study? (2) 1.7 CONCLUSION 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. 5 marks Technical presentation Table of contents (1), In-text referencing (2), List of sources consulted (2), Spelling, grammar, sentence construction and error will be (please refer to Tutorial Letter CMNALLE/301 for technical guidelines). 5 marks TOTAL 60 marks ASSIGNMENT 02 Assignment 02 is the multiple-choice question (MCQ) quiz which will be uploaded on myModules site for COM3706. You will find it under assessment 02. The Quiz will only be available for a limited period, that is, one week before the deadline. You need to complete the quiz before the deadline as we are not able to offer an extension for the quiz. Work through the study material to do this assignment. ASSIGNMENT 03 EXAMINATION PORTFOLIO The portfolio will be included on COM3706 myModules site under assessment 03. However, it is important to note that some of the sections of Assignment 01 (research proposal), which included sections such as the research problem statement, subproblems, literature review, theoretical framework, research design, and data collection methods should now form part of the examination portfolio. You are expected to work on the feedback that you received for Assignment 01 (research proposal). Go to the Tutorial Letter 201 for additional feedback on Assignment 01 and the general guidelines for Assignment 03. The additional section that will be included in your portfolio includes the presentation and interpretation of findings, discussion of the findings, limitation of the study, ethical considerations and a general conclusion. Unlike Assignment 01 where the proposal was written in the future tense, your report (portfolio) should be written in the past tense.