UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AFRICA
College of Human Sciences ⋄ Department of Communication Science
⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄⋄
A Content Analysis Study to Investi-
gate How The Daily Maverick Cov-
ers Political Stories in South Africa
COM3706 Research in Communication: Assignment 01
⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄⋄
Module Code
COM3706
Module Name
Research in Communication
Assignment
Assignment 01 Research Proposal
Newspaper
The Daily Maverick
Institution
University of South Africa (UNISA)
Semester
Semester 1
Total Marks
60 marks
Submitted in partial ful
lment of the requirements for COM3706
,UNISA | COM3706 Research Proposal: Political Story Coverage
Declaration of Own Work
I declare that this assignment is my own original work. Where other sources were consulted,
they have been properly cited and acknowledged in accordance with UNISA's academic in-
tegrity policy. This assignment has not been submitted previously for any other module or
quali
cation at this or any other institution.
Signature: Date:
Page 2 of 21
, UNISA | COM3706 Research Proposal: Political Story Coverage
Contents
Declaration of Own Work 2
1 1.1 Introduction 4
2 1.2 Research Problem Statement / Main Issue 5
3 1.3 Subproblems 6
3.1 1.3.1 Subproblem One . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
3.2 1.3.2 Subproblem Two . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
4 1.4 Literature Review 7
4.1 1.4.1 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
4.2 1.4.2 Newspaper Coverage of Politics in South Africa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
4.3 1.4.3 Newspaper Coverage of Politics Internationally . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
4.4 1.4.4 The Role of Content Analysis in Media Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
5 1.5 Theoretical Framework: Agenda-Setting Theory 10
5.1 1.5.1 History and Origins of the Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
5.2 1.5.2 Key Scholars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
5.3 1.5.3 De
nition of Agenda-Setting Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
5.4 1.5.4 Key Theoretical Tenets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
5.5 1.5.5 Application to This Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
6 1.6 Research Design 13
6.1 1.6.1 Characteristics of Qualitative and Quantitative Research Designs . . . . . 13
6.2 1.6.2 Why This Research Design is Both Qualitative and Quantitative . . . . . 14
6.3 1.6.3 Data Collection Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
6.4 1.6.4 Target Population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
6.5 1.6.5 Accessible Population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
6.6 1.6.6 Sampling Category and Sampling Type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
6.7 1.6.7 Sampling Size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
6.8 1.6.8 Unit of Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
6.9 1.6.9 Data Analysis Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Page 3 of 21
College of Human Sciences ⋄ Department of Communication Science
⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄⋄
A Content Analysis Study to Investi-
gate How The Daily Maverick Cov-
ers Political Stories in South Africa
COM3706 Research in Communication: Assignment 01
⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄⋄
Module Code
COM3706
Module Name
Research in Communication
Assignment
Assignment 01 Research Proposal
Newspaper
The Daily Maverick
Institution
University of South Africa (UNISA)
Semester
Semester 1
Total Marks
60 marks
Submitted in partial ful
lment of the requirements for COM3706
,UNISA | COM3706 Research Proposal: Political Story Coverage
Declaration of Own Work
I declare that this assignment is my own original work. Where other sources were consulted,
they have been properly cited and acknowledged in accordance with UNISA's academic in-
tegrity policy. This assignment has not been submitted previously for any other module or
quali
cation at this or any other institution.
Signature: Date:
Page 2 of 21
, UNISA | COM3706 Research Proposal: Political Story Coverage
Contents
Declaration of Own Work 2
1 1.1 Introduction 4
2 1.2 Research Problem Statement / Main Issue 5
3 1.3 Subproblems 6
3.1 1.3.1 Subproblem One . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
3.2 1.3.2 Subproblem Two . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
4 1.4 Literature Review 7
4.1 1.4.1 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
4.2 1.4.2 Newspaper Coverage of Politics in South Africa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
4.3 1.4.3 Newspaper Coverage of Politics Internationally . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
4.4 1.4.4 The Role of Content Analysis in Media Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
5 1.5 Theoretical Framework: Agenda-Setting Theory 10
5.1 1.5.1 History and Origins of the Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
5.2 1.5.2 Key Scholars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
5.3 1.5.3 De
nition of Agenda-Setting Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
5.4 1.5.4 Key Theoretical Tenets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
5.5 1.5.5 Application to This Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
6 1.6 Research Design 13
6.1 1.6.1 Characteristics of Qualitative and Quantitative Research Designs . . . . . 13
6.2 1.6.2 Why This Research Design is Both Qualitative and Quantitative . . . . . 14
6.3 1.6.3 Data Collection Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
6.4 1.6.4 Target Population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
6.5 1.6.5 Accessible Population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
6.6 1.6.6 Sampling Category and Sampling Type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
6.7 1.6.7 Sampling Size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
6.8 1.6.8 Unit of Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
6.9 1.6.9 Data Analysis Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Page 3 of 21
