Research Methods for Cultural Studies

58 aeron davis
I conducted two studies involving textual analysis during research on public
relations and journalism. Both were part of larger case studies and had quantitative
and qualitative elements. They sought to document public relations
battles that took place in large part through the print news media. The first was
a conflict between trade unions, the government and the Post Office over proposed
mail privatisation. The second was a large corporate battle as Granada
attempted a hostile takeover of Forte. Both depended on contacting participants
and, consequently, led to gaining access to their campaign documents
(press releases, strategy documents, and so on) and all the press clippings covering
the conflicts. The analyses sought answers to some of the following questions:
What were the key elements and the main arguments put by each
campaign, and who were the principal news sources? How were these reproduced
in the news coverage during the period? I tried to locate the individuals,
arguments, and associated factors which came to dominate press reporting. In
each case samples of news coverage had to be selected, themes clarified and
coded, and quantitative elements decided. Much of this became clearer after a
more limited pilot study involving a smaller sample of news texts. This clarified
to me what was possible and sensible in terms of the resources at my disposal.
As a research method, textual analysis often assumes rather more than it
should about the conditions of cultural production and consumption. In the
past rather grand claims about material and cultural relations have been
deduced from limited and unrepresentative selections of texts. However, if
properly applied, quite strong cases and historical accounts can be developed.
The selection and collection of texts is relatively easy and this allows greater
choice and flexibility for the researcher.
Sociological/Ethnographic Approaches – Interviewing and
Observation
The third approach used to investigate cultural production might be broadly
termed sociological/ethnographic 2 . It involves observing and documenting the
actual processes and people involved in cultural production. In some cases work
is on the quantitative and macro level and relies on surveys of professionals and
companies involved in cultural production. Many surveys of journalists, for
example, have been conducted over the years. However, the majority of sociological
work in media and cultural studies has tended to be more qualitative and
carried out at the localised, micro scale. It has usually involved a combination
of interviewing and ethnography, most commonly in the form of limited participant-observation.
In these cases the researcher is seeking to discover the
practices, cognitive processes and social interactions of professionals involved
in producing culture. How does an editor decide what stories, features or programmes
are to be invested in and published or broadcast? Who are the new