HFMK03504U FM, Research Design and Empirical Methods - Seminar B: Digital Communication and Media Culture: Researching AI – Bursting the hot bubble?!

Volume 2023/2024
Education

Master in Film and Media Studies, 2019-curriculum

Content

In this seminar, you will gain more advanced knowledge about methods and how to use them in an empirical research project. We will take Artificial Intelligence (AI) as our overarching topic to explore current debates, attitudes, beliefs, and practices from different perspectives.  AI is a hot topic, especially since apps like ChatGPT and DALL·E became widely available to the public. There is a vivid debate about AI concerning how it will shape the future of societies and the everyday life of citizens. These debates start at very fundamental questions, such as: Is AI actually intelligent? Will it take over jobs or just make them easier? Will we be tricked by fake pictures and texts? Or do we enter a new stage of productivity, knowledge, and democratization? Such utopian or dystopian imaginaries are recurring with every new technology and create a bubble of hopes and fears. We will dive into the debate with numerous research projects to understand: How are people dealing with the uncertainty of AI and the way it shapes our lives?

The seminar is complementary to the lecture “Research Design and Empirical Methods.” Our discussions will build on the lecture´s content and we will discuss follow-up questions. Yet, most importantly, you will prepare and conduct your own research project on AI communication with a case of your choice, which you will develop in groups throughout the seminar. In preparation, the seminar will deepen your knowledge on empirical research by us examining exemplary study designs and specific methods applied to research communication around AI. You will learn to apply your knowledge on how to decide which method fits a research question best, how methods differ when it comes to qualitative, quantitative, and digital method approaches, and we will do exercises that will help you to put your knowledge into practice.

Learning Outcome

At the examination, the student is able to demonstrate:

 

Knowledge and understanding of:

  • the application of qualitative and quantitative empirical research methods to answer a given research question.
  • the theoretical bases underpinning different qualitative and quantitative methods, their respective explanatory efficacy, and how they are embedded in different research traditions.
  • mixed-method strategies, including the use of digital IT tools, their complex interaction, and how they may be applied to different film and media research questions.

 

Skills to:

  • formulate a research question and develop a complex, theoretical research design that necessitates the application of several empirical methods.
  • use different tools to collect and analyse different types and amounts of data and reflect critically on the tools used and the results achieved.
  • present a research design and argue for the selected methods in both written and spoken forms.

 

Competencies to:

  • select and combine the right methodological and theoretical tools to address a research question.
  • assess the chosen strategy and the applicability and validity of the research in relation to specific functions and contexts.

plan, conduct and present the results of empirical research based on film and media theory and methodology.

 

The joint seminars rely on a textbook on research designs and empirical methods. The seminar tracks use academic texts within the particular field that the seminar focuses on. Teaching and readings are predominantly in English.

Required academic qualifications
The course presupposes basic knowledge of qualitative and quantitative methods in film- and media research. If a student is not familiar with the methods beforehand, it is expected that the student acquires
knowledge of these methods on their own during the semester.
Lectures, seminars, in-class participation, presentations, group work, home assignments. In the first half of the semester, the course covers the fundamental stages in research designs. Here, lecturers and seminars supplement each other. In the second half of the semester, the teaching is primarily done as seminars, where students work on their own research projects in groups.
Be aware that you need to sign up for Education in both the Lectures HFMK03501U(counts 0 ECTS) and Seminar B (counts 15 ECTS):
  • Category
  • Hours
  • Class Instruction
  • 42
  • Preparation
  • 367,5
  • Total
  • 409,5
Oral
Collective
Continuous feedback during the course of the semester
Peer feedback (Students give each other feedback)
Credit
15 ECTS
Type of assessment
Other
Exam registration requirements

Active class participation is defined as:

  • 2-3 approved oral or written exercises set by the seminar lecturer (10-15-minute presentation or 3-5 standard pages per submission).
Marking scale
7-point grading scale
Censorship form
No external censorship
Exam period

January

Look here  Eksamensoversigt -”find tid og sted”. The list will be published at the start of the semester.

Re-exam

https://hum.ku.dk/uddannelser/aktuelle_studieordninger/film_medievidenskab/

 

Februar

Look here  Eksamensoversigt - ”find tid og sted”.

Criteria for exam assesment

Master in Film and Media Studies, 2019-curriculum:

https:/​/​hum.ku.dk/​uddannelser/​aktuelle_studieordninger/​film_medievidenskab/​

 

Exams are conducted in English.