Media and Communication Studies (Theses)

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Factual fictions: an investigation into audience understandings of documentary
(2022-09-05) Swords, Kayleigh
The aim of this thesis is to investigate audience understandings of documentary. A review of the relevant literature was carried out on the areas of: the Evolution of Documentary; Subjectivity, Objectivity and Truth; Reality TV; and Audience Research. A survey was also conducted on 200 participants from Mary Immaculate College, Limerick in order to discover their views on documentary. The main findings showed that the majority of participants thought that the dictionary definition of documentary was an adequate descriptor of it. They also thought that while documentaries may be factual they are not necessarily truthful and that they should include a level of objectivity and balance. Further qualitative and extended quantitative research in this area in relation to the discernment of audiences‟ definition of documentary and its related terms: objectivity, subjectivity, truth, fact, and balance, is recommended in order to come to a fully contemporary definition of what documentary is from an audience perspective. Audience involvement in future redefinitions of this area should also be crucial. An accompanying documentary film which works as an appendix to the thesis was also made based on the research generated from the thesis.
Religion, values, and secularization in Europe: a multilevel. cross-national, comparative analysis of the European Values Study Data
(Mary Immaculate College, University of Limerick, 2017) Reynolds, Caillin
This thesis examines the relationship between religion and values through an analysis of the four waves of the European Values Study 1981 -2008. The thesis engages with key conceptualisations and theorisations of the relationship between religion and values from the fields of social psychology, classical and comparative sociology. These are then framed within major theories of social and cultural change, principally theories of modernization and secularization. The insights drawn from the theoretical literature are then formulated into a series of hypotheses that are tested in relation to a large subset of national samples from the four waves of the European Values Study. Firstly, the analysis comprises a cross-national comparison of the relationship between different dimensions of religiosity and values in different domains. The findings of these analyses suggest that there is considerable accord across Europe and over time, in the relationship between each dimension of religiosity and values in different domains. Secondly, the analysis assesses the strength and stability of the relationship between religiosity and values relative to key sociodemographic variables. The findings here show the relationship between each dimension and values is one that is relatively strong in comparison to, and net of the effects of, important sociodemographic variables. Thirdly, the analysis moves from the micro level to the macro level, and through multilevel analyses, assesses the degree to which individual religiosity, individual values, and their micro-level relationship, are contingent on macro-characteristics of societies. The findings here suggest that macro-level differences between societies are important in explaining both religiosity and values. Furthermore, the findings show that the relationship between religiosity and values is one that is contingent on these differences. In relation to macro-level characteristics used to explain these differences, operationalizations of core concepts in modernization and secularization theories, the findings are broadly supportive of secularization theory, with some noteworthy exceptions. Finally, the research asserts the importance of operationalizing the strong macro-level theory that makes up secularization paradigm in future empirical research.
Being 'Good' fans in 'Bad Times':Irish fans of the US television drama The West Wing and the reflexive negotiation of personal and collective identity at a time of political and social crisis
(2016-01-09) Scully, Clare Anne
Much contemporary theory posits a relationship between the consumption of cultural and media artefacts and the construction and negotiation of individual and collective identities. An additional debate concerns whether political understanding and participation can be (re)invigorated by the convergence of political and media spheres. Fans – committed, reflexive consumers who 'invest‘ variously in media texts – represent a significant, yet locally under-explored research population through which to address these matters. Moreover, the current political, economic and social crisis in Ireland renders contemporary Irish fans of political television drama especially suitable for study. This study examines how fandom of political television drama interrelates with 'real life‘, situated political identity. Entailing a small-scale quantitative survey and in-depth interviews with 22 Irish fans of The West Wing, the study makes an original empirical contribution to these debates, extending existing scholarship, but adding a new theoretical perspective to Irish cultural and media studies.The findings demonstrate the significance of the uncertain context - political, economic, social and cultural - in response to which respondents attempted to address ontological anxieties by the consumption of 'good‘ things – such as The West Wing – as a source of intellectual and emotional nourishment and replenishment. Respondents‘ intense connection with the series‘ themes and characters, especially with fictional US Democratic President Bartlet (Martin Sheen), was found to enable an imagined, ideal political sphere in contrast to the perceived inadequacies of Irish politics. Further, an 'object relations‘ psychoanalytic reading of respondents‘ attachment to The West Wing suggests that the fantasy space of fandom and the fan object in question provides a psychic, as well as cultural, means of (imaginarily) transcending the flaws of 'real‘ politics. However, these were found to inter-relate to articulations of an ambiguous 'political self‘. The cultural and psychodynamic dimensions of fan respondent data were interpreted as compensatory for a sense of political powerlessness and lack of political participation. 'Good‘ fandom is concluded to be symptomatic of a cultural logic of reversion, an individualistic, fantasy 'cure‘ that represents a failure or reluctance to engage with structural causation or 'real‘ political action. The emphasis of the thesis, then, is on the affective pleasures and rewards of consumption of The West Wing at a time of political and social crisis and deeply challenged self-identity and integrity.
'Against the rest': fanzines and alternative music cultures in Ireland
(Mary Immaculate College, University of Limerick, 2015) Ryan, Ciarán
This thesis investigates the role of fanzines in developing music communities in Ireland. It explores these fan-produced texts from the emergence of the first Irish punk fanzines in 1977 to the present, questioning their significance, while critiquing previous studies into fanzine cultures (Duncombe, 2008; Triggs, 2010). It looks at how ‘authenticity’ is a central construct in the design, content, and dissemination of these artefacts, establishing a ‘dominant representational paradigm’ (Hamilton, 1997) for the production and consumption of fanzines. Fanzines are primarily found in alternative music cultures, and this work situates the makers and users as members of local ‘scenes’ (Cohen, 1991; Straw, 1991), and proposes a more fluid or tribal (Maffesoli, 1996; Bennett, 1999) framework, where communities are formed through shared taste (Bourdieu, 1984). Central to this work is the position of capital, particularly Bourdieu’s concepts of cultural capital and social capital. It also examines the role of such capital in developing fan hierarchies, particularly in local music-making activities (Finnegan, 1989). This work crucially positions the fanzine as a fan practice, and the fans that made and consumed these works will be analysed to determine the range of (popular music) fandom (Duffett, 2014) in Irish DIY (do-it-yourself) cultures. Finally, this study explores whether there has been a significant paradigmatic shift in fan media with the emergence of new technologies. This research incorporates extensive qualitative fieldwork with fanzine makers, collectors, and music-makers, along with a thorough study of various music fanzines. This data analysis finds that the fanzine was an important facilitator in independent music communities between the last 1970s and early 2000s, existing outside the mainstream, but is now an even more niche mode of communication.
The television anti-hero
(Mary Immaculate College, University of Limerick, 2013) Liddy-Judge, Chloe
This thesis tests the hypothesis that there has been a sustained depiction of the anti-hero on US cable television since the late 1990s. It also addresses a number of closely related research sub-questions. In summary, why has the anti-hero enjoyed such sustained popularity on American cable television at this juncture? In order to test the hypothesis and answer the research sub-questions, three case studies were chosen for analysis. These case studies, Dexter, The Wire and Breaking Bad, are all produced and broadcast by different cable networks, thus illustrating that the phenomenon of the anti-hero is not confined to one outlet. Each of the three shows was examined using close textual analysis, with the focus being placed on one central anti-heroic character in each case. In order to answer the associated why’s, it was necessary to also analyse industrial and socio-cultural factors that may have contributed to the increasing popularity of the anti-hero. For example, the shift in the American psyche which occurred as a result of the terrorist attacks of September 11th, a shift which, it is argued, created an uncertainty and ambiguity about justice, criminality and governance. An increase in individual alienation and a decreasing sense of community were also identified as contributing factors. Such shifts allow for a single-minded individualist character, even one who commits murderous acts with some rationale, to be a point of identification within an increasingly fractured society. Finally, another key contributing factor was the commentary that each show offers on twenty-first century masculinity and sexuality.

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