Saturday, 31 March 2012

How to do Research

Masters of Public Relations course in the university of Mumbai, Kalina campus is of 2 years. This course places a lot of importance on research. In the first semester the students get familiarized with what research is, the different terminologies of research, why is it needed and the types of research. It is basically an introduction to research. This is taught with the help of case studies and examples. This subject helps to give the students a good understanding of why research is done and why is it important. They study the different components and stages of research. They also learn about ethics and scope of research.
Research is a continuous process in the Masters of Public Relations course in the university of Mumbai, Kalina campus. In the second semester the students are taught research in a little more detailed manner. It becomes clear why research is so important in the field of Public Relations. Every campaign requires research. It helps understand the aims, objectives, goals and strategies of the campaign better. Students learn how to use research to enhance the credibility of Public Relations. They study the role of research, benefits of research, specific research functions, applications of research etc. Students are taught how to make research decisions. They study research methodologies, data collection, sampling methods, focus group, survey research, questionnaire design etc in greater depth. They are also taught what is a literature review is, why and how is it done.The students select a topic in the field of PR, write its research question, aims,objectives, find citations for it and write its literature review as an assignment. Students also learn about informal methods of research.
Towards the second half of the third semester students select a topic for their dissertation in the fourth semester and start working on it. The submission of a dissertation at the end of the fourth semester is a requirement of the course of Masters of Public Relations in the university of Mumbai, Kalina campus. The entire fourth semester is dedicated to working on the thesis. Each student is assigned one professor as their research guide. The students have to meet their guide and discuss the progress of each stage of the research regularly. They have to make presentations and also give a viva on their research they are doing to external professors. Thus this course does not only teach students research but also gives them a chance to actually carry out a research.

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