Digital Media, Data and Society MA

Program Overview

The MA in Media, Data and Society equips students with critical and technical knowledge of digital data collection, analysis, and storage methods. The program explores the political, economic, moral, and social implications of digital data use in contemporary society, preparing graduates for careers in data analysis, digital journalism, and research. Taught by renowned researchers, the program offers coursework, hands-on practice, and a dissertation, fostering analytical and communication skills.

Program Outline

Degree Overview:

The MA in Media, Data and Society is designed for students interested in the opportunities and risks associated with the increasing use of digital data in society. It provides a critical and technical overview of data collection, analysis, and storage methods, including data mining and machine learning. The program develops critical thinking skills for understanding the political, economic, moral, and social implications of digital data use in contemporary society.

Objectives:

• Gain in-depth knowledge of the dimensions that permeate the use of digital data.
• Understand topics such as big data capitalism and surveillance, changing digital audience practices, and digital media infrastructures.
• Develop skills in digital data collection, digital media analytics, and data visualizations.

Outline:

Structure:

• Full-time: 12 months
• Part-time: 24 months

Course Schedule:

• Semester One:
• Four compulsory modules, including a dissertation.
• Three optional modules (one in Semester 1, and two in Semester 2).
• Semester Two:
• One compulsory module.
• Three optional modules.
• Final Project:
• Dissertation

Modules:

Compulsory Modules:

• Big Data and Society: Foundations, Politics, and Policy A (COMM751): This module explores big data collection and use in modern society, the politics and policy surrounding social media, and the interactions between media, platforms, and citizens.
It introduces students to online media and platforms, focusing on "big" social trace data. Students learn about the strengths and weaknesses of using big data for social science research and engage with key online political communication policy questions.
• Introduction to computational social science methods (COMM742): This module equips students with skills to understand and apply computational social science methods.
Students learn about designing, developing, and interpreting quantitative surveys, as well as collecting and analyzing large datasets from digital sources. The module emphasizes active learning methodologies, including empirical activities and group discussions.
• Big Data and Society: Algorithms and Platforms A (COMM753): This module focuses on algorithms that influence online social systems and critically examines the political and economic consequences of online platforms.
It emphasizes a hands-on approach to studying algorithms in practice, developing students' programming skills to implement and explore their effects.
• Dissertation (COMM716): This module involves a self-contained piece of individual and original research, allowing students to study a topic in depth.
Students are guided by a supervisor and develop independent research skills. The dissertation can be tailored to be relevant to a future career.

Optional Modules:

• Fundamentals of Strategic Communication B (COMM517): This module introduces students to strategic communication, discussing its fundamental theories and concepts.
It examines case studies of strategic communication practices, focusing on crisis communication, issue and reputation management.
• Introduction to Data Science B (COMM767): This module introduces major data science techniques and their role in communication.
It covers the full data lifecycle, focusing on data collection, processing, analysis, and visualization. The module emphasizes developing technical skills in coding and its application within data science, while also considering the wider context of how data are generated and used in communication and media.
• Media and Politics: Theories and Cases B (COMM765): This module examines the relationship between politics and media, offering a critical overview of how the media has been studied in relation to political processes.
It explores key aspects of contemporary theory and research in politics and media.
• Screen Cultures B (COMM744): This module introduces students to the diversity of cultural contexts and histories that have shaped the meanings of cinema.
It examines both dominant/institutional and marginal/alternative screen cultures in relation to the formation of screen industries, histories, movements, and cultural identities.
• Understanding Media Change B (COMM757): This module explores processes of "remediation," "transmediality," and "intermediality," as well as the recurrence of past ideas, forms, and sensibilities in the present.
It examines arguments about planned obsolescence, newness, and innovation, critiques of progress, and theories of technological and media change.
• Influencing Strategies in Digital Media (COMM520): This module analyzes persuasive argumentation in strategic communication contexts, focusing on the role of digital media in shaping influencing strategies.
It provides students with analytical instruments from argumentation theory and rhetoric to critically examine business, public, and media discourses.
• Artificial Intelligence and Communication B (COMM718): This module examines the role of Artificial Intelligence in Communication, introducing students to core notions to identify how AI is reshaping communication processes.
It explores the potential risks and opportunities of AI in communication. It focuses on using data relevant to communication and media, but also considers critiquing and applying visualization methods more generally.
• Digital Media Audiences (COMM739): This module examines digital media from the audience's perspective, considering contemporary debates on changing audience practices and the attention economy.
It explores the notions of the audience as a user and as a producer of media in the digital age.
• Global Journalism and Politics (COMM748): This module offers a cross-national comparative perspective on the state of journalism around the world, examining journalists' perceptions of their role in society and the contextual factors that influence journalistic roles and performance.
• Media and Politics: Economy and Society B (COMM763): This module explores the relationships between politics, economics, and mainstream media, examining how media content is shaped by economic considerations and neoliberal ideology.
• Redefining Television (COMM750): This module focuses on the changes that have occurred in television, examining its nature, role, and function in the 21st century.
• Screen Industries B (COMM746): This module examines the industrial logic of film, television, and video game industries, investigating the relationships between technologies, economics, policies, politics, and the social and cultural contexts that shape these industries.

Assessment:

• Primarily coursework, including essays, reports, a research proposal, and a master's dissertation.
• One in-class written test.
• Other assessment formats may apply depending on the optional modules taken.

Teaching:

• Delivered through a variety of methods, including lectures, seminars, workshops, and hands-on practice.
• All classes take place on campus in person.
• Class sizes for master's programs in the Department of Communication and Media tend to be small, typically between 10-20 students.

Careers:

• Graduates are well-placed for a wide range of roles in commercial, media, policy, and academic environments.
• Potential career paths include data analysis, digital journalism, data visualization, research and development, PR, marketing and advertising, consulting, and publishing.

Other:

• The program is taught by internationally-acclaimed researchers who are casting innovative light on many aspects of the discipline and engaging with the latest topics, such as social media, populism, artificial intelligence, global media events, fake news, and online harassment.
• The University of Liverpool is ranked 4th in the sector for outstanding (4 ) research impact, with 100% of its impact classified as either outstanding (4 ) or very considerable (REF 2021).

UK fees (applies to Channel Islands, Isle of Man and Republic of Ireland) Full-time place, per year £10,800 Part-time place, per year £5,400 International Fees Full-time place, per year £22,400 Part-time place, per year £11,200 Fees stated are for the 2024-25 academic year. Tuition fees cover the cost of your teaching and assessment, operating facilities such as libraries, IT equipment, and access to academic and personal support. You can pay your tuition fees in installments. All or part of your tuition fees can be funded by external sponsorship. International applicants who accept an offer of a place will need to pay a tuition fee deposit. Additional costs This could include buying a laptop, books, or stationery. Additional study costs Close This could include buying a laptop, books, or stationery.