Example communications dissertation topic 9:

A question of presentation: A review of presidential debates 2012.

The presidential debate between Nixon and Kennedy was a watershed in political communication, with those who heard the debate on the wireless (rather than watching it on TV) convinced that Nixon had performed better. Given the importance that presentational communication has held for presidential candidates ever since, this dissertation reviews the exchanges between Romney and Obama in the 2012 presidential election race. Through use of contents analysis as well as the quantitative measuring of respondent’s views of their respective performances (analysed using SPSS) this dissertation is on an up-to-date topic that would benefit from being undertaken by a communication studies student with an interest in American politics.

Suggested initial topic reading:

• Benoit, W.L., Hanson, G.J. and Verser, R.M (2003). ‘A meta-analysis of the effects of viewing U.S. presidential debates’, Communication Monographs, Vol. 70(4), pp. 335-350.
• Druckman, J. N. (2003). ‘The power of television images: The first Kennedy-Nixon debate revisited’, Journal of Politics, Vol. 65(2), pp. 559-571.
• Whitesides, J. (2012). ‘Mitt Romney gaining, but Obama still leads: Reuters analysis’, Huffington Post: Politics, 21st October 2012.