Example communications dissertation topic 10:

British media coverage of the 2012 Olympic Games and public perceptions: Before and during.

This study first investigates the media agenda in the four months preceding the hosting of the summer Olympics and in so doing also charts the public perceptions of the Games at that point. Through the use of an agenda-setting methodological framework, this dissertation combines content analysis and a street survey in Wolverhampton to understand the media agenda and the public’s reaction to it. Thereafter, in the second part of the dissertation, the initial agenda and perception of the Games is contrasted with that which followed the Opening Ceremony (i.e. during the Games themselves). By using the same data collection techniques this dissertation hopes to show the power of changing media agenda on public perceptions.

Suggested initial topic reading:

• Dowell, B. (2012). ‘Olympic Games: Media casts its biggest-ever net’, The Observer, 29th July 2012.
• Hiller, H.H. and Wanner, R.A. (2011). ‘Public opinion in host Olympic cities: The case of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games’, Sociology, Vol. 45(5), pp. 883-899.
• Ritchie, J.R.B. and Aitken, C.E. (1985). ‘Olympulse II – Evolving resident attitudes toward the 1988 Olympic Winter Games’, Journal of Travel Research, Vol. 23(3), pp. 28-33.