Special Criteria for Research Student Papers for the NIRS Competition inIntegrated Communications

Submitted works must contain the rationale for the research findings, specify the limitations of the study, a statement if the hypothesis has been confirmed or if it lacks supportive evidence, offer prospective applications of new scientific knowledge/practical outcomes.  

The text shall focus on the essence of the problem under analysis, argumentation shall be clear and precise, the work shall be logical.  Academic writing style, common terms, notions, symbols and abbreviations from communication studies must be used. Moreover, the paper must not replace proper scientific and professional special terminology with media and everyday clichés and professional jargon.  

Annotated bibliography shall include a critical analysis of core research works on the topic of the student paper. Also, descriptions of quantitative/qualitative/experimental design and research methods shall be outlined. The procedure for generating and analyzing databases shall be set out in detail.

Citations (both direct quotes and paraphrases) shall be supported with footnotes at the bottom of relevant pages. 

When employing in-depth interviews, expert interviews, focus groups, etc., the work shall include an annex with the list of informants (specifying their gender, age, other characteristics important for the research), experts (specifying their job positions, place of work, etc.) and other information.  If it was agreed that a source would remain anonymous, this should be indicated and the information which may breach that person’s confidentiality should be hidden. In addition, the time, place and method for collecting data shall be specified.

For studies using the survey method, experiment or content analysis, Excel chart sheets with data entered specifying time, place, the method employed for conducting research, participants (if appropriate) (gender, age, other characteristics essential for the research).

For ethnographic studies (including case studies and netnography), a transcript of field notes for all instances of participant observations.

For research relying on information/analytical, linguistic and other types of text analysis, as well as monitoring research (in particular, using the services as Medialogia, Public.ru, LexisNexis, IQBuzz, etc.), primary and secondary text data, collected via field or automated means.

There are certain requirements in place as to the number of research sessions. For research, where interviews are basic data collection method, seven to ten interviews shall be conducted. Focus-group research, in turn, shall rely on data from three to five focus groups. For research with experimental design, the number of experiments shall be at least two or more.   For research, conducted with the use of ethnographic strategy or substantiated theory, the minimum number of participant observations are five, interviews – five, while the maximum number is not limited as it is, among other things, may be explained through the principle of theoretical saturation. For research with blended design, up to five interviews, 3 focus groups, 3 experiments are allowed.