Recording and Evaluating Research

The Process of Recording, Documenting and Evaluating Research

Research in VCE Media is not complete until it has been recorded, organised, and evaluated. Documentation is not an administrative task bolted onto the end of research — it is the process through which research becomes usable and demonstrable.

Why Documentation Matters

• Accountability: demonstrates to the assessor that research was actually conducted
• Utility: makes findings retrievable and applicable throughout the production process
• Reflection: the act of writing up findings forces the researcher to process and evaluate what was learned
• Evidence: in the VCAA context, undocumented research does not exist for assessment purposes

Methods for Recording Research

Production Journal / Folio

The primary vehicle for research documentation in VCE Media. A production journal should include:
- Dated entries for each research activity
- Description of the source examined (film title, practitioner name, article title)
- Key findings: what codes, conventions, techniques, or ideas were identified
- Annotated images, screenshots, or transcripts where relevant
- Reflection: how this finding connects to the proposed production

Annotated References

For each significant media product or source analysed:
- Title, creator, year, form/genre
- Key codes and conventions identified
- Specific techniques or moments of particular relevance
- How the product relates to the proposed production (similarity, contrast, inspiration)

Research Matrices / Tables

Useful for comparative research — placing multiple products side by side to identify patterns in the use of codes and conventions across examples.

Contact Logs

If primary research is conducted (e.g. interviews with community members for a documentary), a contact log records who was contacted, when, what was discussed, and what permission was obtained.

Evaluating Research

Documentation alone is not sufficient — research must also be evaluated:

• Relevance: How directly does this research inform the proposed production?
• Quality: Is the source reliable, current, and appropriate to the production’s goals?
• Application: What specific production decisions does this research support?
• Limitations: What does this research not tell you? What gaps remain?

Evaluation transforms raw documentation into actionable production knowledge.

Iterative Research Documentation

Research is not a one-off phase — it continues throughout pre-production and production. Documentation should reflect this:
- Initial concept research (broad)
- Targeted research responding to specific production challenges
- Post-production research (e.g. researching distribution channels, colour grading techniques)

VCAA FOCUS: VCAA assessors expect to see evidence of genuine research thinking — not just a list of sources. Show what you learned, how you evaluated it, and how it changed your production thinking.

STUDY HINT: Set up a research journal template at the start of the unit with clear sections for source, finding, evaluation, and production application. Completing it consistently throughout the year produces much stronger documentation than trying to reconstruct research from memory at the end.