Media Analytics A.B.
Program Director: Assistant Professor Walsh
Media analytics studies the measures and metrics that drive media industries, such as ratings, circulation, engagement and audience appreciation. It also analyzes how media usage is tracked and recorded, including audience preferences, user behavior, and customer insights.
Media analytics students focus on the practical, legal and ethical implications of data collection and data sharing, as well as the use of media data to inform decision-making. Starting with basic data, dashboard and statistical literacy, students learn how to properly collect, clean and analyze data, then employ a clear methodology to generate reports with reproducible insights using advanced analytics tools.
The Media Analytics A.B. degree requires 52 total semester hours in MEA, COM, CDE, CTA, JOU or STC, plus 2 hours IDS 1150.
See School of Communications for additional program requirements and course descriptions.
Major Requirements:
Required courses: 43-44 sh
Select additional courses to total at least 52 semester hours of courses from COM, CDE, CTA, JOU, MEA, or STC, not including IDS 1150.
Total Credit Hours: 52
REQUIRED MINOR, DOUBLE MAJOR OR SEMESTER ABROAD:
To promote academic depth, all students must complete a minor, double major outside of the School of Communications or a semester abroad (totaling 12 credit hours or more) in an Elon-approved program. Study USA programs do not qualify as a semester abroad.
Program Outcomes
The Elon Eleven states the values and competencies that we want all School of Communications students to achieve. As a requirement of national accreditation, we seek to ensure that the curriculum provides balance and depth among these values and competencies.
Values:
1. Truth, accuracy and fairness: Students will be able to articulate the value of truth, accuracy, and fairness, and their relationship to advancing diversity; describe the importance of access to information to ensure these values; and apply these values in the discipline and professions.
2. Freedom of expression: Students will be able to identify and state the importance of the five freedoms in the First Amendment; distinguish expression that is and is not protected; recognize differences in global contexts and apply legal principles to media issues.
3. Ethical ways of reasoning: Students will be able to describe the philosophical underpinnings of ethical decision-making; recognize the symbiosis between law and ethics; and apply ethical principles to professional issues.
4. History and roles of media, communication professions and sport in society: Students will be able to identify significant diverse individuals and describe important milestones in the multicultural history of communications and sport; and analyze the role and impact of media on U.S. society.
5. Domestic and global diversity: Students will be able to demonstrate an awareness of diverse peoples and cultures, particularly those who have been historically disenfranchised in the United States of America; demonstrate culturally proficient communication with diverse domestic audiences; describe ways to communicate appropriately with global audiences; to work on and advocate for diverse and inclusive teams; and understand the consequences of the digital divide.
Competencies
6. Write and speak clearly and effectively: Students will be able to demonstrate proficiency in grammar, spelling, mechanics and organization; and write and speak with accuracy, clarity, cultural proficiency and style for different audiences across media platforms.
7. Employ the tools of today’s technology: Students will be able to describe how technologies shape the way people interact with the world; master communication tools and technologies; and produce print, audio, video, online and mobile content.
8. Use theory in producing meaningful content: Students will be able to identify and demonstrate communication theories, concepts and aesthetic principles that guide the creation of visual content and the presentation of images and information.
9. Engage in research and analysis: Students will be able to describe qualitative and quantitative research methods; evaluate primary and secondary sources; and write and present a scholarly paper appropriate for disciplinary professions.
10. Apply numerical concepts: Students will be able to perform basic numerical computations; interpret statistical data and analyze audiences; and demonstrate the ability to apply these concepts in appropriate communications professions.
11. Demonstrate creative and critical thinking: Students will be able to explain the creative elements in the work they do; understand the financial aspects of content creation; and draw rational conclusions as they analyze social and communications phenomena.
Analyze data using reliable methodologies and appropriate data gathering tools.
Employ data-driven problem solving.