STAGE THREE: Formal written Case Study (15 marks)

word limit 500words (+/- 10%0 - text beyond the 550 words will not be read.
This must be submitted through Stage Three by the due date Tuesday 2 nd April, 11.59pm.
Turnitin Submission (with text-matching and AI checker turned on)

This task is envisaged as taking no more than 8 hours to prepare. As a professional, you will be often
asked to produce reports and other documents in a limited amount of time, and with a limited
number of words. The intended audience (usually people further up the hierarchy than you) will
have limited time and interest in engaging with further detail. As such, this assessment will feel
brutal for those of you who are most comfortable with longer word limits, and who are used to
spacing your work out across along time period. You are learning important professional skills in this
task, and need to learn to be pleased with your final product (despite all the limitations). My advice
would be to spread your attempt (your 8 hours) across two days- giving yourself time to think about
the task and develop your ideas.

Case Study Instructions:

A Case Study is an in-depth study of a particular example (the case) of a bigger issue or concept (such
as how data/information are used in the real world). In stage three of this assessment, you will be
exploring and analysing a specific example of a context in which disinformation is highly prevalent.
As this is your first such case study assessment, you will be guided through the development of your
ideas and writing, using prompt questions. But note: these are prompt questions only, and your
writing should have flow and efficiency to communicate key ideas (not all ideas).

The final product of this task is a 500-word critical analysis written in a ‘formal style’ (i.e., not for
your family and friends). It needs to have a clear introduction and conclusion (no more than 75
words each given the short overall word length). Your writing should be structured around
paragraphs and references (and can use sub-headings if this helps with structure). It should be
written for an audience to read and appreciate your understanding and argument about the content.

The instructions are designed to help all students achieve a pass on this assessment task. For the
highest grades, your responses would demonstrate an originality and analysis that comes with
confidence and greater understanding of the topic. One way of thinking about this to consider the
different expectations for performance in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd year:

 First year: we focus on you describing and defining the topic/examples

 Second year: we need you to demonstrate that after describe/define, you can analyse and
evaluate (i.e. use your knowledge from reading and research to think about why something
is at it is).
 Third year: critical analysis and evaluation that incorporates different perspectives and
sources of information

For each response, a pass grade would include citations to as least 2 appropriate scholarly
resources* (plus links to other resources). Not using scholarly resources in this task, would mean you
cannot get higher than a low pass. For higher grades, you need to include a citation to an
appropriate resource in each paragraph, and at around 3-5 scholarly resources in total. Aim to
provide a reference at an any point where your ideas have developed out of other people’s work.

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There is no required referencing style, rather I just expect you to be consistent with yourself.
However you reference, I should be able to work out the:

 Who wrote/created the resource?

 Date of publication/access/last edited date (make this clear)
 Title of the resource
 The appropriate Information for me to find it (e.g.publisher; or journal title and
volume/issue, pages; doi; web address)

* Appropriate scholarly resources in this assessment:

 Scholarly resources that are obtained through the library (i.e. journal articles and academic
books)
 Articles from The Conversation
 Wikipedia (enough for a pass grade but you should challenge yourself to include harder-to-
read resources for higher grades)

Writing style: Write to be Read

We are focused on the communication quality of your writing will be assessed through each criteria:
you are clear in what you are telling us, and are “listening” to us in return. Give your draft to a family
member or friend to read – if they are not convinced by your writing, then it probably needs further
editing.

We are not giving marks specifically to writing style (as some people will use Grammarly to do this –
and that means we would be giving marks to Grammarly). We strongly encourage you to use your
own vocabulary and tone. Academic writing is not necessarily a specific version of English or
grammar: rather it is about confidence and authority, providing references to support your
argument, and articulating things in clear manner. If you are not comfortable with “big words” don’t
use them.

Specific Instructions:
This task is asking you to choose a specific case study, which is an example of a context in which
misinformation/disinformation is prevalent. The news articles that you choose are NOT
disinformation themselves: rather they are discussions of how misinformation/disinformation is
occurring in a particular social/cultural/political area of Australian society. If you wish to choose a
different case study then you need to ask Rowena (socialproblems@westernsydney.edu.au) by the
28th March.

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 Case Study choices:
ALL OF THESE DISCUSS REAL EXAMPLES OF MISINFORMATION or DISINFORMATION (please don’t
argue against that because you will end up failing) If you get approval from Rowena, then you may
be able to do a different example.

 Israel – Palestine conflict: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-11-03/fact-check-gaza-

misinformation-war/103056656
 Voice to Parliament Referendum: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-09-29/fact-check-
voice-to-parliament-misinformation/102913680
 Climate Change: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-09-22/fact-check-jacinta-nampijinpa-
price-colonisation-no-impact/102884690 (scroll down to the global greening story)
 Vaccinations: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-12-08/fact-check-no-genetic-vaccine-
vaxelis/103201458
 The French riots: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-07-07/fact-check-french-riots-
rhinoceros-zebra-ostrich-paris-fake/102571866
 Covid treatments: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-05-12/fact-check-craig-kelly-
ivermectin-tga/102334416
 Electric vehicles: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-08-30/fact-check-sussan-ley-electric-
ute/101386412

Preparatory Research:
In this step, you will need to do searches for both scholarly resources (i.e. through the library or the
conversation) and utilise the Web to find other information. Keep track of your sources, so that you
can include them in your bibliography at the end of your assessment

1. Your First response to the Case Study

A key part of a critical analysis is understanding where you sit emotionally, so that you can identify
when your judgement might be clouded (or when it is very clear). Emotions and subjectivity are not
bad: we just need to understand when they might be impacting our critical thinking (this also
implies for a complete lack of emotion (or apathy).

 What emotions and thoughts were generated as you read through your case study the first
few times?
 Why do you think that you felt like this?
 Do you think the examples discussed in your case study are misinformation or
disinformation? why?

2. Understanding the issue

Before you can undertake your analysis, you need to understand the issue at the core of the case
study. Use the prompt as a way of refining your library and internet searches to help you understand
the core issue of the case study, and why misinformation / disinformation might be so prevalent
within this context:

 What is the issue at the core of the case study?

 how/when did the Case Study come about? (Is the ‘when’ important?)
 why do people know about it or talk about it?

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  What continues to keep this disinformation in circulation?
 What are the implications of the disinformation? (who is hurt/impacted?)
3. Understanding the sources of mis/disinformation in this issue
We are now starting to think about who is behind misinformation/disinformation in this issue. The
article you were given for the case study articulates some of these, but there are likely to be a
number of other people / organisations and others. Understanding who these actors are, and why
they spread such mis/disinformation helps us to understand why the mis/disinformation is spread.
Wikipedia could be an excellent starting point, but allow yourself to go down the internet 'rabbit
hole" and explore the issue more broadly. Once you work out who, maybe go back to the library to
see the scholarly response to these ideas. Things to think about:
 What are some of the sources (people/organisations) of disinformation in this topic? (the
‘who’)
 Why do these have 'authority' to make these statements?
 Why are they making the claim? How does this fit with their ‘history’ and their ‘agenda’? (i.e.
what else have they posted or discussed in the past/present)
 What other stakeholders (or interested parties) might exist?

4. Disinformation Techniques:
Thinking about the tasks and resources presented in STAGE TWO of this Assessment, what are some
of the disinformation techniques that you can identify at play in your case study? Are any of them
used more than others?

5. Factchecking (ABC RMIT FACTCHECKERS)

In each case study, the authors of the article have identified claims (i.e. disinformation) that other
people have made, and then the authors have debunked (proven wrong) the claims.

 What are some of the ways that the ABC RMIT FACTCHECKERS have demonstrated the
disinformation is wrong?
 What other sources of information (and information) could you use to debunk the type of
disinformation that occurs in this case study?
6. Addressing the Problem
Using the knowledge you have off disinformation as it relates to this case study, and more generally,
think about:

 How do we challenge misinformation/disinformation so that the public is protected and/or

more aware of the problem?
 Do you think that we can convince the general public of the 'truth' around the issue at the
heart of the case study? Or is the disinformation/misinformation more powerful?
You may need to re-read resources from STAGE TWO and/or find additional material through the
library catalogue

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 Writing your case study (the text that you will need to submit
You are now ready to construct your 500-word critical analysis as a formal text response. Your
assignment should be written in 'essay-style'. In this task, you are to engage ‘formal academic
writing style’: your audience are other academics. It needs to have a formal structure: a short
introduction, a descriptive discussion of the case study, and an ‘extended conclusion’ that offers
suggestions for how we can address the problems identified in this case study, and other similar
ones. Using sub-headings is a useful way of structuring your work, but these should be descriptive
but short (so that they eat into your word count)
Remember we will not read beyond 550 words, and it is unlikely you would cover all the important
things with enough detail in less than 450 words. In addition to the text, you also need to include a
bibliography that includes all the resources that you have read and/or used to develop your ideas
and support your argument.

Make sure you Draft AND Edit your work (at least once, if not twice): paying attention to the
communicative aspect of your writing.

Suggested Structure:
 Place the full reference for your case study example at the top of the page.
o Short Introduction (approx. 75 words) In this section you need to introduce the
concepts of misinformation, and disinformation.
o You should define each term in your own words (i.e. no direct quotes). You must
include a citation to at least one scholarly resource here: i.e. what you read to
develop your understanding/definition of the core concepts.
o You should provide a statement about why these are problematic (generally). This
also needs to have a citation to a scholarly resource (it can be the same as the one
you used for the definition)
o You should then identify what the case study is that you are discussing (but do not
go into any description of the case study).
 Descriptive discussion of the case study (approx. 250 words)
o In this section you need to present your analysis (completed above for point 2). You
need to combine your analysis into articulate, well-structured paragraphs. You
cannot discuss everything, so need to carefully construct your argument
o You should probably aim to have 2-3 paragraphs. (the guidelines here are NOT strict
– they are merely guidance to those who have limited essay writing experience)
o The first one would introduce the case study, and why it is an example of
misinformation. It would also be good to identify the “evidence” that it uses.
It would not be necessary to include a citation to a scholarly resource here,
but if you do use any resources to investigate or understand the topic, then
you should acknowledge all sources.
o The second paragraph would discuss your analysis of the context of the
claim. In particular, we will be looking for your ability to situate
the misinformation/disinformation/fake news in its wider socio-political
context. Remember this assignment is interested in the impact
of misinformation/disinformation/fake news, and your case study is meant
to be an example of the wider concern with the impacts
of misinformation/disinformation. You need to cite at least one scholarly
resource here.
o The third paragraph would challenge the narrative. This is where you
present the evidence of your fact-checking, using evidence to counter the

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 claim. It is very important to cite at least one scholarly resource in support of
this discussion.
 Suggestions for addressing the problem (approx. 150 words) (use the material from Step 5
and Step 6)
o This section functions like an extended conclusion. You need to think about how
this misinformation/disinformation/fake news narrative can be challenged. It is
important to include at least one citation to a scholarly resource in this section, and
it is likely that a very good answer would include more.
o It is likely that you would remind us of
why misinformation/disinformation/fake news are problematic, and how your case
study is an illustration of these. In doing this, you would make suggestions of how
specifically to challenge the misleading narrative around the issue the case study
represents.
o Remember that your case study is meant to be an ‘example’ of a bigger problem, so
you want to emphasise to the reader your suggestions for
challenging misinformation/disinformation/fake news more generally here.
o As this is a very short essay, and should be written with impact, do not end by sitting
on the fence: assert your argument, and ‘own’ the academic contribution and space
you are occupying with your assessment.

The final step is editing your work.

 Editing should focus on communication and gaps in your work.
 Communication: If the reader cannot understand you, then they cannot appreciate your
work and give you marks. You should read through your work (out aloud is best) at least
twice. Utilise the spelling and grammar check functions in your word processing program.
 As this is a 500 word piece of writing, it will never include anything. The best way to make
sure there aren't any obvious holes where things unexplained, give it to a friend or family
member to read. You are allowed to switch assignments with a peer and edit together
(never give your work to someone who has not completed the assignment): but you must
acknowledge this below. If i feel your work is too close, this will be a problem.

Referencing (and citations):

 In completing this assessment, you need to use and reference at least 2 scholarly
resources. If you don’t meet this minimum requirement, then you will automatically fail
the assessment. Higher grades are dependent on greater use of resources
 The reason that we set a minimum is to indicate to you the amount of background reading it
is expected you will need to do in order to structure a strong academic argument. If you
don’t read, then you will just be giving uninformed opinion (like the disinformation/fake
news you are critiquing). You can use resources suggested/provided through vUWS, or you
can find your own.
 You are also encouraged to find additional resources to support your argument, and should
cite anything that influenced your understanding of the case study or the theoretical
concepts

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 Submission Checklist Coversheet (1 mark)

Include the following information as the coversheet for your final submission document. In your
responses think about your work in both STAGE TWO AND STAGE THREE of this assessment task.

NAME:

Student ID:

What is the best part of your

submission?

What steps have you taken to

transform your work from
‘draft’ to ‘final submission’?

In what ways, are you proud of

your work in preparing this
submission?

How does your work showcase

good communication and
presentation?

What grade would you give

your assessment and why?

Strengths:

Thinking of the effort you put

into this assessment, what do
you think are your strengths
and weaknesses? Weaknesses: