In December 2017, Prof. Kang Jin-suk of the School of Media & Communication, the College of Social Sciences, Chung-Ang University (CAU) was honored with the award by the Ministry of Education (MoE) and the National Research Foundation (NRF) in recognition of her outstanding achievement through the participation of an academic research support program.

Prof. Kang contributed hugely to academic development by publishing an academic book under the Publication Support Program, implemented by the NRF over the last one year, which led her to receive the award.

Prof. Kang solely published a book entitled “Qualitative Research Methodology: Dice of Communication and Media Education” under the support of the NRF’s program. Prof. Kang’s book was selected as one of the excellent academic book of the year 2017 by the National Academy of Sciences, the Republic of Korea (NAS), which well indicates her contribution to academic advancement.

This book not just simply introduced a qualitative research methodology as a means of interpretation, but provided a holistic perspective by starting from question posing about a variety of social issues, meticulously reviewing this newly-developed methodology, and suggesting how to elaborate the methodology and apply this to communication and media education. This is why this book is recognized to hold an academic originality and excellence.

The MoE and the NRF annually present this award to researchers in various academic fields so as to boost their academic zeal and encourage research and development (R&D). In addition, the ultimate goal of this award is to promote a national understanding about the achievement in a national R&D effort and raise the Korean people’s interest in this regard. By doing so, a better ecosystem can be built, where the academia and the business community, based on cooperation and an exchange of information, deliver a better achievement in the communication and media sector.