Com 400 Dr. Raz. Media Effects and Cultural Approaches to Research

Transcription

1 Com 400 Dr. Raz Media Effects and Cultural Approaches to Research

2 Review Theory an idea or set of ideas that is intended to explain facts or events

3 Some guiding questions What are different ways to study the effects that media messages have on audience (consumers)? How have these approaches changed over the years? What are the differences between mediaeffects research and cultural approaches? What are the strengths and limitations of each?

4 THREE ASPECTS OF MASS MEDIA INDUSTRY (Producers and Marketers) TEXT (Product) AUDIENCE (Consumers)

5 MEDIA and AUDIENCES: Different Questions for Different Approaches What do the media do to people? (MEDIA EFFECTS) What do people do with media texts? (CULTURAL STUDIES)

6 MEDIA EFFECTS: What does a media text do to people? Media text = a unit of media (a single article, book, program, film, videotape, etc.) People = the audience

7 History of effects research Since the early 1900 s, elite concern about effects of media on the morals of children and the lower classes After WWI, growing concern about use of propaganda to change public opinion Marketing research into consumer buying and viewing habits

8 Early Media Research 19th century models of media analysis based upon moral and political arguments 1920: Walter Lippman advocated applied media research based on psychology and scientific models.

9 SCIENTIFIC METHOD Identify the research problem Review existing research and theories Develop working hypotheses and theories Determine an appropriate research design Collect data Analyze results Interpret implications of the study

10 The SCIENTIFIC METHOD values: Objectivity Reliability Validity

11 MEDIA EFFECTS RESEARCH attempts to understand, explain, and predict the impact of mass media on individuals and society

12 EARLY MODELS for understanding media effects: Hypodermic Needle Model (direct effects) Minimal Effects Model (selective exposure and retention) Uses and Gratifications Model (variations in how people use media to satisfy emotional and intellectual needs)

13 Key Theories in Media Research Hypodermic Needle Model

14 Direct effects theories View relationship between media texts and consumers as unmediated Sees individuals as passive and in isolation Perceives media like a bullet or hypodermic needle

15 Minimal Effects theories Media alone do not cause people to change beliefs and behaviors. Selective exposure and selective retention of media messages Mass media often just reinforce existing attitudes. Social influence of opinion leaders and peers

16 Uses & Grats: Audience not Passive & Use Media for Different Purposes

17 Uses and Gratifications model Views media consumers as active rather than passive Looks at how media satisfy emotional or intellectual needs ASKS: Why and how do we use the media?

18 EXPLAINING MEDIA EFFECTS Social learning theory Agenda setting Cultivation theory Social comparison theory

19 Social learning theory (Bandura, Ross, & Ross, 1961, Transmission of aggression through imitation of aggressive models ) Albert Bandura bobo doll experiments (1961) Imitation of a model is how we learn Bandura s (1977) book, Social Learning Theory, states behavior is learned from the environment through the process of observational learning.

20 AGENDA SETTING Media don t tell us what to think, but what to think about (McCombs & Shaw, 1972, The Agenda Setting Function of the Mass Media )

21 Cultivation Theory (Gerbner & Gross, 1976, Living with television: The violence profile ) Mass media, especially TV viewing, "cultivates" in us a distorted perception of the world Influenced by amount of viewing (e.g. heavy vs. light) and by other factors (e.g. level of education)

22 Cultivation Effect We can think about how this leads to the mean world syndrome Because, over time, we see so much violence, crime, and so on in the mass media, we believe the world is a mean place

23 Social Comparison Theory (Festinger, 1956, Social Comparison Processes) States that we determine our own social and personal worth based on how we stack up against others. As a result, we are constantly making self and other evaluations across a variety of domains (for example, attractiveness, wealth, intelligence, and success). Representations in the media can be a source for social comparison.

24 MARXIST AND CULTURAL STUDIES APPROACHES to MEDIA RESEARCH

25 Karl Marx & Marxist readings of the media the ideas of the ruling class are, in every age, the ruling ideas Ideology= common sense values/ideas emphasis on the economy: those with $ control the media, and thus the ideologies Dates back to 1800s

26 Frankfurt School *Beginning in 1940s, members of Frankfurt School developed a variant of Marxism known as CRITICAL THEORY

27 Cultural Studies Birmingham/CCCS Flagship institution for studies of media and culture Media are POLYSEMIC

28 CULTURAL STUDIES APPROACHES Look at media as part of our daily life, not in a laboratory Go beyond a psychological, individual approach -- see individuals as members of social and cultural groups that influence us

29 CULTURAL STUDIES Adds qualitative, interpretive approach to the scientific approach of media effects research Examines how and why people USE media, not just what media DO to people ASKS: What meanings do people make of their media experiences?

30 Three types of audience readings: Dominant Oppositional Negotiated

31 Applying Marxism and Hall s theory

32 Questions to keep in mind as we watch 1.What would Marxists say about these videos and trends? 2.What about Cultural Studies scholars?

33 OTHER RELATED APPROACHES

34 ANALYSIS OF MEDIA INDUSTRIES Economic analysis: how capital income/expenditures influence the organization and functioning of media industries Industry structure: who does what, how industries are organized, professional roles

35 ANALYSIS OF MEDIA INDUSTRIES Media policy analysis: evaluation of government regulation, the allocation of resources and their impact on media and society Media programming strategies and decisions

36 ANALYSIS OF TEXTS CONTENT ANALYSIS (quantitative; scientific; statistical) often associated with MEDIA EFFECTS approach MEDIA CRITICISM (interpretive; literary; looking for meanings) associated with CULTURAL APPROACH

37 What's a variable? A variable is an object, event, idea, feeling, time period, or any other type of category you are trying to measure. There are two types of variables: independent and dependent

38 What's an independent variable? It is a variable that isn't changed by the other variables you are trying to measure. For example, someone's age might be an independent variable. Other factors (such as what they eat, how much they go to school, how much television they watch) aren't going to change a person's age. In fact, when you are looking for some kind of relationship between variables you are trying to see if the independent variable causes some kind of change in the other variables, or dependent variables.

39 What's a dependent variable? It is something that depends on other factors. For example, a test score could be a dependent variable because it could change depending on several factors such as how much you studied, how much sleep you got the night before you took the test, or even how hungry you were when you took it. Usually when you are looking for a relationship between two things you are trying to find out what makes the dependent variable change the way it does. Many people have trouble remembering which is the independent variable and which is the dependent variable. An easy way to remember is to insert the names of the two variables you are using in this sentence in they way that makes the most sense. Then you can figure out which is the independent variable and which is the dependent variable: (Independent variable) causes a change in (Dependent Variable) and it isn't possible that (Dependent Variable) could cause a change in (Independent Variable).

40 Developing RQ s Based on Theory Write 3 research questions focusing on audience reception (audience thoughts, behaviors, or attitudes relating to a particular media text) For each RQ, determine what the independent and dependent variables are For each RQ, choose one theory listed below that you think would be most useful for investigating this issue (cultivation theory, uses and gratifications theory, social learning theory, social comparison theory)