Chapter 15: Media Effects

Four steps of Social Learning Theory

*Attention, Retention* (recall), *Reproduction* (enact) and *Motivation* (expect reward); ex. Bandura's test w/ Bobo doll

Minimal-Effects Model *(Limited Effects)*

A mass communication research model based on tightly controlled experiments and survey findings; it argues that the mass media have limited effects on audiences, reinforcing existing behaviors and attitudes rather than changing them

Uses and Gratifications Model

A mass communication research model, usually employing in-depth interviews and survey questionnaires, that argues that people use the media to satisfy various emotional desires or intellectual needs (response to *minimal-effects theory*)

Theory

A set of related statements designed to explain /OR/ predict phenomenon

Longitudinal studies

A term used for research studies that are conducted over long periods of time and often rely on large government and academic survey databases

The Spiral of Silence Theory

A theory that links the mass media, social psychology, and the formation of public opinion; it proposes that people who find their views on controversial issues in the minority tend to keep these views silent; Developed by Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann

Social Learning Theory

A theory within media effects research that suggests a link between the mass media and behavior; created by Psychologist Albert Bandura

Marketing Research

Advertisers and product companies began conducting surveys on consumer buying habits in the 1920s

Political Economy studies

An area of academic study that specifically examines interconnections among economic interests, political power, and how that power is used

Hypodermic-Needle Model *(Powerful Effects)*

An early model in mass communication research that attempted to explain media effects by arguing that the media figuratively shoot their powerful effects into unsuspecting or weak audiences; *(Used until mid-1940s)*

Importance of Minimal-Effects Model

Audience *not* passive, various intervening variables affect audience members' uses of, and reactions to, media messages, and effects not perceived to be as powerful as once thought.

Importance of Political Economy

Concerns of political economy studies include the increasing conglomeration of media ownership, meaning that the production of media content is being controlled by fewer and fewer organizations, investing those companies with more and more power. In addition, the domination of public discourse by for-profit corporations may mean that the bottom line for all public communication and popular culture is money, not democratic expression.

Qualitative Research

Cultural Studies - Examines impacts of media on ideas of race, class, sexuality, gender norms and how we make meaning of our world through the stories told across media

Goal of Cultural Studies

Focuses on how people make meaning, apprehend reality, articulate values, and order experience through their use of cultural symbols. _X_ scholars also examine the way status quo groups in society, particularly corporate and political elites, use media to circulate their messages and sustain their interests

Importance of Cultivation Effect

Heavy exposure to TV makes people believe that the real world is similar to the media world 4 hours; significance? - long-term exposure to specific content are more likely to believe that the external world acts in that manner Ex. "Mean world syndrome"- overestimate chances of being victims of violence (longer exposure to violence = believe world is mean) Cultivation research looks at the mass media as a socializing agent and investigates whether television viewers come to believe the television version of reality the more they watch it. Gerbner and his colleagues contend that television drama has a small but significant influence on the attitudes, beliefs and judgments of viewers concerning the social world. Recent researchers have showed this phenomena holds true for video games, social media sites and Internet usage

Early Theories of Media Effects (1930s-1970s)

Hypodermic-needle model, minimal-effects model, uses and gratifications model

Scientific Method

Identifying the research problem, reviewing existing research and theories, developing working hypotheses or predictions about study, determining appropriate research design, collecting information or data, interpreting study's implications to determine correlation to the problem

Cultural Studies

In media research, the approaches that try to understand how the media and culture are tied to the actual patterns of communication used in daily life; these studies focus on how people make meanings, apprehend reality, and order experience through the use of stories and symbols

Cultivation Effect Theory

In media research, the idea that heavy television viewing leads individuals to perceive reality in ways that are consistent with the portrayals they see on television; created by George Gerbner

Importance of Agenda-Setting

Media do not tell us what to think, but what to think about; The importance journalists give to their stories including how they are presented in print, on TV and online as well as by what they say and how they say it helps determine how important the public thinks the topic is. Ex. Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth" about global warming

In class, we referred to three eras of media effects research

Powerful Effects (Until mid-1940s), Minimal Effects (mid-1940s to mid-1960s), and Specific Effects (mid-1960s-present)

Four early areas of media research

Propaganda analysis, public opinion research, social psychology studies, and marketing research

Importance of Third-Person Effect

Proposes how "we" can escape the worst effects of media while still worrying about people who are younger, less educated, more impressionable, or otherwise less capable of guarding against media influence.

Upside of public opinion research

Provides insight in shifting social behaviors; ex. comparing opinion polls from 1980 and 2010 on same-sex marriage

Social scientists conduct ____ ____ ____, or citizen surveys, especially during election periods or following major national events

Public Opinion Research

Researchers argued that people generally engaged in _X_ and _X_ with regard to the media.

Selective exposure and selective retention (from limited-effects)

In the *specific effects* era, what are the five contemporary theories used to explain media effects?

Social Learning Theory, Agenda-Setting, Cultivation Effect, The Spiral of Silence and the third-person effect.

"Propaganda Technique in the World War"

The book written by Harold Lasswell (1927) which focused on propaganda in the media, defining it as "the control of opinion by significant symbols...by stories, rumors, reports, pictures and other forms of social communication."

"Liberty and the News"

The book written by Walter Lippmann (1920) which called on journalists to operate like scientific researchers in gathering and analyzing data

"Public Opinion"

The book written by Walter Lippmann (1922) which was the first applied the principles of psychology to journalism

Importance of Hypodermic-Needle Model

The concept that powerful media affect weak audiences; Audiences were assumed *to act on impulse & emotion, rather than reason and self-control.* Ex. Nazi Propaganda / Orson Welles's War of the Worlds (1938)

Media Effects Research

The mainstream tradition in mass communication research, it attempts to understand, explain, and predict the impact - or effects - of the mass media on individuals and society.

Selective Retention

The phenomenon whereby audiences remember or retain messages and meanings that correspond to their preexisting beliefs and values (mid-1940s to mid-1960s)

Selective Exposure

The phenomenon whereby audiences seek messages and meanings that correspond to their preexisting beliefs and values

Facts about Mass Communication Theories

There is not one mass communication theory and, often, theories are borrowed and updated from other fields like sociology, political science and psychology

Public Sphere

Those areas or arenas in social life—like the town square or coffeehouse—where people come together regularly to discuss social and cultural problems and try to influence politics; the public sphere is distinguished from governmental spheres, where elected officials and other representatives conduct affairs of state; Developed by philosopher Jürgen Habermas

Importance of The Spiral of Silence

Those who believe that their views on controversial issues are in the minority will keep their views to themselves—that is, become silent—for fear of social isolation, which diminishes or even silences alternative perspectives.

Goal of Media Effects Research

To uncover where there is a connection between aggressive behavior and violence in the media, particularly in children and teens

Importance of Social Learning Theory

Used as a way to study aggression; study links between violent media programs and aggressive behavior

Importance of Uses and Gratifications Model

Why do we use the media? An active audience; the needs or motives of people are gratified by their media choices or uses. Includes *Cognitive needs, Affective needs, Personal integrative needs, Social integrative needs, and Escapist needs*

Agenda-Setting Theory

a media-research argument that says that when the mass media pay attention to particular events or issues, they determine- that is, set the agenda for- the major topics of discussion for individuals and society

Random Assignment

a social science research method for assigning research subjects; it ensures that every subject has an equal chance of being placed in either the experimental group or the control group

Walter Lippmann

editor and columnist in 1920 that urged newspapers to make current records, make a running analysis, and suggest plans

Experiments

in regard to the mass media, research that isolates some aspect of content, suggests a hypothesis, and manipulates variables to discover a particular medium's impact on attitudes, emotions, or behavior (*experimental* group to *control* group)

Content analysis

in social science research, a method for studying and coding media texts and programs

Survey Research

in social science research, a method of collecting and measuring data taken from a group of respondents

Hypotheses

in social science research, tentative general statements that predict a relationship between a dependent variable and an independent variable

Downside of public opinion research

journalists are dependent on polls for political insight, affects political involvement in citizens,

Social Psychology Studies

measure the behavior and cognition of individuals

In the 19th century, media analysis was based on

moral and political arguments

Correlations

observed associations between two variables

Propaganda Analysis

the study of propaganda's effectiveness in influencing and mobilizing public opinion

Third-Person Effect Theory

theory suggesting that people believe others are more affected by media messages than they are themselves

Pseudo-polls

typically call-in, online, or person-in-the-street nonscientific polls that the news media use to address a "question of the day"; highly unreliable