COM 275 MSU- Exam 1
Conflicting influences on organizations and individuals
Constraint vs. autonomy Routine productions vs. creativity Commerce vs. art Profit vs. social purpose
Thorson cognitive processing model
(pg. 11 of text) Concentrates on the steps taken in the processing of television commercials. It takes into consideration the individual viewer's personal interest in and attention to the commercial message, the person's memory, and even language capacity, in determining the potential effects of the messages.
Critical analysis of media
-Ability to fulfill intended functions -Domination of media establishment
Cultural theorists 4 areas of concern
-Mass culture -Gender and subculture -New technology -Political-economic issues Commodification Commercialization Hegemony
Marxist approach
-Media contains images favorable to ruling class. -Audiences uncritically consume these images and adopt these favorable views
Definitions of "activity"
-Selectivity -Utilitarianism -Intentionality -Resistance to influence -Involvement
Structuralism and semiotics
-They explore the nature of sign systems that regulate latent meaning of text. -Suggests that signs evoke meaning by their use and associations within a culture goal is to identify the 'cultural meaning' of media content
Media audience model is associated with Clausse
5 Layer Model: Demonstrates how most communication receives only a small fraction of its potential attention and impact -message offered -message receivable -message received -message registered -message internalized
Hegemony
A loosely interrelated set of ruling ideas permeating a society, but in such a way as to make the established order of power and values appear natural.
Meta-analysis
A means of systematically integrating the findings from many empirical studies on the same subject that used different methods. -Used to provide "big picture".
Interactive models
A model in which messages are formulated, exchanged, and interpreted.
OTA transactional model
A model that separates communication into three distinct processes—message formulation, message interpretation, and message exchange—and emphasizes the interdependencies of the processes.
Model
A pictorial means of explicating, or facilitating the understanding of, an abstract process such as communication.
Mass Communication
A single source (usually a complex entity such as a television network) reaching thousands or millions of people with the same institutionalized message. The audience members are often heterogeneous, or demographically diverse, and typically are unknown to the message source.
Six major concepts of reach
Available Audience o The 'paying' audience: o The 'attentive' audience: o The 'internal' audience: (attention to particular content) o The 'cumulative' audience: % reached over time o The 'target' audience
Fourth estate
Based on a theory of the free press -Right to publish free of censorship essential for a democracy Four theories of press influence -Authoritarian, Soviet Communist, Libertarian, and Social Responsibility The public sphere
Linear models
Based on the principles of stimulus-response psychology, in which a receiver is affected (response) by a message (stimulus) that emanates from a communication source. These models depict the communication process as a series of progressive, linear steps in the transmission of ideas from one person to another.
Quality evaluated in research using a "media performance discourse" approach
Basic Idea: Quality of information is measurable usually based on some notion of public interest such as: -Freedom+ Independence -Content Diversity -News objectivity -Reality reflection or distortion
Audience theories
Concerned with the audience of media
Critical perspectives of media content
Critical and marxist approach
Macro-theories
Dealing with the media as part of the larger societal setting
Shannon-Weaver model
Describes the process of telecommunication. Depicts a message emanating from an information source, which becomes a signal after passing through a transmitter. Depending upon the amount of noise or interference present, the signal passes through to a receiver, where it is decoded as a message.
Weasley-MacLean model
Differs from the Shannon-Weaver model in that they include mechanisms for feedback, or return flow of information from a receiver to the original source, and gatekeeping, a mechanism (usually a person) that has the power to control information and even prevent it from reaching a destination. Gatekeeping addresses the role of editors who control and select the messages that are conveyed.
Schramm interactive model
Emphasizes the sharing of information between communicators, who give and receive information interactively. Developed by communication theorist Wilbur __________ (1954), the circular model describes communication as interactive and interpretive, with communicators almost simultaneously sending and receiving messages. Switch between the role of the encoder and decoder.
Payne Fund Studies
First major research in the field. oSeries of studies commissioned to examine content, audience, and effects oFocused on children/adolescent's film oAsked-how does exposure effect thoughts, attitudes, and behaviors? oFindings- Studies did not show uniform effects. ♣ Still, many saw overall effect as very strong ♣ Interpreted as evidence of Magic Bullet ♣ Focused on the effects of media on children "as an instrument of education it has unusual power to impart information, to influence specific attitudes toward objects of social value, to affect emotions either in gross or in microscopic proportions, to affect health in a minor degree through sleep disturbance, and to affect profoundly the patterns of conduct of children."
Media institution theories
Focusing on the workings of the media as organizations
Individual effects of communication
Illustrate direct effects on individuals from mass mediated communication.
Strengths and weaknesses of traditional content analysis vs. the alternative (i.e. interpretive) methods of research
Interpretive approaches • Attributes o No quantification o Attention to latent content o Assume source/receiver assign many meanings • Limits to interpretive approaches o No commonly accepted systematic method o Does not meet scientific standards of reliability o Not easy to generalize from o Not a way of summarizing content
Laboratory experiments
Involves having people watch or listen to or read a certain type of media fare (violent, sexually explicit, frightening, etc.) while other people watch, read, or listen to innocuous content, then comparing any measurable changes exhibited by individuals from the two groups. Pros- o Best method for establishing causality o Researcher control o Low cost o Easy to replicate Cons- o Artificial setting may affect a participant's behavior o Experimental bias
What defines mass communication?
Large scale distribution and reception process characterized by: • One-directional information flow • Impersonal source and anonymous receiver • Asymmetrical source-receiver association (organized powerful source)- message source usually an organization spending money to get their message out. • Market (i.e. economic) exchange relationship- relationship between the organization and the audience. Looks at their audience as a market in which there is something to be gained. • Standardized message content
Information theory
Media content as information. Communication is the intended transfer of information. Content should be judged by its efficiency in reducing uncertainty. Informative texts, pictures and narratives can be qualified to judge attractiveness.
Idealism
Media content influences society
Interdependence
Media content is influenced by society and society influences media content
Theories of media-society relations
Macro-theories, media institution theories, and audience theories- mainly concerned with: power, social integration, social change.
Four types of culture-society relationships
Materialism, idealism, interdependence, autonomy
Social effects of communication
Media effects at the societal level.
Technology influence on culture
Media logic Cultivation Global culture Postmodern culture
Order
Media should assist in the maintenance
Expectations
Media should be fair, accurate, and complete
Ownership
Media should be plurality
Rights
Media should respect the rights of individuals
Values
Media should support dominant values of society.
Commodification
Objects acquire an exchange value, instead of merely an intrinsic use value.
War of the Worlds
October 30th, 1938 !2 million people heard the broadcast, 2 million people panicked and thought it was real.
Benefits of models
Organize, explain, and predict.
Five categories central to media theory
Ownership, order, expectations, values, rights
Powerful media effects
People in the United States (including most social scientists) believed that mass media, especially electronic media such as film and radio, had incredible powers to influence their audiences. The immense power of media messages on unsuspecting audiences was described in colorful ways: Mass media supposedly fired messages like dangerous bullets, or shot messages like strong drugs pushed through hypodermic needles. Based off public opinion and propaganda.The media collectively, but in particularly the newer, illiterate media of radio and film, possessed extraordinary power to shape the beliefs and conduct of ordinary men and women. Lippman, Lasswell, Bruntz
Media system dependency model
Pg. 13 (Ball- Rokeach and Defleaur)Assumes that individuals in modern society become increasingly dependent upon mass media as a source of news and information. The level of the dependency relationship and the strength of the media effects hinge on the stability or instability of the society and the degree of societal importance placed upon mass media as an information source.
Samuel Stouffer
Pioneered empirical research and statistical methods for media research.
Characteristics of the modern mass media audience
The concept of audience is changing --Modern mass media audience is similar but differs in being --Larger --More dispersed --Individualized and privatized
Limited media effects
Rather than a society of fragmented individuals receiving all-powerful messages from mass media, the view shifted to one of a society of individuals who interacted within groups and thus limited the effects of media messages. Lazarsfeld, Hovland, Klapper
Effects of varying levels
Rather than viewing audiences as passive victims who could be manipulated by mass media messages, scholars soon realized that individual differences and environmental factors were important moderators in the process of mass media effects. Studies with theoretical bases in psychology and sociology found that audience members selectively attended to media messages, depending upon their predispositions, interests, attitudes, social category, and a number of other factors.
Longitudinal Research
Research observing outcomes at more than one point in time. Cohort study -Different samples -Observe at multiple time points Ex- Sesame St. study on readiness of kindergarteners. cons- time consuming, costly pro- long-term effects
Communication technology determinism
o Social change is a direct result of innovation in communication technology o The form, content or use of each new technology is biased ♣ Toward the manipulation of time or space o These bias influence social structure ♣ Ex- bias towards oral skills, visual skills, or different mental processes
Wilbur Schramm
Selective exposure, retention, and perception, social categories perspective. Mediating factors (what comes between media and audience effect) First to preform study of media effects.
Major perspectives of mass communication research
Social scientific and the culturalist perspectives
Autonomy
Society and media are independent from one another
Materialism
Society influences media content
Transactional models
The giving and receiving of something—in this case, information—in order to create meaning.
Magic bullet theory
The idea that human nature and isolation created similar reception and interpretation of media. Said that media strikes every eye and ear. Said media has a direct, immediate, powerful, and uniform effect on people. People have uniform instincts.
Functionalism
o Society is composed of interdependent institutions (including media) ♣ All respond and contribute to needs of society o Media contribute by: ♣ Promoting order, control, and stability ♣ Maintaining and transmitting culture, norms, and values ♣ Reducing tension by providing entertainment
Commercialization
The process or cycle of introducing a new product or production method to the public.
Kurt Lewin
oDynamics of group communication ♣"Sweetbreads study" •Made pregnant mothers eat sweetbreads
Lasswell's communication model
This model is defines communication as who said it, what was said, in what channel it was said, to whom it was said, and with what effect it was said. In what channel wasn't originally included.
Two categories of models
Those that describe various communication processes and those that explicate some kind of media effects.
Traditional content analysis
Two main frequencies: -Frequency of occurrence will express "meaning" -Link between the external object and reference will be clear
Triangulation
Use of multiple types of research methods to address questions of media effects.
Content analysis
Used to examine the presence, absence, or quantity of certain attributes of media messages that allegedly contribute to certain types of media impact. Purely descriptive- no evidence of media effects. Helps identify areas of interest/concern. Other methods can be used in conjunction to provide evidence.
Survey Research
Uses written questionnaires, telephone interviews, face-to-face interviews, or Web surveys to gauge (1) the type and extent of media exposure of an individual (e.g., number of hours the person watches violent television programs per week), and (2) the respondent's self-reported attitudes and tendencies toward antisocial or prosocial behaviors. Assess the measurable characteristics of a population, describes characteristics of that population, established associations between variables. Pros- o Generalizability o Good for description Cons- o Does not show causality o Poor data quality- self-report
Characteristic of normative theory
Value judgements concerning how media ought to operate.
Marxist theory
o 2 social classes have and have-nots -Middle/ ruling class controls media o Media and other social institutions operate in owner's interest o Media create a false consciousness among the working class o Middle/ruling class monopolize media to halt political opposition and preserve status quo- things are good for them so they don't want change
Four main types of audiences
o Audience as a group or public o Gratification set as audience o The medium audience o Audience as defined by content
Mass society theory
o Corresponds to the 'dominance' model of media power ♣ Media is controlled by small group of dominant elite ♣ Produce standardized content promoting own interests ♣ Strong influence on audience- idealism
Carl Hovland
o Effects of military training films- developing campaigns and messages to get the public to support the war efforts and to get young men to go out and kill people o Yale psychologist-attitudes and persuasion o Experimental research about media effects on attitude change ♣ First experiments in mass communication
Douglass Waples
o Famous definition of communication ♣ Who says what to whom by what channel with what effects" (Lasswell, 1948) ♣ Added "under what conditions" • Major focus of mass communication scholars over the last 50 years. • Looking for broad effects over all people under all conditions has been found unsuccessful
Harold Lasswell
o Five-question model ♣ Who says what, to who, through what channel, to what effect? o Content analysis, propaganda, Freudian analysis ♣ Introduced Freudian ideas to social psychology o Three functions mass communications should serve in society: ♣ Surveillance of the environment- to inform ♣ Correlate society's response to events in the environment- to guide ♣ Transmission of cultural heritage- to educate
Critical political-economic theory
o Media economics and technology concentrate ownership o One company making one popular thing everyone wants results in content and audiences being bought and sold ♣ Diversity of available information decreases ♣ Oppositional positions become marginalized o Public interest is subordinated to private interests
Modernization and development theory
o Media promotes modernization and development ♣ Particularly in the developing world o Media can disseminate- ♣ Skills and technical know-how ♣ Progressive work ethics ♣ Democracy
Mediation
o Media's role in providing knowledge o Once exclusively performed by schools, religion, and the family. o Mediation creates relationships with objects not directly known ♣ Provide versions of events not directly experiences ♣ Creates 'contact' with actors, politicians, and other not otherwise accessible ♣ Cultivates particular perceptions of people, places, and events
Information society theory
o New communication technology promotes social change characterized by ♣ An economy based on the production of information as commodity ♣ The prominence of information related occupations ♣ A greater volume of information flow ♣ Integration and convergence of activities (i.e. an information society)
Paul Lazarsfeld
oEffects of Radio o"opinion leaders" ♣Two-step flow model of media effect •The media effects people who are opinion leaders of different groups opinion leaders would pass on the messages they receive and how they passed it on would determine how strongly it would be received by their followers (individuals in social contact). oPolitical mass media effect on voter's attitudes and behavior- do attitudes change based on exposure to specific political messages- study was a failure but led to the two-step flow model
Bernard Berelson
• Five variables in generalization • There is evidence that: o Some communication o on some issues o on some people o under some conditions o have some effects
Trends leading to modern society
• New technologies • Persuasive Messages-Influence of propaganda campaigns • Public opinion- Large public opinion changes • Fright Reactions
Joseph Klapper
• Ordinarily, media are not a necessary or sufficient cause of change • Typically, mediating factors result in media being an agent of reinforcement rather than change • When media do cause change, two things are likely o Mediating factors are inoperative allowing a direct mass media effect -Mediating factors impel change
1920's mass society
• Social differentiation increases • Informal social controls weaken • Communication become more difficult • Media becomes important information sources
Albert Bandura
• Social learning theory • Social cognitive theory
