Dr. Tracy Everbach

Methods course

We will be discussing ways to

study the media

Patterns in the media

Stereotypes

Influence of media on

audiences

Study media content, processes,

effects on audiences.

Both quantitative and

qualitative

Measurement or rich description

Both can be employed to show a

full picture

Define what you are studying

Research question or

hypothesis

Decide how it will be

measured or described

Choose your method

Content analysis: qualitative and quantitative

Surveys/questionnaires

Textual analysis

Historical analysis

Ethnography (field research)

In-depth Interviews

Participant observation

Schemas are “organized knowledge … abstracted from prior experiences” used to process new info and to retrieve stored info (Graber, 1988)

Related is stereotyping” “An ordered, more or less consistent picture of the world, to which our habits, our tastes, our comforts and our hopes have adjusted themselves. They may not be a complete picture of the world, but they are a picture of a possible world to which we are adapted.” (Walter Lippmann in “Public Opinion.”)

Norms

People are dependent on others for guidance

Social identity, social affiliation

Opinion leaders, source credibility, and personal influence

Long-held theory which

states that media don’t

tell people what to think,

but rather, tell people

what to think about.

(McCombs and Shaw, 1972)

Effects are limited (Klapper, 1960)

Media are part of influence, which includes selective processes, group processes/norms, opinion leadership

Cultivation theory (Gerbner, 1980)

“The television set has become a key member of the family, the one who tells most of the stories most of the time.”

George Gerbner and other

researchers postulated that heavy

exposure to cultural products

(media) affects a person’s concept

of reality.

Social learning theory (Bandura) says

that people model behavior that

they see in others or from

television/film.

Absence in the media of certain groups,

which leads to their marginalization in

society. Lack of coverage and

representation in media symbolically

dismisses these groups as important.

Usually refers to minorities, women,

disabled people, gay, lesbian, bisexual

and transgendered people, people of

different religions and cultural groups.

(Tuchman, 1978)

The latest and greatest in

communication theory

Understands media from viewpoint

of audience, rather than from power

of media or communicator

What do people do with media?

Audience is active, and media

compete with other sources of need

satisfaction