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Chapter 2 Chapter Outline • History • Theory and Research • Controversies MEDIA IMPACT: Understanding Research and Effects
Chapter 2
Chapter Outline• History• Theory and Research• Controversies
MEDIA IMPACT:
Understanding Research and Effects
A Brief History of Media Research
Early Fears•15th Century church leaders•WWI propaganda
A Brief History of Media Research
Payne Fund Studies• Modeling• Content analyses• Laboratory experiment• Survey methods• 1930 Motion Picture Production code
A Brief History of Media Research
The People’s Choice Study
A Brief History of Media Research
The People’s Choice Study• Random sampling• Selective exposure• Selective perception• Selective retention• Opinion leaders (mavens)• Two-step flow of information
A Brief History of Media Research
•American Soldier studies•Applied Research conducted
by industry
A Brief History of Media Research
Studies into the Effects of Television•Television in the Lives of
Our Children•Wilbur Schramm (Stanford
University): from ages three through 16 children are likely to devote more time to television than to any other activity except sleep
A Brief History of Media Research
• Daily TV viewing will fall to 4 hours and 31 minutes this year, down from 4 hours and 38 minutes in 2012.
• Digital media, meanwhile, is expected to consume more of Americans' time than ever with a daily intake of 5 hours and 9 minutes, up from 4 hours and 31 minutes last year.
• Print and radio will see slight declines as well. eMarketer predicts radio time will drop to 1 hour and 26 minutes from 1 hour and 32 minutes, while print is forecast to further tumble to 32 minutes from 38 minutes in 2012.
• Overall, the amount of time people are spending with media is increasing with more multitasking across devices. Total media time is predicted to make up 11 hours and 52 minutes per day this year, an increase from 11 hours and 39 minutes in 2012.
2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved
A Brief History of Media Research
• Cultural studies depend on careful observations of, and thinking about, media and society.•Marshall McLuhan: the medium is
the message•Technological determinism•global village, in which
information about people of different cultures become as meaningful to media consumers as things happening in their own neighborhoods.
•Society-making media•Segment-making media
A Brief History of Media Research
Understanding Today’s Theory and Research
• Theory• Powerful-effects model• Minimal-effects model• Mixed-effects model
Understanding Today’s Theory and Research
Flow Theories
Understanding Today’s Theory and Research
Media Effects: Social Science Perspectives
Theories of the social science perspective have developed from research featuring controlled laboratory experiments and content analyses.
Understanding Today’s Theory and Research
Diffusion of innovations theory five types of people have different levels of willingness to accept new ideas from the media:1. Innovators tend to be politically liberal
extroverts who are venturesome and eager to try new ideas.
2. Early adopters make quick but informed choices.
3. Early majority makes careful, deliberate decisions.
4. Late majority tends to be skeptical.5. Laggards tend to be conservative,
traditional and resistant to any type of change.
Understanding Today’s Theory and Research
• Cultural Studies• The role that media play in changing
entire societies is difficult to measure.•media ecology•Gender studies•Political-economic analysis
Controversies in Media Impact
• Research vs. “Common Sense”• Limitations of research confuse
conventional wisdom.Causation and correlation
•Correlation only proves that two things occurred at the same time, not that one thing caused the other.
Chapter 2
Chapter Outline• History• Theory and Research• Controversies
MEDIA IMPACT:
Understanding Research and Effects
