AQA A Level sociology

Topic essaysThe Media

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AQA A Level Sociology topic essays: the media

ITEM N: MASS MEDIA INFLUENCE ON AUDIENCE  Some sociologists feel that members of society are directly influenced by what they see in the media. This makes the media a powerful socialising institution. Others point out that individuals are affected in different ways by the media, and can make choices about which outlets influence them. 

 Applying material from ITEM N and your knowledge, evaluate the view that the mass media has a direct influence on its audiences. (20 marks)  Sociologistshaveopposingviewsabouttheextenttowhichthemassmediainfluencesitsaudiencemembers.Someviewtheaudienceasverypassiveandthereforehighlysusceptibletothemediamessagesthataretransmitted,whereasothersseetheaudienceasanintelligentdecoderofmediamessagesandpointoutthatthe“audience”isnotahomogeneousgroup(ITEMN);thereforethewayinwhichweareindividuallyinfluencedbythemassmediawillvaryhugely.Sociologistswhobelievethatthemassmediahasadirectinfluenceonitsaudienceoftensubscribetothehypodermicsyringemodelofsociety.Thisregardstheaudienceasapassivegroupofindividualswhoarehighlysusceptibletotheinfluencesseeninthemassmedia.Thesesociologistswouldpointtothehugeinvestmentsintheadvertisingindustryandthefactthatsomecompanies,likeGoogle,areabletoofferoutstandingservicestotheirusersforfreeinsteadtheygeneratetheircapitalfromadvertisingrevenue.Theprofitabilityofadvertisingasanindustryisclearevidenceoftheinfluenceofthemassmediauponitsaudience;ifitdidnotinfluencetheirbehaviouradvertisingwouldnotbethehugeindustrythatitnowis.Thissuggeststhatthemassmediadoeshaveadirectinfluenceonitsaudience.However,Pluralistsmightcriticisethisview.Theyarguethatthemassmediahastoservetheinterestsofitsaudiencesandnotthemediaownersastheyrelyontheiraudiencestomakeaprofit.Therefore,thecontentofthemassmediacannotsimplybeusedasanideologicaltoolbytherulingeliteasMarxistsociologistsmightargue(accordingtoITEMN);instead,itmustappealtotheusesandgratificationsofaudiences(McQuail).Advertising,therefore,doesnothaveadirectinfluenceonanaudienceassuch;itdoesnotmanipulatethemintopurchasingproducts.Rather,theconsumerindustrymustmakeproductswhichappealtothewantsandneedsofitsaudience.Thissuggeststhatthemassmediadoesnothavesuchadirectinfluenceonitsaudience.However,thereareothersociologistssuchasHegemonicMarxistswhowouldarguethatthemassmediadoeshavea

Theintroductionoutlinesthedebateandmakesreferencetotheitem.Referenceismadetotheoreticalexplanationsandexamplesaregiventosupportpoints,thoughthesecouldbemoredeveloped.Therearelinksbacktotheoriginalquestion–thoughsupportingsociologicalevidencecouldbeadded.Evaluativeparagraphwhichusessociologicaltheoryandappliesitappropriately.Thereisreferencetotheitemandthishasbeenbuiltuponandevaluatedusingsociologicalevidence.Linksaremadetothequestion.Furtherevaluationusingtheoryandkeyconcepts

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directinfluenceonitsaudience;thatitisatoolusedbytherulingelitetotransmitcapitalistnormsandvalues.Thesuccessofconsumersocietyandthewayinwhichclassstructurescontinuetoexistclearlyshowtheinfluenceofthemassmediaonitsaudience:incapitalismhasbeennormalisedandtheproletarianrevolutionpreventedbytheperpetuationofamythofmeritocracydespiteinequalitiesinpower.Marxistsalsoarguethatthemassmediahasadirectinfluenceonaudiencemembersthroughthenegativestereotypesofethnicminoritiesitperpetuates:usinga“divideandrule”strategytocontroltheworkingclassesbyscapegoatingethnicminoritiesforsocialproblems;therebydeflectingattentionfromtheexploitationexperiencedbytheworkingclassesatthehandsoftherulingelite.Thisshowsthatthemassmediadoeshaveadirectinfluenceontheaudienceasitperformsthefunctionofideologicalcontrol.However,therearealternativeargumentswhichsuggestthatthemassmediadoesnothaveadirectinfluenceonbehaviour,butratherthisinfluenceundergoesaprocessknownas“two‐stepflow”.Sociologistswouldarguethatthemassmedia’smessagesareinternalisedbypowerfulsocialfigures,knownasopinionleaders,whoarehighlymedialiterate.Itistheirinterpretationofthemassmediathatplaysthebiggestpartintransmittingmediamessagestotheaudience.Forexample,celebritiessuchasBeyoncéhaveinternalisedthemediamessagessurroundingpoliticalissuessuchas“BlackLivesMatter”andthesehavebeendisseminatedtoherfanbaseusingsocialmediaandherownmusicalperformances.Thismeansthemessagesmaybesomewhatbiasedtowardsherowninterpretation,buttheyarestillgenerallyreflectiveoftheviewsexpressedinthemassmedia.Thissuggeststhattheinfluenceofthemassmediaisnotnecessarilydirect,butitisstillsignificant.Itisdifficulttodenytheinfluenceofthemassmediainincitingviolentbehaviouramongstvulnerableindividualsinsocietyhowever.Bandura’sstudyofaggressionforexampleofferedclearevidenceoftheinfluenceofmediaviolenceonthepropensityofviolenceinchildren.Therehavebeennumerousinstancesofvulnerableindividualswitnessingactsofviolenceinthemediaandthenre‐enactingthem:forexample,thetragicmurderofthetoddlerJamieBulgerormorerecentlywhereIslamicterroristshavebeenradicalisedbytheviolentcontenttheyhaveaccessedonline.Thissuggeststhatthemassmediadoeshaveadirectinfluenceonitsaudience.However,criticswouldarguethattheseclaimscanbeappliedonlytoasmallnumberofindividualsandthatthevastmajorityofthepopulationarenotdirectlyinfluenced

effectivelywhichdemonstratesA02andA03.Analysishereiswelldevelopedandislinkedbacktotheoriginalquestion.Anotherevaluativeparagraphwhichintroducesnewsociologicaltheoriesandofferscontemporaryexamplestosupportpoints.Linksaremadebacktothequestion.AppropriateapplicationofexamplesandstudieswhichshowsA01andA02skills,withsomeevaluationlaterintheparagraphasevidenceofA03–thoughattimestheissuesaredealtwithonlybriefly.Moreexplicitlinksbacktothequestioncouldbeaddedhere.

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AQA A Level Sociology topic essays: the media

bythemediaastheydonotcommitcopycatcrimesortheviolencethattheysee.Infact,manywouldarguethatviewingabuseordevianceinthemediacanactuallyhaveacatharticeffectwhichisbeneficialforthesocialorder,oralternativelycansensitiseustowardsviolenceandaggressionwhichcanmakeusmorecompassionateasasociety.Basedontheevidence,sociologistswouldagreethataudiencesareinfluencedbythemassmedia;butthereisstillsomedebateabouthowdirectthatinfluenceisandwhetheritisfeltinthesamewaybyallaudiencemembers.[~900words]

Aclearconclusionwhichreferencesthedebateinthequestion.Afurthersentenceortwolinkingawiderrangeofas‐yetunmentioneddebatescanprovideafruitfulandthought‐provokingconclusion.

 ExaminerStyleComments: MarkBand4:17‐20Thisessaywouldfallcomfortablywithinthetopmarkband,althoughthislevelcouldbeachievedinslightlyfewerwords.Breadthofknowledgewasimpressivehere,andthecandidateroutinelyappliedthisbacktotheitemorquestionattheendofeachparagraph.Therewasgooduseofcontemporaryexamplesandsociologicaltheories.Awisetacticistoscrutiniseboththequestionandtheitemfor‘hooks’.Theseincludedescriptionsofconcepts,contentiousissuesandphrasesaroundwhichtoframeyourdebates.Thisquestionincludesthehooks‘direct’(whichimpliesthepossibilityofindirectinfluence)and‘audiences’(asopposedtoonehomogeneous‘audience’).Theanswersuccessfullyaddressesthese,aswellasanothereasy‐to‐overlookitem‐basedhookabout‘socialisinginstitution(s)’.ByselectingandapplyingHegemonicMarxismtothishook,thecandidateincreasestheirchancesofenteringthetopmarkband.Itwasalsopleasingtoseethecandidateapplymateriallearnedfromacrossthetopic,byusingtheportrayalofethnicminoritiesasatimelyexampleofHegemonicMarxism.Impressively,theyreturnedtothisthemeinthesubsequentparagraphwiththecontemporaryexampleofthe‘BlackLivesMatter’movement.Thisisagreatexampleofhowcandidateshavethefreedomtodirectpartoftheiressaytowardsanyrelatedsourceoflivelysociologicaldebate,aslongasthisisfullyandclearlyappliedtothequestion.ThisanswerdemonstratesA03(AnalysisandEvaluation)bycomparingtwoopposingapproachestomediainfluence.Therewereoccasionswhenitwouldhavebeenusefultohavemovedonfromsimplyjuxtaposingthesetwoalternatives,i.e.parkingthemnexttoeachother,sotospeak.Somewaysofdoingthisincludeevaluatingstrengthsandweaknessesofeachapproachattheendofaparagraph,analysingsomesimilaritiesanddifferencesbetweenthem,andconcludingbyjudgingonetobemorerelevantforunderstandingcontemporarysociety.     

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Checklist Specification Content

New media The new media and their significance for an understanding of the role of the media in contemporary society.

Ownership and control

The relationship between ownership and control of the media.

Globalisation and popular culture

The media, globalisation and popular culture.

Selection and presentation

The processes of selection and presentation of the content of the news.

Representation Media representations of age, social class, ethnicity, gender, sexuality and disability.

Audiences The relationship between the media, their content and presentation, and audiences.

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AQA A Level Sociology topic essays: the media

1) Applying material from ITEM N and your knowledge, evaluate the view that the mass media has a direct influence on its audiences. (20 marks)

2) Applying material from ITEM N and your knowledge, evaluate the view that the mass media encourages negative gender stereotypes. (20 marks)

3) Applying material from ITEM N and your knowledge, evaluate the view that the power of the mass media is concentrated in the hands of a few. (20 marks)

4) Applying material from ITEM N and your knowledge, evaluate the view that the mass media is ruled by the audience. (20 marks)

5) Applying material from ITEM N and your knowledge, evaluate the view that the mass media is a beneficial institution for society. (20 marks)

6) Applying material from ITEM N and your knowledge, evaluate the view that the mass media is responsible for creating moral panics around particular ethnic groups in society. (20 marks)

7) Applying material from ITEM N and your knowledge, evaluate the view that new media technologies have had a beneficial impact on society. (20 marks)

8) Applying material from ITEM N and your knowledge, evaluate the view that what appears in the news is an accurate reflection of social reality. (20 marks)

9) Applying material from ITEM N and your knowledge, evaluate the view that the mass media offers a negative portrayal of the lower social classes. (20 marks)

10) Applying material from ITEM N and your knowledge, evaluate the view that globalisation of the mass media has had a positive impact on society. (20 marks)

The Media Essays

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