CHAPTER 3RESEARCH AND THEORY

Effects of Mass Media

Basics of Research and Theory Research often looks at questions and the

answers to those questions are turned into theories

American research begins in the 1920s Most media research is quantitative

Content analysis/violent acts/drugs used Questions about consumption/volume

Arbitron Nielsen

More Questions about impact/make you violent

Developmental view Slow and steady accumulation of knowledge Self-correcting

Legacy of Fear Do mass communications present false

images of the world to the public? Do the American media promote

unacceptable behavior among children? Can mass media shape our attitudes,

beliefs, or behaviors? Are mass communications dominating

the political process and limiting intelligent decision making?

Magic Bullet Theory Immediate, direct and uniform effects on

everyone who received a media message Darwin/evolution Uniform inherited instincts Basic biology would say all humans will

respond to stimuli in the same way

Payne Fund Studies Motion Picture Research Council 1920s 40 million minors in a year including

almost half under 14 went to the movies weekly

This is the first large scale attempt to measure effects of a major medium

13 reports published in the 1930s Confirmed critics charges and parental

fears Established important questions STILL

being pursued

Two of the Reports Blumer says movies are source of

imitation, unintentional learning and emotional influence

Peterson/Thurstone say seeing movies changes children’s attitudes

Both were and can be shown to be invalid due to improper almost unethical research methods

Research SHOULD … Have a random sample Be valid—measures what it claims to

measure Be reliable—if repeated using the same

techniques it would yield similar results Be unbiased Use both control and experimental

groups Experimental groups each element can be

controlled and evaluated individually Control groups allow elements to occur

naturally

H.G. WELLSWar of the Worlds

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTvU9j3og5k