comm 350 exam 2

spiral of science thesis

people who feel they hold the minority opinion of a controversial morals-based issue will be less willing to speak out about that issue for fear of social isolation

what is on the list of gauge the opinion climate

• death penalty

• abortion

• legalization of marijuana

• legalization of all drugs

• gun control/2nd amendment rings

• drinking on college campuses

people are more willing to speak out if

their opinion is (or will be soon) the majority opinion

what is the quasi-statistical organ?

awareness of opinion climate - innate sixth sense that helps determine prevailing public opinion

what “feeds” the quasi-statistical organ?

• observing (through mass media: mirror or molder?)

• assessing distribution of opinion

• evaluating strength, urgency, chances of success

what are the major components of spiral of silence theory?

• fear of social isolation

• perception of opinion climate (quasi-statistical organ)

• willingness to communicate

• hypothetical situation (plane test)

who are the avant-garde?

writers, intellectuals, revolutionaries, those who have the power and the following to try and chance public opinion

who are the “hardcore”?

those unafraid of isolation (might already be isolated from society), will not conform no matter how unpopular their views are, prefer their own way of life, maybe pride in being an outsider

what did noelle-neumann say were the 3 functions of the mass media?

1. agenda setting - tell people what to think about

2. legitimation - tell us if our opinions are the appropriate ones

3. articulation - teach us how to argue our position

does the amount of media use matter with spiral of silence

no, because media is ubiquitous, consonant, and accumulative (opposite of gerbner’s cultivation theory)

according to noelle-neumann, humans are afraid of what?

social isolation

how does fear affect one’s willingness to speak out?

people are less and less likely to speak out if fearful, eventually leading to silence

what was noelle-neumann’s view of TV as a source of info for society?

• TV tells us the “important” stories (agenda-setting)

• TV tells us dominant public opinion and whether ours is popular or not (legitimation)

• TV gives us tools on how to argue our beliefs, especially if we’re in the majority (articulation)

why did noelle-neumann focus the “spiral” only on controversial and moral-based issues?

if we think our opinion is unpopular on hot topics, we won’t share what we really think, a lot of our beliefs were instilled in us at a young age and are generally issues we base our vote on

what was the train/plane test noelle-neumann used to test the “spiral”?

hypothetical test- we’re not likely to share a controversial belief with our neighbor on a plane, especially if they have a different opinion

what question did noelle-neumann believe was the best for gauging public opinion?

who do you think will win the election?

why are the avant-garde and hardcore groups important to the studies of the spiral of silence?

they will always speak out

we’re not afraid of being wrong, but of being:

ostracized- having people not want to associate themselves with us because of our opinion- we’re afraid of isolation from people we value

what new variables did lasorsa want to explore, past the demographic variables noelle-neumann studied?

certitude, obstructiveness, self-efficacy

certitude

perception of correctness (certain i’m right)

obtrusiveness

how personal is the issue to you?

self-efficacy

confidence one can actually make a change in the world

news media exposure

passive/peripheral- just turning on the news while i do other things

news media attention

active/focused/central, paying close attention to the news- watching and researching beyond that

which of the variables lasorsa studied influenced political outspokenness?

certitude and self-efficacy- people willing to speak out even if the issue doesn’t directly impact them (not obtrusiveness)

why are young people more likely to speak out?

idealistic, feel they can make a change

what did lasorsa find that influenced outspokenness?

certitude

also political interest (attention), self-efficacy, and all the demographic categories

the original focus of the agenda setting theory was that media doesn’t tell people what to think, it tells them what instead?

what issues are important/salient - what to think about

does miller say media influence is more or less direct with agenda setting theory

less

what are the three types of agendas of the “broad scope” of agenda setting?

media agenda, public agenda, and policy agenda

media agenda

topics addressed by news media

public agenda

topics that people find important

policy agenda

issues decision-makers (politicians) find particularly important, sometimes discuss behind closed doors

which two agendas correlate well and help form the more “narrow scope” of agenda setting?

media agenda and public agenda

news media leads the public in assigning relative importance to various public issues

first level of agenda setting

media has a great influence on importance of issues on public agenda

second level of agenda setting

perhaps media does influence how public should think about an issue (helps form opinions)

contingency factors to agenda setting

• need for orientation

• issue obtrusiveness

• priming

need for orientation

high interest plus high uncertainty- we seek out more media

issue obtrusiveness

how directly impacted we are, less likely to seek media sources on issues impacting us

obtrusiveness: more direct exposure to issue

unobtrusiveness; little to no direct exposure to issue

priming

the effects of a prior context on the later retrieval of information

labeling a political candidate as a “dark horse” candidate or “runaway favorite”

how do “need for orientation” and “issue obtrusiveness” play a role in the strength of agenda setting for a particular audience?

in how active we are in seeking out media

what is framing?

the media emphasizes some aspect of reality and downplays other aspects to push an agenda

how does framing help define the second level of agenda setting?

media does influence how public should think about an issue by emphasizing a specific aspect of the story to push an agenda

how did mccombs and shaw research what became agenda setting theory?

• content analysis of newspapers, news magazines, and evening news broadcasts

• interviews with 100 registered undecided voters in chapel hill NC- questions dealing with important issues around the presidential election (1968)

• looked for correlations between frequencies of salient topics suggested by interviewees