Comm chapter 3

Media Research - Systematic and scientific investigation of communication processes and effects

Media Research methodology - How research is carried out, either quantitatively or qualitatively 

Media theories - Tool to help media professionals predict or explain phenomena and help us understand world 

19^th-20^th-century Europe and US - Dramatic societal and political changes from industrialization provide backdrop for early theorizing on mass communication 

Notion of “the masses:” - Elites rationale for why they should continue to rule 

 Transmission models - Shannon and Weaver mathematical theory of communication (1948) and Schramm’s Simplified communication model (1954) 

Schramm’s Simplified communication Model(1954) - Includes a source who encodes a message, or signal, which is transmitted (via media or directly via interpersonal communication) to a receiver who decodes it 

Critical Theory - Influenced by Marxist notion of ideology, exploitation, capitalism, and the economy  

Media-Effects Research - Media effects are a dominant concern in research that influences movie ratings, TV regulations, and advertising 

Propaganda - Regular dissemination of belief, doctrine, cause, or information with intent to mold public opinion 

Hypodermic-needle model - A model of media effects, also called the “magic bullet,” that claims media messages have profound, direct, and uniform impact on the public 

Payne Fund studies (1928-1933) - Concluded that some film would influence children differently depending on their backgrounds and characteristics. Contrary to original assumptions about largely negative effects, Payne Fun research revealed that children could learn some positive lessons from film and that information retentions were a function of grade in school

Radio’s wider impact - Orson Welles’s War of the Worlds broadcast (1938) 

Bobo doll studies - 1950s media-effects experiments showed children who watched TV episodes that rewarded a violent person were more likely to punch a Bobo doll than children who saw episodes that punished a violent person 

Third-person effect - We tend to overestimate how vulnerable or how impacted other people are and tend to ignore how impacted we are 

Criticisms of Research - Direct-effects research discredited, yet televisions, movies, internet, and video games still blamed for violent or antisocial actions. Believing that audience has no will of its own problematic/ Measuring media exposure difficult. Separating intertwined social, cultural, psychological, and other factors to identify clear cause-and-effect explanations difficult. Examining the wrong dimension of the communications process is possible 

Audiences creating meanings likes - Uses and gratifications, Encoding/decoding, and Reception analysis 

Framing - Particular communication of a message that influences our perception of it  

Cultural Studies - Marked by a broad range of research interests, cultural studies seek to improve culture rather than just describe it 

Sociohistorical Frameworks - Information society, Political economy, Media ecology 

Media Ecology - Media environment. Shape the ways we make sense of the world 

Agenda setting - Mass media can control the conversations we have  

Reading Research - Have to look at basics (title and author), Foundations (Theories/Research questions), Methodology (Sample vs. census), Method (Qualitative vs. quantitative) and Results (Findings and discussions)