Journalism: Media Uses & Effect Exam 1

Front 1

Theory

Back 1

Statement of relationships among CONCEPTS which PREDICTS a phenomenon and gives an EXPLANATION.

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Three ways of knowing

Back 2

1. Empiricism (personal experience). 2. Authority (someone in a knowledgeable/powerful position tells you). 3. Science (empiricism + logical thought + systematic observation).

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Limitations of each way of knowing

Back 3

1. Empiricism: only tells you about yourself, can't say anything about anyone else. 2. Authority: You can't have blind faith in someone else. 3. Science: It's very general, and can only predict patterns, not specific situations. Also, it can only tell you what's happening, not what you should do (or shouldn't do) about it.

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Science is: (5 things)

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1. Public - it can be replicated. 2. Objective - it uses standardized methods to eliminate bias. 3. Cumulative - it builds on past knowledge and self corrects. 4. Predictive - it tests hypotheses. 5. Empirical - it is measurable and verified by observation.

Front 5

3 conditions for causality

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1. logical association between the variables. 2. time order - the cause comes before the effect. 3. all other variables have been ruled out as possibilities

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Statistical significance

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If there is a difference between the data, is it a REAL, MEANINGFUL difference? IF IT COULD HAVE OCCURRED BY CHANCE, it is NOT statistically significant.

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Types of Surveys

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1. Cross-sectional (only happens once). 2. Longitudinal (recurring over time).

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Types of Longitudinal Surveys

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1. Panel survey (same subjects surveyed again). 2. Trend survey (different subjects surveyed each time).

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Two types of samples

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1. Random sample - each subject has an equal chance of being selected. 2. Nonrandom sample - each subject does not have an equal chance of being selected.

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Hawthorne effect

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People behave differently when they're being observed. This is why we use a control group.

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Types of studies

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1. Content analysis (describes the nature of the content, but does NOT permit you to make an inference about the effects. Just a description). 2. Survey (can establish correlation between variables, but can NOT establish cause and effect). 3. Experiment (tries to gather data in a controlled setting in order to establish cause and effect).

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Random assignment

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Everyone has an equal chance of being in a treatment or a control group.

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Variable

Back 13

Something that can change, that we can measure in research.

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Correlation

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A statistical tool that describes a relationship between variables. Positive: as one increases, so does the other. Negative: as one increases, the other decreases. No correlation: no relationship between the variables.

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Population vs sample

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A population is everyone in a group. A sample is a smaller group we select from that population.

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Margin of error

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The difference between the response the survey got and the response from the population. The larger the sample size, the smaller it gets. The smaller the number, the more accurate the data.

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Types of questions + pros/cons

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1. Open-ended - "What do you watch on TV?" Pros: Range of answers, all possibilities. Cons: No standard set, difficult to interpret. 2. Close-ended - "On a scale of 1-10, how much do you like ___ genre of TV?" Pros: Uniform, easy to answer and interpret. Cons: you MUST make sure the categories include all possible answers.

Front 18

Replication and convergence

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Replication: the same result can be produced over and over again. Convergence: the same result can be produced with different methods.

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Epidemiological approach

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Experiments that you can't actually do in real life because it would cause harm. Example: a study on if smoking causes cancer.

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Meta-analysis

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Examines the statistics from a completed study and uses the data for a new summary.

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Causality

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One variables influences the existence of or change of another

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Independent vs dependent variable

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Independent variable: cause. Dependent variable: effect.

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Control group

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Gives you a baseline for your dependent variable, and controls for the Hawthorne effect.

Front 24

Two types of content

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1. Manifest content - what actually happens in the media. No interpretation requires. 2. Latent content - what is left unspoken, reading between the lines. Interpretation required.

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Six factors leading to social science research

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1. Industrialization (agriculture to manufactoring). 2. Increase in education. 3. Population growth. 4. Immigration. 5. Modernization. 6. Development of statistics.

Front 26

Mass Society Theory

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When people move from a decentralized society of different, small communities to a mass society, communication changes. Mass society has weaker social ties than smaller communities, meaning the people have similar values but less communication. This means that their similar values are disseminated through mass media, tools that big institutions and corporations use to influence average people and keep them adhering to particular values.

Front 27

Powerful effects model

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aka hypothermic needle model/magic bullet theory. Predicts that media messages will exert a powerful, uniform effect on everyone who processes them. Inaccurate/simplistic, but freaked everyone out at the time.

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Payne Fund studies (1929-1932)

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First study of mass media effects due to growing concern. Conducted by the Motion Picture Research Council, who were censorship advocates and had an agenda: they wanted evidence to support their desire to censor movies. They used content analysis, surveys, and interviews to see how movies effected children in particular. The problem is that people, especially children, often can't accurately say how the media is influencing them. This study increased concern amongst people that the media was having a powerful negative effect, and convinced people that the film industry should be held responsible.

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People's choice study

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Followed 600 people during the 1940 FDR vs Wilkie election. Surveyed them 7 times (panel survey), trying to determine why they voted how they did. Discovered that media was NOT a strong influence in changing attitudes. Rather than converting people, it just reinforced their idea that they were right. This led to the theory of SELECTIVE EXPOSURE.

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Selective exposure

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People only expose themselves to the type of media they know they're going to agree with, avoid what will challenge their opinions. This limits the potential effects of media by limiting the messages people are exposed to.

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Two-Step Flow Theory

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Rather than flowing straight from mass media to the average person, most people get their media from opinion leaders (ex: Katy Perry on Twitter). Therefore, media does not influence people directly. Opinion leaders are people who use media a lot, and are held in high esteem by friends and family. Usually considered an expert in a domain.

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World War II propaganda films

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In order to boost soldier's morale, Hollywood produced a series of propaganda films. However, this did not increase motivation due to the CEILING EFFECT: the level of motivation was already so high that the media could not possibly make it any higher. Hit a ceiling.

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War of the Worlds

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Nail in the coffin of mass society theory. War of the Worlds was a radio broadcast that pretended to interrupt music with fake news about an alien invasion. Some people thought this was real and had strong, scared reactions. By studying who freaked out, Princeton discovered that people who trusted the radio and panicked were a) less critical, b) less confident, c) less emotionally secure, and d) more religious. This showed that media could NOT have a uniform effect -- then everyone would have freaked out equally.

Front 34

Limited effects perspective

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Media has an influence, but it doesn't influence everybody in the same way. Influence changes based on a) the media, b) the message, c) the individual, and d) the community.

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Diffusion of innovation

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The theory that people will adopt new things in a general pattern: an S-curve. Different people will adopt these new things at different rates.

Front 36

Iowa Hybrid Corn Seed Study

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A hybrid seed was invented in 1928 that made corn crops better by preventing drought and increasing yield. Despite this, farmers were slow to adopt to it. It took until 1941 for almost all farmers to be using this seed.

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Everett Rodgers

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The guy behind the corn seed study. Went to Iowa State University, his dad was a farmer who didn't want to use the seed. Rodgers wondered why he would refuse when the seed was better, especially since his father was very open to new kinds of machinery. This led him to write the book, "The Diffusions of Innovation"

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What is diffusion influenced by? (4 things)

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1. Attributes of the innovation. 2. Self efficacy (do you think you'll be capable of using it?). 3. Status considerations. 4. Personal values/beliefs.

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5 stages of adoption

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1. Knowledge. 2. Persuasion. 3. Decision. 4. Implementation. 5. Confirmation.

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Adopter categories

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Forms a normal curve. 1. Innovators (2.5%). 2. Early adopters (13.5%). 3. Early majority (34%). 4. Late majority (34%). 5. Laggards (16%)