MASS MEDIA EFFECTS
Marxist view of transmission of ideology assumes attitudes and behaviour are influenced. Alternative views say that there's influence but the result is dependent on the characteristics of the audience.
THE HYPODERMIC SYRINGE MODEL
The audience is a sponge. This was a popular view in the '30's, when the media was often controlled by dictators.
Evaluation
This is argued more by psychologists than sociologists. It's accepted by some Marxists, right wing and religious groups who fear moral corruption.
USE AND GRATIFICATION APPROACHES
Pluralist critical view of hypodermic approach. Individuals choose input according to their existing attitude, so it reinforces. Effects limited by:
- Selective exposure, choosing what fits existing views.
- Selective perception, interpreting messages by existing views.
- Selective retention, remember and repeat what are existing views... but where did the existing views come from????
- Katz and Lazarfeld proposed a two-step flow model where the media influenced opinion leaders rather than the public directly.
Evaluation
Possibly overstates choice and understates exposure. Research was based on short term effects. Morley updated by examining the effects of national tv news. He said that social characteristics of the audience, eg. occupation and ethnicity, influenced the effects that news programmes had on audiences. But he agreed that watching the news had helped 'construct the nation'.
The Cultural Effects Approach
- Argues that the media has long-term effects on people. Research from the GUMG (Glasgow University Media Group). The effects were believing what was seen at a particular time, and also setting an agenda of what was newsworthy and how we should view issues.
- Studied by Hartman and Husband, who said that the media provided 'a framework for thinking about issues', rather than making attitudes and opinions. Their study concluded that negative stories about race were newsworthy because of the prevailing culture and of the UK's imperialist past.
- Schoolchildren saw immigration rates as high and threatening. Those living in places with few immigrants derived their option from the media and saw riots as a problem. Those is high-immigrant areas relied less on the media and thought housing and jobs were more problematic that violence.
MEASURING MEDIA EFFECTS
Reliability of research limited by strengths and weaknesses of methods used to study media effects.
Social psychologists have made experiments showing a link between violent films and aggression, though not real-life violence.
Short term effect studies have presented messages to people and then surveyed effects on attitudes and behaviours. Belson showed violent behaviour with watching violence on tv without showing a causal relationship. He questioned boys about viewing habits and violent behaviour.
Sociologists have used 'content analysis' to measure, both qualitative and quantitative, the content or message of the mass media. Studies and perspectives and be countered and the language analysed. This type of research can have the bias of the researcher in it.
Extra Information
Challenge the view that the media have any effects on us, as well as considering the influence of different audiences.