Chapter 2 - Theoretical Issues in Media Research

THEORETICAL ISSUES IN
MEDIA RESEARCH
CHAPTER 2
EARLY APPROACHES TO MEDIA
• The implications of the outbreak of hysteria induced by

dramatized H.G. Wells -- Orson Welles; War of the World (1938)
complete with realistic news bulletin, broadcasted on
American radio.
• Authors are disturbed by the prospect of radio becoming potential vehicle

for propaganda.
• A popular metaphor : the psychological effects of media was the

‘hypodermic needle’ which likened the effects of propaganda to an
injection of ideological bias.
• Rather in the manner ‘brain-washing’ an expression still widely used to refer

to the apparently hypnotic effect of media.
MCLUHAN AND POSTMODERNISM
Marshall McLuhan issued his famous statement

• Each new medium, he argued, forced a radical

reassessment of what media were and affected
social change accordingly
• McLuhan seen the television itself-also has
turned the world into a ‘global village’
• He chose the insightful phrase

"global village" to highlight his
observation that an electronic
nervous system (the media) was
rapidly integrating the planet
-- events in one part of the world
could be experienced from
other parts in real-time, which is
what human experience was
like when we lived in small
villages.
“The medium is the message”

•The fact that we use a particular medium is what
matters – far more than specific content the
medium carries.
•What is important is that we are watching TV (or
using the Internet) not what shows (or Web sites)
we’re seeing
“The global village”

•Our bodies are ‘technologically extended to
involve us in the whole of mankind .
•The medium literally connects us, erasing barriers
of time and space
Postmodernism (a political theories of

McLuhan’s)
A problematic term because it is used to
describe;
-a historical period and artistic phase of
development
-A theoretical position; one can be a
postmodernist thinker or artist but this does not
necessarily mean that one is living through a
postmodern age
In artistic term
-Postmodernism usually refers to a break with
tradition characterized by the collapse of the
former standard of values.
In psychology term
-Postmodernism has been invoked in order to
challenge traditional scientific methodologies
and theories and to urge a more eclectic
approach.
DEVELOPMENT IN MEDIA RESEARCH
• There is some evidence that the two traditions

(North America vs Europe) have begun to
converge;
1. Positivist science had found some of the

postmodern and cultural studies research hard to
ignore
2. Whereas on the cultural studies side, there are
increasing attempts to reevaluate some of the
experimental work
DEVELOPMENT IN MEDIA RESEARCH
i) THE EFFECTS TRADITION

ii) CULTIVATION RESEARCH
iii) USES AND GRATIFICATIONS RESEARCH
iv) THE ACTIVE AUDIENCE
I) THE EFFECTS TRADITION
• The media effects tradition had the greatest impact

of all media research on public life in the last 50
years.
• The earliest studies of the psychology of media were

driven by the concerns of the time (e.g: the effects
of radio advertising and propaganda)
• 1960s-1970s, media effects research began to take

off with numerous laboratory-based studies
measuring short-term responses to media stimuli
I) THE EFFECTS TRADITION
• Behaviourism is at its most persuasive when

children are concerned
• The most popular behaviourist media

research was carried out by Albert Bandura
(1960s)
• In a series of studies, children were exposed to
some violent behaviour towards Bobo doll.
II) CULTIVATION RESEARCH
• 1960, Joseph Klapper diverted from behaviouristic

effects approach toward a more contextual approach.
• Preferred to talk of media influence rather than effects;

seeing media as one element of a complex system of
environmental and cultural factors.
• Media is identified as key element in cultural socialization

because it shaped our understanding of the world--
cultivation theory or cultivation analysis.
II) CULTIVATION RESEARCH
• Two keys ideas in cultivation theory are;

III) USES AND GRATIFICATIONS RESEARCH
• Focus on individual differences among viewers

• In this approach,
• the viewer is in control -- rather than studying the person as
a passive recipient of effects,
• look at the motives for using media and the needs that
media use gratifies.
• It does ask the question “What do people to with

media”? and assumes that
1. People do consciously choose media to satisfy

needs
2. People can talk about those needs and
satisfactions gained
• Katz, Blumler and Gurevitch identified five (5)

assumptions of Uses & Gratifications research;
1. Media use is goal directed and purposive

2. Media is used to gratify wants and needs
3. Effects need to be studied through a filter of personality
and environmental factors
4. There is competition between media use and other forms
of communication
5. Most of the time, the user is in control.
• The Uses and Gratifications approach has spawned
a number interesting approaches
IV) THE ACTIVE AUDIENCE
• U&G research approach has been criticized for working

at the level of the individual rather than on social and
cultural context of media use.
In media studies;
• The preferred term is audiences.
• At the same time, there is much more interest in actual
media content.
• The focus is on texts, which have been examined in
isolation for the cultural representations that they contain
IV) THE ACTIVE AUDIENCE
• Three (3) ways in which audiences could decode

media messages; (Stuart Hall’s model 1970s)
(i) Dominant code: by which viewers select the

preferred reading intended by the producers
(ii) Negotiated code: by which audiences modify the
message, perhaps on the basis of personal
experience
(iii) Oppositional code: by which the message is treated
with deep suspicion as biased establishment
propaganda

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THEORETICAL ISSUES IN

• The implications of the outbreak of hysteria induced by

• Authors are disturbed by the prospect of radio becoming potential vehicle

• A popular metaphor : the psychological effects of media was the

• Rather in the manner ‘brain-washing’ an expression still widely used to refer

Marshall McLuhan issued his famous statement

• Each new medium, he argued, forced a radical

• He chose the insightful phrase

“The medium is the message”

“The global village”

Postmodernism (a political theories of

• There is some evidence that the two traditions

1. Positivist science had found some of the

i) THE EFFECTS TRADITION

• The media effects tradition had the greatest impact

• The earliest studies of the psychology of media were

• 1960s-1970s, media effects research began to take

• Behaviourism is at its most persuasive when

• The most popular behaviourist media

• 1960, Joseph Klapper diverted from behaviouristic

• Preferred to talk of media influence rather than effects;

• Media is identified as key element in cultural socialization

• Two keys ideas in cultivation theory are;

• Focus on individual differences among viewers

• It does ask the question “What do people to with

1. People do consciously choose media to satisfy

• Katz, Blumler and Gurevitch identified five (5)

1. Media use is goal directed and purposive

• U&G research approach has been criticized for working

• Three (3) ways in which audiences could decode

(i) Dominant code: by which viewers select the

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