Media Effects and Cultural Approaches to Research



Media & Culture

Mass Communication in a Digital Age, 9th Edition,

Bedford/St. Martin's. 2014

             How much has media affected individuals and the society as a whole? Now-a-days, media is more of an issue than anything. In Chapter 15, through extended case studies and ample amounts of media research studies, mass media is broken down in such ways that questions individuals on whether or not what they see, research or watch correlates to what they do in their own life. A quote in an extended case study states, “The relationship between make-believe stories and real-life imitation has drawn a great deal of attention.” Media has affected many people, and further research about it causes more questions that are needed to be answered.

Before modern days of the United States, early media research methods were performed. It is believed that media historian, Daniel Czitrom, played a major role between 1930 and 1960 in the rise of Propaganda Analysis, Public Opinion Research, Social Psychology Studies, and Marketing Research. According to Merriam-Webster, propaganda is “ideas or statements that are often false or exaggerated and that are spread in order to help a cause, a political leader, a government, etc.” Harold Lasswell, a researcher, defines propaganda as “the control of opinion by significant symbols, by stories, rumors, reports, pictures and other forms of social communication.” People believed Propaganda and Public Opinion Research both tied in with the government based on mainly polls. For example, the use of unreliable Pseudo-polls caused problems within same sex marriage. Approximately seventy percent of Americans opposed it and constantly grew. However, Pseudo-polls were used as a source for public opinion. Rather than collecting data for government purposes, it was used just for entertainment.

          Social Psychology Studies and Marketing research shows the effects of TV. In the United Sates, every movie, TV show, or video game is now rated between youth (Y) to mature (Mature Audiences Only) Media brings up the issue that people act out what they watch. Theories such as the Hypodermic-Needle and Minimal-Effects Model suggest that the media directly influences people unswervingly. Researchers argue that people expose themselves to material that they are familiar with. In fact, people select messages towards attitudes and values that they already have. The Gratifications Model gave researchers a reason to do experiments and surveys to go along with their beliefs of media impact. Over the years, a content analysis was developed to study the messages in films.

          In the 1960s, the social learning theory helped explain media effects as well as agenda-setting, cultivation effect, the spiral of silence, and the third-person affect. The social learning theory involved four steps; attention, retention, motor reproduction, and motivation. This made researchers see the overall behavior and how it links to mass media. Agenda-Setting is what the mind thinks about when it is focused on particular events or issues. The Cultivation Effects suggests that media perceives an image that the world is the same way it is portrayed on television. For example, Television violence makes Americans believe that the world is a bad place simply because of what is seen on TV. The spiral of violence proposes that people who believe their views in the minority will keep their input silent, while the third-person effect states that people are more affected by media than they are themselves.

In Conclusion, researchers will always argue about the impact of media towards people as to whether or not what they watch will affect how they act in their own life. When evaluating the cultural studies research, there are two concepts; the public sphere and the idea of communication as culture. German Philosopher Jürgen Habermas states that media is "manipulative" whereas James Carey argues communication is more of a cultural ritual. Whether people like it or not, media will always be a controversial issue. I believe what you see does not really affect how you act unless someone has a mental issue or disorder. Media will always be around and try to influence people in any way. However, people have the common sense to know what they do. Although media is broken down in ways that it is understood, one question is left unanswered: Can media really affect your life? You decide.