Questions and Answers of Mass Communication

Advertisers, through product positioning, make extensive use of symbolic interaction.Can you look around your life and find?
Politicians were among the first professionals to understand the power of framing.What routinized or habitual meanings come to mind when you encounter frames like pro-life, pro-choice, death tax, tax
How attached are you to your cell phone?Consider that you can keep only one—television, refrigerator, newspaper, radio, or cell phone. Which one would you retain? Why?Have you ever lost your cell
When it comes to technology (e.g., a new Internet application, the latest recording equipment, or an innovative automotive device) are you a change agent, an early adopter, an opinion leader, or an
Do you vote? Why or why not? How important do you think your participation in the democratic process really is? That is, can one citizen make a difference? If you answer yes, do you find the theories
Have your opinions about a controversial issue in the news ever been spiraled into silence? If so, what was the situation? If not, have you ever had to resist the temptation to remain silent in the
Why would you ever impose an oppositional reading of a piece of media content? After all, the producers went to great lengths to create a text that would bring you some satisfaction. Why not just
Choose a media consumption choice that you may often have to make, such as selecting a movie streamed to your home TV versus one at the multiplex, choosing an episode of your favorite situation
Where does the greater amount of power reside in the media/audience relationship?That is, do media do things to people, or do people do things with media? Are there circumstances when the “balance
What kind of car do you want, ideally, once you leave school? Why? What realities do you attribute to what is, in effect, little more than a sophisticated piece of steel, plastic, and glass? Where
Does your hometown or state capital have a sponsored symphony, theater, or dance troupe, for example, the Boston Opera House, the New York Philharmonic, or the Houston Ballet? Why do municipal or
Critical theory, by definition, questions and challenges the status quo in hopes of changing it. But is this a proper role for any social scientific theory? After all, the status quo seems to be
Do you think childhood has been redefined in contemporary times? Talk about this with your parents. Ask them if they think their childhoods were similar to the one you lived.If they see differences,
Are you a video game player? If so, what is your reaction to the research presented in this chapter? If you think it does not apply to you, why is that? What about your friends?Is it possible you are
Are you convinced of the causal link between mediated violence and subsequent viewer aggression? Why or why not? Was your view altered by the information presented in this chapter? Why or why not? If
The middle-range orientation involves the specification of ignorance. Rather than pretend to knowledge where it is in fact absent, this orientation expressly recognizes what must still be learned to
This type of theory cuts across the distinction between micro-sociological problems.
These theories are sufficiently abstract to deal with differing spheres of social behavior and social structure, so that they transcend sheer description or empirical generalization.
These theories do not remain separate but are consolidated into wider networks of theory.
Middle-range theories consist of limited sets of assumptions from which specific hypotheses are logically derived and confirmed by empirical investigation.
Does the recent trend toward partisan media outlets herald a new era of minimal media effects? If so, what are the consequences?Are we becoming a nation in which we no longer share common media but
Klapper’s phenomenistic theory argues that media’s greatest power rests in their ability to reinforce existing attitudes and values. At the time, this was evidence that media had limited
Are you typically an opinion leader or an opinion follower? Are there specific topics on which you are one or the other? Identify an issue (movies, music, sports, fashion, domestic politics) on which
Social responsibility theory assumes a press that balances profit and service under the watch of an interested public. Many critics, as you’ve read, believe the media have favored profit over
Libertarianism is based on the self-righting principle—if all the information is available, good ideas will survive and bad ideas will die. But this also assumes that the “debate”between the
Do you read news blogs? If so, which ones?Which engage primarily in commentary and which do original reporting? Do you trust these online news sites more or less than you do more traditional media
What should we expect media to do for us in times of crisis?
Is it necessary or advisable that media serve as watchdogs and protect consumers against business fraud and corrupt bureaucrats?
Should media become involved in identifying and solving social problems?
Are there some essential public services that media should provide even if no immediate profits can be earned?
Should media do something more than merely distribute whatever content will earn them the greatest profits in the shortest time?
Can the traditional news media ever be truly“liberal,” given their corporate ownership?Doesn’t the now widely accepted view that the media failed the country in the run-up to the invasion of
Founding Father Benjamin Franklin said that Americans who would exchange a bit of freedom in order to secure a bit of security deserve neither freedom nor security. What does he mean by this? Can you
This chapter spent a good deal of time on the debate over the proper role of propaganda in a democracy. Where do you stand? Should those who “know better” use powerful propaganda techniques for
Roger Scruton wants to tell us what it means to be an intelligent person. He assumes that he can do this only if we already have a basic understanding of the great works. “It would be useful to
Think about your first few months in college. Relate your experience to the kinds of social upheaval society faced in the transformation from gemeinschaft to gesellschaft and from mechanical to
Have you read 1984 or seen either Citizen Kane (a fictionalized account of the life of William Randolph Hearst) or Good Night, and Good Luck? If so, can you identify elements of mass society thinking
Social scientists may have differences of opinion about the role of values in research and theory (axiology), but what about you?Where do you stand on the proper place of values in the conduct of
Can you think of any social science “findings” that you reject? What are they? On what grounds do you base your skepticism?Can you separate your personal experience with the issue from your
How well informed are you about public affairs? Where do you get most of your information about the world around you? Do you talk about current affairs with the people around you? How often do you
How much support does it generate among members of the scholarly community also investigating a specific media system (or its parts)?
What, and how powerful, are the economic, social, cultural, and political realities surrounding the actual operation of a system (or its parts) that must be considered in evaluating that performance?
How stable and definitive are the ideal standards of operation against which the media system (or its parts) under study will be measured?
How useful is the critique of the status quo? In other words, does it provide enough understanding of elite power so that power can be effectively challenged?Does the theory enable individuals to
How much aesthetic appeal does it have? In other words, does it enthuse or inspire its adherents?
How much support does it generate among members of the scholarly community also investigating the phenomenon of interest?
How well does it clarify the values inherent in the interpretation, not only those embedded in the phenomenon of interest, but those of the researcher or theorist?
How much new or fresh insight into the event, behavior, or relationship of interest does it offer? In other words, how much does it advance our understanding?
How practical or useful is it? If the goals of postpositivist theory are explanation, prediction, and control, how much assistance toward these ends is provided by the theory?
How parsimonious is it? In other words, is it the simplest explanation possible of the phenomenon in question? Some call this elegance. Keep in mind that communication theories generally tend to lack
How testable is it? In other words, is it specific enough in its assertions that it can be systematically supported or rejected based on empirical observation?
How well does it predict future events, behaviors, or relationships?
How well does it explain the event, behavior, or relationship of interest?