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Media effects research : a basic overview / Glenn G. Sparks.
Annenberg Library - Reference HM1206 .S66 2002
Available
- Format:
- Book
- Author/Creator:
- Sparks, Glenn Grayson.
- Series:
- Wadsworth series in mass communication and journalism
- Language:
- English
- Subjects (All):
- Mass media--Social aspects.
- Mass media.
- Mass media--Research--Methodology.
- Physical Description:
- xv, 221 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.
- Place of Publication:
- Belmont, CA : Wadsworth/Thomson Learning, [2002]
- Contents:
- Chapter 1 A Scientific Approach to the Study of Media Effects 1
- Ways of Knowing 2
- Experience 2
- Authority 3
- Science 4
- Goals of Science 4
- Prediction 4
- Explanation 5
- Understanding 6
- Control 6
- How Are the Goals of Science Achieved? 8
- Falsifiability 9
- The Nature of Science 10
- Science Is General 11
- Science Acknowledges the Existence of Objective Truth 13
- Science Assumes a Skeptical Attitude 14
- Science Can't Answer Certain Kinds of Questions 15
- Chapter 2 Scientific Methods in Media Effects Research 19
- Analyzing Media Content 19
- What Is Content Analysis? 20
- An Example: The Content of TV Commercials 21
- The Sample Survey 23
- An Example: The Effects of Talk Show Viewing on Adolescents 24
- The Search for Causal Relationships 27
- Criteria for Causal Relationships 27
- The Experimental Method 32
- Manipulation of a Key Variable 33
- Random Assignment to Experimental Conditions 33
- Identical Treatment Except for the Manipulation 33
- Control Groups 34
- An Example: The Effects of Realistic Versus Reenacted Violence 35
- Controversy About Research Methods 36
- Chapter 3 A Brief History of Media Effects Research 39
- Setting the Stage 40
- 1898
- Congress Declares War on Spain 40
- 1917
- Propaganda in World War I 41
- The 1920s
- Movies Explode as Mainstream Entertainment 41
- 1929-1932
- The Payne Fund Studies 42
- What Was the Content of Movies? 42
- The Emotional Impact of Movies 42
- Does Watching Movies Affect Behavior? 43
- The Aftermath of the Payne Fund Studies 45
- The Invasion From Mars 45
- The Research at Princeton 46
- Early Theory of Media Effects: The Magic Bullet Model 47
- The People's Choice Study: The "Limited Effects" Model 48
- Why Use Control Groups? 48
- Media Impact in the 1940 Campaign 48
- The Limited-Effects Perspective 49
- The Evils of Comic Books 51
- The Dawn of Television 52
- Many Types of Media Effects 52
- Chapter 4 Time Spent With Mass Media: Reasons and Consequences 57
- The Uses and Gratifications Perspective 58
- Why Do Children Watch TV? 58
- The Problem With Self-Reports 62
- Time Spent With Media 63
- The Displacement Hypothesis 64
- Television Viewing and Obesity 67
- Chapter 5 Effects of Media Violence 72
- The Presence of Violent Content 74
- The Causal Link Between Viewing Violence and Behaving Aggressively 76
- The Research of Albert Bandura 76
- The Long-Term Studies of Leonard Eron and Rowell Huesmann 79
- The Research of Brandon Centerwall 81
- The Catharsis Hypothesis 81
- A Priming Analysis of the Effect of Media Violence 83
- Desensitization to Violence 84
- Why Do People Like Media Violence? 85
- Chapter 6 Sexual Content in the Media 90
- Human Sexuality Brings Out Passionate Opinion 90
- The Commission on Obscenity and Pornography 93
- Major Finding 93
- A Reexamination of the Commission's Findings 94
- Research Following the Commission Report 95
- Content Available 96
- Perceptual Consequences of Viewing 96
- Behavioral Consequences of Viewing 97
- The Meese Commission Report on Pornography 99
- Major Conclusion 99
- Sex on Prime-Time TV 100
- The Dynamics of Excitation Transfer 101
- Content Analyses 102
- Sexual Behavior and Viewing 104
- Control over Media Content 104
- Sex and the Internet 104
- Legal Control 105
- Social or Economic Control 105
- Control Through Education 106
- Chapter 7 Frightening Media 109
- Fright Reactions to Media Are Prevalent 111
- What Scares One Child May Not Scare Another 112
- Experimenting with the Incredible Hulk 113
- Why Is the Paranormal So Scary? 116
- Poltergeist 117
- The Nightmare on Elm Street Series 118
- The Exorcist 119
- What's a Parent to Do? 120
- Is it Fun to Be Scared? 122
- Frightening Films and Roller-Coaster Rides 122
- The Sexual Dynamic in Viewing Frightening Films 123
- Chapter 8 Persuasive Effects of the Media 127
- What Is Persuasion? 127
- Subliminal Persuasion: The Magic Key? 128
- Early History 128
- The Presumed Mechanism 129
- Two Important Questions 129
- How Media Messages Persuade Without Even Trying 131
- The Theory of Media Cultivation 133
- Do Media Messages About the Paranormal Influence Paranormal Beliefs? 135
- Intentional Persuasion in the Media 137
- The Great American Values Test 137
- How Does an Advertiser Determine Success? 139
- Some Evidence for the Effectiveness of Advertising 139
- The Third-Person Effect 140
- Some Key Principles of Media Persuasion 140
- The Power of the Source 142
- Message Features: Simplicity and Repetition 143
- More Message Features: Fear, Guilt, and Humor 143
- The Health Campaign 145
- Chapter 9 The Effects of News and Political Content 151
- Do Certain News Reports Cause More People to Die? 151
- Imitative Suicides and the News 152
- Thinking About the News 153
- Need for Cognition 154
- Political Sophistication 154
- Agenda-Setting Theory: A Theory About Thinking 155
- The Spiral of Silence 157
- How Much of the News Do We Remember? 158
- The Role of Emotion 160
- Chapter 10 The Effects of Media Stereotypes 167
- What's in a Face? 167
- Stereotypical Representations in the Media 171
- Sex Role Stereotypes 172
- Effects of Sex Role Stereotypes 173
- Media Images of Thin Bodies and Effects on Body Image 175
- Racial Stereotypes 177
- Overrepresentation of African Americans as Lawbreakers 177
- The Imbalance in Media Research on Stereotypes 180
- Chapter 11 The Impact of New Media Technologies 185
- The Revolution in New Media Technology 185
- Computers and the Internet: Connection or Alienation? 187
- The Carnegie Mellon Study 187
- Applying the Lessons of History 190
- Are Video Games Really Training Kids to Kill? 192
- An Opinion on Video Games from an Expert on "Killology" 193
- What Does the Research Say? 194
- Chapter 12 Meet Marshall McLuhan: A Less Scientific Approach to Media Impact 200
- Is There Any Value to Considering Marshall McLuhan? 200
- Meet Marshall McLuhan 201
- The Eras of Communication History 202
- The Tribal Age 202
- Moving from the Tribal Age to the Print Age 203
- Moving on to the Current Electronic Age 204
- The Medium Is the Message 206
- The Effects of Electronic Media on Human Beings 207
- Education in the Electronic Age 208
- War in the Electronic Age: Not So "Hot" 209
- Politics in the Electronic Age: Was Bill Clinton "Cooler" Than George Bush? 211
- Drugs in the Electronic Age 212
- McLuhan's Influence 212.
- Notes:
- Includes bibliographical references and index.
- ISBN:
- 0534545866
- OCLC:
- 47254301
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