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Chapter 3

Chapter 3. History of the Scientific Study of Media Effects. The “Established” History. Propaganda “Bullet” or “hypodermic-needle” theory Public Opinion (1922) Propaganda Technique in the World War (1927) Allied Propaganda and the Collapse of the German Empire in 1918 (1938).

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Chapter 3

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  1. Chapter 3 History of the Scientific Study of Media Effects

  2. The “Established” History • Propaganda • “Bullet” or “hypodermic-needle” theory • Public Opinion (1922) • Propaganda Technique in the World War (1927) • Allied Propaganda and the Collapse of the German Empire in 1918 (1938)

  3. A Revised History • Acknowledgement of early studies by psychologists and sociologists • Reevaluation of major studies • Inclusion of studies omitted from “standard” scenario • Importance attributed to particular scholars • Emphasis on advances in research • Identification of fundamental classification rules

  4. Precursors of Media Effects Research • Power of newspapers to either direct or reflect public opinion • Effects of music on attention • Effects of music on thoracic breathing • Study of musical enjoyment • Study of the nature and origin of humor as a mental process and functions of humor

  5. Important Studies • Frances Fenton • Study of the effects of media violence on behavior • Gabriel Tarde • Effects of reading about crimes • Penal Philosophy (1912)

  6. Some Pioneers in Media Effects Research • Carl Hovland • Paul F. Lazarsfeld • Harold Lasswell • Kurt Lewin • Samuel A. Stouffer • Douglas Waples

  7. Carl Hovland • Studied effects of training films on the attitudes of American soldiers • Experimental research about media effects on attitude change

  8. Paul Lazarsfeld • Studied the effects of radio • Interpersonal communication • “opinion leaders”

  9. Harold Lasswell • Five-question model • Pioneered content-analysis methods • Studied propaganda • Introduced Freudian psychoanalytic theory to the social sciences. • Identified 3 important functions mass communications serve in society: • Surveillance of the environment • Correlation of society’s response to events in the environment • Transmission of cultural heritage

  10. Kurt Lewin • Dynamics of group communication • Experiments to explore the differences in persuasive power on audiences in different group conditions

  11. Samuel Stouffer • Pioneered the use of empirical research • Precise statistical methods • Studies of communications media

  12. Douglas Waples • Effects of print media: What Reading Does to People • Famous definition of communication: “Who says what in which channel to whom with what effect” (Lasswell, 1948)

  13. Interest in Media Effects Continues • Wilbur Schramm • Initiated the first PhD program in mass communication • Mediating Factors • Researchers began to focus experiments on the different reactions of people to the same media presentations. • Selective exposure, selective perception, selective retention, and social categories perspectives

  14. Attempts to Generalize About Effects: Bernard Berelson • First researcher to make umbrella generalizations about mass communication effects • Five variables are involved in the process of generalization: • Communication • Issues • People • Conditions • Effects

  15. Attempts to Generalize About Effects: Joseph Klapper • The Effects of Mass Comunication (1960) • Provided five generalizations about the effects of mass media messages

  16. The 1970s and Beyond • Albert Bandura • Social learning theory • Social cognitive theory • Researchers began to examine: • More complex behavioral messages • Changes in cognitive patterns • Media effects on learning and knowledge

  17. Final Points of Contention With the Standard History • Inconsistencies during the bullet theory years: • G.A. Lundberg found that mass media had only limited effects on audiences • M.D. Beuick believed the effects of radio broadcasting were limited • Same inconsistencies during the “limited effects” years

  18. Future of Effects Research: Challenges • Develop standard lines of demarcation to separate powerful, moderate, or limited effects • Identify the circumstances, conditions, or variables that account for media effects and offer generalizations

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