1. History of the Scientific Study of Media Effects
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 Gabriel Tarde
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 Researchers began to examine:
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
Should I just list their names?

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