Intro to Social Science & History of Media Effects

What is Social Science Research? Research = An attempt to discover something Social Science = An examination of how people interact with objects in their environment ◦ Testing theory

Basic methodology Hypothesis e ExperimentConclusion

Aristotle 384 BCE – 322 BCE

Giovanni Benedetti Performed the ball drop experiment

Ways of Knowing We “know” lots of things. How do we know: ◦ It’s hot outside ◦ Veggies are good for you ◦ Opposites attract ◦ Smoking causes cancer

Everyday Ways of Knowing Tenacity/Tradition ◦ It’s always been true  You eat Turkey on Thanksgiving ◦ Tied to prior held beliefs ◦ Beliefs are hard to change ◦ What if knowledge has changed but beliefs haven’t?  The Earth is 6000 years old  Humans can’t affect the climate

Everyday Ways of Knowing Authority ◦ Someone (who should know) says so  Doctor diagnosis  Mommy says so ◦ What if that person is wrong? ◦ Again, hard to change and may not consider new information

Everyday Ways of Knowing Intuition or Logic ◦ Truth is self-evident  Common sense ◦ What if two individuals’ common sense tell them different things?  Politics  Religion

Problems with “Everyday” Ways Filters how we process info ◦ False premise; Illogical reasoning ◦ Selective observation; expectations Everyday ways of knowing can even lead to conflicting ideas about “truth” ◦ Absence makes the heart grow fonder ◦ Out of sight, out of mind

Scientific Method The 4 th “way of knowing” Requires systematic analysis Always open to new information ◦ Nothing is ever “proven” with science Tests questions of fact, not questions of value ◦ How do customers react to this advertisement? ◦ Is it ethical to try to get people to buy things?

Differences between hard and social sciences Hard sciences deal with the inanimate or nonhumans, like elements and forces and animals Social science deals with people

Methodologies Observation ◦ Reduce variables as much as possible

Methodologies Surveys ◦ Administer questionnaires to research subjects ◦ Be careful with wording the questions ◦ Be careful of question order

Surveys ◦ Be careful with wording the questions ◦ Be careful of question order

Methodologies Focus groups ◦ Small panel of people who discuss what the researcher interested in ◦ Problems with maintaining focus ◦ Danger of one person dominating discussion

Methodologies Content analysis ◦ Counting things to get statistics ◦ Sample size must be large enough ◦ Time consuming ◦ Must specifically define what you’re looking for

What are Media Effects? Media effects approach ◦ focus on audiences (vs. media system)  Try to reduce variables ◦ specification of influence (vs. uses) ◦ attribution of influence to media

Types of Outcomes in Effects Research Behavioral – Buying a product Behavioral – Buying a product Attitudinal – creating a favorable attitude towards a political candidate (affect) Attitudinal – creating a favorable attitude towards a political candidate (affect) Cognitive – Candidate XX is stupid (belief) Cognitive – Candidate XX is stupid (belief) Physiological – jumping from a scene in a scary movie Physiological – jumping from a scene in a scary movie

Effects can be complicated: Effects of Violent TV on Males and Females’ Aggression

Eras of Media Effects I Magic bullet / uniform effects ◦ Also know as Direct Effects ◦ Pre-1945 ◦ Focus on war propaganda

Eras of Media Effects II Limited (or Indirect) effects ◦ Late 1940s to early 1970s research showed little impact of media on attitudes and behaviors  Two-Step Flow: media --> opinion leader --> publicl. Study)

Two-Step Flow Some argued this was still an example of strong media effects

Eras of Media Effects III Powerful effects in limited areas ◦ Early 1970s to present ◦ Move to focus on cognitions and perceptions ◦ Focus becomes not if there are media effects, but when they are most likely to occur  Conditional effects