MASS COMMUNICATION THEORY

BARAN & DAVIS (2012) CHAPTER 1

DEFINING & REDEFINING MASS/ MEDIATED COMMUNICATION

What is Mass Communication?

Consider what you know about the early

days of radio and televisionwhat was meant by mass?

WRIGHT'S (1959) DEFINITION OF MASS COMMUNICATION:

Directed toward large, heterogeneous, and anonymous audiences.

Messages are transmitted publicly, often timed to reach audience members simultaneously.
The communicator tends to be, or to operate within, a complex organization that may involve great expense.

DEFINING & REDEFINING MASS/ MEDIATED COMMUNICATION

What are characteristics of the new media environment? Does this change the meaning of

mass communication?

If so, how?

SOME CHARACTERISTICS OF THE NEW MEDIA ENVIRONMENT (MCMANUS, 1994)

Even 19 years ago, he identified these:

Previously distinct technologies are merging. Media scarcity --> Media abundance Shift to content tailored for groups or individuals.

Shift from one-way to interactive media.

Any others to add?

SCIENCE & HUMAN BEHAVIOR

SOME CHARACTERISTICS OF SCIENCE

1.Uses logical reasoning

2. Uses systematic methods 3. Grounded in empirical data

4. Intersubjective
5. Replicable 6. Cumulative, open to modification

THE WHEEL OF SCIENCE

Theory

Empirical Generalizations

Hypothesis

Data-gathering

SCIENCE IS BASED ON THE LOGIC OF CAUSALITY

Often people think of causes as necessary or sufficient (cause of flu; cause of death)

But many causes are neither necessary nor sufficient (Does flu cause death?)

REQUIREMENTS FOR CAUSALITY

1. Relationship
between two variables

2. Time order: Cause

precedes effect

3. Rule out other

explanations
(third variables)

CHALLENGES IN SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH

Human behavior and aspects of our social environment are difficult to measure Human behavior is complex all things in the social world have multiple causes Humans have goals and are self-reflexive The idea of causality in human behavior can be troubling: Does the notion of causality mean people have no free will?

THEORY
Basic definition of theory from Littlejohn & Foss (2008):
Any organized set of concepts, explanations, and principles of some aspect of human experience.

Types of theories differ in assumptions about:

Ontology: The nature of reality, what is knowable Epistemology: How knowledge is created & expanded Axiology: The proper role of values in research and
theory building.

TYPES OF THEORIES
Different school of thoughts define theory differently depending on their goals and their beliefs about the social world and knowledge construction.

Social Scientific Theory* [Postpositivist]

Hermeneutic Theory Critical Theory Normative Theory *The others are not generally considered scientific

TYPES OF THEORIES
Social Scientific Theory

Assumes knowledge about the social world can be

gained through scientific method and empirical data

But recognizes that humans have goals, make choices, & make sense of their world

Strives for objectivity (minimizes influence of subjectivity

on research)

Goals: Explanation, prediction and control

TYPES OF THEORIES
Hermeneutic Theory

Focuses on understanding and interpreting the social world When applied to people (as opposed to texts), focuses on
how they interpret and create meaning from their social experiences

Believes that reality is socially constructed

TYPES OF THEORIES
Critical Theory

Describes but also criticizes the social world Concerned with the structure of power and oppression in
society, human agency, and the struggle between the two

Openly political and focused on changing the social world for

the better

TYPES OF THEORIES
Normative Theory

This type of theory explains how ideal media ought to

operate within a specific system of social values e.g., the four theories of the press

CONCLUSION
There
theory. is no single definition or the right definition of

Theory is defined differently based on different schools

of thoughts, with different goals and different contributions to knowledge.

THINKING ABOUT THEORY: SEE PAGES 1920 IN THE TEXTBOOK

Review the questions posed about new technologies, such as

the Internet, Facebook, mobile phones

Consider which questions raised in the book, or new

questions that you think need to be answered

How can these questions be answered? What approach(es)

could be used?