How does a cultural studies approach to media research differ from an experimental, scientific approach? People expose themselves to the media messages that are most familiar to them, and they retain the messages that confirm the values and attitudes they already hold.Click to see full answer.
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What is cultural studies research on media?
CULTURAL STUDIES’ THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES Developed as an alternative to the predictive theories of social science research, cultural studies research on media is informed by more general perspectives about how the mass media interact with the world Two foundational concepts in cultural studies research are: 1. The public sphere 2.
What is a critical approach to cultural studies?
Cultural Studies’ approaches 1) transcend the confines of a particular discipline such as literary criticism or history 2) are politically engaged 3) reject the distinction between “high” and “low” art or “elite” and “popular” culture 4) analyse not only the cultural works but also the means of production.
Is culture a significant object of study?
1Recent directions in the field of media studies have turned culture into a significant object of study.
What do media researchers look at?
RESEARCH ON MEDIA EFFECTS As concern about public opinion, propaganda, and the impact of media merged with the growth of journalism and mass communication departments in colleges and universities, media researchers looked more and more to behavioral science as the basis of their research “Who says what to whom with what effect?”
What is cultural studies theory?
CULTURAL STUDIES’ THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES Developed as an alternative to the predictive theories of social science research, cultural studies research on media is informed by more general perspectives about how the mass media interact with the world Two foundational concepts in cultural studies research are: 1.
What are the three inadequacies of traditional scientific approaches to media research?
EARLY DEVELOPMENTS IN CULTURAL STUDIES RESEARCH In Europe, researchers have approached the media as if they were literary or cultural critics rather than experimental or survey researchers Three inadequacies of traditional scientific approaches to media research: 1. Reduced large cultural questions to measurable and verifiable categories 2.
What is the scientific method?
THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD 1. Identifying the research problem 2. Reviewing existing research and theories related to the problem 3. Developing working hypotheses or predictions about what the study might find 4. Determining an appropriate method or research design 5. Collecting information or relevant data 6.
What is media impact research?
CONDUCTING MEDIA EFFECTS RESEARCH Private sector research is generally conducted for a business, a corporation, or even a political campaign. It typically addresses some real-life problem or need Public research usually takes place in academic and government settings.
What is the early theory of media effects?
EARLY THEORIES OF MEDIA EFFECTS A major goal of scientific research is to develop theories or laws that can consistently explain or predict human behavior It has been difficult to develop systematic theories that explain communication. 12.
What is social psychology?
SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY STUDIES While opinion polls measure public attitudes, social psychology studies measure the behavior and cognition of individuals Developed as a response to the effects of motion pictures, which had become a particularly popular pastime for young people in the 1920s Developments in mass communication research follow social change. ...
Is masculinity hegemonic or hegemonic?
Masculinity is hegemonic in terms of patriarchy (wife and kids) 4. Masculinity is symbolized by the daring rugged/frontiersman of yesteryear and the present-day outdoorsman 5. Masculinity is hegemonic when defined heterosexually. 28.
What disturbed all other senses?
extensions have disturbed all other senses. McLuhan separated two spaces created by media
What is the transformation of science?
The article researches the transformation of the science functions in the process of changing the scientific rationality type in the conditions of the information society formation. The relevance of the research topic is stipulated by the need for scientific analysis and philosophical understanding of the large-scale changes occurring in modern science under the influence of informatization processes. The theoretical basis of the study are the general philosophical principles - the principles of systematicity, comprehensiveness, concreteness of the study, as well as such socio-philosophical methods as specifically historical, historical-retrospective, comparative-historical method, the method of unity of historical and logical in social cognition. Comparative analysis, interdisciplinary synthesis and other techniques of general scientific methodology are also used. The influence of socio-cultural conditions on the functional transformations of post-non-classical science is substantiated. The basic tendencies of functional transformation of science are revealed: transition to development of complex scientific programs; the convergence of research programs with high-tech manufacturing practices, the integration of computer technologies with methodological tools; the commensuration of subject lines of scientific knowledge with the conditions of formation of socially-human complexes; the coordination of rational-cognitive ethos of science with cultural universals; the extension of the intra-scientific reflection field and the formation of extra-scientific reflection forms.
What do the proponents of the need shaped by the culture believe?
needs shaped by the culture. Proponents o f this theory believe that people spare efforts and
What is mass media?
The article is devoted to cultural studies concepts of mass-media aimed at investigating the impact of media on the socio-cultural development of society. These concepts allow identifying the mass media with the principal way of giving people information about culture to join it, analysing the interaction of media-system with relevant cultural values, investigating media role in the evolution of world civilizations and forming specific socio-cultural systems.
Who claimed that each medium embodies a bias in terms of the organization and the organization?
H.-A. Innis claimed that each medium embod ies a bias in terms of the organization and
How did Gramsci use hegemony?
Gramsci used hegemony to counteract notions of incorporation, stressing that hegemony did not entail the disappearance or destruction of difference, but ensures the articulation of difference. The study of culture therefore is one of the arenas where action and agency regarding the powerful is witnessed.
What is the significance of McClintock's work?
McClintock (1995) has been at the forefront of this movement in her work which reveals the discourses which have emerged through British culture since the nineteenth century and which have governed and controlled notions of ethnicity and gender.
What is cultural studies?
Although cultural studies is itself racked by opposing viewpoints and lacks an agreed principle of approach, the subject can provide stimulating insights into the way in which specific discourses are formed about the past through the media. cultural studies can situate 'media memories' into a wider societal context as it provides ...
Who was the first to describe culture?
The notable literary critic, F.R. Leavis, had conceived 'culture' as being in the hands of a selected few, 'in their keeping...is the language the changing idiom upon which fine living depends and without which distinction of spirit is thwarted and incoherent (Leavis 1972: 145). With the advent of mass production and the industrialisation of the preceding centuries, Leavis warned of a sharp decline in culture, 'the finer values are ceasing to be a matter of even conventional concern for any except the minority (Leavis 1975: 213). cultural studies began with a democratic critique of this elitist perspective to culture, recognising the fundamental importance of 'popular culture' (Couldry 2000: 2-3). This can be seen in the early work by Hoggart (1992) who assessed working class entertainment during the 1950s. Hoggart underlined the ability of this group not to be subsumed by the introduction of American mass entertainment during the 1950s, but to adapt it to their own tastes; 'this is not simply a power of passive resistance, but something which, though not articulate, is positive' (Hoggart 1963: 24). This sentiment is echoed in Thompson's (1968: 10) classic work, The Making of the English Working Classes (1968); 'class is defined by men as they live their own history, and in the end this is its only definition.' Though Hoggart and Thompson contributed to the formation of cultural studies it is the work of Williams and Hall which has proven to be the most influential in the field. Williams (1965: 63) did much to characterise the objectives of the subject; 'the theory of culture is the study of relationships between elements in a whole way of life. The analysis of culture is the attempt to discover the nature of the organisation which is the complex of these relationships.' Williams suggestion that the analysis of culture should be based upon the investigation of the underlying structure was informed by his Marxist politics. Contemporary cultural studies has also been dominated by the work of Hall (1980) who has continued with a broadly Marxist approach, but importantly has stressed the need to work with and incorporate the theories and societal changes associated with movements of globalisation and postmodernism.
Who is Paul Gilroy?
Paul Gilroy (1987; 1993) has been an important figure in this respect, critiquing the European myopia of cultural studies and forcing a consideration of the way in which national cultures practice exclusion of groups at a subtle level through culture.
Who wrote "Nor Shall My Sword"?
Leavis, F.R. (1972) Nor Shall My Sword: Discourses on Pluralism Compassion and Social Hope. London. Chatto and Windus.
Who wrote the Making of the English Working Class?
Thompson, E. P. (1968) The Making of the English Working Class. Harmondsworth. Penguin.
What is cyberculture studies?
Cyberculture studies represents the coming together of diverse strands of academic work across a range of subject areas. As such, it is work carried out in a diversity of (sometimes conflicting) intellectual and institutional locations, often embedded within more ‘traditional’ subjects and departments, such as cultural studies, sociology, or human geography. This gives cyberculture studies a heterodox richness, and an anticanonical stance: it is both theoretically and methodologically promiscuous. However, this can also make it seem like a fringe activity, not a ‘proper’ subject; it is too ‘faddish’ and lacks the patina of older disciplines. Its proponents would argue that these are advantages, signaling an openness that many ‘traditional’ subjects lack. To sketch its parameters rather than attempting a strict definition (which is often changing, sometimes elusive), cyberculture studies includes the following:
What was the commitment of Japanese scholars to internationalize their work in the 1990s?
The commitment of Japanese scholars to internationalize their work was the fourth and last feature that , characterized Japanese scholarship in American history in the 1990s. The English language publication by the Japanese Association for American Studies of its professional journal of American Studies illustrated the point. It is true that JAAS had started doing this from 1980 as part of the effort to promote international exchange with its foreign scholars, yet what distinguished the record of the 1990s from that of the previous decade was the diversification of featured topics, not limiting them to US–Japan relations and their related themes alone. A wide range of topics were presented, for example, from ‘Nature and Environmental Issues’ to ‘Another “American Century”?’ Japanese scholars displayed their intention to live up to the global standard of scholarship as well as to contribute to deepening an understanding of American civilization by sharing scholarly findings with their foreign peers (for a historigraphical essay that succinctly reviews Japanese scholarship in the history of US-East Asian relations, see Aruga 1996 ).
Why is transliterate practice beneficial?
For academics, communication and collaboration arising from transliterate practices were very beneficial. Formal collaboration is becoming more prominent in the humanities, one participant observed. She attributed it to a better understanding of how research breakthroughs are achieved, an active push from an Australian key funding body, and a more prominent presence of women in research. The result is that “the problems are more complex as well, looking across national contexts or geographical contexts because there are many interesting work that comes out because people are coming together and being engaged across different distances” (U Participant 2/2).
Why is professional development important for teachers?
Professional development of teachers on all levels is critically important to support students in developing new skills and exploring transliterate ways of working. However, both academics and high school teachers discussed limitations in their preparedness. When Participant 14/1 explained how students do not learn about electronic tools and resources, I asked whether academics need to learn about it as well:
What is citizenship in politics?
The language of citizenship reinforces the connection with a territorialized space. Citizenship is membership of a political community and in almost all contexts that political community is a territorial one. The formalized relationship of citizenship arrived fairly late, given the long history of distant affiliation to political institutions considered above. For most of the two centuries or so that the term citizenship has been widely used it has meant a territorial relationship. Citizens who leave that territory have always retained some rights, at a minimum these have involved the right to return to the territory unchallenged, although often not much more. Unlike more fluid notions of diaspora, where specifics of who belongs and how many there are always a challenge, citizenship offers a more precise status and more obviously delimited group of people, even if in practice estimates still vary widely.
How do academic traditions and skill acquisition work together?
Academic traditions and skill acquisition work together in a vicious circle. A historian commented on how difficult it is to assess collaborative and electronic work when the emphasis of academic evaluation is clearly on individual contribution and traditional output. Because it pays off to write academic publications, academics are less inclined to learn and use other skills. But, because the skill base is lacking, it is more difficult to promote transliterate ways of working. Academics commented on the absence of adequate education and training to prepare them for transliterate knowledge production. They also suggested what could be done to change this situation (see examples in outlined quotes). The complexity of change is compounded by the fact that university students are already primed to work in traditional ways. Although there are some notable exceptions, high schools are often focused on preparing students for traditional academic success, especially as measured by external examinations. As mentioned in the previous section in relation to contributions to learning, high school students in the study commented on how different transliterate ways of working were from their regular classroom experiences. Part of that difference is related to collaborative learning, creativity, the use of different technologies, and a shift to presenting output as a form of communication rather than for external assessment. Another part is to do with time and space for exploration and immersion. One of the Enrichment students commented: “I need a project to work on. If it’s going to class every lesson and it’s—having something to work on, you are building on it. And every lesson you feel fulfilled.”
What was the relationship between the diaspora and the territory?
Immigration had been prioritized in empirical studies and emigration overlooked; transnationalism provided a way to unite the two, as Sayad had long argued for. The relationship between diaspora and territory was initially uncertain and, particularly in the early cultural studies work, territory was of very little relevance. Transnationalism was imagined in territorial terms from the outset. The mix of the territorial and the extraterritorial has always been a significant strand of analysis in transnationalism.
What is Mass Media?
Since the 1940s, mass media has referred to a large array of media technologies that reach a large audience through mass communication. This array now includes print, film, television, radio, recorded music, internet, social media, and more.
How does mass media affect behavior?
Mass media could shift opinions and behaviors . For example, one study showed that extensive exposure to television violence desensitized viewers to real-world violence.
What were the three conclusions of the 1950s?
Three conclusions by the 1950s were that mass media could shift opinions and behaviors, those with less access to it had a knowledge and power gap, and mass media was targeted to a nice audience.
Why is mass media important?
Originally, mass media was seen as a tool to help unify people by shaping us into a single culture. But while some scholars saw mass media as positive, others feared it as a propaganda tool. Studies also showed that not everyone responded the same way to mass media messages. For instance, one study found that responses to violent films differed, but those responses could be predicted based on the subjects' psychological and cultural difference.
What does it mean to enroll in a course?
Enrolling in a course lets you earn progress by passing quizzes and exams.
Where did critical work begin?
Critical work had begun in Germany as early as the 1920s by the Frankfurt School of researchers . They studied the cultural implications of Marxism on mass media and explored mass media's ability to control a culture's worldviews. Ultimately these studies led to concerns that mass media messages did not always serve the best interests of society as much as the best interests of the wealthy and powerful.
Who is the instructor for Approaches to Mass Media Research?
Approaches to Mass Media Research. Instructor: Nathan Hurwitz. Show bio. Dr. Nathan Hurwitz is a tenured Associate Professor in Theatre and has three books in print, two textbooks and a coffee table book. This lesson describes mainstream approaches to mass media as well as the shift from mainstream to critical approaches.
What is cultural baggage?
Cultural baggage has to be reflected upon at the individual level, that is, in the way personal choices affect the way researchers tackle a topic or analyze data, but also at the academic level, that is, the way they can be blind to the overall schools of thought to which they belong.
How does the nation approach to culture relate to essentialism?
The nation approach to culture is tightly related to essentialist views of culture in that it provides a static and homogeneous picture of culture. Essentialism regards culture as a one-dimensional concept and therefore leaves out issues of race, religion, gender, social status and larger historical and political structures. Critical intercultural communication endeavors to go beyond such limitations by taking into account the multidimensional, constructed, contingent and dynamic facets of culture. The critical intercultural communication approach does not dismiss nations as possible instances of cultures. However, it focuses on exploring which representations of culture and nation are associated, through which processes, and whether such associations vary in time or depending on the context. Critical intercultural scholars emphasize culture as raising questions rather than providing answers that would help predict people’s behaviors. 45 Through its conceptualization of culture, a critical intercultural communication framework helps focus on ways in which people construct their sense of cultural belonging and identity. 46 This approach is relevant to media studies in many ways. It is strongly related to research exploring the relation individuals make between their media consumption and their identity, or research dealing with the way media discourse is intertwined with discourses of (national) identity. The emphasis put on constructing cultural identity and belonging can also help focus on who is represented as “belonging” and who is not, which is a significant aspect of studies on minority media and cultural diversity.
What are the keywords used in media representation?
The keywords “media representation”, “media discourse”, “diversity”, and “cultur*” (the asterisk was used to include other possible endings in the data search) were used to collect peer-reviewed articles published in English between 2003 and 2013.
How has culture been studied in media studies?
4 However, the increasing attention given to culture has not gone hand in hand with an overall clarification of the concept itself. Defining culture remains a difficult exercise, especially because of its multifaceted nature. The importance of the concept in media studies and its blurry theoretical grounds highlight the need to look back at how it has been used in studies. The present article is built around three main questions. First, it looks at how culture has been researched in media studies. Second, it examines possible limitations of these approaches. Third, it investigates ways in which a critical intercultural communication framework can be beneficial to media studies dealing with culture. For this purpose, this study explores recent academic discourse on media and culture by reviewing studies dealing with issues of cultural diversity , representations of culture, and discourse of culture. In addition to examining approaches to culture and their potential limitations, this article also presents ways in which critical intercultural communication can be used by researchers from different disciplines interested in culture.
What is the main venue for academic debate?
6Conferences and publications are the main venues for academics to discuss the latest developments and findings from all disciplines. Nowadays, academic debate mostly takes place in journals, whose number has kept on increasing throughout the last decades. 20 It is through these journals that most ideas are expressed, hence the importance of examining their content. Publishing is central for scholars, not only as a way of contributing to the development of their fields of study but also to the development of their career. The notorious “publish or perish” phrase provides an efficient summary of what publications nowadays represent in the academic world. 21 As journal articles have become the main venue for academic discourse, they have also turned into common and natural venues. Such development can be problematic if academic discourse comes to be granted too much legitimacy instead of having its status, form and content constantly challenged. Like other discursive practices, journal articles create and validate certain meanings that progressively become the norm and can, as such, easily pass as natural instead of constructed and contingent. 22 Knowledge expressed in academic discourse is therefore not objective but is, like any other form of knowledge, “‘situated’ – that is, produced by and for particular interests, in particular circumstances, at particular times”. 23 Reflexivity, a central ethical component of research, is therefore especially important when looking at academic discourse as a whole.
Why is critical intercultural communication important?
As such, critical intercultural communication also encourages researchers to be reflexive about their academic and cultural background. This can help one be aware of the extent to which one’s knowledge is situated, and therefore contributes to decreasing cultural bias in academic discourse.
Where is Mélodine Sommier?
Mélodine Sommier is a doctoral student in intercultural communication at the University of Jyväskylä in Finland. She has particular interests in migration and acculturation issues as well as discourses of culture in the media.
What is mall shopping?
Mall is a space of display where goods are displayed for maximum visual display in such a fashion that they are attractive enough to instill desire. Spectacle, attention- holding and desire are central elements of shopping experience in the mall. Hence mall emerges primarily as a site of gazing and secondarily as a site of shopping. The mall presents a spectacle of a fantasy world created by the presence of models and posters, compounded by the experience of being surrounded by attractive men and women, cosy families and vibrant youth — which altogether entice us to unleash the possibilities of donning a better identity, by trying out / consuming global brands and cosmopolitan fashion.
What is the key rubric for Gramsci and for cultural studies?
Thus the key rubric for Gramsci and for cultural studies is that of cultural hegemony. Edgar and Sedgwick point out that the theory of hegemony was pivotal to the development of British Cultural Studies. It facilitated analysis of the ways in which subaltern groups actively resist and respond to political and economic domination.
What is the discourse of femininity?
This discourse of femininity is itself related to the discourse of masculinity and the larger context of power relations in culture. Identity, for Culture Studies, is constituted through experience, which involves representation – the consumption of signs, the making of meaning from signs and the knowledge of meaning.
What is mall spectacle?
Thus, the spectacle turns into a performance that the customer/ consumer imitates and participates in. It is also a theatrical performance that is interactive, in which the spectacle comes alive with the potential consumer. The encircling vistas, long-spread balconies and viewing points at every floor add to the spectacle, by providing a “prospect” of shopping.
What is the approach of Raymond Williams and CCCS?
The approach of Raymond Williams and CCCS was clearly marxIst and poststructuralist, and held subject identities and relationships as textual, constructed out of discourse. Cultural Studies believes that we cannot “read” cultural artefacts only within the aesthetic realm, rather they must be studied within the social and material perspectives; i.e., a novel must be read not only within the generic conventions and history of the novel, but also in terms of the publishing industry and its profit, its reviewers, its academic field of criticism, the politics of awards and the hype of publicity machinery that sells the book. Cultural Studies regards the cultural artefact like the tricolour or Gandhi Jayanti as a political sign, that is part of the “discourse” of India, as reinforcing certain ideological values, and concealing oppressive conditions of patriarchal ideas of the nation, nationalism and national identity.
What is eclectic mall?
Eclecticism is yet another feature of the mall, where, “the world is under one roof”- where a “Kalanjali” or “Mann Mantra” share space with “Shoppers Stop” or “Life Style” and “Madras Mail” shares space with “McDonald’s” and multiplexes, imparting a cosmopolitan experience. Thus eclecticism and a mixing of products, styles and traditions are a central feature of the mall and consumer experience.
How does media culture help?
Media culture helps to reinforce the hegemony and power of specific economic, cultural and political groups by suggesting ideologies that the audience , if not alert, imbibes.