Qualitative Analysis of Media Messages

An understanding of media content as a text that provides insight into our culture and our lives

Critical Theories

The analysis of media messages to try to figure out how they affect people and the societies in which they live. The analysis of media messages to try to figure out how they affect people and the societies in which they live. Here are some common ones: Here are some common ones:

Semiotics The science of signs and symbols The science of signs and symbols Looks at how people create and understand signs and symbols in order to comprehend communication Looks at how people create and understand signs and symbols in order to comprehend communication examples examples

Semiotics can also be known as symbolic interactionism by those who don’t like semiotics

Psychoanalysis Examines how mass media messages influence the audience’s social rules in order to suppress instinctive anti-social impulses Examines how mass media messages influence the audience’s social rules in order to suppress instinctive anti-social impulses

Sociological Analysis The most common type of analysis done by critics The most common type of analysis done by critics Comes in many flavors that have evolved over the years Comes in many flavors that have evolved over the years

Agenda Setting The media don’t tell us what to think, they tell us what to think about The media don’t tell us what to think, they tell us what to think about Examples: Examples: Martin Luther Martin Luther Tom Paine Tom Paine William Randolph Hearst William Randolph Hearst Modern news Modern news

The Torah

Social Learning Theory There’s no way a person can experience everything There’s no way a person can experience everything The media provide information about the world and society that the individual can’t experience alone The media provide information about the world and society that the individual can’t experience alone Can create a person’s reality: what things are, how to think, how to behave, how to interact with others, how to be in society Can create a person’s reality: what things are, how to think, how to behave, how to interact with others, how to be in society

Cultivation Analysis Media messages tell people what the world is like and how people respond to what happens in the world Media messages tell people what the world is like and how people respond to what happens in the world An example is the mean world syndrome: heavy users of the media think the world is a more violent, dangerous place than it actually is because so many media messages contain violence (e.g., news, cop shows, dramas) An example is the mean world syndrome: heavy users of the media think the world is a more violent, dangerous place than it actually is because so many media messages contain violence (e.g., news, cop shows, dramas)

No one technique or theory has all the answers All hypotheses start with assumptions All hypotheses start with assumptions Scientific hypotheses start with assumptions about the world that can be empirically checked and falsified Scientific hypotheses start with assumptions about the world that can be empirically checked and falsified Social science hypotheses start with assumptions about people that usually can’t be empirically studied and are taken as axiomatic (they’re true because I think they’re true and can’t prove it one way or the other) Social science hypotheses start with assumptions about people that usually can’t be empirically studied and are taken as axiomatic (they’re true because I think they’re true and can’t prove it one way or the other)

All are ways to examine the media; none are the final answer