Media Effects Theories
Media Effects Theories
Media Effects Theories
Cultivation Theory
4 or more hours?
2-4 hours?
Less than 2 hours?
How much time daily to you spend on the internet or playing computer
games?
On-Screen Time
Television Viewer Profiles
Cultivation Differential
The difference in the percent of people giving the “television answer” within
comparable groups of light and heavy viewers.
Examples: Comparing light and heavy viewers among college students;
among teachers; among senior
citizens.
Cultivation Effects
Why do cultivation effects differ among subgroups? Two explanations:
Mainstreaming: Heavy viewers from different groups develop a similar
outlook.
Resonance: TV content “resonates” with real life experiences to amplify the
cultivation effect in certain groups.
TV Wrestling
Modeling Behavior?
A report released this week presents data from a study conducted by Indiana
University and Inside Edition. The research team monitored 50 episodes of
“WWF Raw” between Jan.12, 1998 and Feb.1,1999.
A sampling of specific incidences and the number of times the behavior
occurred:
Agenda-Setting Theory
The Agenda: Not what to think, but what to think about.
The Theorists: Maxwell McCombs & Donald Shaw
Agenda Setting?
Media agenda and public agenda: a close match.
McCombs and Shaw assert that the agenda-setting function of the
media causes the correlation between the media and public ordering of
priorities.
However, correlation does not prove causation.
Agenda Setting: Who are the people most affected by the media
agenda?