Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media/December 2009The Language of Laughter:A Quantitative/Qualitative FusionExamining Television Narrativeand HumorEvan A. Lieberman, Kimberly A. Neuendorf, James Denny,Paul D. Skalski, and Jia WangThis study utilizes multiple methods to analy ze the effects of a laugh trackon audience response to four episodes of the classic sitcom, ‘‘The AndyGriffith Show.’’ An experimental design and a narratological approach areused in concert. One of the four episodes stood out quantitatively in terms ofperceived humor and overall enjoyment, and was the only episode for whichthe laugh trac k had a negative impact. Narratological richne ss might explainthe anomalous episode, as it was found to possess a more complex storystructure, higher levels of satire, and other distinctive elemen ts found to havehigh audience appeal.This study examines the reception of humorous media, specifically television situ-ation comedies, and how a variety of co-factors contribute to the comic enjoymentof and narrative engagement with this programming. Despite the e conomic andcultural importance of the American situation comedy, relatively minimal ana lyticalattention was paid to its narrative construction or its patterns of reception. Past effortsutilized e ither a quantitative, or more frequently, a critical/qualitative methodology,but rarely have these approaches been used in concert. This study employs a usefulconvergence of these epistemologies.Evan Lieberman (Ph.D., Emory University) is an associate professor in the School of Communicat ion atCleveland State University. His research interests include television situation comedies, structuralism andsemiotics, and the history, technology, and aesthetics of cinematog raphy.Kimberly A. Neuendorf (Ph.D., Michigan State University) is professor of Communication at Cleveland StateUniversity. Her research emphases include content analysis methodology, audience response to film andother moving image media, new technology adoption, and media portrayals of marginalized populations.Jame s Denny (M.A.C.T.M., Cleveland State University) is an adjunct faculty member for the School ofCommunica tion at Cleveland State Universit y. His research focuses on mass media effects, the concept ofpresence, and the history, form and c ontent of film, television and video games.Paul Skalski (Ph.D., Michigan State University) is an assistant professor in the School of Communication atCleveland State University. His research interests include video games, new media, and media effects.Jia Wang (B.A., Cleveland State University) is a master’s candidate in Communication at Cleveland StateUniversity. Her research interests include media effects and new communication technologies.© 2009 Broadcast Education Association Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media 53(4), 2009, pp. 497–514DOI: 10.1080/08838150903336141 ISSN: 0883-8151 print/1550-6878 online497498 Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media/December 2009Using the classic American situation comedy, The Andy Griffith Show, as thesource of experimental stimuli in a study of the effects of a laugh track on thereception and comic appreciation of television h umor, this study provides a mul-tifaceted analysis of a complex phenomenon. After first examining findings froman empirical, social scientific approa ch, outco mes that might best be analyzedfrom critical perspectives are identified, resulting in a fusion of previously disparatemethods. Normally separated by an epistemological divide, both quantitative andqualitative/narratological methods are brough t to bear here in order to arrive at amore complete understanding of spectator respons es.Ultimately, this piece embodies an integration of me thodologies that is not limitedby artificial intra-disciplinary boundaries that exist more for the reification of fixedmodels of inquiry and are less concerned with ecological validity, or the realdimensions of communication issues.Humor Responses and the La ughter of OthersContext is critical for the rec eption of humorous stimuli (Martin, 2007). Thepresence of others, and their mirth behaviors, has long been acknowledged in thesocial and behavioral science literature as an important contextual factor (Malpass& Fitzpatrick, 1959).The qu estion of the precise impact of the laughter of others is a topic of debate.Some research found the impact of others’ mirth b ehavior was limited to a socialcontagion enhancement of smiling and laughing, an impac t which does not extendto perceptual or affective responses to the humorous stimulus (Chapman, 1973;Devereux & Ginsburg, 2001; Leventhal & Cupchik, 1976; Neuendorf with Fennell,1988; Platow et al., 2005 ). This research supports the theoretic perspective oflaughter as contagious, while not enhancing perceived funniness. Other research,however, supports a social facilitation/situational cueing approach to mirth, findingeffects on both laugh behavior and evaluative judgments (i.e., perceived funniness,enjoyment). The theoretic mechanism operating is one in which the laughter ofothers serve s a cueing function, alerting the audience member to the humorouspotential of the stimulus, thus increasing the likelihood of a humor response. Thesestudies found both behavioral and evaluative outcomes stemming from live con-federate laughers (e.g., Chapman & Chap man, 1974; Devereux & Ginsburg, 2001)and from recorded laug hter (e.g., Fuller & Sheehy-Skeffington, 1974; Leventhal &Mace, 1970; Martin & Gray, 1996; Smyth & Fuller, 1972).Recorded laughter was first popularized in the early twentieth-century g enre ofphonographic laughing songs and laughing stories (Smith, 2005). Later, live audi-ences became the convention for network radio broadcasts, with recorded laughtersupplementing radio aud ience reactions during the 1940s. Television continued thepractice of live audiences, and moved to the insertion of wholly recorded laughter(i.e., the laugh track) as filmed episod es became popular in the 1950s and 1960s(Neuendorf with Fennell, 19 88). The principal purveyor of television laugh tracksLieberman et al./THE LANGUAGE OF LAUGHTER 499in the 1950s was Charlie Douglass, a technical director in early television whoreportedly sampled live laughs from a Marcel Marceau concert for his invention, the‘‘Laff Box’’ (Judge, 2 003). The company Doug lass founded, Northridge Electronics,still manufactures laugh track equipment.Surprisingly, ne arly no research has