CHAPTER 22 CULTIVATION ANALYSIS I Introduction In 1973 George Gerbner and his colleagues embarked on the Cultural Index Project conducting regular periodic examinations of television programming and the conceptions of social reality that viewing cultivates in child and adult audiences The media impacts how people view their world Most people get information from mediated sources Mediated sources shape a person s sense of reality Heavy television viewing and the perception of violence Consumption of media messages shapes perceptions of the world Media messages alter traditional notions of time space and social groupings Challenged the limited effects paradigm Limited Effects paradigm II Developing cultivation analysis 1 In 1967 President Johnson ordered the creation of the National Commission on the Causes and Prevention of Violence 2 In 1972 the surgeon general s Scientific Advisory Committee on Television and Social Behavior was formed Violence Index a yearly content analysis of a sample week of prime time network television content that would show season to season how much violence was actually present on television III Assumptions of cultivation analysis 1 Television is essentially and fundamentally different from other forms of mass media 98 of U S homes have a television Requires no literacy you don t have to read write Free and ageless all ages can use a lifetime of viewing U S culture s primary storyteller gets different groups together 2 Television shapes our society s way of thinking and relating Stabilizes social patterns and cultivates resistance to change Depicts what the world is like paints a picture of reality Reaches people for more than 7 hours a day Gerbner 1998 3 The influence of television is limited Observable measureable independent contributions of television are small Ice age analogy Gerber said The size of an effect is far less critical than the direction of its steady contribution although it is limited it is constant throughout the years and therefore very powerful IV Processes and products of cultivation analysis The Four Step Process a Message system analysis lifetime view of reality not the actual behaviors what is going on on the TV what do we see notice on the TV perceptions b Formulation of questions about viewers social realities develop the question for the questionnaire based on what you see on TV for example What are the chances in your lifetime that you will be mugged c Surveying the audience go out and get the responses from participants d Comparing the social realities of light and heavy viewers in addition to asking people what do you think the odds are You now have to compare heavy viewers more than 4 hours of TV a day with light viewers less than 2 hours of TV a day 1 Mainstreaming occurs when especially among heavy viewers television s symbols dominate other sources of information and ideas about the world 2 Resonance occurs when things on television are congruent with viewers actual everyday realities In other words people s objective external reality resonates with that of television First Order Effects Learning facts on what we can find directly from our television viewing their Example How many car accidents police there are What are the divorce rates E The Mean World Index Second Order Effects Hypothesis about more general issues and assumptions that people make about environments Example Do you think should be able to force more order 1 Another product of cultivation analysis is the Mean World Index which consists of a series of three statements 1 Most people are just looking out for themselves 2 You can t be too careful in dealing with people and 3 Most people would take advantage of you if they got the chance 2 In requiring a choice between the real world answer and the television world answer the Mean World Index assumes that the television answer reflects a social reality based on television viewing People that are heavier viwers of television think that the world is a meaner place and overestimate the amount of violent crime Cultivation analysis as critical theory Learning from television produces perceptions of a mean world and warps perceptions o Political social and cultural disclosure goes into our perceptions of the societal environment Warped perceptions breeds an atmosphere of distrust Proportional Representation of Diversity index PROD Examines the representation of co cultures in the media Minoritites are underrepresented VI Critique and closing Heuristic Miron 2004 Logical Consistency Utility o Concepts applied to various studies o Third most frequently used theory in mass communication Bryant o Research methods do not match conceptual reach Newcomb 1978 o Does not explain the phenomenon of interest Newcomb 1978 o Ignores perceived realism Minnebo Van Acker 2004 CHAPTER 23 USES AND GRATIFICATIONS THEORY I Introduction People choose media to satisfy needs Media has a limited effect because of user control People are self aware What do people do with media A In the early days of mass media mass society thinking was prevalent in theories of mass communication Arguing that people are helpless victims of powerful media If the media shows violence the whole country will be violate however It is more of a limited effects theories It will only be people that are less educated that will be affected Only certain people will be affected in a certain way If you have a high self esteem it will have less of an affect on you than on people with a low self esteem C In response to unflattering views of typical audience members Katz Blumler and Gurevitch 1974 presented a systematic and comprehensive articulation of audience members roles in the mass communication process People actively seek out specific media for specific gratifications What do people do with media II Stages in uses and gratifications research A Uses and Gratifications is an extension of needs and motivation theory developed by Abraham Maslow 1998 hierarchy of needs 1 Biological Physical 2 Security Safety 3 Social Belonging 4 Ego Self respect 5 Self actualization Without biological physical needs the chart cannot continue on starting at the bottom and climbing up higher B Blumler Katz and Gurevitch s notion that people can and do actively participate in mass communication has its underpinnings in the work of other researchers 1 Schramm 1954 Fraction of selection Weigh expectation of reward over the effort required to secure that reward What media use you choose