Exam I Flashcards
To study for my first Media Effects exam
1
Q
Sociology Definition
A
the study of social life, social change, and the social causes and consequences of human behavior
2
Q
What are the 5 sociological assumptions?
A
- People are social by nature
- People live much of their lives in groups
- The interactions between individuals and groups have a bidirectional relationship (individuals change groups and groups shape individuals)
- Groups are characterized by patterns, shared expectations, and common understanding
- Conflict and change are natural parts of group live
3
Q
Manifest phenomena
A
what is obvious/what you can see
4
Q
Latent phenomena
A
what is not obvious - deeper/underneath
5
Q
Can sociologists answer philosophical questions?
A
No- can’t answer right/wrong questions
6
Q
Social system
A
any interdependent set of cultural and structural elements that can be thought of as a unit
7
Q
What are the three components of a social system?
A
- Social structure
- Social processess
- Environment
8
Q
Social structure
A
One of the three components of a social system. Patterns of social arrangements that are the framework holding the social system together (players). Consists of stable relations between peoples.
9
Q
Social Processes
A
One of the three components of a social system. Human social actions that propel the social system (rules)
10
Q
Environment
A
Outside forces that influence the social unit
11
Q
What is the sociological imagination?
A
The ability to see the ink between personal troubles and public issues as well as history and biography
12
Q
List the Levels of Analysis
A
- Me and inner circle
- Local organizations and community
- National organizations, institutions, and ethnic groups
- National society
- Global society
13
Q
Micro-level LoA
A
the smallest social system where everyone tends to know each other and people are separated by one to two degrees
14
Q
Meso-level LoA
A
intermediate-sized social system and is usually large enough where everyone does not know everyone else. People are usually separated by 3 to 4 degrees
15
Q
Macro-level
A
the largest social system, which tend to be bureaucratic and conduct work of national or international importance. Contains 5+ degrees
16
Q
Media Effects
A
things that occur as a result- either in part or in whole- from media influence
17
Q
What are the 6 aspects of media effects?
A
- Timing - is it immediate or delayed?
- Duration - how long can an effect persist?
- Valence - is it positive or negative from society’s view?
- Intention - is it intentional?
- Direct/indirect
- Manifestation
18
Q
What are the three micro-level media effects?
A
- Cognitive - beliefs (true/false), attitudes (judgements on deservingness), and Affect (how you feel)
- Physiological (in the body)
- Behavioral
19
Q
Do cognitive and behavioral micro-level media effects always align?
A
No. i.e. if you’re a secret racist
20
Q
How do micro-level media effects impact people?/what is the function of the media?
A
- Acquiring new stuff
- Triggering (old stuff)
- Altering
- Reinforcing - making something stronger
21
Q
What is the relationship between micro-level media effects and media functions (how media effects)?
A
You can line them up in a table. Cognition, belief, attitudes, affect, physiological, behavioral x Acquiring, Triggering, Altering, and reinforcing.
22
Q
What are the three subdivisions of cognitive micro-level media effects?
A
Beliefs
Attitudes
Affect
23
Q
What is influenced in a macro-level media effect?
A
Social systems - the public are individuals but are greater than the sum of their parts. Institutions and the media themselves are also impacted.
24
Q
Culture
A
ideas and things passed down from one generation to the next
25
What are two parts of culture?
Nonmaterial - ideas
| Material - things
26
List five nonmaterial aspects of culture
1. Symbols
2. Langauge
3. Norms
4. Values
5. Beliefs
27
Symbols
One of the five nonmaterial aspects of culture. Anything used to represent something more than itself.
28
Language
One of the five nonmaterial aspects of culture. A set of symbols ordered by rules (like grammar and syntax)
29
Norms
One of the five nonmaterial aspects of culture. Rules about behavior.
30
Values
One of the five nonmaterial aspects of culture. General or abstract ideas about what is good or bad
31
Beliefs
One of the five nonmaterial aspects of culture. People's ideas about what is real and not real.
32
Assumptions of culture
1. Everyone shares culture with others
2. Culture is a product of and condition for action
3. Culture evolves and adapts
33
Dominant culture
Nation shares
34
Socialization
the lifelong process by which people internalize the culture of a society
35
Primary socialization
Occurs at a young age at home with the family. The initial building blocks.
36
What are the three stages of socialization?
1. Primary
2. Secondary
3. Tertiary
37
Secondary socialization
Occurs at school (kid- out of the house)
38
Tertiary socialization
learning as you go in different situations. This is continuous and lifelong. i.e. learning to be a professor, then learning to be a professor at Colgate
39
Agents of Socialization
Someone who teaches and socializes
40
What are the two types of agents of socialization?
1. Formal - it's their job to socialize you (mom, teacher)
| 2. Informal - it's not their job but you learn anyway
41
What are some key examples of agents of socialization?
peers
schools
workplaces
MASS MEDIA
42
Social status
A position that a person occupies in a social structure
43
What are the two types of social statuses?
1. Ascribed
| 2. Achieved
44
Ascribed social status
written upon you and born into (race, national origin, etc,)
45
Achieved social status
earned social status
46
Status symbols
hints to someone's status
47
Master status
The most important status (contextual). i.e. Professor is the most important status when in class.
48
Roles
the sum total of expectations about the behavior attached to a particular social status
49
Groups
one or more other individuals with whom we share some sense of identity or common goals and with whom we interact within a specific social structure
50
What are the two types of groups? Explain them.
1. Primary - a micro-group where there is an emotional attachment
2. Secondary - means to an end
51
Social institution
A social system responding to basic social goals and needs. Social institutions are always macro and have a function. They also have accepted and enduring statuses, roles, values, norms, and individual instances. ie. higher education, religion, economy, criminal justice, family, media
52
Nature of social institutions
- unplanned and develop gradually
- change occurs slowly
- are interdependent q/ other institutions
- aspects of institutions vary across societies
53
What are the Hallmarks of science?
1. Public - open to criticism
2. Objective - we have rules about how it should be done
3. Empirical - evidence based
4. Systematic and cumulative - make contributions towards a big picture
54
What are the goals of scientific research?
- Describing phenomena
- Predict phenomena
- Determining the causes/consequences (covariation, and alt. explanations)
- Understanding and explaining phenomena
55
Temporal precedence
one thing has to come before the other (the cause before the effect)
56
Research Cycle
- Form a question
- Review existing literature
- select a method
- collect data
- analyze data
- report results
57
Steps towards understanding titles
- reading titles
- determining source
- accompanying notes/footnotes
- trends horizontally and vertically
- verify units
- edges inwards
- reading marginals
58
Pie chart
used for relative sizes
59
Bar chart
absolute values
60
Histograms
shape of a distribution
61
Line chart
development of trends
62
Avg. media use of tweens
6:40
63
Avg. media use of teens
8:56
64
Empirical journal article structure
```
abstract
introduction
lit review
statement of problem
methods
results
summary, discussion and conclusion
```
65
variable
concept of interest that can influence or be influenced by other things.
66
List the levels of measurement
Nominal
Ordinal
Interval-ratio
67
Nominal
categories with no a priori ordering
68
Ordinal
categories ranked low to high
69
Interval-ratio
categories measured with equally distanced units and have a true zero point
70
Hypothesis
a testable statement about the relationship between variables. It can be proved true or false and specify which attributes of X are related to which attributes of Y.
71
Operationalization
transforming variables into things that can be measured. They must be exhaustive and mutually exclusive
72
Exhaustive
each thing has a box
73
Mutually exclusive
each things need to be able to fit in one box only
74
Pos linear relationship
As one variable increases the other does too
75
Neg linear relationship
As one variable increases the other one decreases
76
What are the three ways to conceptualize the relationships between variables?
Direction
Nature (Correlation)
Significance
77
Curvillinear
Increases in one variable result in increases and decreases in another variable
78
Univariate
Involving one variable
79
Bivariate
Involving two variables
80
Frequency
Univariate. 1 categorical variable
81
Descriptives
Univariate. Shows the mean and stuff.
82
Correlation
Bivariate. 2 continuous variables. Pos or negative relationship
83
Chi squared
Bivariate. 2 categorical. Frequencies.
84
T-test
Averages across two groups
85
Correlation
a change in variable A is associated with a change in variable B
86
Causal relationship
a change in variable A causes a change in variable B
87
Spurious relationship
variables are correlated but they do not have a causal relationship. they tend to be affected by a third variable
88
Significance
how big does a relationship/difference have to be in order to be considered real and important? 10% difference - but also look at raw numbers ;)
89
Statistically significant
random chance alone is not responsible for the observed relationship/difference. Larger differences are more likely to be significant
90
Quantitative vs Qualitative
Quantitative - numbers
| Qualitative - words
91
Reliable
degree to which measurements will produce the same results
92
validity
the degrees to which. measure actually measures what it is intended to measure
93
generalizability
exists when research findings apply beyond the specific case examined
94
sample
portion of the larger population that you will study to make inferences about the larger population
95
Why don't we just study everyone?
Ain't nobody got time or money for that
96
How big of a sample?
homogeneous - smaller
| heterogeneous - larger
97
random sample
everyone in the population has an equal chance of being pulled
98
Triangulation
when multiple methods are used
99
Research ethics
what is the risk that my research will harm participants physically, emotionally, and/or socially?
100
Nuremberg Code
Tried Nazi scientists.
1. Studies should yield fruitful results for society
2. Anticipated results should justify conducting research
3. Researchers should be qualified to conduct their studies
4. researchers should terminate their study if it will lead to injury, disability, or death
101
What are participant's rights?
- Safety
- Privacy (respondent's data belongs to them if they want to leave)
- Confidentiality
- Informed consent
102
What governing body oversees Ethics?
Institutional review board
103
Survey
series of questions asked of a number of people
| i.e. Morgan, Lambert et al
104
Field Research
the researcher directly observes the behavior of individuals in their usual social environments- not in a lab
105
Complete participant
researcher doesn't know they are doing a study- i.e. looking back on an experience and writing a book
106
Participant observer
Researcher knows they are doing field research - involved in the participant's lives and doing what they do
107
Complete observer
When a researcher is fully removed from the scene
108
Unobtrusive research
strategies for studying people's behavior in ways that do not have an impact on the subjects. i.e. Bridges
109
How can you research unobtrusively?
- artifacts
- content analysis
- some official stats
110
Experiment
a controlled artificial situation where researchers manipulate IVs and observe the effects on the DV. i.e. Lambert et al.
111
Radio lab
War of the Worlds- example of a real world media effect
112
Huston et al.
Measuring the Effects of Sexual Content in the Media. Reviews research methods
113
Bridges et al. Aggression and Sexual Behavior in Best-Selling Pornography Videos: A Content Analysis Update
Aggression and Sexual Behavior in Best-Selling Pornography Videos: A Content Analysis Update. Aim: updating depictions of aggression, degradation, and sexual practices and comparing the study’s results to previous content analysis studies
Method: Content analysis,
Top 30 videos - 7 months, randomly select 50
Good example for operational definitions - aggression and degradation
Findings: High levels of aggression in pornography in both verbal and physical forms
Almost 90% of scenes contained physical aggression
Almost 50% scenes contained verbal aggression
Perpetrators mostly male, targets mostly female
Targets showed pleasure or responded neutrally to the aggression
Found more aggression than previous content analyses - different operational definitions
114
Morgan
Associations between Young Adults’ Use of Sexually Explicit Materials and Their Sexual Preferences, Behaviors, and Satisfaction
Question: How do levels of sexual explicit material (SEM) use during adolescence and young adulthood are associated with sexual preferences, sexual behaviors, and sexual and relationship satisfaction?
Method: Survey (782 heterosexual college students)
Findings: higher frequencies of SEM use and number of SEM types are associated with sexual experience (more partners, younger start time), less satisfaction with relationships, and higher sexual preferences for the types of sexual practices typically presented in SEM.
Men start earlier and consume more SEM
Women more likely to use it in relation to other people
115
Lambert et al.
A love that doesn’t last: Pornography consumption and weakened commitment to one’s romantic partner.
Question: Does the concumption of pornography affect romantic relationships?
Study 1: Is there a relationship between porn consumption and commitment? Survey.
More porn, less commitment :(
Study 2: Porn consumption and committed behavior. Observational data. Lab.
Blindfolded ;) task with romantic partner - drawing
Study 3: Either no porn or no favorite food. Experiment
Lower chance of being with their partner in the future w/ the porn
Study 4: Lab. How many times have you seen porn in the past 30 days? Talk to this stranger on this app.
More porn = more flirting
Study 5: Higher porn = more infidelity
116
Babbie
Coding Categories
| Types of testing
