Media Products (Positivists) Flashcards
What are media products?
Newspapers, advertisements, magazines, radio, music products etc.
How are media products used?
Sociologists can examine and analyse the values, priorities or concerns of the society at any one point in time.
Content analysis schedules are a list of things the researcher looks for in the media content which they record how often and ‘thing’ occurs by counting frequency of certain images.
STRENGTHS of media products?
Cheap and easy to access
Comparative method that allows sociologists to make comparison on media reports and content over periods of time = longitudinal
Quantitative content analysis is regarded as reliable as other sociologists can repeat the method and cross-check results by looking at the same media and using the same content analysis schedule.
WEAKNESSES of media products?
Time-consuming as media products need checking.
Cannot assume the media in content analysis affects the audience.
Sociologists analyse out of context.
Subjective method, the researcher determines what is important.
Only tells us about personal or political beliefs from those who produce the media product thus is journalistic prejudice.
