SOCIOLOGY CH. 13 Flashcards
a period of time that can be spent relaxing, engaging in recreation, or otherwise indulging in freely chosen activities
leisure
any satisfying, amusing, and stimulating activity that is experienced as refreshing and renewing for body, mind, and spirit
recreation
the utilization of goods and services, either for personal use or in manufacturing
consumption
the process by which it becomes possible to buy and sell a particular good or service
commodification
the process by which a single corporation acquires ownership of a variety of otherwise unrelated businesses
conglomeration
a mutually beneficial interaction between parts of an organization that allows it to create something greater than the sum of its individual outputs
synergy
the legal combination of two companies, usually in order to maximize efficiency and profits by eliminating redundant infrastructure and personnel
merger
the process by which the number of companies producing and distributing a particular commodity decreases, often through mergers and conglomeration
concentration
a situation in which there is only one individual or organization, without competitors, providing a particular good or service
monopoly
laws designed to maintain competition in the marketplace by prohibiting monopolies, price fixing, or other forms of collusion among businesses
antitrust legislation
reduction or removal of government controls from an industry to allow for a free and efficient marketplace
deregulation
forms of cultural expression usually associated with the masses, consumer goods, and commercial products
popular culture
those forms of cultural expression usually associated with the elite or dominant classes
high culture
groups of people who share similar artistic, literary, media, recreational, and intellectual interests
taste publics
areas of culture that share similar aesthetics and standards of taste
taste cultures
a theory that explains the effects of media as if their contents simply entered directly into the consumer, who is powerless to resist their influence
Hypodermic Needle Theory (Magic Bullet Theory)
a term used to characterize audience members as active participants in “reading” or constructing the meaning of the media they consume
active audiences
approaches to understanding media effects that focus on how the media fulfill individuals’ psychological or social needs
uses and gratifications paradigm
theory that suggests that audiences seek messages in the media that reinforce their existing attitudes and beliefs and are thus not influenced by challenging or contradictory information
reinforcement theory
theory that the media can set the public agenda by selecting certain news stories and excluding others, thus influencing what audiences think about
agenda-setting theory
theory on media effects that suggests audiences get information through opinion leaders who influence their attitudes and beliefs, rather than through direct, firsthand sources
two-step flow model
the ideas and frameworks that audience members bring to bear on a particular media text to understand its meaning
interpretive strategies
a theory on media that combines models that privilege the media producer and models that view the audience as the primary source of meaning; this theory recognizes that media texts are created to deliver specific messages and that individuals actively interpret them
encoding/decoding model
Henry Jenkins’s term for the ways that audience members manipulate an original cultural product to create a new one; a common way for fans to exert some control over the media they consume
textual poaching
