Scientific Methods in Media Effects Research

Summary:

In Scientific Methods in Media Effects Research, the question is posed, “How would one ever go about discovering the effects of media content?” (pg. 24). It is important to understand how media is effecting the masses, whether negatively or positively. Understanding the effect of any form of media is the job of a social scientist. The three specific methods that social scientists use are content analysis, the survey, and the experiment. Content Analysis is a quantitative study of specific media mediums (ex: songs, video games) and the content that might be bringing about certain behaviors or attitudes. However, it is important to note that it is not accurate to make inferences based on the results of content analysis; other research methods are necessary. The information at hand must be coded into different categories, manifest content and latent content. Manifest content is surface level information that can be absorbed with little thought. Latent content is that which has to be interpreted (ex: sarcasm). First, a social scientist has to take a sample of the media they are trying to analyze. Then, the unit of analysis is determined. The unit of analysis could be a song, an episode, a scene, or a whole movie. The the unit of analysis is coded depending on specific categories, depending on what the research is aiming to discover. The research is repeated multiple times by different coders and they must have an agreement percentage of at least 70%. After this agreement, the findings of the content analysis can be turned into numeric data and then interpreted from there on.

Personal Example:

To me, it was interesting to see how easy it is to make an inference solely based on numeric values. This is why it is important to have a thorough process before coming to any final conclusions. When reading this article, I was thinking about the connection between social media and depression. In a way, social media (instagram, snapchat, facebook, twitter) makes us feel more connected to the world around us, but also it shuts us out. For me, the only true fulfilling relationships I have are in person, and social media is beginning to replace that. I remember reading a scientific article in my Principles of Psychology class that described the link between social media and depression. I did a quick search on google scholar and there are plenty of studies that have gone into researching this topic further. Here are two interesting studies that I found https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140197116300343 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352250X15002535

Reading Connection:

Both of these two studies that I found through google scholar must have begun with content analysis. However, these studies must have gone on with surveys and experiments to be able to draw a definitive connection between social media and depression. The article Scientific Methods in Media Effects Research stated that “Essentially, content analysis is a method that allows the researcher to describe messages in quantitative terms even though those messages are essentially verbal or non-quantitative in nature” (pg. 25). Feelings of depression, low self-esteem, and envy are all non-quantitative qualities, so I would be very interested in learning more about the full process of how this study was performed qualitatively.