Comm 2302 Spring 20

Reading Summary

In chapters four and five of White Space Is Not Your Enemy, authors Rebecca Hagen and Kim Golombisky discuss the importance of avoiding errors in graphics and the different theories of design. Chapter four specifically talks about how thirteen amateur errors can have big effects on how a paper or graphic is perceived by others. The errors discussed were to avoid centered layouts, keep photographs proportionate, don’t use obnoxious fonts, avoid bulky border/ boxes, use acceptable margins, keep headlines in a straight line, clustering is better than cluttering, avoid negative space, don’t have a busy background, double check tacky typos, use real bullet points for list, avoid inelegant breaks on pages, and avoid rivers of negative space. Similarly, chapter five discusses the seven elements, principles, and theories of design. The seven elements of design are space, line, shape/form, size/scale, color, texture, and value. The six principles of design are focal point emphasis, contrast, balance, movement, rhythm/pattern, and unity. One of the theories of design discussed in chapter five was Gestalt’s theory which states the laws of proximity, similarity, continuity, and closure. 

Outside Example

Chapter four specifically reminded me of the time I had to create a poster board for my high school’s homecoming rally and dance. I was on ASB when I was a junior in high school and my group was in charge of making posters to place around the school that promoted our homecoming football game and dance. I had to use most of the layout elements to make this poster appealing to my fellow classmates. I found it challenging because there was so much information to put on this poster but we had limited room so we needed to compromise certain details. Reading the amateur layout errors made me realize that my group and I made some of those layouts. However, homecoming my junior year was a hit so my group and I take some of the credit for making it a great night for my high school.    

Reading Connection

The first element we used was centering everything, which I learned quickly can be seen as very boring. From what I can remember, we did a great job on using two fonts and were careful about avoiding bulky borders that can suffocate the poster. The background was a starry night so from what I could remember, the background was very busy and had little negative space. There was a lot of focal points on the poster, like the big heading and the bold lettering that said the time and location of the events. Overall, there were some negatives and positives of that poster but learning these elements of design will somehow benefit me in my future.

Reading Summary:

Chapters four and five of Rebecca Hagen and Kim Golombisky (2016) White Space is Not Your Enemy focuses on how to design graphics. Chapter four talks about the 13 amateur errors. A quick summary of these errors are to avoid centered layouts, keep photos proportionate, use a universal font, don’t use bulky borders, have generous margins, keep headlines straight, do not clutter, keep negative space on the outer edges of layout, keep whitespace as background, think twice about tacky emphasis, use real bullets for lists, avoid inelegant breaks, and avoid rivers of white space. Chapter 5 focuses on the 7 elements of design, the rules of good design, and the Gestalt theory. The 7 elements of design are space, line, shape, size, color, texture, and value. The rules of good design are focal points, contrast, balance, movement, rhythm, and unity. Lastly, the four laws of the Gestalt theory are proximity, closure, similarity, and continuity. 

Outside Example:

My outside example is when my family hired a designer to fix up our house so, we could sell it. The designer replaced a lot of our photos and furniture. She reorganized many rooms and transformed our house. She was able to make our house feel more open and invitational through simply changing the position of a couch and a picture. The way she organized the room left there to be a lot of negative space in specific positions. She also used simplistic uniform colors and formats to design each room in the house. 

Reading Connection: 

The designer used many elements that were mentioned in chapter 5. She used space, more specifically negative space, to make the rooms feel bigger by moving the furniture around. She also used size and scale to create depth in the room. Color and contrast play a huge role in a room. You usually want complementary colors that fit the theme of a room however, there needs to be a big enough difference to see depth and dimensions. As you can see in the photo lines are emphasized in the island and cabinets. These lines create a texture versus having big wide spaces of a certain color in the house. 

This article goes into detail describing the differences between quantitative and qualitative research. Quantitative view of research looks at the scientific aspect of communication and focuses on being systematic, accurate, and precise. This type of research uses numerical data and correlation between variables, offering a more statistical representation of data. On the opposite end, qualitative data is more based on interpretation and more theoretical and political in nature. One major point in this article is the difference between accurate information and our society’s construction of reality, how feelings and expression can’t be measured by a number and are more complex. Due to this shift, media had been increasingly studied using qualitative research and divided into the two categories of transmission and ritual views of communication. Transmission deals with the sharing of ideas through technology in order to control, while the ritual method focuses on maintaining a common culture through the sharing of beliefs, customs, and ideas.

This article reminds me of the different ways we interpret language and how this shift from dominantly quantitative to qualitative ways of looking at media has changed the way students are educated. A few examples that come to mind are how we interpret texts through different lenses such as the “marxist” perspective, and how educators have begun to encourage students to formulate unique views of texts and film. Today, the arts and specifically technology(transmission),has allowed our generation to communicate emotion and abstract ideas on a mass scale. Movies such as Marriage story, Uncut Gems, and, Joker all contain symbolism that could be researched using quantitative methods, however, the meaning lies within the qualitative analysis and the subjective interpretation of the film.

Due to rapid pace of technological expansion, I think this qualitative form of viewing text and language will continue to become more integrated into our daily lives. Especially on political sites, the lack of quantitative data and a greater emphasis on qualitative data has impacted how people approach fact and opinion. It seems as if the facts aren’t as reliable as they used to be and that people are more likely to believe socially constructed realities. In other words, people hear what they want to hear, and the way language in interpreted and analyzed today is all dependent on the person. These two methods have shifted over time and I believe will continue to shift as our society’s values and traditions evolve.

Bonnie Brennen (2012) “Quantitative vs. qualitative research” in Qualitative Research Methods for Media Studies. New York: Routledge.

Activity show and tell one category with examples

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Wimmer, R. & Dominick, J. (1994). “Content analysis.” Excerpt from Mass Media Research: An Introduction.  25 pages.

Reading Summary

This excerpt highlights the differences between qualitative and quantitative research methods concerning media. The author claims that quantitative research is factual and concrete, doesn’t go much further than the surface level. There’s a question and an answer concerning one main idea. Qualitative research is conceptual and focuses on the bigger picture. It’s insightful and “showcases a variety of meanings and truths”(Brennen, 3). When it comes to qualitative research, language is the basis of understanding people and ideas. It’s how humans interact and is important in trying to understand our “social realities”.

Outside example

This concept of qualitative research and text analysis reminded me of text to film adaptations. Many books written are later produced into films and usually the author of the novel differs from the film director. It is up to the director to adapt the text to movement and action and bring the book to life. Often viewers say that the original text is better than the film. This is due to additions or changes made by the director to try and convey the same feelings/ emotion the author did through text. 

Reading Connection

I believe translating text to film is an example of the qualitative research method because of the interpretive process. The director must decide what he/she feels when analyzing the text of the novel and dictates what they believe the author to have meant through their words. As a reader, many different feelings are experienced depending on how they perceive the language of the text. Not all readers will feel the same about the development of the book. This exemplifies qualitative research and the variety of translations and ideas that result from it. Specifically with a focus on the importance of language and text analysis. 

Reading Summary

In this excerpt from Bonnie Brennen their is a discussion between qualitative and quantitative methods when researching media. The beginning of the excerpt sets the stage for what qualitative research is and how it will be addressed within the text.

We then begin the next section with a description of what quantitative research is and what peoples view of it is. This is then contrasted with a description of what qualitative research is. Following these descriptions is a discussion on the use of symbols and how they change the way people experience reality. In much the same way, different qualitative methods can shape the uses implications that people take from research. Brennen then tells us that use of different methods increases the rigor of the research analysis and gives a better understanding.

The next section discusses the development of qualitative research. That in the the 20th century the dominating method of scientific study for mass communication was quantitative methods. However, some researchers believed that they did not have to copy natural sciences and its quantitative methods. That there was more depth to communication then what quantitative methods could uncover. Now in the 21st century qualitative methods are an integral part of in the media studies.

Chapter two introduces two ways in which communication can be understood; transmission view and ritual view. “Transmission view envisions communication as a process of sending, transmitting or delivering information in order to control others” (Brennen 13). Ritual view is the idea that “people share customs, beliefs, ideas and experiences” (Brennen 13). Brennen then gives examples of these concepts. This is then followed by a discussion of how important language is to all qualitative research.

Chapter eight introduces the topic of textual analysis. How it is all about language and how we use it. Following this is an explanation that understanding a text and what a text is, is pivotal for textual analysis. In the next section Brennen discusses the development of textual analysis and gives examples of the difference between quantitative and qualitative textual analysis. In the end of this chapter there is a discussion on what semiotics is and how it has influenced textual analysis.

Outside Example

When I was reading this excerpt from Brennen the first thing that came to mind was actually my major of Geoscience. In many of my geoscience classes we have had to do research, fieldwork, and observe and analyze samples in class. While much of this work is based on and has a foundation in quantitative research, there is a large part of qualitative aspects to it. An example of something we have done at trinity is looking at examples or pictures of sedimentary structures and interpreting what we see.

Reading Connection

How I believe that the reading and may example are connected can be explained with the sedimentary structures example. First, we have to observe and describe what we are seeing with the structures. This process can be somewhat subjective even if what you are basing your ideas on are objective facts. Then based on what you see you have to make interpretations. These interpretations are heavily based on what you saw or did not see in the structures. This qualitative view of the structure can heavily influence the results of the research.

READING SUMMARY

For Monday’s reading, the text aims to dissect the methods of media effects and the process included in the research leading up to the matter. The reading divides the methods into 3 groups: content analysis, the survey, and the experiment itself. Content analysis is simply the collecting of data revolving around a type of media, for example, how many times guns are shown on a certain channel in a day. The data collected from this part of the process is just data. You cannot make inferences based off of it, but you can look at it quantitatively. When looking at content analysis, the sample from which the data is collected is quite important as well. The sample can dictate what the findings later show, and can indicate that the inferences made might only pertain to a certain group. After collecting all of the data, it can be turned into statistics which can then be used to make interpretations about what the information is saying/affecting.

OUTSIDE EXAMPLE

When I was a senior in high school, my statistics class focused a lot on causation. Our teacher would regularly remind us that just because a set of data seems to apply to a certain finding does not necessarily mean they’re related. For example, growing up, I have always greatly enjoyed horror and violent films. One of my favorites that came out in the past few years was “Hereditary”, a psychological horror movie with a lot of hidden messages. I find them extremely interesting and would spend hours fixated on underlying themes, intentionally going through article after article of different plot analyses. I spent a majority of my time after watching a film dissecting each character and action taken in the movie to try to greater understand the deeper meaning in psychological thrillers, meaning I spent a lot of time not only watching, but reading about murder, gore, possession, and anger. Yet, I am not a violent person. In fact, I have never seen violence as an answer to anything and greatly despise when I meet someone who thinks otherwise.

READING CONNECTION

Just like we learned from the reading, conclusions cannot be made just based on statistical data. Just because I have watched a multitude of horror movies does not mean that I am a scary/violent person. Much like the reading says, the data could have multiple different effects. Until they are looked at in a larger perspective after other parts of the scientific method are applied, they cannot be used to indicate any type of conclusions.

Reading Summary

In this chapter the author, Glenn Sparks talks about how content analysis is a way to describe texts in a quantitative way even if they aren’t quantitative. Sparks breaks down the characteristics of content analysis and also gives an example of a study about popular music and the references of substance use in lyrics. In this example, the author also states many key steps about the research. A sample is needed in every content analysis to state how the information is going to be used and to know how the researchers picked the information to make sure there are no biased results. Unit analysis and categories are established to make it clear how the information is being filtered and considered in the study. There is also a coding agreement which shows how much information is being considered to be characterized similar by two or more coders. Statistical analysis and interpretation of findings are done after the research has concluded and it is used to link possible results of the main hypothesis or any other information that was found during the research.

Outside Example

Mindhunter is a series on Netflix where two agents from a newly created branch known as behavioral science focus on interviewing various serial killers and try to use the information learned from their interviews to understand the way serial killers think and hopefully in the future they can point out a serial killer before there is a crime committed. As the show advances, it can be seen that these agents’ work is getting attention and support from the government and the people and the department begins to expand and gain funding to find an answer to their main question. The show includes many real life events and many real life serial killers such as Charles Manson, Ed Kemper, Jerry Brudos and more.

Reading Connection

The reading reminded me of mindhunter because in the show we can see how these two agents start from scratch and begin to identify and characterize actions of cases with multiple killings. We see throughout the show how they begin to understand that there are organized and unorganized killers and the difference between serial and sequence killers. In the chapter we see something similar, when there is a new study being done, researchers need to specify how they want to measure their information such as songs used in the example and how they filter different types of songs by genres. These steps are crucial in studies because they keep things organized and we see the effectiveness of that in the show.

Summary:

Content analysis, as defined by Kelinger, is a method of studying and analyzing communication in a systematic, objective, and quantitative manner for the purpose of measuring variables. This chapter goes further to explain this definition. To begin Smith explains that systematic can be translated as uniformity in all coding and procedures. Objectivity means that it is critical that research do not allow their personal biases to cloud their analysis inorder to produce the most accurate information. Lastly, quantitative research offers more precision instead of producing vague data. 

The Chapter moves from the definition to its purpose. Smith suggests that with the media we can describe communication content, test hypotheses of message characteristics, compare media content to the real world, assess the image of a particular group in society and establish a starting point for students of media effects. Although content analysis is beneficial, it is accompanied by limitations. For example, content analysis cannot offer a complete look at how content affects audiences. In addition, some research is limited “to the framework of the categories and definitions used in that analysis, which results, which results in generalizations and ultimately a lack of accuracy. 

Towards the end of the chapter he lists and explains the steps in content analysis. These include Formulating research questions or hypotheses, defining the population in a question, selecting an appropriate sample from the pop­ulation, selecting and defining a unit of analysis, constructing the categories of content to be analyzed, establish a quantification system, training coders and conducting a pilot stud, and lastly, coding the content according to established definitions. This is important because content analysis is “used in all areas of media…from academic to private sectors.” Although its popularity stemmed from use in war time it is still an efficient way of answering many mass media questions.

Outside Example: Reading this chapter automatically made me think of all the movies and shows that have gained so much attention from viewers that Netflix analyzes to determine future actions. For example, Netflix either announces new seasons (and or sequels) or fails to continue programs based on how audiences responded, viewed, and kept up with the program. For example, the show To all the boys i’ve ever loved is a Netflix movie that did not intend to have a follow up movie. This movie, although can be viewed as cheesy, was entertaining enough to impact a large amount of viewers in a positive way. Due to its populatriy Netflix released To all the boys i’ve ever loved part 2. As I read this chapter I thought about how they would use content analysis when determining whether to stop at the second movie.

Connected: I connected content analysis to Netflix, specifically witht the movie To all the boys i’ve ever loved because I believe Netflix used content analysis to determine if making sequel was worth it. As stated in Chapter 8, Netflix can use their content in numerous ways including testing their material. I believe this example connects to the reading because Netflix does research and makes decisions based on collected Data to determine what material to keep, add, and remove from their website. I also believe that they relatively follow the steps of content analyis listed in the chapter to create a smooth process of making those decisions. Content is important to Netflix because it is a matter of profit and therefore worth the research.