Professional Documents
Culture Documents
THEORY
• Media are no longer the tool of
manipulation and oppression or fear. Only
few people are open to psychological
manipulation of media. Media are
relatively powerless in shaping public
opinion due to individual and group
differences among people.
• The study of Paul Lazarsfeld claims that media effect is limited or
minimal in changing or shaping people’s thoughts, attitudes and
actions.
• Carl Hovland study indicated that, in parallel with Lazarsfeld, even in
laboratory atmosphere media influence is found limited. Media may
affect our lives if we allow them to do.
• Lazarsfeld and Hovland who are methodologists rather than theorists
work on objective empirical media effect measurement methods.
• They both worked on how methodology in social sciences and
humanities can be implemented to media studies.
• Between 1940s and 50s they both conducted researches in
laboratories over thousands of people.
• They actually were testing the common assumption that gives media
very powerful role in shaping people’s opinion. They demonstrate
that education and social status are more influent over people.
The Two-Step Flow of
Information
• Lazarsfeld believed that social theory must be strongly based on empirical
facts.
• Lazarsfeld conducted a survey in Ohio between May and November in
1940, before presidential elections. Reached 3000 people and made groups
based on the changes of decisions of voters such as early deciders (53%),
waverers (15%), converts (8%) and crystallizers (28%).
• Waverers and converts were media users but they did not say they were
influenced by media but the people. They made their choice in line with their
political opinion rather than with the influence of media messages. Media
helped with existing party loyalties.
• Lazarsfeld divided those voters according to their media use into three:
-Gate Keepers: people who screen media messages and pass on those
messages that help others share their views.
-Opinion Leaders: those who pass on information to opinion followers.
-Opinion followers: those who receive information from opinion leaders.
• Two-step flow theory is the idea that messages pass from the media,
through opinion leaders to opinion followers. Info flows horizontal way.
Lazarsfeld’s methods limitations
• Strengths
-Pays deep attention to process which messages can and can’t have
effects.
-Provides insight into influence of individual differences and group
affiliations in shaping media influence.
-Pays attention to selective processes helps clarify how individuals
process information.
• Weakness
-experimental manipulation of variables their power; it underestimates
media’s.
-focuses on information in media messages, not on more contemporary
symbolic media.
-Uses attitude change as only measure of effects, ignoring
reinforcement and more subtle forms of media influence.