Course: Research Methods in Mass Communication-II (5630) PART 2

Semester: Spring, 2020 Level:

MSC/PGD (Mass Communication)

`Q. 1 Explain different types of research in print media?

Answer:
Print media Research may cover many things; say start with Readership, i.e.
what is its quantum Readership, Who reads it, what is the reader’s base SEC distribution o
ratio, what are the places it has readership quantum and so on Other research can Be on the
type of its topics and editing, i.e., what ratio of specific topics does it cover. The articles are
creative, topic based or plain news and so on. Advertisement ratio can also be studies, i.e.
what are the types of Advertisements it has, what are the ad Quantum and so on. Print
media Research will all depend on the purpose that the Research work is to be done.

This type of research started in the United States immediately after World War II. They
conduct a personal interview in which the respondents are asked to identify the LĎ article
they had read from a selected newspaper. But a comprehensive study of newspaper
readership was undertaken by American Newspaper Publishers Association. The readership
research is important in newspaper industry as it helps to get the detailed information
about the readers and accordingly they could change the content of the publication, if
necessary. Moreover, the increasing competition from traditional and online media makes
the readership research more important. Research into newspaper readership mainly
contains five types of studies:

1. Item Selection Studies:

This study is used to determine who reads specific parts of the newspaper. In item w selection
studies, aided recall, measurement used to find out the readership of a particular item is used. Here,
the researcher shows a copy of newspaper to the reader to find out which are the stories he/she
remembers. Instead of conducting personal interviews, the researcher can also use telephone
interview to collect data. In an item selection study, the unit of analysis will be a specific news
article, or a specific content category. The readership of these items or categories is then related to
certain) audience demographic or psychographic characteristics. For example, a research study
reported that teenage readers have reading habits different from adults.

2. User and Gratification Studies:

This type of readership research is used to study all media content. The respondents are given a list
of possible uses and gratification and are asked whether any of these are the motives behind their
reading. Then, the researcher summed the responses and an average score for each motivation item
is calculated. The main aim of this study is to find out the motives that lead to newspaper reading

ASSIGNMENT No.2
 Course: Research Methods in Mass Communication-II (5630) PART 2

Semester: Spring, 2020 Level:

MSC/PGD (Mass Communication)

and the personal and i psychological rewards that result from it. Gratification from reading the
newspaper seemed to differ across ethnic group.

3. Reader Profiles:
Reader profile studies give a demographic summary of the readers of a publication. So these data
can be used to focus the content of the publication, prepare advertising campaign and increase
subscriptions. We cannot predict the nature and extent of newspaper reading among
individuals with this demographic data. In psychographic studies, the reader has to indicate
whether they agree or disagree with a group of attitudinal statements.

Afterwards, patterns of response are analyzed to see how they correlate or cluster together.
People who show high levels of agreement with questions that cluster together can be
described as labels that summarize the substance of the question. Lifestyle segmentation
research also follows a similar approach. The psychographic and lifestyle segmentation
studies provides an additional insight about editorial aims, target audience and circulation
goals.

4. Editor Reader Comparison:

Here, we are questioning a group of editors about some topics and these answers are
compared with those of their readers to find out whether there is any kind of similarity
between their opinions. This kind of study reveals whether the space allocation of the
newspaper made by the editor matches the public interest. An editor reader comparison
study revealed that both groups agreed on the importance of many journalistic standards,
but readers did not value professional staffing goals and enterprise reporting as highly as the
editor did.

5. Reader-Non Reader Studies:

This type of study tries to find out the reasons people do not read the newspapers. It can be
conducted by personal, telephone or mail interviews with minor modifications. It is difficult to
define the term non-reader. In some studies, a nonreader is determined by a no answer to
the question," do you generally read a newspaper?" Otherwise we could use more specific
questions like, "have you read a newspaper 5 yesterday or today?" a third form of this
question includes using multiple response categories.

Circulation Research
The term circulation can be explained as the number of copies of a magazine or newspaper
sod through paid subscription and other sales by mail or single copies. The circulation
research mainly focuses on the demand of print medium in different markets and its delivery
and pricing system. There are mainly two types of circulation research used in print media.
The first in considers a particular group of readers as its unit of analysis and in the second
type, the unit of analysis will be the individual reader.

ASSIGNMENT No.2
 Course: Research Methods in Mass Communication-II (5630) PART 2

Semester: Spring, 2020 Level:

MSC/PGD (Mass Communication)

The first type of circulation research uses a particular group of readers as its unit of analysis.
It tries to measure circulation in terms of overall characteristics of a particular market.
Circulation research can also be used to identify other market level of market structure that
have an impact on circulation market size and location showed a stronger relationship with
circulation.

The second type of circulation research uses individual reader as the unit of analysis to
measure the effects of certain aspects of delivery and pricing system on reader behavior.
Magazine publishers often conduct this type of circulation by drawing samples of subscribers
in different states and checking on delivery dates of their publication and its physical
condition when received.

Newspaper Management Research

This kind of research comes across at goal setting and job satisfaction. This is the budding
research area in the last two decades. This growth was due to three factors first the
newspaper companies expanding their holdings, which created a more complicated
management structure.

Second, media competition becoming more intense. Newspaper with efficient management
techniques had a greater advantage in the new competitive environment

Third, the newspaper industry became more labor intensive skilled and experienced
persons from the backbone of a successful newspaper. These researches are helpful to
determine how to keep employees satisfied and productive.

The techniques used to study newspaper management are the same as those used to study
any business activity. The key topics that attracted the researcher's attention in the
management research are goal setting by management, organizational structure, employee
job satisfaction and effects of competition and ownership of newspaper content and quality.

Typography and Makeup Research

In this research, the researcher measures the effects of news design elements - Lo
specifically typeface and page makeup on readership, reader preferences and

ASSIGNMENT No.2
 Course: Research Methods in Mass Communication-II (5630) PART 2

Semester: Spring, 2020 Level:

MSC/PGD (Mass Communication)

comprehension. By means of this approach, researchers have tested the effects of different
typography and makeup elements, including the amount of white space, presence of
paragraph headlines, size and style of type, variations in column width and use of vertical
and horizontal page makeup. This will help the researcher to determine the impact of
different newspaper and magazine design elements on readership ad item preferences. The
experimental method is used most often in typography and makeup studies. Subjects are
typically assigned to one or more treatment groups exposed to an experimental stimulus and
asked to rate what they have seen according to a series of dependent variable measures. A
common practice is to measure these variables by means of a semantic differential rating
scale

Readability Research:
Readability can be defined as the sum total of all elements and their interactions that is
affect the success of a piece of printed material. Success is measured by the extent to which
readers understand the piece, are able to read it at an optimal speed and find it ):
interesting. Several formulas have been developed to determine objectively the readability of
the text.

ASSIGNMENT No.2
 Course: Research Methods in Mass Communication-II (5630) PART 2

Semester: Spring, 2020 Level:

MSC/PGD (Mass Communication)

Q. 2 Describe characteristics of Rating and Non Rating Research .

Answer:
Knowledge of audience preferences and behavior is critical to the operation of
contemporary media organizations.Systems of audience measurement, known colloquially
as "ratings', influence the timing, placement and markets for media content and advertising.
Audience measurement companies emerged in the 1930s to O fill this need. Over the years,
these companies' abilities to describe and predict 3, audience behavior have varied, along
with the techniques and technologies developed to measure audiences. While the
technology, panels and survey frequency of ratings instruments have become more
sophisticated over time, ratings conventions are still beset with the problem of the differential
between the actual and the measured audience. Indeed, in the contemporary period,
characterized by media fragmentation, niche channels and dispersed audiences, questions
have been raised over the adequacy and appropriateness of ratings systems and
instruments in measuring audience behavior; with significant economic cost as a result
(Napoli 2003). Investigation into the conventions that govern the relationship between
measurement and markets has become more urgent. Rating the Audience provides the first
historical study of the overall trajectory of the audience ratings technologies and
conventions, the companies providing these ratings and the media organizations using them.
The study provides a detailed analysis of the emergence development and transformation of
audience ratings in order to promote better public and media industry understanding of the
nature, character, productivity, limits and challenges facing ratings conventions.

The aims of our study are to:

(i) Establish and interrogate the nature, character and evolution of the audience-ratings
conventions used to address the complicated tradeoffs between the need for accuracy and
the acceptance of 'imperfections' (issues often confused in the public mind with the rigging or
fixing of ratings by broadcasters)

(ii) Establish and interrogate the nature, character and evolution of methodologies and
technologies used in audience ratings, such as diaries, interviews w and people meters;

(iii) Analyse the consequences of the audience-ratings 3 conventions, in their different forms,
for the operations of media audience markets and media content markets, over time;

(iv) analyze the consequences of the decline o in exposure-based pricing, typically cost-per-
thousand (CPM), and alternative pricing structures;

(v) Analyze the balance between social control and manipulation in a audience-ratings
conventions and ethical and transparent conduct;

(vi) Document the decline in audience participation in audience data collection

ASSIGNMENT No.2
 Course: Research Methods in Mass Communication-II (5630) PART 2

Semester: Spring, 2020 Level:

MSC/PGD (Mass Communication)

research on audience exposure technologies has typically been conducted for us particular
and local purposes, and largely without reference to existing and prior historical research.
Audience measurement research is characteristically fragmented both institutionally and
methodologically. Records on the development and application of audience research
methodologies are also fragmented. Much of the knowledge goes about both the history and
the rationale for selection and use of audience measurement methodologies and
technologies is only available through interviews with those who made the selections and
archives of media research companies. This book is based in large part on interviews
conducted by the authors with historical and contemporary figures from around the world
who have contributed to the development of audience ratings.

Audience ratings systems provide an economic foundation for advertiser-supported media.

Consequently the audience measurement process affects the structure and behavior of
media companies and regulators alike. When the techniques and o technologies of the
ratings change, these changes can, as Napoli observes, have 'a A significant effect on the
economics of media industries (because these changes can affect advertiser behavior), the
relative economic health of various segments of the media industry, and the nature of the
content that media organizations provide (Napoli 2003:65) the authors own preliminary into
the ratings convention in Australia (Balnaves and O'Regan 2002; Balnaves and O'Regan
2008) confirms this estimation These changes are driven by the desire on the part of all
participants to to the convention to minimize the inevitable gap between the measured
audience and the actual audience for a service or programs. With the advent of a more
diverse & and fragmented media environment and new methods for segmenting audiences,
this gap has become even more evident, leading to challenges to the validity of ratings as
currency for buying and selling media. Napoli suggests that changes in technologies and
audiences are leading to a decline in the quality and value of the 'audience 5 product' - data
on who is watching (Napoli 2003). The provision of reliable third-party syndicated and
customized audience measurement systems for the production of bi ratings, however,
remains essential to good media management nationally and internationally. As
industrialized countries move into a more fragmented and differentiated multichannel
broadcasting environment these issues will become more important.

Napoli's recent analysis has identified the empirical trend for audience and content markets,
which historically have been connected, to separate (Napoli 2003: 181). The audience
market and ratings have traditionally informed programmers and advertisers on what content
to provide and where to target advertising. With the emergence of cable, satellite and
internet delivery systems, direct audience payment for content has become more common,
with a series of implications for advertiser supported media (Napoli 2003: 180). In the new
media environment, it is technologically possible to gather more information about audiences
than ever before but media and audience fragmentation have made it more expensive for
media producers and distributors to find audiences, to discover their viewing or listening
preferences and to deliver content across a range of different media

ASSIGNMENT No.2
 Course: Research Methods in Mass Communication-II (5630) PART 2

Semester: Spring, 2020 Level:

MSC/PGD (Mass Communication)

In order to understand the current situation and its difficulties it is worthwhile thinking about
audience ratings development as falling into three major periods:

• The Old Regime', 1930-50. This was a period in which few media channels existed.
Despite their desire to target narrow demographic groups, advertisers and programmers
relied in this era on simple audience size as an indicator of audience value. Extensive
audience segmentation was not technologically or economically feasible. This was the era of
paper diaries and interviews, and the first audience segmentations (A,B,C,D) were focused
on the family environment.

• The Transitional Regime'. The period 1950-90 was a time of increased fragmentation of the
media system, more television channels, more radio channels, and increased sophistication
of audience measurement systems. There were a number of challenges to the ratings
conventions leading to a move towards a single convention in a media form. The introduction
of people meters continued the technologizing' of audience ratings that had begun with
Arthur (Art) C. Nielsen's Audi meter, which began to be rolled out in 1942 in united states but
did not achieve national coverage until 1949 (Beville as 1988: 20). With an increased
number of media channels came on demand for and development of increasingly
sophisticated technologies of measurement (together with an erosion of the concept of a
'mass audience') (Turow 1997). Advertiser valuations of different audience segments now
affected media content decisions. This 'transitional regime' is important to the study,
because while the sophistication of the measurement technologies increased significantly,
the emerging changes in the media technologies, such as the Internet, are also having
effects on the nature of audiences and their accessibility to advertisers.

• The Contemporary Moment'. The period 1990 to the present involves increased
sophistication in measurement technologies, including the rise of database analysis of
audience exposure data on users' desktops. There is, at the same time, a decline in the
quality of the audience market; a decline in television ratings panel participation, indicating
growing reluctance to participate in audience ratings research and conduit multiplication' with
network viewing dropping from 95 per cent to 40 per cent in the United States and
elsewhere. The consequent 'audience fragmentation' makes it harder for advertisers to
reach a critical mass audience. There is more 'ad avoidance', a trend that started with time
shifting' equipment like VCRs. And there is ambience' in media, where television is shifting
more to the background (like radio), with people doing more and more tasks (e.g. surfing the
net) while watching o television, and growing out of home' (OOH) viewing, which creates
problems for the traditional home-based forms of measurement. In the United States the
cable TV (know as subscription TV or pay-TV in Australia) industry benefited, initially, with
the shift of audiences to pay for content' rather than 'advertising supported' services. But the
need to understand audience preferences on .. content remains and the decline in the
quality of audience as a market is now affecting pay-TV (Turow 1997; Napoli 2003).

ASSIGNMENT No.2
 Course: Research Methods in Mass Communication-II (5630) PART 2

Semester: Spring, 2020 Level:

MSC/PGD (Mass Communication)

Significant effort in modern advertising is directed towards maximizing exposure - to 3

ensure that a broadcast audience, for example, is exposed to an optimum number of
messages in a media planning schedule. 'Interactivity' as it is emerging, however, has o a
dramatic effect on traditional assumptions about frequency and reach (how many 8 times the
message is repeated and how extensively it is received).Interactivity a potentially shifts
choice back to the audience allowing a 'bypassing' of attempts to repeat messages.

There has been significant cultural and media studies analysis and theorization about us )
discursive practices associated with audience research and the idea of the audience itself
(Ang 1991, Hartley 1992a; Hartley 2005; Nightingale 2003). Some of this has touched on the
role of ratings, especially its limitations. There has been little or no analytical study, however,
on the historical development of ideas about media - exposure and engagement or the
discourses surrounding those ideas. The idea or concept of exposure is at the heart of
modern audience measurement for audience ratings. In the economics of media and
advertising measurement of exposure is the) ** key factor in making decisions on buying and
selling media space. Rating the Audience examines in detail the history of the
methodologies and conventions that have emerged to govern how measurement of
exposure has played out in the e marketplace.

Over forty years ago, for example, an Advertising Research Foundation (ARF) committee
headed by Dr Seymour Banks, director of media research at Leo Burnett in the United
States, created a model for evaluating media that has become the standard model for the
media industry. That model was divided into six stages: distribution of the media advertising
vehicle; audience exposure to the vehicle; audience exposure to a specific advertisement in
the vehicle; audience members' perception of the advertisement; communication of the
advertising message to the audience; and, eventual decision regarding whether to purchase
the advertised item. There have been attempts by the ARF to update this model (Phelps
1989) and focus tos on 'engagement', rather than 'exposure', but as the debates about
ratings measurement in Australia and elsewhere show, exposure is still perceived as key to
making decisions about buying and selling but at the same time is not as viable for a modern
metrics. Understanding the trajectories of measurement, therefore, is the key to
understanding the future of the ratings 'currency'.

There has been an historical demand that ratings be public, transparent and, preferably,
derived from an independent third party. But persuading the full range of media players from
the competing media companies through to advertisers that a particular technology for
collecting and analyzing audience data is suitable is no small achievement (Miller 1994;
Balnaves and O'Regan 2002: 33). Rating the Audience is s both an analysis of the evolution
of the concept of 'exposure' in methodologies for collecting ratings, from diary methods to
ratings panels, and an historical and cultural o account of the media players involved

ASSIGNMENT No.2
 Course: Research Methods in Mass Communication-II (5630) PART 2

Semester: Spring, 2020 Level:

MSC/PGD (Mass Communication)

. Q. 3 What research methodologies are used in campaign

assessments? Discuss?

Answer:
Public communication campaigns have achieved a varied record of success in influencing
health and prosocial behavior as reflected by the diverse array of cases cited in this book.
Designing and implementing effective campaigns requires a disciplined approach where the
campaign team performs a thorough situational analysis, develops a theory-based but
pragmatic strategic plan, and implements the © creation and placement of messages in
accordance with principles of effective media campaign practices. Moreover, diligent efforts
are needed to enhance the working relationship between campaign designers and
evaluators versus creative professionals who translate concepts in messages. A key role of
the strategist in the collaborative process is to develop a framework for setting specifications
and providing feedback as messages are prepared. Using a research-based approach in the
public service domain is challenging when the mind-set of personnel in sponsoring
organizations o entails rigid advocacy of unpalatable, ideal behavior, devotion to politically
correct message content, and self-indulgent artistic expression. Furthermore, specialists in
domains such as health, environment, or altruism aren't always conscious of the fact that
they differ substantially from their audiences in topical knowledge, values, priorities, and
level of involvement, so they lack the perspective of the "average" person. Research data
from samples of the intended audiences can help overcome the gulf between sender and
receiver (see Dervin & Foreman-Wernet, Chapter 10). Over the life of a campaign,
evaluation research encompasses collection of information about audiences at the formative
stage, followed by process evaluation to assess implementation as the campaign unfolds,
and finally summative evaluation to track campaign impact (see Valente & Kwan, Chapter 6;
Salmon & Murray-Johnson, 8 Chapter 7). Formative evaluation research inputs can enhance
campaign A effectiveness by guiding the development of sophisticated strategies and
effective messages.

This preliminary phase of research is useful for determining which approaches are most
promising and for revealing whether certain components are ineffective or even.
Counterproductive. According to Palmer (1981), formative research provides data and
perspectives to improve messages during the course of creation. He divides this type tot of
evaluation into two phases. The first involves preproduction research, "in which data is
accumulated on audience characteristics that relate importantly to the medium, the
message, and the situation within which the desired behavior will occur"(p. 227). The second
type of formative research is production testing, also known as pretesting, in which draft
prototype messages are evaluated to obtain audience reactions prior to final production.
Public communication campaigners increasingly y utilize elaborate formative evaluation
techniques, particularly for major campaigns ) sponsored by government agencies,

ASSIGNMENT No.2
 Course: Research Methods in Mass Communication-II (5630) PART 2

Semester: Spring, 2020 Level:

MSC/PGD (Mass Communication)

foundations, and organizations promoting health and social progress. Reviews of the media
health campaign literature conclude that formative evaluation contributes to more successful
campaigns (Noar, 2006; Rogers, 1996). Recent exemplars of sophisticated formative
research include Bauman, Smith, Maibach, and Reger-Nash (2006); Berkowitz, Huhman,
Heitzler, Potter, Nolin, and Banspach (2008); Cho and Witte (2005); Parrott, Steiner, and
Goldenhar (2008); Smith, Atkin, Martell, Allen, and Hembroff (2006); and Uhrig, Bann,
Wasserman, Guenther-Grey, and Eroglu (2010). Information about the audience is most
often utilized to identify specialized subgroups to be reached, to devise message appeals
and presentation styles, and to select sources and channels. Furthermore, the formulation of
campaign goals and objectives is increasingly based on research identifying priority areas of
concentration, prospects for attaining certain types of impact, and critical stages of the
communication process that must be addressed. The campaign designer must adeptly
overcome audience resistance manifested as receivers progress through exposure to
processing to learning to yielding to behaving. ? Perhaps the most elemental problem is
reaching the audience and engaging attention to the messages. Other key barriers include
underestimating susceptibility to threats, counter arguing persuasive appeals, displaying
reactance to compliance attempts, and exhibiting inertia (Knowles & Linn, 2004; McGuire,
Chapter 9). Campaign designers are vigilant of unintended side effects that undermine
campaign objectives 5 (see Salmon & Murray-Johnson, Chapter 7). Concerns about
boomerang effects Si especially shape the selection and presentation of behavioral
recommendations, :) negative persuasive incentives, and source messengers (see Hornik,
Chapter 3). Avoiding counterproductive responses from the audience requires careful
formative o evaluation inputs, both preproduction research and production testing.

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK FOR CAMPAIGN PERSUASION

Communication-Persuasion Matrix .
A fundamental organizing framework for developing campaign strategies is McGuire's
matrix, which arrays source, message, channel, receiver, and destination variables as inputs
and a series of information processing and response variables as outputs 2001, Chapter 9).
The first three input components are subject to manipulation by the campaign designer. The
source concept includes the organization that sponsors the campaign and the messenger
who delivers the message, which can be characterized in terms of demographics (age, sex,
socioeconomic status), credibility they (expertise, trustworthiness), and attractiveness.

Each message may feature a variety of content dimensions (themes, appeals, claims, :
evidence, and recommendations) using various formats of arranging material and styles of
packaging, while the overall series of messages in a campaign can vary in volume,
repetition, prominence of placement, and scheduling. The channel variables 3, comprise the
basic medium of transmission (e.g., television, social media sites), the content modes (e.g.,
news item, PSA), and the particular media vehicles (e.g., se specific radio station, magazine
title, website). Although receiver factors are not subject to manipulation, sensitivity to the

ASSIGNMENT No.2
 Course: Research Methods in Mass Communication-II (5630) PART 2

Semester: Spring, 2020 Level:

MSC/PGD (Mass Communication)

background attributes, abilities, and 3 predispositions of individuals enhances the

effectiveness of campaign stimuli.

Finally, the destination encompasses the array of impacts that the campaign aims to
produce, such as immediate versus long-term change, prevention versus cessa-tion, direct
versus two-step flow of influence, and intermediate responses versus ultimate behavioral
outcomes. The output variables have been conceptualized in a number of ways, typically
begin-ning with exposure and processing, followed by the hierarchy of cognitive, affective,
and behavioral consequences of the campaign inputs, such as skill acquisition, attitude
change, and decision to act. Formative research can help D identify what types of content
and style will attract audience attention, facilitate comprehension, elicit emotional reactions
and elaborations, impart knowledge gain and skills acquisition, influence the formation or
change of affective orientations such as beliefs and attitudes, and affect pertinent behavioral
performance.

ASSIGNMENT No.2
 Course: Research Methods in Mass Communication-II (5630) PART 2

Semester: Spring, 2020 Level:

MSC/PGD (Mass Communication)

Q. 4 Explain different approaches to study media effects.

Answer:
Media theories provide the framework for approaching questions about media effects
ranging from as simple as how 10-year-old boys react to cereal advertisements to as broad
as how Internet use affects literacy. Once researchers visualize a project and determine a
theoretical framework, they must choose actual research methods. Contemporary research
methods are greatly varied and can range from analyzing old newspapers to performing
controlled experiments.

Content Analysis
Content analysis is a research technique that involves analyzing the content of s. various
forms of media. Through content analysis, researchers hope to understand :) both the
people who created the content and the people who consumed it. A typical content analysis
project does not require elaborate experiments. Instead, it simply o requires access to the
appropriate media to analyze, making this type of research an easier and inexpensive
alternative to other forms of research involving complex af surveys or human subjects.

Content analysis studies require researchers to define what types of media to study. For
example, researchers studying violence in the media would need to decide which types of
media to analyze, such as television, and the types of formats to examine, such as children's
cartoons. The researchers would then need to define the terms used in the study; media
violence can be classified according to the characters B) involved in the violence (strangers,
family members, or racial groups), the type of violence (self-inflicted, slapstick, or against
others), or the context of the violence (revenge, random, or duty-related). These are just a
few of the ways that media violence could be studied with content-analysis techniques
(Berger, 1998).

ASSIGNMENT No.2
 Course: Research Methods in Mass Communication-II (5630) PART 2

Semester: Spring, 2020 Level:

MSC/PGD (Mass Communication)

Archival Research
Any study that analyzes older media must employ archival research, which is a type of
research that focuses on reviewing historical documents such as old newspapers and past
publications. Old local newspapers are often available on microfilm at local libraries or at the
newspaper offices. University libraries generally provide access to archives of national
publications such as The New York Times or Time; publications can also increasingly be
found in online databases or on websites.

in Older radio programs are available for free or by paid download through a number of
online sources. Many television programs and films have also been made available for free
download, or for rent or sale through online distributors. Performing an online 3 search for a
particular title will reveal the options available.

Resources such as the Internet Archive (www.archive.org) work to archive a number of

media sources. One important role of the Internet Archive is website archiving. Internet
archives are invaluable for a study of online media because they store websites that have
been deleted or changed. These archives have made it possible for Internet content
analyses that would have otherwise been impossible.

Surveys
Surveys are ubiquitous in modern life. Questionnaires record data on anything from political
preferences to personal hygiene habits. Media surveys generally take one of the following
two forms.

A descriptive survey aims to find the current state of things, such as public opinion or
consumer preferences. In media, descriptive surveys establish television and radio ratings
by finding the number of people who watch or listen to particular programs. An analytical
survey, however, does more than simply document a current situation. Instead, it attempts to
find out why a particular situation exists. Researchers pose questions or hypotheses about
media, and then conduct analytical surveys to answer these questions. Analytical surveys
can determine the relationship between different forms of media consumption and the
lifestyles and habits of media consumers.

ASSIGNMENT No.2
 Course: Research Methods in Mass Communication-II (5630) PART 2

Semester: Spring, 2020 Level:

MSC/PGD (Mass Communication)

Surveys can employ either open-ended or closed-ended questions. Open-ended questions

require the participant to generate answers in their own words, while closed-ended questions
force the participant to select an answer from a list. Although open-ended questions allow for
a greater variety of answers, the results of closed ended questions are easier to tabulate.
Although surveys are useful in media studies effective use requires keeping their limitations
in mind

Social Role Analysis

As part of child rearing, parents teach their children about social roles. When parents
prepare children to attend school for example, they explain the basics of school rules and
what is expected of a student to help the youngsters understand the role of students. Like
the role of a character in a play, this role carries specific expectations that differentiate
school from home. Adults often play a number of different roles as they navigate between
their responsibilities as parents, employees, friends, and citizens. Any individual may play a
number of roles depending on his or her specific life choices.

Social role analysis of the media involves examining various individuals in the media and
analyzing the type of role that each plays. Role analysis research can consider the roles of
men, women, children, members of a racial minority, or members of any other social group
in specific types of media. For example, if the role children play in cartoons is consistently
different from the role they play in sitcoms, then certain conclusions might be drawn about
both of these formats. Analyzing roles used in media allows researchers to gain a better
understanding of the messages that the y mass media sends (Berger, 1998).

Depth Interviews
The depth interview is an anthropological research tool that is also useful in medias studies.
Depth interviews take surveys one step further by allowing researchers to directly ask a
study participant specific questions to gain a fuller understanding of the participant's
perceptions and experiences. Depth interviews have been used in research projects that
follow newspaper reporters to find out their reasons for reporting certain stories and in
projects that attempt to understand the motivations for reading romance novels. Depth
interviews can provide a deeper understanding of the media consumption habits of particular
groups of people (Priest, 2010).

Rhetorical Analysis
Rhetorical analysis involves examining the styles used in media and attempting to
understand the kinds of messages those styles convey. Media styles include form,
presentation, composition, use of metaphors, and reasoning structure. Rhetorical analysis
reveals the messages not apparent in a strict reading of content. Studies involving rhetorical
analysis have focused on media such as advertising to better understand the roles of style
and rhetorical devices in media messages (Gunter, 2000).

ASSIGNMENT No.2
 Course: Research Methods in Mass Communication-II (5630) PART 2

Semester: Spring, 2020 Level:

MSC/PGD (Mass Communication)

Focus Groups
Like depth interviews, focus groups allow researchers to better understand public responses
to media. Unlike a depth interview, however, a focus group allows the participants to
establish a group dynamic that more closely resembles that of normal media consumption.
In media studies, researchers can employ focus groups to judge the reactions of a group to
specific media styles and to content. This can be a valuable means of understanding the
reasons for consuming specific types of media.

Experiments
Media research studies also sometimes use controlled experiments that expose a test group
to an experience involving media and measure the effects of that experience. Researchers
then compare these measurements to those of a control group that had key elements of the
experience removed. For example, researchers may show one group of children a program
with three incidents of cartoon violence and another control group of similar children the
same program without the violent incidents. Researchers then ask the children from both
groups the same sets of questions, and the results are compared.

Participant Observation
In participant observation, researchers try to become part of the group they are studying.
Although this technique is typically associated with anthropological studies in which a
researcher lives with members of a particular culture to gain a deeper understanding of their
values and lives, it is also used in media research.

Media consumption often takes place in groups. Families or friends gather to watch favorite
programs, children may watch Saturday morning cartoons with a group of their peers, and
adults may host viewing parties for televised sporting events or awards shows. These
groups reveal insights into the role of media in the lives of the public. A researcher might join
a group that watches football together and stay with the group for an entire season. By
becoming a part of the group, the researcher becomes part of the experiment and can reveal
important influences of media on & culture (Priest).

Researchers have studied online role-playing games, such as World of Warcraft, in this
manner. These games reveal an interesting aspect of group dynamics: Although participants
are not in physical proximity, they function as a group within the game. ** Researchers are
able to study these games by playing them. In the book Digital Culture, Play, and Identity: A
World of Warcraft Reader, a group of researchers discussed the results of their participant
observation studies. The studies reveal the surprising depth of culture and unwritten rules
that exist in the World of Warcraft universe and give important interpretations of why players
pursue the game with such dedication (Corneliussen & Rettberg, 2008).

ASSIGNMENT No.2
 Course: Research Methods in Mass Communication-II (5630) PART 2

Semester: Spring, 2020 Level:

MSC/PGD (Mass Communication)

Q. 5 Elaborate general ethical principles of research writing.?

Answer:
Not that long ago, academicians were often cautious about airing the ethical u dilemmas
they faced in their research and academic work, but that environment is changing today.
Psychologists in academe are more likely to seek out the advice of their colleagues on
issues ranging from supervising graduate students to how to handle sensitive research data,
says George Mason University psychologist June Tangney, PhD.

"There has been a real change in the last 10 years in people talking more frequently and
more openly about ethical dilemmas of all sorts," she explains.

Indeed, researchers face an array of ethical requirements: They must meet professional,
institutional and federal standards for conducting research with human participants, often
supervise students they also teach and have to sort out authorship issues, just to name a
few.

Here are five recommendations APA's Science Directorate gives to help researchers 8 steer
clear of ethical quandaries:

1. Discuss intellectual property frankly

Academe's competitive "publish-or-perish" mindset can be a recipe for trouble when it .
comes to who gets credit for authorship. The best way to avoid disagreements about who
should get credit and in what order is to talk about these issues at the beginning y of a
working relationship, even though many people often feel uncomfortable about such topics.

"It's almost like talking about money," explains Tangney. "People don't want to appear to be
greedy or presumptuous." APA's Ethics Code offers some guidance: It specifies that "faculty
advisors discuss publication credit with students as early as feasible and throughout the
research and publication process as appropriate." When researchers and students put such
understandings in writing, they have a helpful tool to continually discuss and evaluate
contributions as the research progresses.

2. Be conscious of multiple roles

APA's Ethics Code says psychologists should avoid relationships that could reasonably
Simpair their professional performance or could exploit or harm others. But it also gives
notes that many kinds of multiple relationships aren't unethical as long as they’re not
reasonably expected to have adverse effects.

That notwithstanding, psychologists should think carefully before entering into? Multiple
relationships with any person or group, such as recruiting students or clients as participants

ASSIGNMENT No.2
 Course: Research Methods in Mass Communication-II (5630) PART 2

Semester: Spring, 2020 Level:

MSC/PGD (Mass Communication)

in research studies or investigating the effectiveness of a product of a company whose stock

they own.

For example, when recruiting students from your Psychology 101 course to participate 19 in
an experiment, be sure to make clear that participation is voluntary. If participation is a
course requirement, be sure to note that in the class syllabus, and ensure that participation
has educative value by, for instance, providing a thorough debriefing to enhance students'
understanding of the study. The 2002 Ethics Code also mandates in Standard 8.04b that
students be given equitable alternatives to participating in the research.

Perhaps one of the most common multiple roles for researchers is being both a mentor and
lab supervisor to students they also teach in class. Psychologists need to be especially
cautious that they don't abuse the power differential between themselves and students, say
experts. They shouldn't, for example, use their clout as professors to coerce students into
taking on additional research duties.

3. Follow informed-consent rules

When done properly, the consent process ensures that individuals are voluntarily
participating in the research with full knowledge of relevant risks and benefits.

The federal standard is that the person must have all of the information that might
reasonably influence their willingness to participate in a form that they can understand and
comprehend," says Koocher, dean of Simmons College's School for Health Studies.

APA's Ethics Code mandates that psychologists who conduct research should inform
participants about

• The purpose of the research, expected duration and procedures.

• Participants' rights to decline to participate and to withdraw from the research once it has
started, as well as the anticipated consequences of doing so.

• Reasonably foreseeable factors that may influence their willingness to participate, such as
potential risks, discomfort or adverse effects.

• Any prospective research benefits.

• Limits of confidentiality, such as data coding, disposal, sharing and archiving, and when
confidentiality must be broken.

• Incentives for participation.

• Who participants can contact with questions.

ASSIGNMENT No.2
 Course: Research Methods in Mass Communication-II (5630) PART 2

Semester: Spring, 2020 Level:

MSC/PGD (Mass Communication)

Experts also suggest covering the likelihood, magnitude and duration of harm or benefit of
participation, emphasizing that their involvement is voluntary and discussing treatment
alternatives, if relevant to the research.

4. Respect confidentiality and privacy

Upholding individuals' rights to confidentiality and privacy is a central tenet of every &
psychologist's work. However, many privacy issues are idiosyncratic to the research J
population, writes Susan Folkman, PhD, in "Ethics in Research with Human 3 Participants"
(APA, 2000). For instance, researchers need to devise ways to ask whether participants are
willing to talk about sensitive topics without putting them in awkward situations, say experts.
That could mean they provide a set of increasingly detailed interview questions so that
participants can stop if they feel uncomfortable.

And because research participants have the freedom to choose how much information
about themselves they will reveal and under what circumstances, psychologists should be
careful when recruiting participants for a study, says Sangeeta Panicker, E PhD, director of
the APA Science Directorate's Research Ethics Office. For example, it's inappropriate to
obtain contact information of members of a support group to solicit their participation in
research. However, you could give your colleague who facilitates the group a letter to
distribute that explains your research study and provides a way for individuals to contact
you, if they're interested.

5. Tap into ethics resources

One of the best ways researchers can avoid and resolve ethical dilemmas is to know both
what their ethical obligations are and what resources are available to them. "Researchers
can help themselves make ethical issues salient by reminding themselves of the basic
underpinnings of research and professional ethics," says Bullock. Those basics include:

• The Belmont Report.

Released by the National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical
and Behavioral Research in 1979, the report provided the ethical framework for ensuing
human participant research regulations and still serves as the basis for human participant
protection legislation (see Further Reading).

APA's Ethics Code

ASSIGNMENT No.2
 Course: Research Methods in Mass Communication-II (5630) PART 2

Semester: Spring, 2020 Level:

MSC/PGD (Mass Communication)

This offers general principles and specific guidance for research activities.

Moreover, despite the sometimes tense relationship researchers can have with their
institutional review boards (IRBs), these groups can often help researchers think about how
to address potential dilemmas before projects begin, says Panicker. But psychologists must
first give their IRBs the information they need to properly ) understand a research proposal.

"Be sure to provide the IRB with detailed and comprehensive information about the study,
such as the consent process, how participants will be recruited and how confidential
information will be protected," says Bullock. "The more information you give your IRB, the
better educated its members will become about behavioral research, and the easier it will be
for them to facilitate your research."

ASSIGNMENT No.2