C216 Midterm– Questions With Complete Solutions
Current most popular broadcast and cable Tv shows says about our culture
Right Ans - male dominated characters, competitively obsessed culture,
doesn't value intelligence
Media Right Ans - Mediated messages tv, internet, radio, magazines etc
Media Exposure Right Ans - Average Americans 5 hour a day with media
Over 7 hours if a child, no demographic has more time with media (vulnerable
to messages)
Primary assumption of class Right Ans - these (media/ mediated) messages
influence us.
Sex Right Ans - biological assignment at birth
Gender Right Ans - socially constructed conduct (behavior, dress etc) that
is perceived acceptable by members of the same gender, regardless of how
one was born
Gender Stereotypes Right Ans - A set of portrayals of sex-appropriate
appearance, interests, skills, behaviors, and self-perceptions.
Stereotypes help the brain categorize information
Become problematic when we deny importance of individual characteristics
-gender and race are the first two characteristics in which a stereotype is
based
Ex) John Bahaner too sensitive, Hillary too strong
The Reflection Hypothesis Right Ans - The mass media reflect dominant
social values; by only showing an idealized world, the media fail to reflect a
realistic one
Symbolic Annihilation Right Ans - (Gaye Tuchman reading) to describe the
absence of representation, or underrepresentation, of some group of people in
the media (often based on their race, sex, sexual orientation, socio-economic
status, etc.
, The reflection hypothesis and its relationship to symbolic annihilation
Right Ans - Women in the media are symbolically annihilated because only
idealized version of women and women's lives are discussed/shown.
•"You can't be what you can't see."
•Women in secondary roles with little power compared to men, and we
annihilate (remove) shows depicting realistic women
•Result: young skinny beautiful women on TV
Results of symbolic annihilation of women on tv Right Ans - Women are
shown less often than men are.
Women are less often the protagonist.
Women are white, thin, young, beautiful.
Women are virginal yet know what to do in the bedroom.
Work-life balance issues are rarely discussed.
See Jane Foundation Right Ans - Smith & colleagues at USC analyzed top
grossing films of 2007:
-less than 30% of speaking roles given to women
-women sexualized: revealing clothing etc
-when women are directing or writing the percentage goes up by 50%
-results have not changed in follow up studies
Content analysis Right Ans - allows us to describe messages
make comparisons(e.g., over time, between groups, to reality)
Ex: teen mom vs. reality life teen moms
Content analysis limitations Right Ans - No info about processes or effects
Establishing a relationship or a causality is not possible
Survey Right Ans - describe characteristics of a population, examine
relationships between variables (correlation between two relationships)
Survey limitations Right Ans - cannot establish causation
Tells you a relationship exists but not influence of relationships
ex: Video game play vs. academic achievement
Chicken or the egg?
Experiment Right Ans - establish causality
Current most popular broadcast and cable Tv shows says about our culture
Right Ans - male dominated characters, competitively obsessed culture,
doesn't value intelligence
Media Right Ans - Mediated messages tv, internet, radio, magazines etc
Media Exposure Right Ans - Average Americans 5 hour a day with media
Over 7 hours if a child, no demographic has more time with media (vulnerable
to messages)
Primary assumption of class Right Ans - these (media/ mediated) messages
influence us.
Sex Right Ans - biological assignment at birth
Gender Right Ans - socially constructed conduct (behavior, dress etc) that
is perceived acceptable by members of the same gender, regardless of how
one was born
Gender Stereotypes Right Ans - A set of portrayals of sex-appropriate
appearance, interests, skills, behaviors, and self-perceptions.
Stereotypes help the brain categorize information
Become problematic when we deny importance of individual characteristics
-gender and race are the first two characteristics in which a stereotype is
based
Ex) John Bahaner too sensitive, Hillary too strong
The Reflection Hypothesis Right Ans - The mass media reflect dominant
social values; by only showing an idealized world, the media fail to reflect a
realistic one
Symbolic Annihilation Right Ans - (Gaye Tuchman reading) to describe the
absence of representation, or underrepresentation, of some group of people in
the media (often based on their race, sex, sexual orientation, socio-economic
status, etc.
, The reflection hypothesis and its relationship to symbolic annihilation
Right Ans - Women in the media are symbolically annihilated because only
idealized version of women and women's lives are discussed/shown.
•"You can't be what you can't see."
•Women in secondary roles with little power compared to men, and we
annihilate (remove) shows depicting realistic women
•Result: young skinny beautiful women on TV
Results of symbolic annihilation of women on tv Right Ans - Women are
shown less often than men are.
Women are less often the protagonist.
Women are white, thin, young, beautiful.
Women are virginal yet know what to do in the bedroom.
Work-life balance issues are rarely discussed.
See Jane Foundation Right Ans - Smith & colleagues at USC analyzed top
grossing films of 2007:
-less than 30% of speaking roles given to women
-women sexualized: revealing clothing etc
-when women are directing or writing the percentage goes up by 50%
-results have not changed in follow up studies
Content analysis Right Ans - allows us to describe messages
make comparisons(e.g., over time, between groups, to reality)
Ex: teen mom vs. reality life teen moms
Content analysis limitations Right Ans - No info about processes or effects
Establishing a relationship or a causality is not possible
Survey Right Ans - describe characteristics of a population, examine
relationships between variables (correlation between two relationships)
Survey limitations Right Ans - cannot establish causation
Tells you a relationship exists but not influence of relationships
ex: Video game play vs. academic achievement
Chicken or the egg?
Experiment Right Ans - establish causality
