PUBLIKA Aggregate of readers, viewers or listeners Approaches to its study: - structural (composition of the audience) - behavioural (effects of media messages on individual behaviour) - cultural (meanings of contents and processes of media use in social and cultural contexts) A market approach to audiences Dual significance of the audience: 1. potential consumers of a media product 2. a product itself that is sold to advertisers - for advertisers particular segments of the audience are most attractive – age, gender and income Research on Audiences Secondary data: Ratings (% of population that listened/viewed programme) and reach (net number or percentage of people who have seen a particular piece of broadcast output) Circulation and Readership – náklad a čtenost http://www.abccr.cz/overovana-data/periodicky-tisk-1/?filterYear=2011&filterMonth=2¬Verified=1 Academic research on audiences •Effects – hypodermic needle •Uses and gratifications: diversion, personal relationships, personal identity, surveillance (polysemy – Stuart Hall encoding/decoding) •Social uses of media – Lull – communication facilitation, avoidance, social learning, competence •Ethnography: identity, everyday life, reception • Academic research - active audience since the 1980s - a shift away from what media do to people and to what people do with media David Morley: Nationwide Audience – key study that tested Stuart Hall's encoding/decoding model - reception of texts – ideology, pleasure, in more recent years a widening of agenda – reception of media texts within a variety of contexts, socio-cultural, ethnic groups and also the use of media within the context of everyday life Readings Morley: Changing paradigms in audience studies - a key overview of developments Primary data collection nQuantitative (positivist) vs. qualitative (constructivist, critical theory) options nGeneralisability vs. transferability: nCan you generalize from your examples to a wider group of people? Vs. Are you trying to understand individual cases – considering examples from defined groups or looking at instances of a process? Sampling and populations nSampling: – in positivist parlance – selecting a smaller group that represents a larger one – more loosely understood it describes any process of selecting subjects for study incl. cases and instances without the aim of generalizing Selecting and Sampling nSamples taken from populations – these are not necessarily people, can be aggregates of texts, institutions or anything under investigation nA population is defined by research objectives; it has two important functions: 1. helps decide an adequate and appropriate sampling strategy and 2. it signals how broadly the findings can be extrapolated Sample size nDepends on research objectives, research design, research question nIs big always beautiful? nChallenged by qualitative studies – these are less concerned with extensive perspective (generalizable) than with providing intensive insights; samples seen as illustrative rather than strictly representative. Asking questions nFrom highly structured and standardized to highly non-structured and non-standardized nStructured questioning – minimize the influence of human factors on data-gathering nNon-structured – stress on interactive dialogue with interviewees that conforms to the normal conventions of conversation Question delivery – from highly structured to non-structured nPrinted self-completion questionnaires nOnline self-completion questionnaires nStandardized face-to-face interviews nStandardized telephone interviews nOnline semi-structured interviews in a free format nOnline focus group interviews nSemi-structured face-to-face/telephone interviews in a free format nFace-to-face focus group interviews nNon-directive face-to-face interviews in a free format Standardised face-to-face interviews nLess structured than offline and online self-completion questionnaires because interviewers are involved nControl interviewer bias – protocols to govern all aspects of the interview process: interview schedule, prompts and standardized conduct in pre-interview period Semi-structured face-to-face interviews in a free format nNot concerned with standardization and control, aim to promote an active, open-ended dialogue with interviewees n‘conversations with a purpose’ (Lindlof) – the interviewer retains control of the terms of the discussion, refers to the interview guide Non-directive face-to-face interviewing in a free format nThe interviewee directs the form and direction of the exchange – following train of thoughts nFree-association interviewing not widely employed in social research Strengths and weaknesses nCONVENIENCE nCOMPREHENSION nRAPPORT AND RESPONSE nDEPTH nCONTROL AND COMPARISON nELABORATION AND DIGRESSION Types of questions nBehaviour – what people do nBeliefs – what people believe to be the case nAttitudes – what people would prefer to be the case nAttributes – background info about the respondent’s characteristics Types of questions – cont. nClosed questions – limit possible responses: 1.Limited choice (Yes/No) 2.Multiple choice (a. b. c.) 3.Checklist questions 4.Partially closed (a set of responses that includes other and space for elaborating on it) 5.Attitudinal questions (a scale on which the respondent indicates level of agreement/disagreement with a statement) Types of questions – cont. nOpen questions – respondents answer in their own words: 1.Opener questions 2.Follow-up questions 3.Suggestions questions 4.Argument questions 5.Reasons why questions 6.Opinions/values questions 7.Feeling/behaviour questions Observation nA range of research methods that allow direct access to the social behaviour being analyzed nTypes of observational methods 1.Simple observation – ‘fly on the wall’ 2.Participant observation – the researcher is taking part – to some extent – in the activities of the people being observed 3.Ethnography – any qualitative research involving extended observation over a period of time Note: structured experimental observation – in laboratory, e.g. on effects of violence in media