Deck 21: Agenda Setting Theory

Question 1

Harold D. Lasswell described which two functions of mass media?

A) agenda-setting and surveillance
B) gatekeeping and limited effect
C) correlation and gatekeeping
D) surveillance and correlation

Answer 1

surveillance and correlation

Question 2

When journalists' agenda is influence by other journalists, it is referred to as ___________ journalism.

A) agenda
B) pack
C) yellow
D) salient

Answer 2

pack

Question 3

Which of the following is an assumption of Agenda Setting Theory?

A) The media simply reflect reality.
B) The media's concentration on the issues that comprise their agenda influence the public's agenda and these together influence the policymakers' agenda.
C) The public and policymakers have no influence on the media's agenda.
D) all of these

Answer 3

The media's concentration on the issues that comprise their agenda influence the public's agenda and these together influence the policymakers' agenda.

Question 4

All of the following are given as examples of media framing in newspapers EXCEPT:

A) Photographs included with the story
B) Story's overall length
C) Size of headlines
D) Vocabulary used in the story

Question 5

When both media and source are high-power, Littlejohn and Foss suggest that:

A) the source's opinions will overpower the media.
B) the media will usually set the agenda.
C) they will share equally in setting the agenda.
D) outside events will be likely to determine the agenda.

Question 6

Tre has recently lost his job. Because he wants to be sure to vote for a senator who will try to expand unemployment benefits, he has tuned in to numerous news reports about the beliefs and promises of the candidates. This is an example of what variable affecting agenda setting?

A) uncertainty
B) salience
C) correlation
D) relevance

Question 7

The way that media direct out attention to certain issues through communicating them to the public and policymakers is called:

A) framing
B) priming
C) relevance
D) correlation

Question 8

Mei has watched and heard many news reports lately about gun violence. When she hears that a murder has been committed in her city, she immediately thinks the victim must have been shot, even though the reporter doesn't mention the cause of death. This is an example of which process?

A) priming
B) surveillance
C) uncertainty
D) salience

Question 9

In the simplest formulation of the agenda-setting process, _________ agenda affects the __________ agenda, which in turn impacts the ____________ agenda.

A) public; policy; media
B) media; policy; public
C) media; public; policy
D) policy; media; public

Question 10

The power of the media agenda is dependent on which of the following factors?

A) media credibility
B) the public's need for guidance
C) the conflicting evidence available
D) all of these

Question 11

If relevance and uncertainty are both high, then Agenda Setting should be ___________.

A) inapplicable
B) predictive
C) flexible
D) restrictive

Question 12

The ____________ agenda is the result of the media agenda interacting with what the audience thinks.

A) policy
B) cross-cultural
C) public
D) private

Question 13

A 2008 study by Jennifer Brubaker concluded that:

A) television viewers and Internet users ranked issues differently than the general media.
B) media use was the same across generations.
C) political blogs were influenced by traditional media.
D) agenda setting is a useful framework for an environment with many media choices.

Question 14

McCombs's and Shaw's landmark study examined the public and media's agendas in regard to what event?

A) the implementation of the New Deal during the Great Depression
B) the 1989 fall of the Berlin Wall
C) the invention of television
D) the 1968 presidential election

Question 15

The second phase of research on Agenda Setting Theory merged it with ideas from which other theory?

A) Spiral of Silence Theory
B) Uses and Gratifications Theory
C) Cognitive Dissonance Theory
D) the Rhetoric

Question 16

The utility of Agenda Setting Theory has been criticized because

A) very few studies have been performed applying the theory.
B) media framing is now considered a separate theory.
C) it may not apply to new media such as the Internet.
D) it cannot be expanded beyond American culture.

Question 17

What approach to knowing characterizes agenda setting research?

A) critical
B) positivistic/empirical
C) interpretive
D) both interpretive and critical

Question 18

Agenda Setting Theory is associated with what communication context?

A) Intrapersonal
B) Mass/media
C) Small group
D) Public/rhetorical

Question 19

Criticisms of Agenda Setting Theory have asserted that the theory's scope is too ________.

A) large
B) small
C) sometimes too large, sometimes too small
D) The theory's scope has never been criticized.

Question 20

When a relation exists between a high-power source and low-power media, the source is able to set the agenda.

Question 21

Agenda setting is a limited effects theory.

Question 22

Media framing is defined as how the media generates the list of important issues that comprise the agenda.

Question 23

In the process of priming, what the media presents influence what people think about afterwards in processing additional information.

Question 24

The perceived credibility of a media source has no effect on its influence.

Question 25

The agenda-setting process consists of five parts.

Question 26

The agenda-setting process can be complicated by different media sources presenting confliction information.

Question 27

Agenda Setting Theory is associated with the interpersonal context.

Question 28

Agenda Setting Theory has only been studied in the United States.

Question 29

Identify and explain the three assumptions associated with Agenda Setting Theory.

Question 30

Discuss the first stage of agenda setting research in regard to the work of Robert E. Park, Walter Lippmann, and Harold D. Lasswell.

Question 31

Discuss the second level of agenda-setting, especially in regard to media framing.

Question 32

Discuss an example of intermedia influence you have recently experienced in regard to an issue. What are some advantages and disadvantages of this "pack"
journalism?

Question 33

Using the standard criteria for evaluating communication theories, evaluate Agenda Setting Theory.

Question 34

Explain the simplest formulation of the agenda-setting process, as well as three of the following factors that might complicate that formulation: salience, credibility, conflicting evidence, shared values, relevance, and uncertainty.

Question 35

Do you believe that Agenda Setting is still a useful theory as more and more media sources become available to the public? Why or why not?

Question 36

How would you go about testing whether Agenda Setting Theory is occurring with respect to a particular social issue? Select an issue, formulate a research question, and describe a study that could test whether Agenda Setting Theory is supported.