Question 1

_______ are older forms of mass media such as newspapers, magazines, radio, movies, and most importantly television.

Accepted Answer

Legacy media refers to traditional forms of media that have been around before the advent of the internet, including newspapers, magazines, radio, movies, and television.

Question 2

________ is a state of mind in which audience members automatically take in and respond to message content without critical reflection.

Accepted Answer

Automaticity refers to a state where individuals process information in a way that is automatic, lacking in-depth processing or critical reflection, which is consistent with the description given.

Question 3

When social media were initially developed, it was assumed that they would ________.

Accepted Answer

Social media were initially developed with the assumption that they would empower individuals by providing them with platforms to express themselves, connect with others, and share information freely.

Question 4

Humans think about their behavior, values, beliefs, and attitudes. In other words, they are ___________

Accepted Answer

Humans are reflexive because they have the capacity to think about their own thoughts, behaviors, values, beliefs, and attitudes. This reflexivity allows individuals to reflect upon themselves and their actions.

Question 5

The type of mass communication theory that might be involved when studying how well the mainstream American press serve democratic principles is ______________ theory.

Accepted Answer

Normative theories of mass communication are concerned with how media should operate in an ideal world, including how well they serve democratic principles. These theories provide standards against which the performance of the media can be evaluated, including their role in democracy.

Question 6

There are several reasons social science has difficulty providing definitive answers to questions of human behavior. Which of the following is among those listed in the text.

Accepted Answer

Causality in human behavior may be too complex for social science to identify.

Question 7

"I'm not affected by media," Sally often claims, "But those other people? They're easily influenced by slick media messages." Sally suffers from _________.

Accepted Answer

Sally's statement reflects the third-person effect, which is the tendency for people to believe that they are less influenced by media messages than others are. This perception leads individuals to think that while they can critically evaluate and resist media influences, others are more susceptible to being swayed by media content.

Question 8

______________ theories are based on empirical research and adherence to the scientific method.

Accepted Answer

Post-positivist theories are grounded in empirical research and the scientific method, focusing on objectivity and the testing of theories against observations.

Question 9

Questions of the place of values in theory and research are issues of_______.

Accepted Answer

Axiology is the branch of philosophy that studies values, including ethics and aesthetics, and is concerned with questions about what values are, how they are identified, and the role they play in theory and research.

Question 10

________ occurs when a given factor influences another, even by way of an intervening variable.

Accepted Answer

Causality occurs when one factor directly influences another, possibly through an intervening variable, indicating a cause-and-effect relationship.

Question 11

British cultural studies, which focuses on media and their role in promoting the interests of dominant elites at the expense of less powerful groups, is based on __________ notions of mass communication.

Accepted Answer

British cultural studies, particularly in its analysis of media, draws heavily on Neo-Marxist theories. These theories emphasize the role of media and cultural institutions in maintaining the power of dominant social groups and classes, often at the expense of marginalized populations.

Question 12

Which was the first dominant perspective on mass media?

Accepted Answer

Mass society theory was the first dominant perspective on mass media, emerging in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It posited that media had powerful, direct, and uniform effects on the general, undifferentiated audience, influencing the masses significantly.

Question 13

Interpretive theorists who set aside their values when investigating a text are said to be ___________.

Accepted Answer

Bracketing is a method used in qualitative research where researchers set aside their preconceptions and biases to understand the phenomenon under investigation without their subjective views influencing the interpretation.

Question 14

At the heart of the meaning-making trend in theory is a focus on a more-or-less active audience that uses media content to _________.

Accepted Answer

The meaning-making trend in theory emphasizes an active audience that engages with media content to create meaningful experiences, interpreting and finding significance in the content according to their personal, social, and cultural contexts.

Question 15

Among the factors that have recently intensified and renewed research on many different types of media effects are the popularity of________, new postpositivist research methods, and the rise of meaning-making theory.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Among the factors that have recently intensified...

Question 16

Contemporary mass communication theories must be reconsidered inasmuch as large-scale social media, unlike more traditional forms of media, do not rely on advertising for their revenues.

Accepted Answer

Many large-scale social media platforms do rely significantly on advertising for their revenues, making advertising a crucial part of their business model just as it is for traditional media.

Question 17

One of the driving forces behind the development of new mass communication theories is changes in media technology.

Accepted Answer

Changes in media technology, such as the advent of the internet, social media, and mobile devices, have significantly impacted how information is disseminated and consumed, leading to the development of new mass communication theories to understand these evolving dynamics.

Question 18

Important in judging the worth of any theory is the question, "How parsimonious is it?" In other words, how well does it explain real-world outcomes of media use.

Accepted Answer

Parsimony in a theory refers to its simplicity, or how it explains phenomena with the fewest assumptions or variables, rather than directly to how well it explains real-world outcomes of media use.

Question 19

When evaluating postpositivist theory, it is important to ask how well does it predict future events, behaviors, or relationships?

Accepted Answer

Postpositivist theory emphasizes the importance of empirical evidence and the ability to predict future events, behaviors, or relationships as a way to test hypotheses and theories, making predictability a key criterion for evaluation.

Question 20

Most, if not all, who call themselves social scientists adhere to the same standards for conducting research and accepting evidence.

Accepted Answer

Social scientists come from a variety of disciplines, each with its own methodologies, epistemologies, and standards for evidence, leading to differences in how research is conducted and evidence is accepted.

Quiz 1: Understanding and Evaluating Mass Communication Theory