Development of Limited Effect Theory

Index Numbers

 Started in 1940s and 50s by Paul Lazerfeld and Carl Hovland they were methodologists not theories New research methods such as experiments and surveys

Their Findings Media was not as powerful as mass society or propaganda theory had suggested Media influence over public opinion or attitude was hard to locate Media was typically less important than factors such as social status or education 1950s , research centres were modelled 1960 classic studies of limited effects- became a required reading for a generation of communication researchers Its notions have continued through the 70s to date.

 FACTORS THAT MADE THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE THEORY POSSIBLE 1. The refinement and broad acceptance of empirical social research methods was an essential factor in the emergence of the limited effects perspective. 2. Empirical social researchers successfully branded people who advocated mass society and propaganda notions as unscientific 3. Social researchers exploited the commercial potential of the new research methods and gained the support of private industry 4. The development of empirical social research was strongly backed by various private and government foundation, most notably the Rockefeller Foundation and the National Science Foundation 5. As empirical research demonstrated its usefulness, media companies began to sponsor and eventually conduct their own empirical research on media 6. Empirical social researchers successfully established their approach within the various social research disciplines- political science, history, sociology, social psychology and economics

THE TWO STEP FLOW

History and Orientation The two-step flow of communication hypothesis was first introduced by Paul Lazarsfeld, Bernard Berelson, and Hazel Gaudet in The People's Choice, a 1944 study focused on the process of decision-making during a Presidential election campaign. These researchers expected to find empirical support for the direct influence of media messages on voting intentions. They were surprised to discover, Paul Lazarsfeld however, that informal, personal contacts were mentioned far more frequently than exposure to radio or newspaper as sources of influence on voting behaviour. Armed with this data, Katz and Lazarsfeld developed the two-step flow theory of mass communication.
Katz

THE TWO STEP FLOW OF INFORMATION AND INFLUENCE

Inductive Approach Information is sifted and most important pieces are selected and used over time Middle Range Theory Empirical generalisation based on empirical facts

Gate keepers: in two-step flow, people who screen media messages and pass on those messages and help others to share their views. Opinion leaders: in two-step flow, those who pass on information to opinion followers. According to Lazarsfeld, opinion leaders can be liked to gate keepers. Opinion Followers: in two-step flow, those who receive information from opinion leaders.

THE TWO STEP FLOW Core Assumptions and Statements This theory asserts that information from the media moves in two distinct stages. First, Opinion leaders who pay close attention to the mass media and its messages receive the information. Opinion leaders pass on their own interpretations in addition to the actual media content to Opinion followers. Opinion leaders are quite influential in getting people to change their attitudes and behaviours and are quite similar to those they influence.

Limitations Of Two-step Flow Theory

Surveys cant measure how people actually use media on a day-to-day basis. Surveys are very expensive and cumbersome way to study peoples use of specific media content, such as their reading of certain news stories or their viewing of specific television programmes. The research design and data analysis procedure Lazarsfeld developed are inherently conservative in assessing in medias power. Subsequent research on the two-step flow has produced highly contradictory findings. Surveys can be useful for studying changes over time, but they are a relatively crude technique. Surveys omit many potentially important variables by focusing only on what can be easily or reliably measured using existing techniques. The period during which Lazarsfeld conducted his research made it unlikely that he would observe the effects that he tried to measure.

Limited-Effects Theory
Indirect-effects theory Limited-effects theory Media rarely directly influence individuals There is a two-step flow of media influence By the time most people become adults, they have developed strongly held group commitments such as political party and religious affiliations. These affiliations provide an effective barrier against media influence. When media effects do occur, they are modest and isolated.

Limited-Effects Theory FROM PROPAGANDA RESEARCH TO ATTITUDE-CHANGE THEORIES Controlled variation: systematic isolated and manipulation of elements in an experiment. Carl Hovlands first experiment Why we fight Battle of Britain THE COMMUNICATION RESEARCH PROGRAMME Power of source credibility: trust-worthiness and expertness Nature of the appeal and its organisation Persuasion

ATTITUDE-CHANGE THEORY Strengths Pays deep attention to process in which messages can and cant have effects Provides insight into influence of individual differences and group affiliation in shaping media influence. Attention to selective processes helps clarify how individuals process information Weaknesses Experimental manipulation of variables overestimates their power and underestimates medias Focuses on information in media messages, not on more contemporary symbolic media Uses attitude change as only measure of effects, ignoring reinforcement and more subtle forms of media influence

ATTITUDE-CHANGE THEORY
Joseph Klappers Phenomenistic Theory The effects of mass communication Phenomenistic theory Reinforcement theory Elite Pluralism Strengths Explain a stable U.S. social and political system Is based on wealth of empirical data Is a well-developed and cogent theory Weaknesses Legitimizes an undemocratic view of U.S. politics Goes well beyond empirical evidence for conclusions Is too accepting of the status quo Paints a negative picture of average people and their media use

C. Wright Mills and the power Elite A summary of Limited-Effects Generalisations