Mass Communication Theory: Foundations, Ferment, and Future
By Stanley J. Baran & Dennis K. Davis
Chapter 4
EMERGENCE OF THE MEDIA EFFECTS TREND
• Postpositivist research on media effects led to
a radical shift in Mass Communication Theory
– In 1940 the dominant perspective on the role of
media was provided by Mass Society theory
– By 1960 the dominant perspective was provided
by Limited Effects theory
• Chapter 4 and Chapter 5 trace this shift in
theory and consider the research that
produced it
Chapter 4
Learning Objectives
• 4.1 Chart the development of the postpositivist effects
trend in mass communication theory.
• 4.2 Appreciate the contributions of Paul Lazarsfeld and
Carl Hovland to advances in social science in general,
and mass communication theory in particular.
• 4.3 Provide a description of the limited or minimal
effects perspective.
• 4.4 Explain the relationship between the selective
processes, cognitive consistency, and attitude change.
Mass Society Theory Versus
Limited Effects Theory
• Mass society theory asserts that media have
widespread, direct and largely negative effects on
society
• Limited effects theory concludes that media
influence is mostly limited in scope, indirect, and
as likely to be positive as negative
• An innovative postpositivist research strategy
pioneered in the 1940s ultimately provided
convincing evidence for limited effects
Development of the Postpositivist Effects Trend
• During the 1930’s there was a concerted effort led by
the Rockefeller Foundation to develop postpositivist
social theory and research in all of the social science
disciplines
• The people behind this effort argued that our
perspectives on society and media should be based
on empirical facts not on political ideologies or
speculative grand theories like mass society theory
• Postpositivist research was expected to produce facts
on which more useful theories of society could be
developed
Two Types of Postpositivist Research were
Developed
• Survey Research = Conduct surveys of people
to collect information about their actions and
their views of the social world
• Experimental Research = Conduct experiments
to see what stimuli influence people’s
thoughts and actions
Experimental Research on Mass Media Effects
– Pioneer = Carl Hovland
– Trained in psychology
– Pioneered use of experiments to measure persuasive
effects of media
– Early research was based at Yale University
– Led an experimental research program on propaganda
effects during WWII for the Office of War Information
– After the war he conducted research on attitude change at
Yale University
Hovland’s Mass Communication Experiments
• Studied the effectiveness of the propaganda films
• Research conducted throughout the war for the
Office of War Information
• Compared soldiers who saw the films to those who
didn’t
• Measured attitudes before and after the films were
seen
• Didn’t study whether films increased the ability of
soldiers to fight effectively because the military
prevented this
Battle of Britain Research
• Soldiers watched a film showing how the
British were holding off German air attacks
• Hovland studied effects of this film on
attitudes
– Attitudes toward the British
– Attitudes about a German Invasion of Britain and
it’s likely success or failure
– Attitudes about the war effort overall
– Attitudes about rationing in the US
• What effects do you think Hovland found?
Findings from Battle
of Britain Experiment
• Greatest change was a positive shift in attitude
toward the British but there was much less
change in views about German success or failure
• There was no change in attitudes toward the war
effort or rationing
• There was no “halo effect” = no changes in
attitudes that were seen by researchers as
logically linked to other attitudes
• Propaganda provided no “magic keys” to
persuasion
Hovland’s Post-war Research
• Persuasion Experiments were conducted by a team of researchers at Yale
University
• Researchers varied the content and format of persuasive messages
• Researchers varied the conditions under which messages were received
• Researchers conducted research on experimental subjects who varied in
key attributes such as gender, social class and education
• Overall Research Findings:
– No magic keys to persuasion
– Low self esteem was the best predictor of persuasibility especially for women and less educated
subjects
– Message content and structure were found to have inconsistent effects
– Source credibility was found to be important but there can be a “sleeper effect” when the source is
forgotten but message information is remembered (in one experiment a low credibility source
[Pravda] was found to be more effective in changing opinions than the NY Times)
Survey Research on Mass Media
• Paul F. Lazarsfeld Pioneered Survey Research on
Mass Media Effects
– Trained in psychology
– First job involved survey research on unemployment
in Austria
– Came to US in late 1930s with Rockefeller Foundation
support
– Worked at Yale and then at Columbia University
– Led development of the Bureau of Applied Social
Research
– Most of his early media research on radio was funded
by the CBS Radio Network
Lazarsfeld’s Research on Presidential Elections
• Lazarsfeld argued that media research should
focus on political campaigns because they are
naturally occurring quasi-experiments in
which many different types of media influence
can occur
• His research focused on why voter decisions
change during a political campaign
– To what extent are changes in voter decisions
affected by exposure to media content?
– Can specific media content produce radical
changes in voter decisions?
Erie County Study
“The People’s Choice”
• Conducted by a large team of researchers in 1940 and
published in 1944
• It was the most ambitious effort to use postpositivist
survey methods to measure the influence of media
• Surveys were conducted every month from May to
November 1940
• Goal was to assess whether specific media content
influenced voting decisions so the survey questionnaires
contained many questions about exposure to content
from newspapers, movies and radio
• Lazarsfeld also measured voter demographics
People’s Choice Findings
• 70% of voters had decided how they would vote in
May 1940 and they didn’t change their mind
• 22% of voters were undecided in May but their
ultimate decisions could be predicted by party
preference, religion and whether they were rural or
urban residents (crystalizers)
• 8% of voters changed more than once and their
ultimate decisions couldn’t be predicted (floating
voters)
Were Floating Voters Influenced by Media?
• Lazarsfeld focused his analysis on floating voters
since they seemed most likely to be influenced by
media
• Attributes of the Floating Voters
– Less educated and less informed
– Apathetic
– Less likely to use media for political messages
– More likely to be influenced by other people = personal
influence
What Influenced Floating Voters?
• Media couldn’t be an important influence on floating voters
since their use of media was low
• They were politically apathetic so political party membership
wasn’t important
• They were dependent on other people for information and
ideas so Lazarsfeld concluded that personal influence by
others was likely the most important influence on their voting
decisions
• Lazarsfeld decided to conduct more research to study
personal influence
Limited Effects Theories Constructed in the
1950s
• Selectivity Theory = People resist persuasion
by:
– Selective Exposure or Attention
– Selective Perception or Interpretation
– Selective Retention or Recall
• Individual Differences Theory – people with
certain attributes are more persuasible
• Social Categories Theory – people in certain
categories (such as low education or low
income) are more persuasible
Conclusions from Early Postpositivist
Media Research
• Empirical social research alone can gradually create useful
media theories by using induction (going from facts to
hypotheses to theory)
• Early research suggested that the role of media is limited
– Media usually reinforce the status quo in society
– Media have some functions and dysfunctions for some individuals
– Overall the influence of media tends to “balance out”
• US political system is stable and equitable; it will prevail
against totalitarian alternatives since it is ultimately
grounded on a cohort of opinion leaders who will resist
demagogic appeals from radical politicians
•
Drawbacks of Limited
Effects Perspective
• Too dependent on expensive survey research or artificial
experiments to develop useful theories
• Doesn’t recognize limitations of surveys and experiments as
the basis for knowledge creation
• Underestimates the power of media because causal power
has to be empirically observed.
• Focuses too much attention on short-term effects and
neglects subtle forms of media influence that take place over
long time periods
• Ignores very important questions about media influence
because they can’t be answered using postpositivist research
methods
Consequences of the
Limited Effects Paradigm
• Displaced Mass Society Theory and its speculative
assertions about media
• Prioritized empirical observation and encouraged many
useful developments in research methods and data
analysis
• Provided a basis for efficient management of private
media – enabled development of audience ratings
services that were useful to advertisers
• Justified less regulation of media because media were
not found to be responsible for problematic effects
Discussion Questions
• What do you find most useful about Limited Effects
Theory?
– Do you get your information directly from media or do you rely
on friends?
– Do social media increase the likelihood that friends will
influence your decisions?
– Can you think of an example when media caused an important
change in your life or in society?
• What do you find most problematic about Limited Effects
Theory?
– Are media responsible for effects that the theory can’t take into
account?
Discussion Questions
• What are your views about empirical research
methods?
– Why should people question the results of survey
research?
– When should the results of experiments be
questioned?
– To what extent do theories need to be grounded
in research findings?
Review of Learning Objectives
• 4.1 Chart the development of the postpositivist effects
trend in mass communication theory.
• 4.2 Appreciate the contributions of Paul Lazarsfeld and
Carl Hovland to advances in social science in general,
and mass communication theory in particular.
• 4.3 Provide a description of the limited or minimal
effects perspective.
• 4.4 Explain the relationship between the selective
processes, cognitive consistency, and attitude change.