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Introduction To Sociology
Chapter 6 - The Mass Media
36
Sociology
Undergraduate 1
03/02/2011

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Term
What is mass media?
Definition
Print and electronic means of communication that carry messages to widespread audiences.
Term
What is narcotizing dysfunction?
Definition
The phenomenon in which the mass media provide such massive amounts of coverage that the audience becomes numb and fails to act on the information regardless of how compelling the issue.
Term
What is gatekeeping?
Definition
The process by which a relatively small number of people in the media industry control what material eventually reaches the audience.
Term
What is dominant ideology?
Definition
A set of cultural beliefs and practices that helps to maintain powerful social, economic, and political interests.
Term
What is a stereotype?
Definition
An unreliable generalization about all members of a group that does not recognize individual differences within the group.
Term
Who is an opinion leader?
Definition
Someone who influences the opinions and decisions of others through day-to-day personal contact and communication.
Term
What can the media do besides reinforcing proper behavior?
Definition
May endorse illicit activity, such as physical violence or drug abuse.
Term
What did a federal television law do in 1997?
Definition
For every minute the government bought, there had to be an anti-drug commercial... Didn't go over so well.
Term
What is viewer fatigue?
Definition
Sets in sometime after a tragedy, such as a natural disaster or family crisis.
Term
What percent of the largest radio stations are government owned?
Definition
72 percent.
Term
What percentage of television show characters are white non-hispanics?
Definition
74 percent.
Term
What is the one exception to the centralization and concentration of the media?
Definition
The internet.
Term
Who tries to monitor media content that crosses the borders of developing nations?
Definition
UNESCO.
Term
Who examines the media on the micro level to see how they shape day-to-day behavior?
Definition
Interactionists.
Term
Who created the term narcotizing dysfunction?
Definition
Paul Lazarsfeld and Robert Merton.
Term
Which perspective contends that television distorts the political process?
Definition
The conflict perspective.
Term
Which two theorists are concerned about victims depicted in violent imagery being given less respect in real life?
Definition
Conflict theorists and Feminist theorists.
Term
What percent of viewers said that there is too much violence on television.
Definition
66 percent.
Term
Sociologist consider the mass media to include what?
Definition
Newspapers, magazines, television, radio, books, and the internet.
Term
What is the most obvious function of mass media?
Definition
To entertain.
Term
Who would say the mass media increases social cohesion by presenting a more or less standardized, common view of culture through mass communication?
Definition
Functionalists.
Term
What type of theorist is Robert Park. And what did he do?
Definition
Robert Park is a functionalist. He studied how newspapers helped immigrants to the US adjust to their environment easier.
Term
There are problems inherent in the socialization function of the mass media. Many people worry about what?
Definition
The effect of using the television as a "babysitter" and the impact of violent programming on viewer behavior.
Term
What was linked to increases in substance use among youths during the 1990s?
Definition
Proliferation of pro-use messages from the entertainment industry.
Term
What sociological perspective is especially concerned with the media's ability to decide what gets transmitted through gatekeeping?
Definition
The conflict perspective.
Term
In which media is gatekeeping not so dominant?
Definition
The internet. It is harder to watch everyone.
Term
In the US, the gatekeeping process is in the hands of whom?
Definition
Private individuals who desire to maximize profits.
Term
Which of the following is an example of television creating false images or stereotypes of subordinate groups which become accepted as accurate portrayals of reality?
Definition
All white cast in an ethnically diverse city, blacks being repeatedly portrayed with large crime rates' latinos rarely being present in any tv program.
Term
Why should it matter that minority groups aren't visible on network tv if they are well represented on BET, UPN, etc.
Definition
Whites as well as minorities see a distorted picture of their society every time they turn on network tv.
Term
Which perspective contends that the mass media stereotype and misrepresent social reality?
Definition
The feminist perspective.
Term
Which of the following sociological perspectives helps us to understand more about one important aspect of the entire mass media system--the audience?
Definition
The interactionist perspective.
Term
Sociologist Paul Lazarfeld and his colleagues pioneered the study of what?
Definition
Opinion leaders.
Term
In his study of how the social composition of audience members affected how they interpreted news coverage, sociologist Darnell Hunt found what kind of differences in perception?
Definition
Racial differences.
Term
Which of the following is the key to creating a truly global network that reaches directly into workplaces, schools, and homes?
Definition
The internet.
Term
Studies of media violence have found what?
Definition
Less media exposure is related to less observed physical aggression.
Term
What percentage of parents used V-chip technology to block programs with sexual or violent content?
Definition
17 percent.
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