Media - A-Level Sociology - Marked by Teachers.com

Assess the role of the media

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increase and extend democracy in the UK. Dahl, a pluralist would agree with this view of the media, that the media informs us, and he says that the media demonstrates thousands of millions of different views and opinions, it broadcasts many different takes on various events and portrays parts of the news in millions of different ways. The wide range of media sources, Dahl says, are good because it allows individuals to sift through all the information and opinions and form their own views - it gives us choice in what, or who, we listen to.

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The mass media have direct and immediate effects on the ideas and behaviour of audiences. To what extent do sociological arguments and evidence support this view?

Katz and Lazarsfeld argued that media effects may not be direct, but that messages are interpreted by key individuals who then influence others. This is known as the two-step flow model; step one is the media message reaching audiences and step two is the message being interpreted by the audiences and it influencing them. Social interaction is an important element of step two, because opinion leaders (those whose views are respected) interpret messages for others and shape what influences the messages might have.

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In discussing using secondary research to answer the question of Does internet usage affect the way people aged 34 and under behave? and what was learned in the process, it is safe to conclude that secondary research is the best way to appro

The process of gathering the sources is fairly simple, but the process can sometimes take a long time due to the quality of some sources compared to others. When evaluating sources, one must makes sure of the following things, that the source is authentic, credible, representative and meaningful (Savage 29). These four things help in choosing the best sources for a research project. The Statistics Canada source was chosen because StatsCan is considered to be a reliable source among many people and has built up a good reputation for being a reliable source.

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The Media is the most effective agency of socialisation. Discuss.

Also adolescents are very influenced by the media, media has become there subculture- pop culture (e.g. movies, music and TV) to have watches the latest film, to heard the latest song is a sensational thing. The internet has become a very important part of teenage life. This is due to chat rooms, email, and web pages. The media is effective for a good reason because some cartoons are educational. An example of this is a cartoon called 'Dora the Explorer'; this cartoon teaches children how to talk in Spanish.

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How might a sociologist account for the high incidence of eating disorders among women?

(Gibbens 2006 p253) The high incidence of eating disorders among women has many influential factors. There are pressures from the media and the developing world for women to look specific way. The modern idea of thinness as attractive and healthy which is 'so pervasive in Western societies that it often goes unchallenged, despite the fact that it has not always been, nor is it everywhere the case.' (Brown & Jasper 1993 p16) The current 'Widespread preoccupation with weight, dieting and exercise has escalated to such a degree that it is an accepted, encouraged and rewarded aspect of social life.'

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Is V a terrorist or a Revolutionary?

How does V relate to the historical revolutionary Guy Fawkes, in which V was trying to portray with his mask in the first place? The definition of a terrorist/terrorism is politically motivated violence perpetrated against noncombatant targets by subnational groups or clandestine agents, according to the U.S Law. People who argue that V is a terrorist would say that V fits that criteria and that he is indeed inflicting terror and violence against civilians.

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Music vs. Culture

All of them have once written about some kind of empowerment and about love. The song I am leaving behind is "No Pain, No Gain" by Betty Wright. Betty Wright was born December 21, 1953, born and raised in Miami, FL. She is a soul and R & B singer who influenced a generation of female singers and songwriters. She released her first album at the age of 15. Since then, she has released 15 albums. In 1988 she made music history by being the first woman to have a gold record on her own label, with the release of Mother Wit.

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Gender Represenation in Gossip Girl

This is a stereotype used throughout soaps and life. Although stereotypes make characters easier to relate to they do take away some of the realism because they tend to be over exaggerated. Stereotypes are frequently used as a way of creating easily identifiable characters. They do not tend to create a bad representation of people. For example Peggy in Eastenders is a stereotypical busty, blond and a loud landlady but she is not seen in a bad light in fact the opposite as she is seen as a strong woman able to cope with anything life throws at her.

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In what ways television affects

Hagell & Newburn's study compared young offenders viewing behaviour with non-offending teenagers. They found the differences were few between the two groups and what they watched, with hardly any having seen the films that were causing the concern at that time. A few members of either group had an interest in a violent output. The young offenders had less access to different media types. Other factors instead of media could have been causing the differences in their behaviour. The other context being analysed is Bandura Ross Ross who looked at whether children learnt behaviour through observation.

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How is Crime represented in the Media

which makes them consider the effect their behaviour might have on people they love. Young people have fewer social responsibilities which means any conviction will have less impact on others (such as young children). Middle and upper class youth have fewer opportunities for crime because they are more-likely to be in full-time education up to age of 21 / 22 than working class youth. It has been that youth commit a lot more crime because of a lack of social control.

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Sociology Induction Essay

Also, looking at knife crime from a more macro perspective, it could be said that increase in crime costs our society economically (the government paying to keep them in overcrowded jails) and culturally (creating a negative image to other countries/societies and harmful stereotypes). According to a recent study by the youth justice board, relative poverty among young people has caused many to resort to violent crime in order to get the things they covet (iPods and mobile phones)

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assess sociological views of socialisation

Secondary socialisation comes after primary socialisation and builds on it. It's carried out by various institutions. The most important are education, peer groups, religion, mass media and workplace. The education system aims to pass on knowledge and skills such as reading and numeracy. Learning these skills is a part of socialisation, but sociologists suggest that education socialises individuals in other ways as well. Functionalists, like Durkheim, believe that school promotes consensus by teaching norms and values. They also say children learn to value belonging to a larger group through things like school uniform and assembly.

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Explain and briefly evaluate why high culture is seen as superior to low culture.

Shakespeare, opera, sophisticated restaurants and arty French films are the type of things that are associated with "high culture". Meanwhile, the masses enjoy low culture - e.g. soap opera, reality TV, musicals, fast food and Hollywood films. High culture is generally considered more difficult to appreciate and the audience is seen as educated and having "good taste". Aspects of high culture as seen as good for society, though they don't make much money compared to a lot of low culture, so the government often subsidises them. In recent years a lot of funding for high culture has come from a low culture source - the National Lottery.

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How does the media represent female bodies?

Also researchers need to be careful not to influence responses by asking leading questions. While carrying out my content analysis I might encounter some problems for example how to ensure I get a mix of magazines, (celebrity magazines, lad's magazines etc). An incorrect balance could undermine the results of the research. I have many questions I would like to ask whilst researching this topic but to answer many of them will not be possible with my small scale piece of research.

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Different Types of Culture

Figure 2: Ballet (elite) Cultural Diversity - is a concept relating to culturally embedded differences within society, it's the fact that different cultures exist alongside each other E.g. lesbians, chavs etc. Thereby it is any group that has something in common. Subculture - is culture enjoyed by a small group within society.

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The recent rise in support for religious sects comes mainly from an increased desire to reject mainstream values. Evaluate this claim.

They are generally more critical of the rest of society and expect members to stand apart from it. Contact with non members is generally discouraged except in an attempt to convert them. They are also very critical of mainstream religious bodies who they regard as too worldly. They make an effort to distance themselves from them. Most sects move to the outskirts of society where they can create their own communities. This gives them the fear factor where outsiders become fearful of their ways. Sects usually aim to change the morals and values of society through any means possible.

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Assess the view that cults and sects are inevitably short-lived and of little influence in contemporary society.

As a result they are unlikely to show the same enthusiasm and commitment as their parents. They are less likely to make compromises and be less critical of the wider society. The loss of a leader can spell the end for a sect. For example the Branch Dravidians leader David Koresh and several of his followers committed suicide when they were attacked by the FBI. After this happened, the sect ended. Unconventional lifestyles can destroy themselves and be destroyed by society, for example, the Jim Jones People's Temple were the actions in Jonestown were viewed as a mass-suicide it is one of the largest such mass suicides in history.

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AS Sociology Coursework

By this she means that female bodies are depicted as playthings for male audiences. The view of Mulvey is appropriate because It fully applies to my hypothesis as it suggests that women in general within the cinema side of the media, adopt passive and subservient roles and as a result, linking with my hypothesis, are often treated as sexual objects. However, Mulvey's work has been criticised in terms of active males and passive females, as sociologist Sofia (1989), as she indicates that the woman remains almost without any sexual identity in psychoanalysis since she is entirely defined in relation to the man.

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is mass culture debasing the culture of ordinary people

This 'mass culture', I believe could destroy and make an 'ordinary culture' into extinction through too much influence of "babble" and consumer products on television. Although you could ask what is ordinary and normal? Normal does not have a clear definition; as no one is completely normal, but ordinary seems to be defined as routine or customary, so an 'ordinary culture' is considered the norm way of living. So what is mass culture? An extra- ordinary way people live, or is it a negative perception of some people's choice of life?

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Marketisation of education

Another policy that is still in place is league tables and the notion of parental choice. I think in theory it is a successful concept however middle class parents are more likely to get their children into the best school leaving less choice for working class kids. In addition, the league tables do encourage marketization between schools but it may cause people not to be entered for exams if they are predicted low grades. I think this undermines the Marxist view as they are taking away the chance for the student to get qualifications even if they are poor and so most of the time replicates the same class boundaries as previous generations.

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Assess the view that sociology can and should be seen as a science

In sociology it is difficult to get a wrong or right answer, as the experiment cannot often be redone as the variables can not be controlled, were as laboratory experiments can be redone as many times as it's needed. Durkheim argued that social facts, customs, beliefs systems and social institutions should be considered things. Durkheim also claimed to have discovered cause and effect relationships between social facts. Durkheim also found correlations between suicide rates and social facts. Comte, who invented the term sociology, argued that sociology should be based on the methodology of the natural sciences.

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To what extent can it be argued that violent films cause violence in society?

It is also backed up by theorists; including Shannon and Weaver (1949) as well as Marcuse in One Dimensional Media (1964) who both argue in favour of the idea that the media can directly change behaviour, hence leading to the conclusion that violence in the media should result in violence in society. Bandura and Ross in the Bobo Doll Experiment (1963) found a correlation between exposing young children to a violent media message and a violent response when placed in the same scenario. Eron (1967), investigating the claim that violence in the media caused violent behaviour by interviewing schoolchildren, found a correlation of 0.12 to 0.33 between the preference for violent television programs and aggression.

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Assess the claim that 'The News is selected according to the demands of the target audience'

This is backed by the functionalist perspective as well as pluralist theories. Functionalism (Durkheim) identifies the media and in turn news as constructed according to the social consensus. This means that news is selected and presented according to the demands, norms and values of society and in turn the target audience. Pluralist theory would also agree with the view in question. This is because pluralists believe that media consumptions and consumers are the main driving force behind media output- as shown in the market dimension, within which audiences choose what media to consumer, and the libertarian dimension, within which audiences have a wide choice of media options to choose between.

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Sociology Structural Theory and The Media

Consensus theory attempts to explain why society gets along most of the time and why it does not descend into chaos. Consensus theorists use the human body as a way in which to help us understand consensus theory. They explain how all parts of the human body are linked and therefore contribute into the body working as a whole. So similarly society works on the same concept that all parts are linked and have their function. As society can be seen as structured there are important parts of it and one which has a major role is social institutions, one being the media.

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Context childhood from different sources

Postman also says, "The media help to define modern childhood and they are now the agents of its destruction". The adult world is now a place where children and adults are now sharing the same norms and values, therefore children are loosing their childhood and becoming little adults. Philippe Aries talks about how the children in medieval society were "Little Adults". Children had the same status as adults as there leisure and work times were they same. Children are 'little adults'. Aries argues that 'They are young humans between the ages of 7 and 15; they were not seen as children.

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AS and A Level: Media