Media Ethnography - Research Skills and Ethical Considerations in Audience Research - Literature review Example

Media Ethnography: Research Skills and Ethical  Considerations Used in Audience Research  Add Add Add AddDate Media Ethnography: Research Skills and Ethical  Considerations Used in Audience Research  Introduction Admittedly, audience has a very vital role in media communication. All media texts are constructed taking some audience into consideration. This is especially so because it is for the audience that media constructs and conveys information. In fact, the exact relation between media and audience has been the subject of debate since long. There are many factors the content producers take into consideration while producing their text. They are audience engagement, audience expectations, audience fore-knowledge, audience identification, audience placement, and audience research. Though there are various methods adopted for media research, in recent years, there has been a renewed interest in the use of ethnography as it is claimed by many that in order to understand a group, it is very important to live with them and to ‘become one among them’. Theories on Media and Audience According to the Frankfurt School (Cited in Hanes, 2000), media is like a hypodermic syringe; and this ‘Effects’ model envisions that media injects its contents into the thoughts of the audience, and the audience accepts the thoughts, opinions, attitudes, and beliefs expressed by the media without questions. Evidently, this model has its birth based on the German fascist use of media for propaganda which was later followed by the American capitalist society. However, theorists were sure that media does not have such a direct influence on the minds of people. According to some, media only has a weaker influence on people. Other more prominent influences will be factors like religion and personal contacts. As Gunter (2000, pp. 10-11) opines, the ‘Effects’ model failed mainly because it did not take audiences as individuals with their own beliefs, opinions, and attitudes. Another new approach to the relation between media and audience was the ‘Uses and Gratification’ model. This model does not look into how media affects the audience, but how the audience uses the media. According to the new concept, audiences have various needs, and for the fulfillment of these needs, they turn to media for the consumption of information. This model acknowledges that audience has a choice of texts to choose from. The Uses and Gratification model assumes that the audiences’ wish for satisfaction results in the media providing output to fulfil their desires. So, this is against the Effects model that claims that audience are made to enjoy whatever is produced by the media. However, the two models failed look into the influence of their social background on how people interpret the meaning of the text. So, there arose another theory, the ‘Screen Theory’, that suggests that the audience are positioned by the media text. According to the theory, all media texts have a mode of address, which means that media text addresses its intended users in a particular way, trying to establish a link between the producer and the audience. For example, when the tabloids go for a more emotional, and at times, xenophobic language, for the broadsheet papers, the language is more impersonal and formal. However, the failure of Screen, Uses and Gratification, and Effects models is that they all point out that meaning is embedded within the text, and audience can easily accept these meanings without questioning them. However, as audiences too have their own beliefs and opinions, they do not readily accept and agree with the meanings in the text. According to the current theory on media influence, there is a preferred embedded meaning in each text. However, the way the meaning is decoded by each individual audience depends on various frameworks outside the text, ranging from class, gender, age, education and cultural values. So, the individual interpretation of the meaning embedded in the text varies from person to person. The positive point of this encoding/decoding theory is the acceptance of the fact that the meaning derived by the audience from a text is influenced by various other factors ranging from socio-economic frameworks, past experiences, and the context n which the media message is consumed. From the above, it becomes evident that the opinion of various theorists varies greatly and there is no right, wrong or perfect way to measure the audience. For example, questionnaires are limited in the fact that in this case, the respondents may not show reality, but try to give such an answer that satisfies the researcher. Also, it is impossible to set up a controlled laboratory experiment that includes media and the audience. This is because evidently, when the setting is changed, the way audience interpret the text meaning will also change. Evidently, a focus on audience is important in all media studies. As e Gunter (2000) points out, through all these years, media research has borrowed from various theories from various fields like anthropology, linguistics, sociology, and political science. The theoretical perspectives on communication research too vary greatly, and can be divided into four basic categories; behavioralistic, transmissional, transactional and interactional (pp.1-3). The usual methods used for audience research range from ethnography, survey, text analysis and social commentary. Various Methods of Media Research Surveys Surveys have become more advanced and sophisticated in the recent years. It involves asking questions, managing respondents and hence, might look simple in nature. However, it involves a lot of prior planning if valid information is to be obtained. As Bulmer (1984) points out, there are various forms of surveys ranging from postal surveys, telephone surveys, personal interviews, group administration and so on; however, the drawback of this research is the fact that the respondents might try to give answers that meet the expectations of the researcher (p. 84). Experiments Experiments have been in use for a long time. It starts with a hypothesis about the possible outcome. There are various forms of experiments ranging from one-group pretest-post test design, two-groups post test only design, post-test only with control group, and so on. However, as experiments require a change in the normal setting, one cannot expect the participants to give the same response in an artificial setting as they do in their normal setting. Observation Observation can be of many types ranging from completely unstructured field observation, completely structured observation, semi-structured study, and non-structured laboratory study. In fact, observation has a number of advantages and disadvantages. Firstly, it is the best method to collect data on non-verbal behavior. Also, this is the only effective way that shows how people behave in a specific situation. However, the shortcoming is that the observer may not be aware about the various influences that make people behave in that particular way. Textual analysis It involves analysis of the intentions and objectives of the media content producer and analysis of how the content influences the audiences. This method refers to a method in which the contents of documents are analyzed through qualitative procedures in order to understand the particular ideas or meanings in the document. Ethnography According to the dictionary definition of ethnography, it can be considered as the systematic description of a single contemporary culture through field work. This involves two stages. The first stage is field work that includes observation and recording data. Admittedly, the importance of observation in ethnography cannot be undervalued. As Nightingale (2008, pp. 105-122), puts it, communication is a material process because it is something observable, recordable and documentable; and it can also be analyzed and written about. In this observation, the medium that assists exchange of information is the exchange between the researcher and the research subjects. This exchange helps in removing misconceptions in the researcher, if any. Ethnography involves living or spending a considerable amount of time within the group that is under study, and observing their behaviors along with communicating and gathering their opinions, beliefs, and knowledge. In order to provide additional information to the researcher, other secondary studies like textual analysis, image analysis, historical research, archival research and market research are also used. The advantage of observation is that any prejudice or biases that can influence the result of the study are removed. In other words, observation includes interacting with research participants, and identifying their ideas and thought processes. Advantages of Ethnography Admittedly, ethnography is the best form of observing audience, especially ethnic groups and their ethnic formations, ethno-genesis, composition and resettlement. In addition, it can be used to look into social welfare characteristics and the material and spiritual culture. There are various ways of data collection used at the time of field work. They are direct observation of daily participation, interviews and questionnaires. However, observation too has its own limitations. To illustrate, one way of observing a group will be to watch them and their behavior, but this provides very little information about their thought process. Instead, the researcher can live with the particular group he wants to observe. This helps the researcher experience the physical setting, which will help him develop a sense of solidarity with the group which will automatically be followed by exchange. Evidently, the advantages of ethnography over and above other forms of research are plenty. The first point is that this method goes deep into the nature of any social group as in this research, the researcher lives in close contact with the people he studies, and hence, is able to see what they are doing and what their interpretation is about what the are doing. The second point is that ethnography is able to unveil many embedded cultural values in a group that makes them derive meaning from a text in a particular way. In fact, when these hidden and influential cultural values are unveiled, it helps other people understand that culture with a better insight. Yet another advantage is that in this study, the observed group gets a chance to speak up. They get a chance to express their point of view that often goes unnoticed in other studies. While other studies mainly depend on the perceptions of the observer, in this case, the information is better gathered from the research participants. So, in total, one can claim that what ethnographic research produces is a total, often in-depth, understanding of a culture. As there is observation and interaction involved, the result obtained will be better and more accurate. Another important aspect is that in the case of cultural groups, many of their values and behaviors are closely linked with their natural environment. A change in the natural environment may lead to a change in their culture. So, in ethnography where the observer lives with the group in their natural habitat, a more accurate and detailed observation of the behaviors become possible. So, one can easily conclude that ethnography is more comprehensive than other studies in the fact that it involves direct observation over a long period of time followed by proper communication and neutral analysis. Disadvantages of Ethnography However, even ethnography has its own demerits. First of all, it is time consuming. To illustrate, according to Murphy and Kraidy (2003, p. 3), there is cost and complexity involved. Ethnography takes a lot more time than most other researches. In addition, despite the higher amount of time and cost involved, one cannot clam that the study is extensive in nature. Though it goes into more depth of a culture as compared to other forms of studies, it fails to look into a wide range of issues or fields. Thirdly, ethnography is limited in the fact ha it is highly dependent on the observation and interpretation by the researcher. So, what the researcher perceives is considered as the result of the study, which cannot be validated due to the absence of numerical data. In addition, it is highly likely that the personal views or prejudices of the researcher influence the interpretation of observed facts. Yet another point of consideration, according to Murphy and Kraidy (2003, pp. 4-5) is the fact that the culture may, due to the presence of the researcher, try to behave in a different way. Lastly, it is possible that the research will take a lot more time than most other research forms. Conclusion Despite all these shortcomings, one cannot neglect the fact that there are various points that place ethnography in a better position than other forms of research. First of all, ethnography strategies provide the research participants a chance to communicate and express their views freely and more easily, and their views are properly recorded and analyzed. In addition, the observation based strategies ensure that new knowledge is collected through the exchange of ideas between the researcher and the research participants. References Bulmer, M. (1984). Sociological Research Methods. Transaction Publishers. Gunter, B. (2000). Media Research Methods: Measuring Audiences, Reactions and Impact. US: SAGE. Hanes, P. H. (2000). “The Advantages and Limitations of a Focus on Audience in Media Studies”. Retrieved from http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Students/pph9701.html Murphy, P. D & Kraidy, M. M. (2003). “Towards an ethnographic approach to global media studies”. In Global media studies: ethnographic perspectives. New York: Routledge. Nightingale, V. (2008). “Why Observing Matters”. Research methods for cultural studies. M. Pickering (Ed.). 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