BFI NATIONAL LIBRARY VISITS

We are booked in for a visit to the British Film Institute National Library, on Wednesday 4th March. This will be mostly of interest to you if:

• you are researching anything to do with film or tv OR
• you are planning to study anything related to film or tv at university (film or practical)

If neither of those applies to you, there may still be relevant resources for you. The librarian is very good and if there is anything there, she will make sure you get access to it.

If there is nothing much for you, you can help other people, or use the web and get on with your own research or just enjoy a day out of school! No decision as yet about the afternoon part of the trip but whatever we do, it will be fun, after a hard morning's work at the library!

You will have a seminar session first with the librarian who will introduce you to their extensive collection of film related resources and explain the system of accessing what you want. We will email your topics to her in advance, and there will be a printout for each of you that will identify most of the books and journals that may be significant.

Bring some cash for photocopying - we will get some copies free but you will probably need to buy an extra photocopy card.

We will need to go in to the library as a group at 9.30 am. Please meet by 9.20 in the foyer where there is a waiting area. Security is tight and no bags can be taken into the library. It is a public library and all guests are expected to work quietly, although we will be the only school group visiting that morning.

In the meantime however, if you want to visit individually or in pairs, the Media Dept has membership and 2 passes. You could arrange a visit during a free am/pm for example.

Opening times:

Monday + Friday 10.30 am – 5.30pm
Tuesday + Thursday 10.30 am – 8pm
Wednesday 1pm – 8pm

Closed at weekends.

To arrange a visit:

Work out a time slot

See Ms Blackborow well in advance to book a pass, and to help you with the email (I will phone ahead for you as well to book you in)

Send an email in advance to let the librarian know your topic area, they will have a printout of available resources for you when you arrive.

Make sure you have some change for photocopying, and collect your pass on the day from the Media Office.

Plan your route to ensure you arrive on time. You will find the library just off Tottenham Court Road, nearest tube Tottenham Court (also Goodge Street) at 21 Stephen Street, London W1T 1LN

Report to the front desk when you arrive, show your pass, collect your printout and make a start!

Google maps link, click here.

You might have to zoom in!

AUDIENCE THEORY - A GUIDE

Understanding audience theory is essential for this unit. Here is a brief guide - most of this you will know anyway:

In carrying out good Media research you must show awareness of

• Audience reading theories
• Target Audience

Audience Reading Theories
Hypodermic needle, Passive or Effects model
Academic or Active Model

Many researchers who have written about the Media, particularly in the past, have treated the Media negatively in terms of its effects on audience.

The Effects model
In this model the media is seen to have power to create a simple cause and effect relationship with the audience which is perceived as negative indoctrination. Effects include

• Inactivity (couch potato)
• Manic activity (such as performing sexual or violent acts
• Attitudinal change (changing or morals, values, beliefs systems)

Such theories when they are raised periodically have caused moral panics in certain sectors of the public and have led to Government action to curb the Media.

These moral panics particularly surround sectors of the audience who are perceived as ‘vulnerable’ – children, young working class males, particularly those with a low IQ, unemployed or from broken homes, disturbed individuals

Examples are fear of the effect of ‘Child’s Play 3’ and the James Bulger case, ‘Natural Born Killers’ (Oliver Stone, and Nathan Martinez), and the US Music Industry, lyrical content and recent killings in US schools. Currently computer games are being ‘shown’ to have adverse effects of brain development in children.

An influential example of the effects model is the agenda setting model proposed by McCombes and Shaw which proposed that topics that the Media selects for attention, and the attention and priority they give to the topics selected, has a matching effect upon what the audience perceives as important.

The effects arguments are largely rejected by Media theorists as producing a conspiracy theory of the Media and a passive view of the audience. The preference is to see the audience as Active in creating their own meanings

The Effects models are seen to:

• Exaggerate the influence of the mass media
• Portray sources in the media as having deliberate intentions to control issues and their debate in a manner that resembles conspiracy theory
• Portray the audience as all the same, unthinking, need protecting, easily manipulated (passive)

There has been much research, often widely quoted in the press, that has supposedly ‘proved’ Effects Theories, dating back as far as the 1960’s and the Bobo Dolls experiment. The audience is always assumed to be a passive ‘victim’, and the blame for societies ills is always placed on the Media.

When you study this kind of research, you should always ‘question’ the following:

-who is conducting the research
-what is their initial starting point/personal attitude towards the media
-what is their purpose
-who is financing the study – do they have a vested interest in a particular result being
‘proven’
-what was the sample selected for the study
-where did the study take place
-what methods were used to obtain results
-what methods were used to analyse results
-what conclusions were drawn

If you know the answers to these questions, you can then ascertain how influential these
factors were on the outcomes. It is important to problematise the conditions that research is conducted in. Most effects research is considered to be utterly flawed by media theorists (such as David Buckingham), and therefore results ‘proving’ the effects of the media have been widely discredited among academics.

However, the results of this kind of research makes good headlines (‘HALF of all our children have seen a video nasty’ Daily Mail 1984,) because it a sounds really shocking and sensational.

Also it supports what the majority already believe to be true - this is called The ‘Common Sense’ approach – of course TV is bad for you!, and gives credibility to popular myths around the influence of the media. (‘Horror film made boys kills Jamie’ The Sun 1994, ‘Research proves negative effects of video nasties’ Guardian 1995).

No research is without flaws – and all research should be problematised as part of the study, in order to understand its context. It is impossible to treat Media research in a totally scientific manner as measuring influence, attitudes etc is a cultural thing, and therefore is more suited to a cultural approach. This is where academic research into the media is relevant.

Effects research is usually undertaken by professors/doctors, with backgrounds in psychology/ medicine or with expertise in studying children and childhood. They usually have no experience of/ awareness of traditions/ theories/ academic approaches in Media Studies. Academic Media Research is usually undertaken by academics specialising in Media Theory.

The Academic or ‘Active’ Model
The academic approach to media research is the opposite to the Effects Model. Its starting point is that the audience is ‘active’ when consuming the media, therefore this kind of research is often called ACTIVE RESEARCH. Where Effects research explores what the media does to the audience, the active approach explores what audiences do with the media.

It does not start with any assumption that the media is to blame for anything, and it is often not trying to ‘prove’ a hypothesis, but attempting to investigate or explore cultural developments, such as the popularity of a particular TV genre, or the way TV audiences have reacted to multi-channel TV.

This is the way we have always approached audience study throughout Media GCSE and A level, and this is the kind of study you will be undertaking.

It is based on cultural, qualitative methodology and explores the relationship audiences have with the media, why they consume it, how they consume it and what it does for them. Consumption and reception theories are very relevant here. There are three key features to this

1 This is to do with understanding who the audience is (demographics, lifestyle, tastes,
background etc) and why people consume or ‘read’ texts differently (the way we consume or read a text relates to who we are).

2 The second point is that there is an understanding that media consumption is about a two – way flow ie the way we consume a text is not just about a ‘personal or individual response’, but is also one that is also determined by the way the text has been constructed – the editing, camera work, style, layout – these all determine our responses, as well as who we are as a person. Understanding how the media works and how it’s made helps us to understand how and why we consume it.

3 The third point is that the industry shapes our responses in another way, through careful
gatekeeping, scheduling, marketing, classification and censorship – many of our responses are pre-determined according to the choices that have already been made for us, institutionally. If we understand this, we can understand that the relationship between audiences and the media they consume is a complex one, not easily explored through superficial study, generalisations, or scientific/ rigid methods – this relationship is a product of the cultural and social structures around us and should be treated as such. There are many examples of academic studies in the department for you to look at.

However the Effects model will raise itself with your topic areas and you need to establish if there are parts of the effects theory that you do think are relevant to your topic. Indeed, under the topic area of Children and TV, you may want to study the whole area of effects from an academic perspective ie does the media have the power to instill violence in children. Under Popular Music and Youth Culture, the Music Industry’s construction of the audience and that effect on young people may be relevant, and in Sport the Media’s ability to highlight certain sports and male sports personalities as more important.

Effects theories are more persuasive in commercial media like advertising and pester power and the Music Industry where people are buying into an image or sub-culture.

The Uses and Gratifications Model
The Uses and Gratifications Model sees the Media positively and gives the audience an active role in making meaning. Therefore it is an example of an academic approach to audience study that you may want to draw upon.

This model sees the media as a medium used by the audience to create gratifications of a wide variety of sorts. Uses and gratifications were classified by Arthur Asa Berger in 'Media Analysis Techniques' as:

To be amused - to see authority figures exalted or deflated – to experience the beautiful – to have shared experiences with others – to satisfy curiosity and be informed – to identify with the deity and the divine plan – to find distraction and diversion – to experience empathy (sharing in the joys and sorrows of others) – to experience, in a guilt-free and controlled situation extreme emotions such as love and hate, the horrible and the terrible, and similar phenomena – to find models to imitate – to gain an identity – to gain information about the world – to reinforce our belief in justice – to believe in romantic love – to believe in magic, the marvellous and the miraculous – to see others make mistakes – to see order imposed upon the world – to participate in history (vicariously) – to be purged of unpleasant emotions – to obtain outlets for our sexual drives in a guilt-free context – to explore taboo subjects with impunity and without risk – to experience the ugly – to affirm moral, spiritual and cultural values – to see villains in action.

These have been grouped into 4 categories -
1 Surveillance 2 Social 3 Personal Identity 4 Distraction

You will need to apply and ascertain the relevance of the Uses and Gratifications Theory to your topic area

What are the ideologies being promoted in your topic area and how able is the audience to ‘resist’ messages?

Mainstream media texts usually reflect dominant ideologies. Audience are generally 'positioned' by the construction of media texts to accept this message but they do have choices in their reading.

These have been analysed as:

• Dominant response (dominant reading) - the dominant values and existing society are wholly accepted by the viewer.
• Subordinate response (negotiated reading) - indicates general acceptance of dominant values but the viewer is critical of certain aspects.
• Radical response (oppositional reading) - the viewer wholly rejects the values.

Target Audience Theories
The Media constructs target audiences through audience research in the following ways:

Mainstream and Niche: The Nuclear Family, The Football fan, The hip-hop fan

Demographics: Socio-economic status

Social Minority Groups: Age, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation etc

Lifestyle Profiling: The Business Woman, The University Student, Newly-weds,
Yuppies, Tweenies

Psychographic Profiling: Aspirers, Succeeders, Carers, Leaders

NB: Demographics is about dividing the audience into demographic groupings is to see the audience in terms of class and wealth. See the chart in your folder for the break down of groupings

PROS + CONS OF METHODS + SOURCES

Try to identify the advantages + disadvantages of the following methods/sources:

1. questionnaires
2. focus groups
3. discourse analysis
4. reading books
5. observation
6. 1 to 1 interview
7. websites
8. watching TV documentaries
9. textual analysis of TV programmes, radio shows, films etc

EVALUATING SOURCES + METHODS - A WORKED EXAMPLE

Using the Internet – a general evaluation of using a Search Engine

How do they work?
A computer programme is constantly searching the Web. As it does it sends information about what it finds (ie content and addresses) to a central database. When you enter a search term, you are actually looking into this central database.

Advantages
Very wide coverage of the Web, therefore you should find more material.
Many try to sort material by how relevant it is to your enquiry
Offer the opportunity to refine and enhance your search
Many offer useful links to related material
Many offer a directory listing of popular sites
A real help when you don’t know the exact address
Can specify UK sites only if you prefer

Disadvantages
Can often return too much material
Minimal sorting of material returned, particularly similar material at the same address
Different engines cover different pages, so you need to search in more than one
All engines have slightly different rules for refining a search

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This is all about using and identifying different ways to go about your research, what sources you should use, and using research theory to provide a framework for your research.

Question 1 is purely a test of your understanding of and ability to carry out research with a full and mature understanding of research theories and methodologies.

You must carry out your study carefully, therefore, incorporating ALL the following, from the start. We have broken down the different methodologies into 4 headings for you to consider:

Research Methodology 1

Your Starting Point - Deductive and Inductive Research

There are different starting points for research and you may well want to use both during the course of your research.

The starting point for deductive research is to read other people’s theories and to work towards one of your own.

• It works from the more general to the more specific
• Also called a ‘top down’ approach
• Knowledge driven

The starting point for inductive research is to start with your own observation

• It works from specific observations to broader generalizations and theories
• Also called a ‘bottom up’ approach
• Feature-detecting

Research Methodology 2

Types of Research you must conduct

• Academic research means to explore the viewpoints of academics who have written critically about similar areas to yours. Much of this will be presented as critical analysis published in books, articles or academic papers. Many of them will also have published their own research studies as well, to explore their own ideas or to establish particular ways of thinking about the media
  
  You will need to read the research papers they have written (usually published in books), including the analysis of their findings and any conclusions they may have drawn. You will need brief notes to summarise each research study you read, in order to be able to compare and contrast them to your own.

• Popular Criticism research means the views of practitioners (producers, directors, actors, website designers, sports professionals etc), and popular views as stated in newspapers, magazines, talk, internet etc. You will need to talk to relevant people and read articles etc, take notes on what they say and draw conclusions that may be applicable to your study.

• Audience Reception including yourself means research into how audiences (including yourself) respond to texts. To do this, you should read up on theories around audience reception, you should read other audience research studies (for context), you should explore your own responses, and you should set up your own audience response study.

You must cover all three types of research in your study.

Research Methodology 3

Sources - Primary and Secondary Research

This involves an understanding of the source for your research. There are many different sources of data, and you will need to know how to categorise them. When you write up your research for the exam, you will be expected to be able to categorise and reference your sources carefully.

When referencing secondary sources, you will be expected to know information such as correct source title, producer, date and location of production. This applies to all books, articles, websites, films, TV programmes, soundtracks etc

Note that, on the whole, secondary research is likely to be academic research but that this is not always the case – ie a newspaper article might be a popular cultural response

You will need to carry out both primary and secondary research

See your folder for a chart that identifies the difference between them.

Research Methodology 4

Quantitative and Qualitative Gathering of Data

There a two types of data gathering methodology which you must
show awareness of:

1. Quantitative Research involves counting or measuring response in terms of statistical significance. It is used to measure the activity of an entire audience by measuring a sample. There are two methods of sampling:

Random sampling – this is like sticking a pin into a list with your eyes closed. It has to be balanced by methods which ensure that the sample includes all types of people represented in the population but it is a procedure which excludes human judgement and thus bias.

Quota sampling – the sample includes a fixed number of people from the types represented in the population as a whole. This is easier but opens the possibility of bias.

Market research and surveys are typically quantitative. Quantitative data gathering always involves statistical analysis once the data has been gathered. It is also often used as a way in to more in-depth qualitative research. For example a brief ‘closed’ questionnaire might be used as the pre-cursor to setting up a focus group.

2. Qualitative Research involves a more personal (less scientific) approach through interviews, discussions, focus groups etc. This is used to discover experiences and responses which are difficult to measure in statistical samples. Information is gathered through observation, recording, questions and interviews in order to investigate a subject in depth and it does not attempt to be fully representative but to develop an in-depth understanding.

This method is more regularly used in Media Studies, and is more appropriate to studying cultural phenomena such as audience consumption.

Examples include

• action research
• case study research
• textual analyses
• ethnography.

Qualitative data sources include

• observation
• participant observation (fieldwork)
• interviews
• open-ended questionnaires
• documents and texts.

Qualitative data is often explored through ‘discourse analysis’ – the analysis of talk, which can help us to understand how and why we consume the media.

In order to conduct a discourse analysis of a focus group for example, you would have to listen carefully to what everybody said, and then explore the reasons behind their responses. To do this, you would have taped the focus group discussion and ‘transcribed’ the results, so you know exactly who said what.

Make sure that you do this research with clear target audiences – eg alternative youth/mainstream youth/age specific audiences etc

PRIMARY RESEARCH

A key part of your research is the primary research. This is research that you undertake first hand.

You can carry out primary research in a number of ways, these include:

• Questionnaires
• Interviews
• Questions on message boards
• Observations
• Your own analysis of the text

The method(s) that you choose for your own research will depend on which you think will generate the most useful information. You should consider carefully what it is that you wish to gain from your primary research and information you need for your project. It is important to think about the time you have available and the logistics of completing the research.

Things you should do before beginning to do primary research:

• Be realistic about how much information you can collect
• Think about how it will fit in with the rest of your project
• Be prepared to follow up any requests for interviews/meetings with a phone call!
• Be prepared for your request to be turned down
• Be realistic about who will speak to you

Below is an outline of what each method involves and how it can be used.

Questionnaires
Questionnaires are a useful way of collecting information off a larger sample of people. As you are limited in the time available you should think about qualitative questionnaires, this is where you ask a small sample of people and focus on getting as much information as possible from them. There are number of questionnaire types, each will be used for different types of research and in different ways. You should decide what one suits your research best.

• Unstructured questionnaire:
Most of the questions are open ended. You are free to change the order of asking questions and to explain them. The questionnaire may take the form of a checklist for discussion. The unstructured questionnaire is used in ‘depth’ interviews and group discussions.

• Semi-structured questionnaire:
This usually constitutes a mixture of closed or fixed response questions and open-ended questions. Semi structured questionnaires are useful in enabling you to ‘stage manage’ the interview so that all the open ended questions are answered fully.You will find that you will often get a better response if you are present whilst people complete the questionnaire. This will allow you to answer any questions that people may have about it. As with any research your results will depend on the quality of your questions.

Interviews

• Individual:
Interviews are likely to be in-depth conversations with individuals concerning a particular topic. The individual that you interview will depend on what you wish to find out. You will need to make contact with the individual that you wish to interview; you may do this through a letter or by e-mail. We would strongly recommend that you follow this up with a phone call should it be appropriate.It is possible that the interviewee could ask for a copy of the questions or conduct the interview via e-mail. This is why it is worth preparing questions beforehand. An interview is a really effective method of getting lots of information as it is likely that open-ended questions will generate a lot of conversation. Should you be interviewing someone from an institution it is worth carrying out some brief research on him or her first if you have not already.

• Group:
Another type of interview involves putting together a group of people to discuss a particular topic. This is often known as a focus group, where the group is selected because of a common interest or because the people in it represent a particular 'type'. For instance, you might put together a group of female viewers to discuss their responses to films directed by women or a group of Primary school children to discuss their television consumption.This sort of focus group needs careful selection and handling; obviously, being with other people will have some impact on how they respond to questions compared to an individual interview. In addition when there are several people present it will be hard for you as the interviewer to keep track of what is said. It might be useful to tape record the interview or even to video it and transcribe it for analysis later. The kinds of question you might ask for either group or for individual interviews are considered below.

Questions on message boards:
In some cases one of the most effective way of getting information from a diverse range of sources is by posting questions on an Internet message board. This can often generate a range of responses from readers of the message board who may have a detailed understanding of your topic area. As with the two previous methods the quality of responses will depend upon the quality of your questions. This method of research can be a quick and effective way of gathering primary information.

Observations:
Another form of primary research is your own observations; this could include watching how people react to a media product. You need to plan carefully how this would fit into your research and what you wanted to achieve before you organised an observation. This is more suitable for certain topics than for others, it would often be supported by a series of questions with the individuals or group who have been observed.

Own analysis of a media text:
For a number of topics it may be appropriate to undertake your own analysis of a media text. This would include analysing a text that is closely related to your research topic. It would require you to trust your academic skills as you would have to make comments about your chosen text and how it links to your topic and is relevant.

Note: It would be advisable to undertake more than one type of primary research, as this is likely to generate the most information. It will also mean that you improve your chances of collecting the necessary information.

Question Types
There are 3 main types of question that you could choose to use in you questionnaires, these are:

• Open-ended questions:
The term “open” describes your interviewee’s options for responding: they are open. The answer can be 2 words or 2 paragraphs. The major advantage of this more natural discussion is the greater detail and variety that the respondent can provide. You are also more likely to discover all sorts of information that you hadn’t anticipated. The down side might be that the mass of detail might be difficult to sort through, especially when you are trying to collate responses of multiple interviews.An example of an open-ended question:What was your response to the humour in “The cannonball run”?

• Closed questions:
With a closed question the possible responses are closed to the interviewees, since they can only reply with a finite number or limited choice. Multiple-choice exams are the obvious example. You have to choose one answer from a number of examples. A variation is the “bipolar” question where the respondent must choose yes/no, true/false, or agree/disagree. The obvious benefits of these questions are ease, speed and concrete data, which you can readily collate and tabulate. An example of a closed question:Do you agree or disagree that “Smokey and the Bandit” is a funny film?

• Probe questions:
A probe, or “follow-up” question, goes beyond an initial answer to get more meaning, to clarify, and to draw out and expand on the interviewee’s point. A probe is often necessary to get beyond an initial superficial or opinionated response. Follow-up probes come quite naturally after a closed question.Probes can be taken by your interviewee as a sign that you are listening to what’s being said, thinking it through, and responding appropriately.Examples of a probe question:Why ? Can you give me an example? Will you elaborate on that for me ?