Chapter 6, The Mass Media

Unlock all answers in this set

Unlock answers
question
Cultural anthropologist Natasha Dow Schull's term the zone—a disassociated subjective state marked by a suspension of normative parameters—is created by which of the following?
answer
digital technologies
question
College sophomore Greg Hogan Jr. held up a bank for a little over $2,800 in cash due to his being lost in the zone through which type of online activity?
answer
online gambling
question
Which of the following terms is used by sociologists to refer to print and electronic means of communication that carry messages to widespread audiences?
answer
mass media
question
The term "screen time" refers to the amount of time people spend
answer
all of these
question
*To sociologists, which of the following is a major concern regarding the mass media and social policy?*
answer
the effects of the media on social institutions the ownership of media operations *the effects of the media on social behavior* all of these
question
What term do we use to refer to the flow of content across multiple media and the accompanying migration of media audiences?
answer
cultural convergence
question
What percentage of Americans are off the modern information network, or "off the net?"
answer
15 percent
question
What percentage of Americans consume information goods and services at a high rate and use these technologies as platforms for participation and self-expression, or "omnivores?"
answer
8 percent
question
Which sociological perspective would likely contend that the role of the mass media is to provide socialization, enforce social norms through public events, and create social stability and cohesion through collective experiences?
answer
functionalist perspective
question
Which of the following would be an example of cyberbullying?
answer
all of these
question
Which sociologist purported that newspapers helped to socialize immigrants to the customs and culture of the U.S.?
answer
Robert Park
question
Sociologist Robert Park studied
answer
how newspapers helped immigrants to the U.S. adjust to their environments and taught them the customs and opinions of people in their new home country
question
Which of the following would the functionalist perspective most likely view as creating the greatest collective experience?
answer
the terrorist attack of September 11, 2001
question
What were the primary media vehicles by which people bonded in the U.S. during, and in the aftermath of, the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001?
answer
television and phones
question
Communities developing around common interests or shared identities that are emerging online is referred to in the text as
answer
tribalism.
question
Which of the following is considered one way the media reaffirm proper behavior in society?
answer
movie and TV scenes showing criminals getting caught by authorities
question
Which of the following would have the greatest impact in terms of reaffirming social norms of proper behavior?
answer
watching a televised execution of a mass murderer
question
Which of the following media events would most likely glorify disapproved behaviors?
answer
all of these
question
Which sociological perspective would be most likely to focus on the functions of the mass media in conferring status on people, organizations, and public issues?
answer
functionalist perspective
question
People, organizations, and public issues appearing regularly on the covers of prominent magazines is a method used to
answer
confer status
question
According to the text, which of the following musicians has received the most amount of status from Rolling Stone magazine due to the number of times they've appeared on the its cover?
answer
Paul McCartney
question
Which of the following politicians has appeared on the cover of Time magazine most often, resulting in a degree of status being conferred upon him?
answer
Richard Nixon
question
The function of media advertising is to support the economy, provide information about products, and underwrite media costs associated with
answer
promotion of consumption
question
Which of the following is a socially constructed entity?
answer
all of these
question
Which nation has the largest number of the top 100 worldwide brands?
answer
U.S.
question
A dysfunction of media promotion of product consumption would be
answer
increasing awareness of environmental issues.
question
Which of the following terms refers to the phenomenon whereby massive amounts of coverage result in the audience becoming numb and failing to act on the information regardless of how compelling the issue was presented?
answer
narcotizing dysfunction
question
Which of the following have sociologists suggested is a dysfunction of the mass media?
answer
having a narcotizing effect
question
People ignoring credible warnings about terrorist attacks due to the massive amounts of coverage in the aftermath of September 11, 2001 are an example of
answer
the narcotizing dysfunction.
question
If someone failed to contribute money because massive amounts of media coverage made him or her less sensitive to the needs of victims of the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, this would be an example of
answer
the narcotizing effect
question
Which sociologist(s) first identified the effects of viewer fatigue and created the term "narcotizing dysfunction?"
answer
Paul Lazarsfeld and Robert Merton
question
Which of the following statements is not correct?
answer
The narcotizing dysfunction of the media was discovered in the 1980s after the deluge of cable news programming.
question
Which sociological perspective(s) would be most likely to emphasize that the mass media exacerbate many divisions in our society, including those based on gender, race, ethnicity, and social class?
answer
conflict and feminist perspectives
question
The process by which a relatively small number of people control what eventually reaches the audience is referred to as
answer
gatekeeping
question
A major network news agency that discourages reporting of issues concerning homosexuality is most likely practicing
answer
gatekeeping.
question
George is the executive producer of a small recording company with an established label. He rejects a popular local band because it competes with a group already on their label. He functions as a
answer
gatekeeper.
question
According to a study done for the World Bank, who owns the largest percentage of television and radio stations in 97 countries?
answer
governments
question
Which medium experiences the least amount of gatekeeping?
answer
the Internet
question
Which sociological perspective(s) would be most likely to focus on gatekeeping as a process that reflects a desire to maximize profits by those with power and authority?
answer
conflict perspective
question
Which items did eBay refuse to allow people to sell on the Internet following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001?
answer
World Trade Center debris
question
The term "media monitoring" is used most often to refer to
answer
interest groups' monitoring of content....
question
The U.S. government was heavily criticized for which of the following media monitoring behaviors after the September 11th attacks?
answer
authorizing wiretaps of U.S. citizens' telephone conversations...
question
Worldwide, low-income groups, racial and ethnic minorities, rural residents, and the citizens of developing countries have far less access than others to the latest technologies. This gap is referred to as the
answer
...digital divide.
question
In Africa, only 4 percent of the population has Internet access; they typically pay how much per month for their connection?
answer
$250 to $300 a month
question
What is the term used to describe the set of cultural beliefs and practices that helps to maintain powerful social, economic, and political interests?
answer
the dominant ideology
question
Which sociological perspective(s) would be most likely to support the idea that a dominant ideology is created through media images and is used to construct a reality based on protecting the interests of the powerful?
answer
conflict perspective
question
Realistic portrayals of minorities and working-class persons tend to be ignored by mass media decision-makers primarily because
answer
most decisions are made overwhelmingly by wealthy White males.
question
The creation of unreliable generalizations that distort the reality of persons, groups, and cultures is indicative of
answer
stereotyping
question
Which of the following would be a common way for television to create stereotypes?
answer
portraying women as sleek and thin portraying young minority males as drug dealers and criminals portraying members of the lower class as uneducated and lazy *all of these*
question
In the U.S., one out of every four women is considered obese. How many characters are portrayed as obese on television?
answer
3 out of 100
question
There is very little representation of the racial diversity of the U.S. on television, even though _____ percent of all youths in the U.S. are children of color.
answer
45
question
How many primetime series out of nearly sixty—aired in recent years—did researchers find focused on minority performers?
answer
2
question
The U.S. is a major player in the global media domain. However, other nations play a role in creating a dominant ideology as evidenced by the popularity of ___________, which originated in Sweden.
answer
Survivor
question
Which sociological perspective is most likely to be concerned with television distorting gender roles and stereotyping, which is often rooted in the media's willingness to promote more traditional views?
answer
feminist perspective
question
Which of the following statements concerning media portrayal of gender roles would the feminist perspective most likely endorse?
answer
Women are often portrayed as being in need of rescue by males.
question
According to a 2004 content analysis of sports broadcasts on network television, what percentage was devoted to male sports events?
answer
92 percent
question
The popular ESPN Sports Center program devotes what percentage of air time to women's sports?
answer
2 percent
question
A continuing, troubling issue for feminists is pornography and its effects on women, as evidenced by a 2002 health survey which revealed that
answer
40 percent of Triple-X performers suffer from sexually transmitted diseases.
question
According to data collected in 2009 concerning the use of the Internet
answer
women are more likely to use email to maintain friendship networks.
question
Which sociological perspective is more likely to study the media's influence on society from the microlevel to determine how social behavior is shaped?
answer
interactionist perspective
question
Which sociological perspective would most likely be concerned with manipulation of "photo ops" to create an image of self-serving reality?
answer
interactionist perspective
question
Fans of the TV show Star Trek (known as Trekkies) meet in costume at a convention celebrating the anniversary of the show's conception. Which sociological perspective would be most likely to focus attention on this event?
answer
interactionist perspective
question
*According to the Schaefer text, even if an audience is spread out over a wide geographic area and the members do not know one another, they will be somewhat distinctive in terms of*
answer
general interest. age, gender, income, political party, formal schooling, and race and ethnicity. the size of the grouping. none of these
question
Specialized targeting of audiences is to some degree driven by
answer
advertising.
question
A person who influences the opinions and decisions of others through day-to-day personal contact and communication is referred to as a (an)
answer
opinion leader
question
Which sociologist pioneered research on opinion leaders
answer
Paul Lazarsfeld
question
Sociologist Paul Lazarsfeld
answer
pioneered the study of opinion leaders in his research on voting behavior in the 1940s.
question
Which sociologist studied the social composition of audiences to explain how an audience interprets news coverage?
answer
Darnell Hunt
question
In his study of the social composition of audiences, which of the following characteristics did sociologist Darnell Hunt suggest would be most likely to affect the interpretation of news coverage?
answer
race
question
Which aspect of Darnell Hunt's research on audiences was somewhat unique, particularly in regard to his analysis and interpretation of the data?
answer
He went beyond noting racial differences in perceptions, and analyzed how they were manifested.
question
According to Darnell Hunt's research on audiences, which viewers were less animated when watching a 17-minute film clip of the 1992 riots in Los Angeles?
answer
Whites
question
Who predicted over 45 years ago that the rise of the electronic media would create a "global village," thereby reducing the barriers created by physical distance?
answer
Marshall McLuhan
question
Which metaphor for the media's reach does sociologist Todd Gitlin consider more apt than "global village?"
answer
global torrent
question
Al Jazeera is
answer
an Arabic-language news network.
question
What did the U.S. State Department do in 2004 to counter the impact of Al Jazeera's television influence in the Middle East?
answer
It established the satellite network Al Hurra
question
When a media conglomerate makes, markets, distributes, and manipulates most aspects of a popular movie, this is an example of
answer
...
question
The merger of media giants such as AOL and Time Warner, along with the network holdings of Walt Disney, are all prime examples of
answer
global selection
question
What is the significance of a 2003 ruling by the Federal Communications Commission that was discussed in the text?
answer
all of these
question
Cross-promotion by media giants is illustrated by the release of which movie in 2003 that was heavily promoted by CNN and Time magazine—both part of the Time Warner empire?
answer
The Matrix Reloaded
question
Schaefer notes that ____________ is (are) a significant exception to the centralization and concentration of the media.
answer
...
question
Disney is a good example of a multinational media corporation who represents today's market concentration and consolidation. They own 16 television channels which reach
answer
140 countries
Get an explanation on any task
Get unstuck with the help of our AI assistant in seconds
New