Introduction to Communication Science week 4: 4.1 An introduction to the Reception and Signification Perspective
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0:11 - 0:14Welcome back to Introduction to
Communication Science. -
0:14 - 0:18This is week 4 of our MOOC. So far we have
discussed the history -
0:18 - 0:23of our field, in week 2, and the linear
transmission perspective, last week. -
0:23 - 0:26I’m very glad to see that our course is inspiring
many -
0:26 - 0:31discussions on our forum. I’m also grateful for all
your suggestions for further reading. -
0:31 - 0:35You’ve probably noticed that I have frequently
added your suggestions to the Little Box of -
0:35 - 0:39Nuance section. So thanks for helping improving
this course. -
0:39 - 0:45That's what a MOOC is all about. As you know
by now I’m using a very broad distinction -
0:45 - 0:48into our field. I’ve said before that these
categories are by no means fixed, -
0:48 - 0:55but I find them useful nonetheless. First, we
have the linear transmission perspective. -
0:55 - 0:59Then a focus on reception and signification,
that's the topic of this week. -
0:59 - 1:06And at roughly the same time a focus on social
and cultural effects of communication. -
1:06 - 1:08The topic for this week is the second approach.
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1:08 - 1:11The reception and signification perspective.
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1:11 - 1:17Or perhaps I should say perspectives, because
there is a distinction here that I will cover later. -
1:17 - 1:22Next week we’ll talk about communication as a
social and cultural force. -
1:22 - 1:26I will use week 6 to answer questions you might
have. -
1:26 - 1:31Post your questions on our forum. I’ll make a
selection of recurring themes and -
1:31 - 1:36further explain some of the more complicated
theories and concepts that we discussed. -
1:36 - 1:41Week 6 is all about class interaction, so let me
know which topics you want to cover. -
1:41 - 1:44Week 7 is of course very exciting, because it is
our exam week. -
1:44 - 1:49You need to do the self-evaluation tests each
week and pass the exam -
1:49 - 1:53to complete this course and get a certificate of
accomplishment. -
1:53 - 1:59In week 8 we’ll discuss the exam and look back
at our MOOC. It’s a behind-the-scene look on -
1:59 - 2:02how it was made, why it was made and for who
it was made. -
2:02 - 2:07I would also love to say something about who
you are, what your background is and -
2:07 - 2:12why you enrolled in this course. There is already
a survey in place to get this information. -
2:12 - 2:16It would be great if you participate.
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2:16 - 2:22Okay, back to the topic at hand. Last week we
started with the linear perspective. I explained -
2:22 - 2:25how the First World War fueled research into our
field -
2:25 - 2:32and led to a belief in direct and uniform effects.
The audience was seen as passive and -
2:32 - 2:38defenseless against mass communication as a
hypodermic needle or a magic bullet. -
2:38 - 2:43Later this belief in the power of the media
became more nuanced. -
2:43 - 2:47When scientific studies failed to prove the all
powerful media hypothesis, -
2:47 - 2:52this led to the more skeptical minimal effects
hypothesis. -
2:52 - 2:58But World War Two and the rise of television
clearly showed that mass communication -
2:58 - 3:01indeed could have huge effects under some
circumstances. -
3:01 - 3:07It was now appreciated that effects were not
always direct, uniform, and short term, -
3:07 - 3:14but quite often non-immediate, long term,
indirect, and different from person to person. -
3:14 - 3:19Eventually the negotiated effects paradigm
balanced a belief -
3:19 - 3:23in powerful effects with the notion that the
audience was actually capable of selecting -
3:23 - 3:29and blocking messages and using them for their
own ends. This line of thought was also very -
3:29 - 3:31apparent in the reception and signification
approach -
3:31 - 3:34that had gradually developed since the sixties.
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3:34 - 3:38We'll further discuss this approach this week.
- Title:
- Introduction to Communication Science week 4: 4.1 An introduction to the Reception and Signification Perspective
- Description:
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Download links
1. not in the Coursera site:
Transcript of all Week 4 videos: https://d396qusza40orc.cloudfront.net/commscience/transcripts%2FTranscript_Week_4_Coursera.pdf
This lecture in .webm: http://d396qusza40orc.cloudfront.net/commscience/recoded_videos%2F4.1.58dcedc95e6ca7370d4361793b220853.webm
2. In the Coursera site, but apparently unaffected by the login block, for this lecture:
Subtitle text: https://class.coursera.org/commscience-001/lecture/subtitles?q=59_en&format=txt
Video mp4: https://class.coursera.org/commscience-001/lecture/download.mp4?lecture_id=59
*****Week 4 description:
The reception and signification perspective
This week we'll cover some basic theories on message construction and (selective) processing. We will see that scholars are working towards theoretical models that give audiences a more active role in communication processes. - Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- Captions Requested