Welcome back to Introduction to Communication Science.
This is week 4 of our MOOC. So far we have discussed the history
of our field, in week 2, and the linear transmission perspective, last week.
I’m very glad to see that our course is inspiring many
discussions on our forum. I’m also grateful for all your suggestions for further reading.
You’ve probably noticed that I have frequently added your suggestions to the Little Box of
Nuance section. So thanks for helping improving this course.
That's what a MOOC is all about. As you know by now I’m using a very broad distinction
into our field. I’ve said before that these categories are by no means fixed,
but I find them useful nonetheless. First, we have the linear transmission perspective.
Then a focus on reception and signification, that's the topic of this week.
And at roughly the same time a focus on social and cultural effects of communication.
The topic for this week is the second approach.
The reception and signification perspective.
Or perhaps I should say perspectives, because there is a distinction here that I will cover later.
Next week we’ll talk about communication as a social and cultural force.
I will use week 6 to answer questions you might have.
Post your questions on our forum. I’ll make a selection of recurring themes and
further explain some of the more complicated theories and concepts that we discussed.
Week 6 is all about class interaction, so let me know which topics you want to cover.
Week 7 is of course very exciting, because it is our exam week.
You need to do the self-evaluation tests each week and pass the exam
to complete this course and get a certificate of accomplishment.
In week 8 we’ll discuss the exam and look back at our MOOC. It’s a behind-the-scene look on
how it was made, why it was made and for who it was made.
I would also love to say something about who you are, what your background is and
why you enrolled in this course. There is already a survey in place to get this information.
It would be great if you participate.
Okay, back to the topic at hand. Last week we started with the linear perspective. I explained
how the First World War fueled research into our field
and led to a belief in direct and uniform effects. The audience was seen as passive and
defenseless against mass communication as a hypodermic needle or a magic bullet.
Later this belief in the power of the media became more nuanced.
When scientific studies failed to prove the all powerful media hypothesis,
this led to the more skeptical minimal effects hypothesis.
But World War Two and the rise of television clearly showed that mass communication
indeed could have huge effects under some circumstances.
It was now appreciated that effects were not always direct, uniform, and short term,
but quite often non-immediate, long term, indirect, and different from person to person.
Eventually the negotiated effects paradigm balanced a belief
in powerful effects with the notion that the audience was actually capable of selecting
and blocking messages and using them for their own ends. This line of thought was also very
apparent in the reception and signification approach
that had gradually developed since the sixties.
We'll further discuss this approach this week.