WilliamHartPhD's Notes: February 2016

Monday, February 29, 2016

DigPhotog: Basic Tech: How Does a Digital Camera Work? [VID] (W8-P3) Sp16

Now that we've talked about things like, shutter speed and aperture settings, let's now ask ourselves what is shutter or an aperture and more importantly where is it? They are parts of a camera, but where are they in the camera and how do they work together to create your photographs?

Or another way to put this, how does a camera work?

Let's now take a look at how the camera works on the inside. Understanding how it works on the inside, helps with the understanding of how and why the settings do what they do.

Let's start with, how does a digital camera work? What are the steps in the process (a list of the steps)?

Along with this, what are the parts of the camera relevant to a discussion of how it works (a list of the parts)?

How DSLR Cameras Work

Let's take a look at the process again, in a slightly different way.

If you'd like to learn more, I'd recommend two additional YouTube videos: (1) the more detailed "How Digital Cameras Really Work" and the longer "How Does a Camera Work?".

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DigPhotog: "Blurry" Background Photos - Bokeh (W8-P2) [VID] Sp16

Now that we've talked about depth of field, let's throw in a related concept. This concept ties the technical concept of depth of field back to the artistic discussion of photo composition covered earlier.

What is bokeh and what does it have to do with depth of field?

Bokeh is "the aesthetic quality of the blur produced in the out-of-focus parts of an image produced by a lens. Bokeh has been defined as "the way the lens renders out-of-focus points of light" ... Bokeh occurs for parts of the scene that lie outside the depth of field" (Wikipedia).

You can create bokeh simply by paying attention to depth of field and adjusting aperture settings. However, you can carry the concept further and create shapes in the out of focus parts of a photography. See video below. Note that there are smartphone apps for this as well.

"Differences in lens aberrations and aperture shape cause some lens designs to blur the image in a way that is pleasing to the eye, while others produce blurring that is unpleasant or distracting—"good" and "bad" bokeh, respectively" (Wikipedia).

So, how would you judge good or bad bokeh? Go back to the rules of composition covered earlier. For example, is the rule of simplicity important here? Colors important here? What would be a list of rules of composition that would be relevant to judging bokeh?

If you are curious, check out 40 Beautiful Examples of Bokeh Photography.

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DigPhotog: "Blurry" Background Photos - Depth of Field, etc. (W8-P1) [VID] Sp16

You like those "blurry" background photos? Would you like to be able to take this type of photo?

Photo by yashh . Used under Creative Commons.

If so, you'll need to control the depth of field in your photograph and in order to control depth of field, you'll need to better understand aperture.

Depth of field is "the distance between the nearest and farthest objects in a scene that appear acceptably sharp in an image" (Wikipedia).

For a partial introduction to depth of field and some other topics, check out the following video from Jared Polin and his YouTube channel "Fro Knows Photos."

As a follow up to Polin's explanation and visuals, let's see the first part of the following video (0:00 to 1:45 or so).

Stop on the side-view image in the video at about 1:40. Use the image to get a grasp of the phrases of "narrow depth of field" and "wide depth of field" which you may hear photographers sometimes use.

What do these two phrases mean and what is the difference between the two? When you are using a wide depth of field, what is in focus in your photograph?

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Thursday, February 25, 2016

GlobalMedia: Intercultural Com: Effective Intercultural Com: Stereotypes & Ethnocentricism (W7-P4) Sp16

And now, for the last two bricks in the wall. By the way, have you been thinking about how these bricks play a role in global communication?

A stereotype generally has the following pattern:
All people in a certain group have a certain characteristic or set of characteristics.

If you were looking for clip art for "Native Americans" and all that you found were images like the top two images above, would this be an example of stereotyping? How? Use the definition. How does the bottom image break the stereotype? What exactly is the stereotype?

How do you tear down this brick?

[Errata: "a general, fixed impression of a person based on group membership."]

Generally speaking, a person who is ethnocentric thinks the ways of his or her people are the best and the ways of other groups are negative, backwards or inferior. "Eating with chopsticks is stupid," they might say.

Ask me about "Zhong Guo."

Watch the following images.

What was your reaction to the images? What does your reaction have to do with ethnocentrism? Anything?

How do you "tear down" this brick?

How do all these bricks play a role in global communication? How do they fit into our discussion of global communication?

GlobalMedia: Intercultural Com: Effective Intercultural Com: Discrimination, Prejudice and Racism (W7-P3) Sp16

And now, some more important bricks in the wall, things that stop us from getting to effective intercultural communication.

How do you tear down this brick?
What is the difference between discrimination, prejudice, racism? See the next few bricks.

Prejudice or some other problem/brick?

You probably think of some TV characters who are prejudiced. Hank Hill, Archie Bunker, etc. What examples can you think of?

How do you tear down this brick?

Note that there are two definitions of racism given here.

Notice any connection between racism and prejudice as previously defined?

Also, what are the differences among racism, prejudice and discrimination? They are related terms, but they are not the same thing.

How do you tear down this brick?

GlobalMedia: Intercultural Com: Effective Intercultural Com: Anxiety/Uncertainty & Assuming Similarity (W7-P2) Sp16

Before moving on to anxiety (Brick #3) and uncertainty (Brick #4), I should point out that we've already covered Bricks 1 and 2.

What are they? What are thing we've already covered that lead to difficulty in intercultural situations?

They are difference in language (Brick #1) and differences in nonverbal communication (Brick #2).

Before moving to the next bricks, one last question: How do you tear down this part of the wall, how do you fix differences in language and nonverbal communication?

And now, anxiety and uncertainty.

How does uncertainty lead to anxiety? Got an example?

How does uncertainty and anxiety lead to ineffective intercultural communication?
How do you "tear down" these brick? Which one would you fix first and once you fixed it would you have the second problem?

Another brick in the wall is assuming similarity, instead of differences. "Oh, they're just like us, really."

How do you "tear down" this brick?

GlobalMedia: Intercultural Com: Effective Intercultural Com: Intercultural Communication Model (W7-P1) Sp16

Recall the Intercultural Communication Model?

There is a brick wall between us and effective intercultural communication.
What are the names of the bricks in this wall? What specifically stops us from getting to effective intercultural communication (ICC)? What are the bricks or barriers to effective intercultural communication?

The first two bricks or barriers are differences in language and difference is in nonverbal communication.
For the others, see the following posts.

Wednesday, February 24, 2016

"MACKLEMORE & RYAN LEWIS FEAT. JAMILA WOODS - WHITE PRIVILEGE II" (My New Liked Vid on YouTube) [VID]

MACKLEMORE & RYAN LEWIS FEAT. JAMILA WOODS - WHITE PRIVILEGE II

"http://bit.ly/1QG5qgD"
Via YouTube http://youtu.be/Y_rl4ZGdy34
Liked on February 24, 2016 at 11:38PM

Tuesday, February 23, 2016

ResearchMethods: Library Research & APA Style: Citing Sources (W7-P3) Sp16

You are working on some research and you want to mention or cite a book in the research paper you are writing.

How do you cite a book using APA-style?

Two Book Examples:

Jewell, T. E., & Hart, W. B. (1996). Interpersonal communication: Student workbook. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Frey, L. R., Botan, C. H., & Kreps, G. L. (2000). Investigating communication: An introduction to research methods. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon.

What about an edited book (APA-style)?

Iyengar, S., & Reeves, R. (Eds.). (1997). Do the media govern? Politicians, voters, and reporters in America. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

What about a chapter from an edited book (APA-style)?

Rogers, E. M., & Hart, W. B. (1997). A paradigmatic history of agenda-setting research. In S. Iyengar & R. Reeves (Eds.), Do the media govern? Politicians, voters, and reporters in America (pp. 225-236). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

What about an article in an academic journal (Gangman-style, I mean APA style)?

Hart, W. B., (1999). Interdisciplinary influences in the study of intercultural relations: A citation analysis of the International Journal of Intercultural Relations. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 23, 575-589.

Examples of academic or scholarly journals. Public domain photo.

One of the best online sources for how to cite books, articles, etc. is Purdue University's Research and Citation Resources website. This site covers APA and other methods.

Note: The above is based on the 6th edition of the APA manual.

ResearchMethods: Library Research & APA Style: Finding Books & Journals(W7-P2) Sp16

When doing research, one of the first things you do is gather up journal articles and books that have also addressed your research question. This is known as a literature review.

In terms of journal articles, a media scholar would probably want to check out the following journals published by ICA and AEJMC.

What are some comm journals published by the ICA? What is ICA?

Human Communication Research
Journal of Communication
Communication Theory

What are some journals published by the AEJMC? What is AEJMC?

Journalism & Mass Communication Educator
Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly

The above are examples of a few of the many journals relevant to a communication/media scholar.

Getting Access

To get access to the above journals, you would have to be a member of the above organizations and pay for a subscription to the journals. Another possibility, is that your university library has subscribed to the journals.

Within the field of communication study, one large database of journal articles is Communication and Mass Media Complete. Some university libraries subscribe to this large database of communication related journals.

NSU Library Search

Free Online Research Resources

What are some free online sources that may help with gathering background information about your research topic? How could they be used in research?

ResearchMethods: Library Research & APA Style: Puzzle Break (W7-P1) Sp16

Our Critical Thinkers Creed

We are Open-minded.

We seek to understand the other viewpoints.

We are Knowledgeable.

We offer opinions/claims backed with logic and evidence.

We are Mentally Active.

We use our intelligence to confront problems.

We are Curious.

We go beyond superficial explanations. We seek deeper understanding.

We are Independent Thinkers.

We are not afraid to disagree with the group opinion.

We are Creative.

We break out of established patterns of thinking and approach situations from innovative directions.

What does the creed mean in research and in our personal lives?
How does it relate to solving puzzles and problems?
To begin with, the critical thinkers creed is a good perspective to have when faced with puzzles and problems.

What would be some other approaches to take when solving puzzles and problems?

Advice for Solving Puzzles and Problems

Be confident. Positive attitude.
Be creative (“think outside the box”).
Try a different approach / Look at it from different viewpoints.
Take inventory (write-down) what you know and what you don’t.
Never assume.
Ask lots of questions.
Break big problem into smaller steps.
Look for patterns.

Source: Modified from Pat Murphy, et.al. The Brain Explorer (Exploratorium at Home)

Try some puzzles:

Puzzle 1:
"Dr. Arnold Gluck, a psychiatrist in New York, came across the world’s most enthusiastic bookworm during the course for his work. He had been one since infancy. All he ever did was devour books. Yet he never held down a proper job and he didn’t go to the public library. He hadn’t inherited money, in fact he was penniless. So how could he get through all those books?"

Puzzle 2: A Lewis Carroll Puzzle

Lewis Carroll, author (Alice in Wonderland)
a.k.a. Lutwidge Dodgson, mathematician and logician

A STICK I FOUND

"A stick I found that weighed two pound:
I sawed it up one day
In pieces eight of equal weight!
How much did each piece weigh?

(Everybody says ‘a quarter of a pound’, which is wrong.)"

What is the relationship between doing research and solving puzzles?

Monday, February 22, 2016

DigPhotog: Online Camera Simulators to Help Understand Aperture, Shutter Speed, etc. (W7-P2) Sp16

There are two very useful online camera simulators that I'd recommend to help you get a better understanding of aperture, shutter speed and other aspects of photography.

1. Start with Photonhead's "SimCam - Shutter and Aperture" page. It'll allow you to control a few features of the camera. What settings would get you those blurry background photos? Why? Also, try out the film speed or ISO simulator. Make changes in the settings and then take the photo (i.e. click on "shoot it"). Before clicking the shoot it button make a guess on what the new photo will look like. Work with the simulations until your guess match the resulting photo.

2. Also, try CameraSim.com. Once you've gotten comfortable for Photonheads camera simulator, then move on to this more complicated simulator. You can try the embed below (if it appears for you) or go directly to the site.

In addition to adjusting the shutter, aperture and mode, try adjusting the distance you are to the child and also zoom in or zoom out with the focal length setting.

When you are working with both of these simulators, it is important that after you change some settings and before you press the click button, that you make a guess as to what you think the simulated photograph will look like. Only stop messing with these simulators, once you get all your guesses right.

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DigPhotog: Controlling Light (F-Stops, Shutter Speed, ISO, etc.) (W7-P1) [VID] Sp16

As a photographer, your task is to control light. You are a master of light.

When you turn that dial from "auto" to "manual", you are taking control of the light coming into your camera. Two key ways of controlling the amount of light coming into your camera are by setting the f-stop and the shutter speed.

Here now we have two options for coverage of f-stops, shutter speeds and ISO. Check out at least one of these.

Option 1

Option 2

If you are curious, you might check out "A Picture To Show You Clearly The Effects of Aperture, Shutter Speed and ISO On Images."

Also, if you are curious and want to get a little more techie, you can optionally check out the following video. Note the exposure triangle.

EXIF Apps and the Exposure Triangle

There are apps that allow you to see the f-stop, shutter speed and ISO settings for your photographs. If you recall, the f-stop, shutter speed and ISO data and other data (e.g., date, time, GPS location) is what is called EXIF data. For android devices one EXIF viewer app is Simple Exif Viewer. For iOS devices an EXIF viewer app is Exif Viewer. A Google search will also show EXIF viewers for laptops and desktops.

Use one of the EXIF viewers and check the f-stop, shutter speed and ISO settings for your photographs. See if the settings or values make sense. For example, would an ISO setting/value of 800 for an indoor photo make sense? Why? Would a shutter speed of 1/2 second for a blurry sports photo make sense? Why?

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Thursday, February 18, 2016

GlobalMedia: Intercultural Com: "The Ugly American" (W6-P6) [VID] Sp16

Counterproductive attitudes that Americans can have about people from other countries?*

"Foreigners coming to live in the U.S. should adapt American ways."
"Asians do many things backwards."
"Much of the world’s population remains underdeveloped because they don’t take the initiative to develop themselves."
"Americans have been very generous in teaching other people how to do things the right way."
"English should be accepted as the universal language."

Q: Central theme in the counterproductive attitudes expressed above?
A: Ethnocentrism: a belief that your group's ways are the best ways.

Imagine a person working in development communication who heads into a development project abroad with the above attitudes. How would things work out?

The phrase "ugly American" comes, in part, from a 1958 novel about an American who travels abroad and expresses an ethnocentric attitude. The novel was made into a 1963 film staring Marlon Brando.

Now to another film. How does Disney's Pocahontas fit into this discussion?

Do you spot the ethnocentric attitude from John Smith in this Pocahontas clip?
(If the video clip does not work, then the Disney's Pocahontas film can be found on sites like Netflix. If you find the full film see the segment from about 35:45 to about 40:00.)

Given the similarity between Pocahontas and Avatar (see below), then you might explore the "ugly Earthling" aspects of Avatar. Can you think of other related films?

* Of course, this could go the other way. People in other countries can have ethnocentric views toward the U.S. -- The ugly _____.

GlobalMedia: Intercultural Com: Hofstede’s Dimensions of Value Orientation (W6-P5) Sp16

Geert Hofstede during the 1980s surveyed over 100,000 workers in multinational corporations in forty countries.

He found 4 main dimensions along which countries/cultures differ. Each country was ranked according to his dimensions.

1. Individualism - Collectivism

I versus We
e.g., “Squeaking wheel gets the greasy.”
e.g., “The nail that sticks up gets pounded down.”
Indiv. (e.g., U.S. & Australia) <--------> Coll (e.g., Taiwan & Peru)

2. Uncertainty Avoidance

The extent to which a culture feels threatened by the unknown.
Hi-U.A. cultures try to avoid uncertainty.
Hi UA (e.g., Greece & Japan) <---> Low UA (e.g. U.S. & Denmark )

A high uncertainty avoidance person or culture would want to avoid any uncertainty.
If a person or generally a group of people have high uncertainty avoidance, would they be more future oriented or more past oriented?
Which would be more likely to take risks? Hi-UA or low-UA?

3. Power Distance

The extent to which a culture accepts inequality.
Hi-P.D. cultures accept inequality in relationships.
Hi PD (e.g. Philippines & India) <----> Low PD (e.g. Sweden & N.Z.)

4. Masculinity and Femininity

Masculinity = assertiveness, ambition, possessions...
Femininity = caring and nurturing...
M (e.g., Japan & Italy) <-----------> F (e.g., Norway & Denmark)

GlobalMedia: Intercultural Com: Cultural Values (W6-P4) Sp16

What are values?

"Social principles, goals, or standards accepted by persons in a culture. They are learned by contacts with the family, teachers, and religious leaders. The media also may influence one’s value system."

Or what are the things that a culture finds valuable, important.
Money? Family?

What are your values? Where did you get them? Are there some values more important than others? What is your most important value? Interacted with somebody who has a different set of values?

GlobalMedia: Intercultural Com: A Model of Intercultural Com (W6-P3) Sp16

Read the diagram above. The model of intercultural communication (ICC) begins with two people from different cultures interacting or communicating. What is the rest of the process? What are the parts of the process of intercultural communication? In this model, the goal is effective intercultural communication, but what are some of the barriers that can cause problems? Prejudice? Stereotypes? Discrimination? Differences in language? Others?

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GlobalMedia: Intercultural Com: Definitions and Metaphors for Culture (W6-P2) Sp16

What is culture?

There are hundreds of definitions of culture in the literature.
Let's use this one:

Culture is a set of shared knowledge that influences a particular group of people’s behavior (Hart).

Metaphors of Culture

Hofstede's Computer Metaphor:

Culture is the software of the mind.
We are programmed by our experiences. We are taught our culture.

Hofstede's Game Metaphor:

Culture is "the unwritten rules of the social game."

The Iceberg Metaphor of Culture

Above the waterline—what we can see; behaviors that are visible.
Below the waterline—what we cannot see; values and beliefs that are not visible.

Created by Uwe Kils

GlobalMedia: Intercultural Com: Tower of Babel (W6-P1) Sp16

The Tower of Babel by Pieter Bruegel the Elder (1563). Image in the public domain.

The image above depicts the Biblical story of how different languages and cultures came to be.
So, what is the story and what does it have to do with intercultural communication?

Tuesday, February 16, 2016

ResearchMethods: Topics, RQs & H's: Directionality with RQs & Hs (W6-P3) Sp16

What is meant by directionality in RQs?

Non-directional wording:

e.g., There is a relationship between the IV & DV.
No positive or negative relationship between IV and DV stated, just that there is a relationship.

Directional wording:

e.g., As the IV increases the DV decreases.
A positive or negative relationship between IV and DV is given.

Now, let's test some comprehension of directionality and other material covered recently.

Give me an example RQ or H for each of the following four descriptions.

RQ, Ordered IV, Non-directional
H, Nominal IV, Non-directional or “two-tailed”*
RQ, Ordered IV, Directional or "one-tailed"*
H, Nominal IV, Directional

Which of the following examples fit the above four descriptions?

What is the relationship between age and intercultural sensitivity**?
Intercultural Sensitivity is greater for Chinese than U.S. Americans.
There is a difference in IC Sensitivity between men and women.
Is there a positive relationship between age and intercultural sensitivity?

* “One tail, two tail, red tail, blue tail” – Dr. Seuss

“Two-tailed” same as non-directional
“One-tailed” same as directional

"I hope they never lose their sense of wonder and discovery." Who said that? What was he talking about? How's that fit with the Critical Thinker's Creed?

Directionality and "tails" will surface again later in discussion of some statistics.

** Think of intercultural sensitivity as the opposite of prejudice. Think of it as a score that somebody would get on a survey that measures intercultural sensitivity.

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ResearchMethods: Topics, RQs & H's: IVs, DVs, CVs & RQs (W6-P2) Sp16

Earlier we defined...

Research question (RQ): "An interrogative statement exploring the relationship between two or more constructs [concepts, variables, etc.]" (Stewart, 2002, p. 173).

More specifically, we could say a RQ is a question that asks about the influence of the independent variable on the dependent variable.

We didn't change anything. We just added some further detail. We just named the variables.

So what are independent variables, etc.?

Dependent variable (DV): the variable that is being influenced by another variable.

The value of the DV is dependent on the value of the IV.

Independent variable (IV): the variable that is doing the influencing.
Confounding variable: a variable that may also explain what is being studied, but is not a main focus of the study.

Example: Does violence in video games (IV) cause violent behavior in children (DV)?

What would that RQ look like if you diagrammed it?

How does the CV work in here? Can you think of a CV for the above RQ?

ResearchMethods: Topics, RQs & H's: Research Questions & Hypotheses (W6-P1) [VID] Sp16

Research question (RQ): "An interrogative statement exploring the relationship between two or more constructs [concepts, variables, etc.]" (Stewart, 2002, p. 173).

In short, is there a relationship between one variable and another?

In the past I asked students to offer research questions they had a serious interest in answering. Do the student examples below fit the definition? Any problems you spot with the examples?

"Does visual stimuli, or auditory stimuli, in advertisements positively affect a consumers buying behavior, meaning will the consumer be inclined to buy if a stimulating message is communicated across one of the two communication channels."
"Is there a positive (or a negative) relationship between the amount of violence communicated in cartoons?"
"Is there an increase in female orgasms in relationships related to the increase in communication?"

What are the types of variables?

A variable is any concept that takes on two or more values.
Two types:

Nominal: Categories

e.g., gender, profession, race, nationality, etc.

Ordered: Takes on numerical values

e.g., age, IQ, a prejudice score, time in conversation, etc.

What's the difference you spot between nominal and ordered?

Note: We'll add other types later, but this will work for now.

Could you generate some RQs based on the variables listed under nominal and ordered?

More importantly, based on the research topic that you identified earlier, what are some possible RQs you could ask?

When thinking of media-oriented RQs make sure of the following:

RQs are questions that can be answered using research methodologies. (Remember: Ways of knowing?)
RQs are related to media. At least one variable/concept should be related to media.

Now, that we've got a grasp on an RQ, what is exactly is an H? They are related, right?

Hypothesis is a tentative statement about the relationship between two or more variables (the dependent and independent variables).
Null hypothesis is a statement that says there is no relationship between the research variables.

How are RQs and Hs similar? How are they different?

Monday, February 15, 2016

DigPhotog: Basic Tech: File Formats in Digital Photography [VID] (W6-P3) Sp16

After comparing benefits of film photography to the benefits of digital photography, one of the next topics to be addressed would be how are digital photographs stored. With traditional film photography, the photographs are stored on film negatives, but what about digital photographs?

How are photographs are stored digitally. On your phone, camera memory card, or computer, digital photographs are stored in three possible formats.

The three primary file formats used in digital photography are jpeg, tiff and raw.*
Ever look at a list of photos on a computer and noticed ".jpg" at the end of the file name? That photo was stored in the jpeg format.

So, what are the formats? What are the differences? What are the benefits and drawbacks of each? Which should you use?*

Now with the basics out of the way, let's take a closer look at the idea of a raw file. I like Mike Browne's cake metaphor.

If you want to learn more, I'd recommend "File Formats in Photography".

* Note that this discussion mainly applies to digital SLR cameras, since smartphones usually only allow jpeg formats.

DigPhotog: Basic Tech: Film vs. Digital (W6-P2) Sp16

So, advances in technology have brought us the digital camera. However, just because it is new tech, does that mean digital photography is better than film photography?

Compared to traditional film photography, what are the benefits of digital photography?

automatic feedback by seeing photo on LCD
digital photography allows for a smaller storage space and
digital photography allows for easy editing.
easily share images electronically, over the Internet

DigPhotog: Photo Composition, One Last Time (W6-P1) Sp16

Very soon we'll move on to the technical side of photography. However, before leaving the artistic side, specifically photo composition, let's remind ourselves of Itten's contrasts and also look the role of color in photo composition.

Please do revisit Itten's contrasts in the previous notes.

Let's address here, a new topic, the color wheel and color schemes

You are probably aware of the color wheel, but how does it fit into photography? A color wheel is "an abstract illustrative organization of color hues around a circle that shows relationships between primary colors, secondary colors, tertiary colors etc"(Wikipedia).

This discussion of color fits into our previous discussion of composition. You can use color to compose good photographs as well as using the rules of composition previously discussed.

Let's get some background on color theory. Pay special attention to the color rules (color schemes) discussed.

Go to Adobe Color (aka Kuler) and explore the different color rules or color schemes. Become familiar with the following four schemes/rules: analogous, monochromatic, triad and complementary colors. Be able to define these four color schemes according to their relative positions on the color wheel. For example, complementary colors are colors on the opposite side of the color wheel.

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Thursday, February 4, 2016

GlobalMedia: Music, MTV & Global Media: Global Media, Music & the Future (W4-P5) Sp16

Some of Crother's Emerging Developments especially relevant to music

Social Media

Social networking will continue to be a platform for the spread of information, products, cultural styles, and political and social change around the world."
"The YouTube-ification of entertainment is likely to expand."

Fragmegration

"Challenges to American movies, music, and television programs will arise for a variety of economic, political, and cultural reasons, leading to new alliances seeking to limit the effects of American popular culture within their communities."
"American popular culture may facilitate the emergence of a global culture, at least to a limited extent."
"Increased exposure to American popular culture will encourage the development of hybrid forms that have value to local cultures."

North-South

Cultural integration is more likely within and among components of the Global North* than it is within and among the Global South*, thereby deepening the gap between north and south.

*North–South Divide: a the "broadly considered a socio-economic and political divide. Generally, definitions of the Global North include North America, Western Europe and developed parts of East Asia. The Global South is made up of Africa, Latin America, and developing Asia including the Middle East" (Wikipedia).

"OSCEmap 2005". Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

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GlobalMedia: Music, MTV & Global Media: Measuring the Spread of American Music (W4-P4) Sp16

So, if American music contains American values and if said music may cause changes in the cultures of other countries, then just how widespread is American music?

How would you measure how widespread? What evidence would you give?

Ways to Assess the Preeminence of American Music in World Entertainment

"A review of the top-selling albums of all time suggests the dominance of American music, for example. As of November 2011, there were twenty-seven albums that had sold at least fifteen million copies worldwide, and sixteen were the product of undeniably American acts. The Eagles’ Their Greatest Hits is tied with Michael Jackson’s Thriller for the number one selling album of all time, at twenty-nine million sales."
"Similar evidence for American music prominence can be found in considering the individual artists and groups in terms of their certified global record sales. The most successful musical act of all time, for example, is not American: it is The Beatles, with 177 million album sales in their history." However most other top selling artists and groups are American.
"The dominance of American rock, country, and hip-hop is perhaps most evident in the direct linkage of music and television created in 1981 with the formation of the cable network MTV, Music Television. In their endless search for venues... An idea this profitable was sure to spread, and spread it did. Just ten years after its creation, MTV was available in 201 million households in seventy-seven countries ranging from Australia to Brazil to Hong Kong. MTV Europe grew from 3 million households in 1988 to 14 million in 1991 and then 37 million in 1992."

How else would you measure the spread of American music? What evidence would you give?

International Charts (Billboard)

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GlobalMedia: Music, MTV & Global Media: American Culture in Country, Rock and Hip-Hop (W4-P3) Sp16

According to Crothers the first step in understanding the effects that American popular culture artifacts may have on other cultures is to identify the American cultural values in the artifacts.

What is the culture hidden in the popular music genres. Crothers covers three prominent American music genres: country, rock and hip-hop and also identifies the cultural values in the music.

Do you agree with Crothers' analysis?

Country Music

"Country has long prided itself on reflecting the lives of real people, particularly working-class, rural Americans. Country’s topics have chronicled the struggles of the individual as he or she tries to make it in a dead-end job, in a difficult marriage, or even through addiction to drugs or alcohol."

"Additionally, country regularly sings the virtues of hard work, traditional love, the glory of a loving family, and unabashed patriotism. The real America, country seems to say, is the America in which people struggle but take responsibility for their personal fates. Americans fight for their honor and dignity as ends all their own."

Rock Music

"At its heart were energy, excitement, and rebellion. Rock musicians tapped into their fans’ adolescent dreams".

"Rock, after all, expresses rebellion, energy, and individualism—as do teenagers. The causality seemed self-evident: children who were once compliant and sweet."

Hip-Hop Music

"If country celebrated traditional values and patriotism, and rock and roll energized the ambitions of a generation to change the world, hip-hop expressed the anger and frustration of a long-repressed community that had many grievances in what it described as a racist America."

"Hip-hop also reflected a raw form of street sexuality in which suggestive language was common. Other performers offered explicit accounts of their sexual desires and fantasies."

Do you agree with Crothers' analysis? What would you change or add? Support your argument.

So, if we can agree that "hidden" in the music are certain American cultural values, then so what? Why is that important? What's this have to do with the effects thing discussed earlier?

GlobalMedia: Music, MTV & Global Media: Crothers' Key Concepts (W4-P2) Sp16

Crother's Key Concepts

In Crothers' 2012 book, Globalization and American Popular Culture, the author explores the "ways that American movies, music, and television programs shape and are shaped by contemporary globalization."

It is important for Americans to study this topic because "it is through these artifacts (and many others) that the rest of the world sees American values and lifestyles." Or put more poetically: "[W]hat people are likely to see of America and what they are likely to know about America will be filtered through the lens of American popular culture."

So, it is through these artifacts that the world understands American culture. However, this is not the only reason it is important to study this topic.

More importantly, what effect do these American cultural artifacts have on the cultures other countries?

In the book Crothers defines culture as "the root values, ideas, assumptions, behaviors, and attitudes that members of particular communities generally share in an unexamined, automatic way."

"Among the many things that cultures teach their members are normative standards of evaluation—of dress, food, behavior, attitudes, ideas, and many other things."

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Early on in the book Crothers covers some additional key concepts: popular culture, globalization and fragmegration.

Crothers discusses popular culture, but does not give a succinct definition, so we go to another source for our definition here:

pop[ular] culture: "commercial culture based on popular taste: fashion, music, and the iconography of pop culture offered the perfect medium for profit (Oxford Dictionary).

With this given definition, how would you describe American popular culture?
Make special note of music.

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Similarly, for a succinct definition of globablization, we will need to head to an outside source.

globalization: "the process by which businesses or other organizations develop international influence or start operating on an international scale" (Oxford Dictionary).

"A combination of economic, political, and cultural factors promote globalization by
(1) making it possible to create new and increased ties among people, social networks, and ideas that span traditional nation-state boundaries;
(2) linking people in new ways, making it possible for work or travel or shopping or other activities to take place twenty-four hours a day around the world;
(3) advancing the speed of communication and the expectation of instantaneous contact, in effect making global events and issues local ones as well; and
(4) shaping and reshaping individuals’ ideas and identities as they are exposed to this increasingly complex world" (Crothers, 2012).

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Crothers draws on James Rosenau's work.

Rosenau coined the term fragmegration "to describe the integration-fragmentation dynamic that shapes globalization today. Fragmentation and integration occur at the same time, profoundly shaping the dynamics of globalization."

At the same time the process of globalization brings the world together and pushes it apart.
Really? How? Explain.

How does music fit in here?

GlobalMedia: Music, MTV & Global Media: Mr. Worldwide (W4-P1) Sp16

Pitbull - International Love ft. Chris Brown

"I've been to countries and cities I can't pronounce
And the places on the globe I didn't know existed
In Romania, she pulled me to the side and told me
'Pit, you can have me and my sister'

In Lebanon, yeah, the women are bomb
And in Greece, you've guessed it, the women are sweet
Spinned [Been?] all around the world but I ain't gon' lie
There's nothing like Miami's heat"

Just how worldly is Mr. Worldwide? Planet Pit World Tour
Just how international was International Love? The song

How widespread is American music in other countries around the world?
Would you consider Pitbull's music American music?

Tuesday, February 2, 2016

ResearchMethods: SCOT, Tech Determinism and the Media Tech (W4-P4) Sp16

For those of us who are especially interested in media technologies, there are two basic theories worthy of discussion.

Ev Rogers and I once wrote a book chapter which, in part, explained the Social Construction of Technology and Technological Determinism theories. We also tied the two theories together.

The chapter appeared in The Changing Conversation in America edited by Eadie and Nelson.

Ev and I wrote about Social Construction of Technology (SCOT) this way:

We said of Technological Determinism:

At the end of the chapter we included a diagram.

NOTE: There is something missing in the figure. It was included in the paper we submitted, but left out in the printing. What is missing?

What do we mean by "complete picture" (see caption of the diagram)?

Using SCOT and TD to Understand the Historical Development of Technology

How do these theories help us understand how media technologies develop?

How do these theories help us better understand the history of past media technology? Books? Radio? TV? How do they help us understand the stories of Gutenberg, Edison, Woods, De Forest, Armstrong and Farnsworth? For example, how could we use the idea of social construction of technology to explain (or understand) the story of Granville Woods?

How do they help us better understand the development of more recent media technologies (computers, the PC, the Internet, etc.)? How do they help us understand the stories of Bill Gates and Steve Jobs? Mark Zuckerberg?

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