MyFavMusic: Just listened to the "Ohio" by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young on the "So Far" album. Added to my "FOLK FAVS - 1000 Recordings" playlist on Spotify

Fav track from album: Ohio
By Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
From the album So Far

Added to FOLK FAVS - 1000 Recordings playlist by William Hart on December 31, 2018 at 08:54PM

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MyFavMusic: Just listened to the "Teach Your Children" by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young on the "Deja Vu" album. Added to my "FOLK FAVS - 1000 Recordings" playlist on Spotify

Fav track from album: Teach Your Children
By Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
From the album Deja Vu

Added to FOLK FAVS - 1000 Recordings playlist by William Hart on December 31, 2018 at 08:48PM

See info on 1000 Recordings

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MyFavMusic: Just listened to the "The Weight" by The Band on the "Best Of The Band" album. Added to my "FOLK FAVS - 1000 Recordings" playlist on Spotify

Fav track from album: The Weight
By The Band
From the album Best Of The Band

Added to FOLK FAVS - 1000 Recordings playlist by William Hart on December 26, 2018 at 09:34PM

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MyFavMusic: Just listened to the "For What It's Worth" by Buffalo Springfield on the "Buffalo Springfield" album. Added to my "FOLK FAVS - 1000 Recordings" playlist on Spotify

Fav track from album: For What It’s Worth
By Buffalo Springfield
From the album Buffalo Springfield

Added to FOLK FAVS - 1000 Recordings playlist by William Hart on December 20, 2018 at 07:07PM

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MyFavMusic: Just listened to the "Talkin' Bout A Revolution - 2015 Remastered" by Tracy Chapman on the "Greatest Hits" album. Added to my "FOLK FAVS - 1000 Recordings" playlist on Spotify

Fav track from album: Talkin’ Bout A Revolution - 2015 Remastered
By Tracy Chapman
From the album Greatest Hits

Added to FOLK FAVS - 1000 Recordings playlist by William Hart on November 29, 2018 at 10:33PM

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"I Will Rise Up | Doctor Who | Series 11 Episode 3" (My New Liked Vid on YouTube) [VID]

I Will Rise Up | Doctor Who | Series 11 Episode 3

"A powerful moment from Doctor Who highlighting the story of Rosa Parks being arrested. Clip taken from Doctor Who Series 11 Episode 3 ‘Rosa’ All rights to BBC & BBC Studios First Broadcast: 21st October 2018"
Via YouTube https://youtu.be/dUn7mU7OUqU
Liked on November 23, 2018 at 07:07PM

MediaTheory: 4 Songs for Rhetorical Analysis (W14-P5) [VID] Fa18

What would a rhetorical analysis look like for the following songs?
Notice how they are paired together.


Nina Simone - Mississippi Goddamn. Live Version (lyrics)



Steve Earle -- "Mississippi, It's Time"



Bruce Springsteen - Born in the U.S.A. (lyrics)



Rihanna - American Oxygen (lyrics)





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MediaTheory: Ideological Criticism: How to Do Ideological Criticism (W14-P4) Fa18

How to Do Ideological Criticism (according to Foss)

“The primary goal of the ideological critic is to discover and make visible the dominant ideology or ideologies embedded in an artifact and ideologies that are being muted in it” (Foss, p. 295-296).

• Step 1: Formulate RQs
• What is the ideology embodied in this artifact?
• What are the implication of this ideology?
• What are the alternative ideologies not expressed?
• Are there aspects of the artifact that support emancipation? Etc.
• Step 2: Select Unit of Analysis
• What specific aspect(s) of the artifact/text will you focus on?
• Step 3: Analyzing the Artifact
• Identification of Nature of Ideology
• What does the artifact ask the audience to believe, understand, feel or think about?
• What are the arguments made in the artifact?
• What is seen as good or valued?
• What ideologies are hidden?
• Identification of Interests Included
• What is the power structure and what groups are supported?
• Identification of Strategies in Support of Ideology
• How does the rhetoric legitimize the ideology and interests of some groups over others?
• How exactly is the dominant ideology supported?
• How exactly are alternative ideologies hidden?

Source: Rhetorical Criticism: Exploration and Practice

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MediaTheory: Ideological Criticism: Basic Concepts (W14-P3) Fa18

We all, more than likely, watch a lot of film and TV.  How much do we carefully think about what we watch?  What are ways of analyzing, critiquing and better understanding these texts? One means of analyzing a film or TV program is to do an ideological critique of it.

What is ideological criticism? How do you do an ideological critique of a film or television series?


Ideological Criticism:

For our purposes here, ideological criticism is a particular type of rhetorical criticism.

Previously, we've gotten an idea of what rhetorical criticism is.  So, what is ideological criticism?  What is an ideology?

Ideology:

• “A system of shared meaning that represents the world for us; it gives us a common picture of reality” (p. 296).
• “A pattern or set of ideas, assumptions, beliefs, values, or interpretations of the world by which a culture or group operates” (Foss, p. 291).

An ideology is a characteristic of a group.  Groups have ideologies that individuals in those groups follow.  In a diverse society with many different groups, it is typically the ideology of the dominant group that is promoted in that society.

So, an ideology shapes the way we see the world, what we pay attention to and what we do not.

What purpose does an ideology serve?  Where does an ideology come from?

And now to some related terms.

1. Hegemony:

• “the process by which a social order remains stable by generating consent to its parameters through the production and distribution of ideological texts that define social reality for the majority of the people.” (from Rybacki & Rybacki, Oprah article)

What are these ideological texts?  Books, newspapers, websites, political speeches, movies, etc.

So, these media texts develop in us an ideological perspective?  They tell us how we should think?  How we should view the world?

2. False consciousness:

• “a failure to recognize the instruments of one's oppression or exploitation as one's own creation, as when members of an oppressed class unwittingly adopt views of the oppressor class” (American Heritage Dictionary).

So, there are somethings that we may not be aware of, we don't see?
So, we can live in a dominant ideology and be blind to other ways of seeing?


With these above concepts in mind, let's look at ideological criticism. Ideological criticism is a means of bringing often overlooked ideologies out into the light for all to see.

The Basic Argument of Ideological Criticism

1. “When an ideology becomes hegemonic in a culture, certain interests or groups are served by it more than others – it represents the perspective of some groups more than others” (Foss, p. 294).
2. “When an ideology becomes hegemonic through a process of accord and consent, it accumulates ‘the symbolic power to map or classify the world for others…’ It invites ‘us to understand the world in certain ways, but not in others’” (Foss, p. 295).
3. “To maintain a position of dominance, a hegemonic ideology must be constructed, renewed, reinforced, and defended continually through the use of rhetorical strategies and practices” (Foss, p. 295).

How is the hegemonic ideology maintained? Who? With what?  Those of us in the media, are we responsible?

What film or television series would you do an ideological critique of and why?

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MediaTheory: Rhetorical Criticism, "Ohio" & Kent State (W14-P2) [VID] Fa18

Quantitative research papers which use methods like experiments, surveys, and content analysis typically follow a certain format.

Quantitative research paper outline:

1. Introduction 
2. Review of literature
3. Research question(s)/hypothesis
4. Methods 
5. Results
6. Discussion 
7. References

Rhetorical criticism papers usually take a different approach.

Writing the Rhetorical Criticism Essay (based on S.K. Foss)

• Introduction
• Identify artifact (or text to be studied), RQ, Contribution to Theory, Hint of Justification (why is it important to study?)
• Description of the Artifact
• Text, Context & Justification
• Description of the Unit of Analysis
• What specifically about the text is being studied?
• Determined by method
• Report of the Findings of the Analysis
• Bulk of the essay
• Organization determined by method
• Contributing to Answering the Research Question
• Answer RQ, implications of research results, significance of research results
• References

In the introduction the author identifies the artifact or text being studied (e.g., a TV commercial) and indicates research questions (RQs) they want to answer (e.g., what words or phrases are used and what role do they play in persuading?).  The author would also indicate how their study adds to previously developed theory and also give some indication of why their study is important.

In the description of the artifact (or text), the author would describe the details about the text (who, what, where, when, etc.).  There is no analysis yet, just the facts about the text. The author would also provide some context for the text.  For example, if an author were analyzing a protest song of the 1960s, the author would want to provide description of what was happening in U.S. society at the time (Vietnam War, assassinations, civil rights, etc.).  The author would elaborate more on why their research, their paper is important.  That is, give justification for why their work should be read.


Lyrics for "Ohio".  If you are interested in some context, see Kent State shootings article.

In the description of the unit of analysis, the author indicates what specific aspect of the text will be studied.  For example, a researcher studying a presidential debate may just focus on the nonverbal aspects of the debate.

The author then spends most of the essay going through their analysis detail by detail from the beginning of the text to the end.

After a detailed analysis, the author closes by offering an answer to the initial research question(s), talks about  what their findings mean for future research and stresses the importance of their research.



If you did some rhetorical criticism on a song or a set of songs that you especially like, what would they be and what do you think you'd find?

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MediaTheory: Research Method: Textual Analysis (W14-P1) Fa18

To answer research questions (RQs) researchers use research methods.

The four main research methods, at least in the social sciences, are experiments, surveys, ethnographies and textual analyses.

A researcher who does textual analysis is a researcher who studies a particular text or set of texts.  A text is a communication artifact. A text could be written, visual, electronic, etc.  Examples of a text are an email, a news broadcast, a film, a recorded conversation, an advertisement, a speech, an editorial cartoon or a song.

There are two main types of textual analysis.  One is more quantitative and the other is more qualitative research.

Content analysis is "a form of textual analysis used to identify, enumerate, and analyze occurrences of specific messages and message characteristics embedded in relevant texts" (Frey, et al.)

An example of content analysis would be a researcher who studies post 9/11 editorial cartoons to determine how the enemy is portrayed in the cartoons by categorizing and counting up the occurrences of certain types of portrayals.

Rhetorical criticism, on the other hand, is more qualitative.

Rhetorical criticism: "research involving the description, analysis, interpretation, and evaluation of persuasive uses of communication" (Frey, et al)

Notice how rhetorical criticism focuses on persuasive texts, texts that potentially influence an audience.

There is a long history to rhetorical criticism from ancient times to modern times.

A person doing rhetorical criticism may study, for example, campaign speeches or advertisements to analyze how the text attempted to persuade and how effective it was in persuading.



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MyFavMusic: Just listened to the "John Henry" by Taj Mahal on the "The Essential Taj Mahal" album. Added to my "FOLK FAVS - 1000 Recordings" playlist on Spotify

Fav track from album: John Henry
By Taj Mahal
From the album The Essential Taj Mahal

Added to FOLK FAVS - 1000 Recordings playlist by William Hart on November 17, 2018 at 10:09AM

See info on 1000 Recordings

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MyFavMusic: Just listened to the "Follow The Drinking Gourd" by Taj Mahal, Linda Tillery, The Cultural Heritage Choir, Eric Bibb on the "Shakin' A Tailfeather" album. Added to my "FOLK FAVS - 1000 Recordings" playlist on Spotify

Fav track from album: Follow The Drinking Gourd
By Taj Mahal, Linda Tillery, The Cultural Heritage Choir, Eric Bibb
From the album Shakin’ A Tailfeather

Added to FOLK FAVS - 1000 Recordings playlist by William Hart on November 17, 2018 at 10:05AM

See info on 1000 Recordings

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MyFavMusic: Just listened to the "Follow The Drinking Gourd" by The Weavers on the "The Weavers At Carnegie Hall" album. Added to my "FOLK FAVS - 1000 Recordings" playlist on Spotify

Fav track from album: Follow The Drinking Gourd
By The Weavers
From the album The Weavers At Carnegie Hall

Added to FOLK FAVS - 1000 Recordings playlist by William Hart on November 17, 2018 at 09:59AM

See info on 1000 Recordings

Listen on Spotify

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MediaTheory: Research Ethics: Tuskegee, Lacks, Milgram & Zimbardo (W13-P6) Fa18

Research ethics are the moral principles and rules that guide a researcher’s actions.

Why talk about research ethics?  What is the need?

To answer that question, let's look at some important research studies from the past.
When watching these clips ask yourself what ethical concerns are raised in doing this research.

1) Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment




2) The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks




3 & 4) Milgram's Authority Study & The Stanford Prison Experiment
(Watch from 0:00 to about 6:30)



What are the ethical concerns with the research that Milgram and Zimbardo did? Would you feel comfortable doing this research? Would such research be allowed today?

O.K., now that you have some knowledge of these past experiments do you have an answer to the questions asked earlier?  Why talk about research ethics?  What is the need?


If you are curious, there are some recent films and documentaries about some of these above examples of research misconduct.

• The Stanford Prison Experiment - a trailer on YouTube | on Netflix
• Experimenter - about the Milgram experiments | a trailer on YouTube  | on Netflix
• The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks - a trailer on Youtube  | on Google Play
• The Deadly Deception - about the Tuskegee experiments  | full doc on YouTube

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MediaTheory: Ethics, Research Ethics & the IRB (W13-P5) Fa18

Ethics: "the rules or standards for proper behavior in any given situation" (Stewart, Principles of Research in Communication).

Who?  How?


Research ethics then could be defined as the rules or standards for proper behavior when conducting research.

Who?  How?

What is the role of university research review boards?  How's this fit in with research ethics?

Human Subjects Review Board (or Institutional Review Boards):
“It is university policy that all projects involving risk to human subjects must be approved by the University Review Board for the Protection of Human Subjects for Funded Research. Approval is based on established university, state and sponsoring agency guidelines for the protection of the rights and welfare of subjects at risk”

Why have IRBs?

What are some of the regulations regarding research and IRBs?

• Federal Regulations, 
• State of Virginia Regulations
• Human Research: Definitions 
• Informed consent
• Exemptions

So, getting IRB approval would be a time-consuming task for researchers, yes?

Should researchers have more IRB discretion?

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MediaTheory: Library Research: Finding Books & Journals (W13-P4) Fa18

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?

• Worldcat
• Google Books / Amazon 
• Google Scholar

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MediaTheory: Theories & RQs or Where Do RQs Come From? (W13-P3) Fa18

Note: Do the lecture notes below look familiar?

How does our discussion of theory and research question relate? How do RQs fit in the theory building process?

Theories are built. Theory building is a process. It starts with observation and, in a way, ends with observation.  See below.

Related terms:

Deduction: “inference in which the conclusion about particulars follows necessarily from general or universal premises“ (Merriam-Webster).

Source: Research Methods Database

Induction: “inference of a generalized conclusion from particular instances“ (Merriam-Webster).

Source: Research Methods Database

So, based on the above, where does research fit into the theory building process?  Are they the same thing?  What do the definitions tell us?

Now let’s try to develop some theory.

A more complete picture of the theory building process.

So, based on the above, where does research fit into the theory building process?  Are they the same thing?

How does our discussion of theory and research question relate? How do RQs fit in the theory building process?




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MediaTheory: RQs & H's: IVs, DVs, CVs & RQs (W13-P2) Fa18

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 an 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?

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MediaTheory: RQs & H's: Research Questions & Hypotheses (W13-P1) Fa18

How do you do research?  It all starts with the RQ, the research question.


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?

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