programming of radio

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commercial vs non commercial radio

Although it might not be obvious to the casual listener, not all radio stations are created equal. There are two distinct kinds of radio stations: commercial radio and non-commercial radio. The differences between these two types of stations come down more than just formatting.

Commercial Radio: Ratings Are #1


Commercial radio derives its operating budget from selling advertising. Since they attract those advertising dollars based on ratings, commercial radio stations need consistently large numbers of listeners. These ratings are used by the station to demonstrate to potential advertisers that buying a commercial spot on the station will reach a significant number of people and is a worthwhile investment. These numbers are also used to price advertising. The more listeners a station has, the more it can charge for ad spots and the more money it will have in its operating budget.

Non-Commercial Radio: Fewer Ads, More Variety


Non-commercial radio, also called non-comm for short, includes college radio and community-based radio stations, including local National Public Radio (NPR) affiliates. Though these stations may carry advertising, it is widely spaced and not the main source of station funding. Most non-commercial stations rely either on subsidies from a nonprofit such as a university or listener contributions for their income.

How Commercial Radio Stations Choose Their Music Playlists


Commercial stations don't have the same kind of freedom in what they play as non-commercial radio. They want to play music by musicians who are playing shows in that station's market and have national name recognition. In fact, they need to play music that fits these criteria to get the ratings they need.



The commercial radio approach usually boils down to shying away from playing new artists unless they are backed with a big budget promotional campaign. To help them make decisions about which songs to play, stations work with labels and promoters to get a better idea of how a song/artist is going to be marketed. They want to know things like:


Will the song be available to purchase both digitally and in local stores?
Will there be national and local reviews for the song/album?
Will the artist be playing locally? Will they be available to the station for interviews/on-air performances?
Will there be local advertising?
Will the song be involved in any national media campaigns, films, television shows or other media?



The more the exposure to the song, the more the station will be convinced that playing it will increase their ratings since it will be familiar to their listeners.



For these reasons, commercial radio stations are not usually the first entry into the world of radio musicians. Many up-and-coming musicians don't have the budget or the reach to meet the demands of commercial radio stations.

What This Means for Promotion Campaigns


As someone promoting to radio, the distinction between commercial radio and non-commercial radio comes down to much more than a barrage of ads between song plays. From a promotion standpoint, you have to approach these stations in different ways, and usually at different stages in your career.



Non-commercial radio tends to have a lot more flexibility in their playlists. You're more likely to hear music from up-and-coming and non-mainstream artists on non-commercial radio.



They're able to be flexible because the non-commercial model doesn't rely on advertising dollars, and isn't dependent on ratings. Commercial radio stations need to show good ratings to convince advertisers to spend money.





By playing new or non-traditional artists, non-commercial stations are usually giving their audiences exactly what they want. It's a self-reinforcing cycle that works in favor of indie music.



Non-commercial radio stations may also focus on niche genres of music. It is especially true of community radio stations, which may, for instance, only play jazz or folk music.





In addition to playlist flexibility, non-commercial radio is a great entry point for many musicians because there is less competition. Major labels tend to ignore non-commercial stations, which means radio promoters have an easier time getting the radio staff to check out new promos.

The term non-commercial educational (NCE) applies to a radio station or TV station that does not accept on-air advertisements (TV ads or radio ads), as defined in the United States by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC

Radio Glossary

Radio Glossary




voice/voicer : the person who records his /her voice on mic in actuality

:someone who expresses in language; someone who talks (especially someone who delivers a public speech, one that voice

:actuality. recorded segment of a newsmaker speaking, generally lasting from 10 to 20 seconds; this is what people outside of radio journalism often call a "sound bite"
Radio actualities, also known as newsmaker sound bites, are a mainstay of radiobroadcast journalism. Strauss Media Strategies, Inc. can record and distribute audioactualities to targeted radio stations to fit the needs of just about any radiooutreach campaign

commentator:A commentator is a broadcaster who gives a radio or television commentary on an event.

ambiance : ambience (also known as atmosphere, atmos, or background) consists of the sounds of a given location or space. It is the opposite of "silence."

ambient sound:Ambient sound (AKA ambient audio, ambience, atmosphere, atmos orbackground noise) means the background sounds which are present in a scene or location. Common ambient sounds include wind, water, birds, crowds, office noises, traffic, etc. Ambient sound is very important in video and film work.

NAT sounds:Natural Sound (Nat Sound, Nat S-O-T) or Ambient Sound. ... These sounds are most often used to set the mood or provide atmosphere for a specific news report. Nielsen. This is an audience measurement system used to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States

SFX:an abbreviation for special effects , is a software product that makes it easy to create certain kinds of hypertext links within a collection of information such as the description of a library collection.

Instrumental: A musical instrument that makes sounds. Once humans moved from making sounds with their bodies—




BG music:Background (or BG) sound effects are sounds that do not explicitly synchronize with the picture, but indicate setting to the audience, such as forest sounds, the buzzing of fluorescent lights, and car interiors.




signature tune:. a short tune played at the beginning and end of a particular television or radio programme, or one that is connected with a particular performer.




loop:sequence of music that are continuously repeated or music loop contains sounds that are continuously

repeated in particular play or broadcast




sync: Sync, short for "synchronize," is a verb for making things work together. When you lip-sync, you are moving your mouth to exactly match someone else's words spoken or sung at precisely the same time. ... The word now means any type of such matching up,


render:when we mix different sounds to create a project like voice background and loop
SOT: sound on tape
SOTsoundsound on tape soundbiteA small portion (usually one or two sentences) of an audio recording (often an interview) used to illustrate a news story in the words of the interviewee (c.f. a quotation from a politician).sometimes voice of dead person included in any feature program in order to refer something
archieve:a collection of historical documents or records providing information about a place, institution, or group of people.any stored content
slug: saving data pm hard disk and duration should mention giving such information on archive it would be termed as slug
courtesy title :mentioning the source where you retrive the data from, would termed as courtesy title

ATR": Audio tape recorder: A method of recording sound by electromagnetic pulses on a sensitised plastic strip
VTR:A method of recording television pictures by electromagnetic pulses on a sensitised plastic strip.
cross fade:

The technique where a DJ, producer or engineer fades out the out going track at the same time as fading in the new track.




moderator:moderator is a person whose role is to act as a neutral participant in a debate or discussion, holds participants to time limits and tries to keep them from straying off the topic of the questions being raised in the debate.
narrator: the one who read script




Omnidirectional microphones are directional mics that pick up sounds from all directions. When you either don’t want highly-focused sound captured, or are trying to record audio in an unpredictable setting, these are a great option. For example, most lavalier microphones (often called “lav mics”) are omnidirectional which, when clipped to your talent’s lapel, allows you to capture what they’re saying even when they turn their head and their mouth isn’t pointed at the mic.


Unidirectional Microphones are microphones that only pick up sound with high gain from a specific side or direction of the microphone. Thus, if a user is speaking into a unidirectional microphone, he must speak into correct side, normally called the voice side, of the microphone in order to get good gain on the recording. This is in contrast to omnidirectional microphones, which pick up sound equally from all directions of the microphone




Bidirectional microphones (also called figure-of-eight microphones) are microphones that pick up sound well, or with high sensitivity, from the front and back but poorly, or with low sensitivity, from the sides.

The above illustration shows a bidirectional microphone sound pick-up pattern. This pattern shows that a bidirectional microphone picks up lobes of sound of equal sensitivity on opposite sides of the diaphragm (front and back) and steep nulls at right-angles to the diaphragm (the sides).

Bidirectional microphones are used in applications where sound is recorded from the front of the micrphone and back of the microphone, but not the sides. An example of this is a Q&A lecture or presentation, where a professor gives a lecture to an audience and accepts questions from them. A microphone needs to pick up the speech of professor from the front and the questions asked from the back in the audience. This is a practical example of where bidirectional microphones are needed.

on air studio: for live broadcast

off air studio:for planning other programs

Persuasion Theory

Persuasion Theory is a mass communication theory that deals with messages aimed at subtly changing the attitudes of receivers.

The concept of Persuasion has been developed between the 1940s and 1950s after studies aimed at defining the optimal persuasive effectiveness of Propaganda, being it political or an advertising campaign. Like the Hypodermic Needle Theory, it considered audiences passive although the scope of a campaign switched from manipulation into persuasion. Researches on Limited Effects of mass communication demonstrated that messages are successful only if they embed the same opinions of their receivers. Therefore, the focus of any campaign has to be on individual psychological factors.

Unlike the Hypodermic Needle Theory, Persuasion Theory considers the Stimulus-Response model as interposed by a filter: individual’s specificities, i.e. psychological characteristics of an individual. In this perspective, persuasive messages are thus able to activate an attitude change that can modify behaviors of consumers, voters and individuals in general.

According to Persuasion Theory, the communication process consists of a three phase model: Communication-Attitudes-Behavior. See also the communication process of: Limited Effects Theory and the Two-Step Flow Model. Unlike the Play Theory of Mass Communication, the concept underlying persuasion is that information is provided to influence receivers’ behaviors. Once they had developed the concept of persuasion, researchers on Persuasion Theory focused on the audiencesand the content of messages.

AUDIENCES IN PERSUASION THEORY

4 psychological factors of audiences have been identified:

1. An audience is interested in getting information. To reach a bigger audience (including those who seem to be not interested in certain information at that moment) the message has to be designed to capture people’s attention.
2. Selective exposure. People are more interested in a message if it supports the same opinions and ideas that they already have.
3. Selective perception. Audiences select information that is right for them, and a message can be voluntarily misunderstood or simply not caught if audiences haven’t chosen to receive that piece of information. A receiver perceives opinions embedded in a message according to variable assimilation effects depending upon:
   • Lack of big difference between the opinion delivered by a message and the receiver’s one.
   • Level of involvement of a receiver in the communication process.
   • A receiver’s attitude towards the message producer. See also: Balance Theory, Congruity Theory, Cognitive Dissonance, Social Judgment Theory.
4. Selective memorization. Opinions transmitted by a message will be better memorized if they are coherent with those of receivers’. There is also a link between the message length and its memorization in a receiver's mind: the longer a message is, the more effective the persuasion on the receiver will be. This statement, in media literature, is supported by 2 thesis: A) Bartlett’s Effect: a longer message requires more time for a receiver to research and select opinions coherent with his mindset. B) Latent Effect: as time goes by from the reception of a message, receivers tend to forget the source and remember only the content of the message. Latent effect is exploited in case of communicators with low credibility. Compare with: Sleeper Effect.

MESSAGES IN PERSUASION THEORY

Regarding the message, Persuasion Theory identified 4 factors that facilitate and reinforce the persuasion process:

1. The credibility and reputation of the communicator. It implies the acceptance of the message by a receiver: the level of persuasion is low if the producer of the message is considered not credible or reliable.
2. The order of statements. In this respect there are two different schools of thought: some consider it more effective to put opinions supporting a defined position at the beginning of the message transmitted (primacy effect); others sustain the opposite (regency effect).
3. Completeness of statements. If receivers are not in favor of a certain opinion, the persuasion increases when a message contains both supporting and contrasting statements regarding the opinion. If receivers agree on a certain opinion or are not knowledgeable or educated, it is better a message includes only pros of the opinion supported. In any case, it has negative effect in terms of persuasion if any relevant topic about an opinion is omitted in the content of the message.
4. Announcement of conclusions. If a receiver is interested in a message it is better not to barely state the conclusions of the message, but to leave them implicit.

PERSUASION FORMULA

Following a rational approach to persuasion a scientific formula has been identified. Values, Beliefs and Motivation are key generators of people’s attitudes; while attitudes influence behaviors.

Value + Beliefs + Motives = Attitudes è Behavior

APPLICATION OF PERSUASION THEORY

Persuasion Theory can be applied in:

1. Politics: to promote certain candidates, persuade voters to switch their preference, convince masses about needed changes or about the validity of certain political commitment for society.
2. Business: in advertising, to position products or services in consumers’ mind, to persuade prospects to switch supplier, to create a need for new products, to sustain sales of cash cows businesses, to change organizational culture, to support or implement a change project.
3. Conflicts and negotiations.

STEPS IN PERSUASION THEORY. PROCESS

1. The first phase of the application of Persuasion Theory requires an audience analysis to determine beliefs, values, motives and attitudes on a selected topic. It is common in this phase to make use of surveys, interviews, or applied knowledge of the audience.
2. The second phase requires the communicator or the message (if that is the purpose of the communication) to change an attitude. There are possible two ways: 1) Try to change a belief. 2) Modify values or motives that drive an audience to mature a belief. This is much more difficult then changing a belief as values and motives play a key role in a individual's identity. What can be more easily done is the attempt to add a new value or motive.

PURPOSES OF PERSUASION

It has been proven that persuasion works well only if its purposes are realistic, taking into account an audience values, beliefs, motives and attitudes. Persuasion can be effective to achieve the following 5 main purposes.

1. Creating Uncertainty. In case a communicator is faced with an audience who is strongly opposed to her view, the most viable way is to destroy some certainties in the audience mind. This scenario is typical of audience with closed mentality. What is achievable in such situation is a decrease of comfort with a defined audience attitude.
2. Reducing Resistance. When an audience opposition to the communicator’s view is moderate it is possible to move an audience from a negative position to a neutral one. This is often achieved by asking only to accept the validity of the communicator’s opinion, even if audience doesn’t endorse it.
3. Change Attitude. If a communicator is faced with a neutral and open-minded audience, not strongly committed to any attitude, this goal is accomplishable.
4. Amplify Attitude. This applies in situations where an audience is already moderately favorable to the persuader's view. It would be adequate to design a message aimed at reinforcing the validity of an opinion to sustain the current attitude and prevent competitor persuaders to influence an audience already conquered.
5. Gain Behavior. In the presence of an audience strongly favorable to a persuader's position, the goal is to get those people to take actions in line with the shared attitude. Typical examples are brainwash to militaries and sales people: even though they already are convinced on an attitude, it is needed to reinforce their commitment in order to make them act. It is can be expected from such audiences that they will persuade less convinced or weaker individuals via word-of-mouth.

STRENGTHS OF PERSUASION THEORY. BENEFITS

The main advantage of Persuasion Theory is that it offers cost-effective approaches for various uses. It can help in many different kind of situations: from resolution of conflicts to solve organizational, advertising, sales and marketing issues, but can also help in interpersonal relationships.

LIMITATIONS OF PERSUASION THEORY. DISADVANTAGES

An authoritative source of limitations of Persuasion Theory is a book "Power and Persuasion: Ideology and Rhetoric in Communist Yugoslavia: 1944-1953" from Carol S. Lilly. The author analyzed the most frequently used Persuasive Techniques to sustain a long-term cultural transformation of society. Lilly’s conclusions are: 1) Persuasion is most effective when a communicator builds on existing values and beliefs. The attempt to change people's values or create new ones has proven to be highly ineffective. It is often impossible to radically transform an existing culture. 2) Since persuasion is predominantly utilized in newspapers, radio, television, education and arts, those who don’t enjoy these tools are less likely to be persuaded.

Media hegemony

a-quick-understanding-of-hegemony

The definition of hegemony is leadership or dominance of one group over another. An example of hegemony is the student government leadership in a school.

Media Hegemony. ... Based on the definition of hegemony, media hegemony means the dominance of a certain aspects of life and thoughts by penetrating dominant culture and values in social life. In other words, media hegemony served as a crucial shaper of culture, values and ideology of society (Altheide, 1984).





REPRESENTATION : Hegemony




Hegemony is a representational strategy of power; a way of using representations to control other people. In many ways hegemony is the central concept of media studies. This idea is crucial to the key concepts of representation, ideology, narrative, institutions and audience so it is essential that we develop a detailed understanding of the idea.
Let us start with a definition:
Hegemony is a representational strategy of social power that aims to ensure the continued tacit or active support of the majority of the people for the rule of the minority (even though the rule of that minority – the elite – is not in the interests of the majority). This is achieved by representing all groups bar the elite as unfit or unsuitable to hold and wield legitimate power and by representing the elite as the only group capable of ensuring social peace, prosperity, justice, etc.
For example:
The ‘fearful outsider’ is the most commonly encountered representation used by the elite to control the majority and ensure that the majority continue to tacitly support the rule of the elite. Anyone or any group who can be depicted as ‘not one of us’ or ‘outside the boundaries of normal society’ (i.e. as other) is being represented as fearful so that the majority of the population will turn to the elite (who hold and wield all the power in society) for protection. Consider; ‘hoodies’, paedophiles, criminals, ‘chavs’, foreigners, immigrants, every front page of the Daily Mail, indeed any moral panic is a hegemonic success because the elite will be turned to by the people to save them from the source of the panic (see the list above).
More technically we can say that:
Hegemony is the manufacture consent through the manipulation of the common sense.




Hegemony is a way to describe people or ideas that become—and seek to remain—dominant in society. The development of the term “hegemony” in media studies follows the work of Antonio Gramsci (1971) and Stuart Hall (1973/1980, 1982, 1996), and generally refers to “soft” rather than “hard” power. Gramsci and Hall were concerned with the way in which certain groups and ideologies maintain their power in democratic societies. They were interested in dominance achieved by consent rather than by force, maintained by ideology rather than repression. In this context, hegemony’s tools are words, images, rituals, and practices rather than weapons, courts, and prisons. Indeed, Hall’s interest in the media stems from his view that, in modern democracies, media and cultural forms are central to the maintenance—or disruption—of hegemony.

FORMATION OF PUBLIC OPINION

History and Orientation

Neumann (1974) introduced the “spiral of silence” as an attempt to explain in part how public opinion is formed. She wondered why the Germans supported wrong political positions that led to national defeat, humiliation and ruin in the 1930s-1940s.

In an 1974 research article, Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann presented a groundbreaking political science and mass communication theory called ‘Spiral of Silence’ (SoS). SoS is a process when an individual finds his views less popular, in contradiction with the majority, and may lead to ‘isolation’, then (consequently) s/he chooses not to express his/her views. Neumann defines ‘the tendency of the one to speak up and the other to be silent starts off a spiralling process which increasingly establishes one’s opinion as the prevailing one.’ As a result, minority opinion may lead to ‘fear of isolation’, which (may) eventually result into self-censorship
for detailed version visit the following link

.effects-of-the-spiral-of-silence-in-digital-media

Core Assumptions and Statements

The phrase "spiral of silence" actually refers to how people tend to remain silent when they feel that their views are in the minority. The model is based on three premises: 1) people have a "quasi-statistical organ," a sixth-sense if you will, which allows them to know the prevailing public opinion, even without access to polls, 2) people have a fear of isolation and know what behaviors will increase their likelihood of being socially isolated, and 3) people are reticent to express their minority views, primarily out of fear of being isolated.

The closer a person believes the opinion held is similar to the prevailing public opinion, the more they are willing to openly disclose that opinion in public. Then, if public sentiment changes, the person will recognize that the opinion is less in favor and will be less willing to express that opinion publicly. As the perceived distance between public opinion and a person's personal opinion grows, the more unlikely the person is to express their opinion.

Conceptual Model

Source: Noelle-Neumann (1991).

Favorite Methods

To be added.

Scope and Application

It is related to the mass media, in such a way that mass media influences public opinion. Shifts in public opinion occur commonly and therefore this theory is used to search an explanation for behavior (speak up or stay silent).

The theory has also been criticized for ambiguity and methodological weakness, but the idea has persisted. Evidence of the spiral effect is usually small but significant.

Example

This example shows an effect of the theory where during the 1991 Gulf War the U.S. support for the war was measured. Either it is a consensus view or did media coverage contribute to a spiral of silence that dampened opposition to the war? In a survey that asked about people’s opinions, respondents were clearly less supportive of the war than the popular support depicted by the media. Those who watched television and perceived that the public supported the war, were more likely tot support the war themselves. This study supports the spiral of silence and suggests that people are swayed by bandwagon effects rather than fearing social isolation.

Spiral of Silence

Originally proposed by German political scientist Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann in 1974, Spiral of silence is the term meant to refer to the tendence of people to remain silent when they feel that their views are in opposition to the majority view on a subject. The theory posits that they remain silent for a few reasons:

1. Fear of isolation when the group or public realizes that the individual has a divergent opinion from the status quo.
2. Fear of reprisal or more extreme isolation, in the sense that voicing said opinion might lead to a negative consequence beyond that of mere isolation (loss of a job, status, etc.)

For this theory to be plausible it relies on the idea that in a given situation we all possess a sort of intuitive way of knowing what the prevailing opinion happens to be. The spiral is created or reinforced when someone in the perceived opinion majority speaks out confidently in support of the majority opinion, hence the minority begins to be more and more distanced from a place where they are comfortable to voice their opinion and begin to experience the aforementioned fears.

The spiral effect is experienced insomuch as this activates a downward spiral where fears continually build within the minority opinion holder, hence the minority opinion is never voiced. Since it’s appearing on this blog you could assume that the theory posits that the mass media has a effect on this process, if you’re assuming that… you’re right on. The media plays an important role in this process, especially in dictating or perceptually dictating the majority opinion.

The closer an individual feels their opinion resides to the held majority opinion the more likely they are to be willing to voice it in public discourse. A few other important tenets to mention: this theory relies heavily on the idea that the opinion must have a distinct moral component (i.e. abortion, legalization of _______ ), no one will experience the spiral of silence trying to talk out what toppings to get on their pizza with roommates.

The theory has some weaknesses or at least points of contention, two of the most notable are those of the vocal minority and the internet. The internet (a.k.a. interwebs, series of tubes – thanks, Al) seemingly levels the playing field, where a minority opinion won’t be felt by the individual as a minority opinion and might be voiced in that arena whereas the individual would have not been so vocal in another place of public discourse. Second, the vocal minority – you know these people, they may be the only one who thinks that cats need to right to vote, but they won’t shut up about it and are seemingly outside of the effects of the Spiral of Silence.

There you have it… Spiral of Silence. Don’t spend it all in one place.

cultivation theory

The cultivation theory was proposed by George Gerbner.

 It is one of the core theories of media effects. According to the theory, people who watch television frequently are more likely to be influenced by the messages from the world of television. The influence goes to such an extent that their world view and perceptions start reflecting what they repeatedly see and hear on television. Television is,therefore, considered to contribute independently to the way people perceive social reality.

Hypothesis

The theory postulates that watching television frequently influences an individual to develop certain ideas of reality or beliefs and assumptions about life that mirror the most consistent or universal values that are showcased on television. The more a person watches television, the more likely he is to be influenced by what he watches when compared to others who watch less but share other similar demographic characteristics.

Cultivation Theory

The theory argues that the media generally presents an image of the world that does not reflect reality. Television images are an exaggeration or fantasy of what actually exists. There is a disproportionate number of handsome gentlemen,beautiful women, crime, wealth and violence. As a result, people end up perceiving the real world in a distorted manner and viewing actuality through a ‘television perspective.’

Television offers a plethora of ideas and conceptions on a variety of social and cultural dynamics like race, gender, sexuality, etc. Over a period of time, a fixed image of various groups of people is formed and viewers start to absorb these ideas which they then use as a map to navigate through life. This constant exposure to the media content cultivates specific values, beliefs, attitudes and desires in people. These newly preconceived notions shape their perception of the world and they ultimately influence how others perceive them. People, therefore, end up unconsciously shaping their thought processes and behaviour based on what they consume. In today’s world, people are increasingly starting to depend on television more than any other medium to understand the intricate web of the norms, values and mindset of the society in which they live.

Cultivation theory research views television as a system of messages and tries to understand its function and consequences on an audience. These messages complement one another and are organic and coherent in nature. Cultivation analysis focuses on the impact of long term cumulative exposure to television.

Application of Theory

Various studies have supported the claim that those who watch television more frequently, often display higher tendencies of being depressed and lonely, sense of alienation, have feelings of mistrust and think that the world is a malicious place. A study conducted in an experimental setting saw the outcome, at the end of the test period, that students who watch more action-adventure programs during a six month period are more likely to believe that the world was a very dangerous place. They also believe that there is a high chance that they would be personally involved in a violent incident. This is in stark contrast compared to the attitudes of other students who did not watch as many action-adventure shows as the test group.

Research by L.J.Shrum has shown that people who watch television frequently are more likely to answer questions faster as well. They also give answers that reflect the messages or images that are the most common or repeated on television.

The cultivation theory has been widely used in the study of violence in television. The theory has been used to explain how children who watch violent cartoons become violent themselves. Repeated exposure to violence on television reinforces existing beliefs that the world is a dangerous and unsafe place. Exposure to television further strengthens the position that acts of violence are a natural response to situations of conflict. Over the years, research in the field has diversified and today, cultivation theory is applied to studies on health, religion, sex roles, political orientations, etc.

Definition. Cultivation theory suggests that exposure to media, over time, subtly "cultivates" viewers' perceptions of reality. Gerbner and Gross assert: "Television is a medium of the socialization of most people into standardized roles and behaviors. Its function is in a word, enculturation".

With the decline of hypodermic needle theories a new perspective began to emerge: the stalagmite theories. Black et. al. used the metaphor of stalagmite theories to suggest that media effects occur analogously to the slow buildup of formations on cave floors, which take their interesting forms after eons of the steady dripping of limewater from the cave ceilings above. One of the most popular theories that fits this perspective is cultivation theory.

Cultivation theory (sometimes referred to as the cultivation hypothesis or cultivation analysis) was an approach developed by Professor George Gerbner, dean of the Annenberg School of Communications at the University of Pennsylvania. He began the 'Cultural Indicators' research project in the mid-1960s, to study whether and how watching television may influence viewers' ideas of what the everyday world is like. Cultivation research is in the 'effects' tradition. Cultivation theorists argue that television has long-term effects which are small, gradual, indirect but cumulative and significant.

Core Assumptions and Statements

Cultivation theory in its most basic form, suggests that television is responsible for shaping, or ‘cultivating’ viewers’ conceptions of social reality. The combined effect of massive television exposure by viewers over time subtly shapes the perception of social reality for individuals and, ultimately, for our culture as a whole. Gerbner argues that the mass media cultivate attitudes and values which are already present in a culture: the media maintain and propagate these values amongst members of a culture, thus binding it together. He has argued that television tends to cultivate middle-of-the- road political perspectives. Gerbner called this effect ‘mainstreaming’. Cultivation theorists distinguish between ‘first order’ effects (general beliefs about the everyday world, such as about the prevalence of violence) and ‘second order’ effects (specific attitudes, such as to law and order or to personal safety). There is also a distinction between two groups of television viewers: the heavy viewers and the light viewers. The focus is on ‘heavy viewers’. People who watch a lot of television are likely to be more influenced by the ways in which the world is framed by television programs than are individuals who watch less, especially regarding topics of which the viewer has little first-hand experience. Light viewers may have more sources of information than heavy viewers. ‘Resonance’ describes the intensified effect on the audience when what people see on television is what they have experienced in life. This double dose of the televised message tends to amplify the cultivation effect.

Conceptual Model

 

Cultivation Theory

Source: Hawkins and Pingree (1983)

Favorite Methods

Cultivation analysis usually involves the correlation of data from content analysis (identifying prevailing images on television) with survey data from audience research (to assess any influence of such images on the attitudes of viewers). Audience research by cultivation theorists involves asking large-scale public opinion poll organizations to include in their national surveys questions regarding such issues as the amount of violence in everyday life. Answers are interpreted as reflecting either the world of television or that of everyday life. The answers are then related to the amount of television watched, other media habits and demographic data such as sex, age, income and education.

Scope and Application

Cultivation research looks at the mass media as a socializing agent and investigates whether television viewers come to believe the television version of reality the more they watch it.

Example

In a survey of about 450 New Jersey schoolchildren, 73 percent of heavy viewers compared to 62 percent of light viewers gave the TV answer to a question asking them to estimate the number of people involved in violence in a typical week. The same survey showed that children who were heavy viewers were more fearful about walking alone in a city at night. They also overestimated the number of people who commit serious crimes. This effect is called ‘mean world syndrome’. One controlled experiment addressed the issue of cause and effect, manipulating the viewing of American college students to create heavy- and light-viewing groups. After 6 weeks of controlled viewing, heavy viewers of action-adventure programs were indeed found to be more fearful of life in the everyday world than were light viewers.

THEORY ,WHAT IS THEORY ?EXPLANATION AND CONSTRUCTION

THEORY ,WHAT IS THEORY ?EXPLANATION AND CONSTRUCTION

DEFINITIONS OF THEORY

1:A scientific theory is a well-substantiated explanation of some aspect of the natural world, based on a body of facts that have been repeatedly confirmed through observation and experiment. Such fact-supported theories are not "guesses" but reliable accounts of the real world.
2:The definition of a theory is an idea to explain something, or a set of guiding principles
3:A theory is a group of linked ideas intended to explain something. A theoryprovides a framework for explaining observations. ... They can be tested to provide support for, or challenge, the theory. The word 'theory' has several meanings: a guess or speculation.
4:A theory is a formal idea or set of ideas that is intended to explain something. ... If you have a theory about something, you have your own opinion about it which you cannot prove but which you think is true. There was a theory that he wanted to marry her.
5:Theories are formulated to explain, predict, and understand phenomena and, in many cases, to challenge and extend existing knowledge within the limits of critical bounding assumptions. The theoretical framework is the structure that can hold or support a theory of a research study.

Theory and Why It is Important

. A theory presents a systematic way of understanding events, behaviors and/or situations. A theory is a set of interrelated concepts, definitions, and propositions that explains or predicts events or situations by specifying relations among variables.

HOW TO CREATE A THEORY

A theory explains why something happens or how several things are related. It is the "how" and the "why" of an observable "what". To develop a theory, you'll need to follow the scientific method. First, make measurable predictions about why or how something works. Then, test those predictions with a controlled experiment, and objectively conclude whether or not the results confirm the hypotheses.

THERE ARE FOUR MAIN STEPS 

1:OBSERVATION

2:EXPERIENCES

3:CONCEPT

4:LAW

OBERVATION

Wonder "why?" Look for patterns between seemingly unrelated things. Explore the root causes behind everyday events, and try to predict what will happen next. If you already have the seed of a theory in your head, observe the subjects of that idea and try to gather as much information as possible. Write down the "hows," the "whys," and the links between causes and effects as you piece them together.^[1]

• If you don't have a theory or a hypothesis in mind, you can begin by making connections. If you walk through the world with a curious eye, you may be suddenly struck by an idea.

EXPERIENCES

test your theory 

As the name suggests, experiential learning involves learning from experience. The theory was proposed by psychologist David Kolb who was influenced by the work of other theorists including John Dewey, Kurt Lewin, and Jean Piaget.

According to Kolb, this type of learning can be defined as "the process whereby knowledge is created through the transformation of experience. Knowledge results from the combinations of grasping and transforming the experience."

Experiential learning theory differs from cognitive and behavioral theories in that cognitive theories emphasize the role of mental processes while behavioral theories ignore the possible role of subjective experience in the learning process. The experiential theory proposed by Kolb takes a more holistic approach and emphasizes how experiences, including cognition, environmental factors, and emotions, influence the learning process.

Experiential Model Theory

In the experiential model, Kolb described two different ways of graspingexperience:

1. Concrete Experience
2. Abstract Conceptualization

He also identified two ways of transforming experience:

1. Reflective Observation
2. Active Experimentation

These four modes of learning are often portrayed as a cycle.

According to Kolb, concrete experience provides information that serves as a basis for reflection. From these reflections, we assimilate the information and form abstract concepts. We then use these concepts to develop new theories about the world, which we then actively test.

Through the testing of our ideas, we once again gather information through experience, cycling back to the beginning of the process. The process does not necessarily begin with experience, however. Instead, each person must choose which learning mode will work best based upon the specific situation.

For example, let's imagine that you are going to learn how to drive a car. Some people might choose to begin learning via reflection by observing other people as they drive. Another person might prefer to start more abstractly, by reading and analyzing a driving instruction book. Yet another person might decide to just jump right in and get behind the seat of a car to practice driving on a test course.

How do we decide which mode of experiential learning will work best? While situational variables are important, our own preferences play a large role. Kolb notes that people who are considered "watchers" prefer reflective observation, while those who are "doers" are more likely to engage in active experimentation.

"Because of our hereditary equipment, our particular past life experiences, and the demands of our environment, we develop a preferred way of choosing," Kolb explains.

These preferences also serve as the basis for Kolb's learning styles. In this learning style model, each of the four types has dominant learning abilities in two areas. For example, people with the Diverging learning style are dominant in the areas of concrete experience and reflective observation.

Kolb suggests that a number of different factors can influence preferred learning styles. Some of the factors that he has identified include:

• Personality type
• Educational specialization
• Career choice
• Current job role
• Adaptive competencies

Support and Criticism

While Kolb's theory is one of the widely used learning models in the field of education, it has been widely criticized for a number of reasons.

Support

• Kolb's own research suggests that there is a correlation between students learning styles and their chosen majors. People who choose college majors and professions that are well-aligned to their learning styles tend to be more committed to their field.
• Experiential learning can be good for helping people explore their own strengths when learning new things.
• The theory addresses how learners can play to their own strengths as well as developing areas in which they are weakest.

Criticism

• The theory does not adequately address the role than non-reflective experience plays in the learning process.
• While the theory is good at analyzing how learning occurs for individuals, it does little to look at learning that occurs in larger social groups. How does the individual's interaction with a larger group impact the experiential learning process?
• Learning styles may not be stable over time. For example, one study has found that adults over the age of 65 tend to become more observant and reflective while learning.
• Other critics suggest that the theory is too narrowly focused and restrictive.