Empirical-functionalist group of theories

The empirical-functionalist group of theories has the following features ^[1] :

• She uses a behaviorist approach , borrowed from psychology and suggesting that the behavior of the individual in society is due to the influence of society on the individual;
• The basis of this group of theories is the mathematical theory of information , where there is a transmitter and receiver of a message transmitted over a certain channel, where communication itself is a conscious way of transmitting information through any medium;
• This group of theories promotes the idea of ​​commercializing the media, that is, considers the media as a market product, which is partly due to the fact that this group of theories was associated with studies of the target media audience for advertisers.

The so-called Chicago School of Sociology and its representatives such as Robert Park , Harold Dwight Lasswell , etc., had a great influence on the formation of the empirical-functionalist group of theories. Therefore, some researchers ^[2] attribute the appearance of the empirical-functionalist group of theories to the development of G. D. Lasswell Theories of the magic bullet , which affirms the idea of ​​direct and equal influence of the media on all individuals. However, the assumption of G. D. Lasswell that the media always has the intended impact on their target audience was criticized, including by the colleagues of the sociologist, which served to form two main paradigms of the empirical-functionalist theory: the paradigm of propaganda power and the paradigm limited effects .

Nevertheless, it was G. D. Lasswell who identified the three main media funktsii: 1) control of the state of the social environment; 2) the formation of a public reaction to events; 3) transfer of cultural property. He also owns the model of five questions ^[3] , which played an important role in the further development of media research:

1. Who is reporting?
2. What?
3. What channel?
4. For whom?
5. What is the result?

The Paradigm of Propaganda Strength

The advocacy paradigm is also called the direct effects paradigm. In other words, this paradigm is based on a behavioral approach , where the media have a direct impact on individuals. This idea was reflected in the works of such ideologists of the propaganda power paradigm as G. D. Lasswell , who studied the effects of the media in his work “Propaganda Methods in the World War” , W. Lippman , who considered people to be a passive mass that must be isolated from political decision-making, what was reflected in his book Public Opinion.

The transition point between the paradigm of propaganda power and the paradigm of limited effects is the Osgood-Schramm Circular Model of Communication . Schramm was the founder of a scientific approach to the study of media exposure. According to W. Schramm, "Communication is a poetic act" ^[4] . This concept is not limited to the linear perception of the processes occurring during the transmission of information. On the contrary, the Osgood-Schramm communication model suggests that the direct all-encompassing impact of media on an individual, as previously proposed, is not possible.

The communication process is more complex. The original message is encoded and transmitted in this form by means of communication, after which it is decoded and subjected to interpretation by the individual. Therefore, one cannot be sure that the message will have on the individual exactly the effect that was originally laid down by its source.

Limited Effects Paradigm

The Osgood-Schramma Circular Communication Model takes into account the factor of the limited effects of communication on its consumer. This paradigm of limited effects was developed thanks to the Columbia School of Sociology, of which Paul Lazarsfeld was a key figure. In 1940-50gg. P. Lazarsfeld studied the impact of the media on the formation of opinions and individual decisions. during the US presidential election ^[5] As a result of quantitative research, the following features of the nature of the impact of media on an individual were revealed:

• Media works on small social groups led by so-called “opinion leaders”;
• Interpersonal communications play a dominant role in shaping the attitudes of individuals;
• The significance of the time factor is great.

A study of Paul Lazarsfeld in the field of the influence of media on individual social groups gave rise to the theory of a two-stage , and later multi-stage flow of communication . The above-mentioned leaders of public opinion are often consumers of the media, which they transmit further in their own interpretation. There can be infinitely many such interpretations, so the scientists decided not to limit themselves to the theory of a two-stage flow of communication.

In 1960, Joseph Klapper , a student of Paul Lazarsfeld, published his work The Impact of Mass Communication , where he shifted the attention of researchers to the consumer of information and the conditions under which the media can have the greatest impact on the individual. As a result, J. Clapper comes to the conclusion that the effectiveness of the impact of the media depends on the existing beliefs of the individual, the reliability of the transmitter of information and the degree of awareness of the individual on the issue covered by the media. In other words, if the individual is not well versed in the topic, it is more likely to influence his opinion through communication, but in the opposite case, public opinion is difficult to manipulate.

The empirical-functionalist group of theories was criticized by representatives of the Critical Theory primarily for its pragmatism. The factor of media commercialization served as a pretext for not considering the empirical-functionalist group of theories to be scientifically substantiated in connection with its direct dependence on advertisers.

In addition, the empirical-functionalist group of theories was accused of methodological poverty due to the limited number of studies conducted in quantitative studies aimed at studying the expected short-term effect on individuals. However, the empirical-functionalists themselves began to gradually pay attention not only to the factor of the influence of the media on the individual, but also, for example, the relationship between the needs of the individual and the media, etc. Quantitative research has been criticized by the scientists themselves. So, C.R. Mills said that empiricism suppresses the sociological imagination and distorts the facts of reality. ^[6]

Moreover, in their works, representatives of the empirical-functionalist group of theories did not take into account the influence of the information transfer channel on its perception by recipients, which was also noted by representatives of the Critical Theory as the reason for the limited nature of the factors analyzed in the course of research that influence the individual's perception of media messages.

1. ↑ Coursera: course “History and theory of media”, author National Research University Higher School of Economics, professor Kiria Ilya Vadimovich, week 5, video “5.3 Empirical-functionalist group of theories: general features”
2. ↑ Coursera: course “History and theory of media”, author of the National Research University Higher School of Economics, professor Kiria Ilya Vadimovich, week 5, video “5.2 Map of media theories”
3. ↑ Bryant, Jennings, Thompson, Susan. The basics of media exposure. : Per. from English - M .: Publishing house "Williams", 2004. - 432 p. : ill. - Paral. tit. English
4. ↑ Schramm W. How Communication Works. // Process and Effects of Mass Communication. / Ed .: W. Schramm. - Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1954.
5. ↑ Lazarsfeld P. An episode in the history of social research // Perspectives in American history. 1968.
6. ↑ Structural-functional approach

• Coursera: course “History and theory of media”, author National Research University Higher School of Economics, professor Kiria Ilya Vadimovich, week 5
• Bryant, Jennings, Thompson, Susan. The basics of media exposure. : Per. from English - M .: Publishing house "Williams", 2004. - 432 p. : ill. - Paral. tit. English]