4. In this Chapter we read the history of political
communication research, with its many currents,
waves, and oscillating changes.
The chapter introduces the fundamental concepts
and methods that have guided the field, continuities
and changes in academic thinking about political
communication over the past century.
And the surprising conflicts that make the history of
political communication so animating.
5. 1. The first portion reviews the early classic
scholarship.
2. The second section looks critically at the early
research, particularly its implications for today.
3. The third portion focuses in depth on social
science, explaining the social scientific
dimensions of political communication and major
empirical methods.
6. Out Line:
The Study of Political Communication
Early History Of Political Communication
Scholarship
The Pendulum Swings
A New Perspective
Social Science & Political Communication
Research Methodology
7. The Study of Political
Communication:
The study of political communication is popularly
believed to have begun with television, it actually
dates back nearly a century.
8. who eloquently and influentially described the
ability of the media to mold the images people
carried in their heads about a distant world that
was “out of reach, out of sight [and] out of mind.”
According to Walter
Lippmanns:
9. 1. Early History Of Political
Communication Scholarship:
• Lippmann’s Insights
• ABCs of Propaganda
10. Lippmann’s Insights:
Lippmann’s was a American journalist and scholar who
helped pioneer scholarship on Political Communication.
Lippmann served as founding editor of “The New
Republic,” the avant-garde political magazine of the
20th century.
He also wrote books that earned the praise of a U.S.
president and Supreme Court justice.
Lippmann had worked in Europe during World War I.
11.
12. Political scientist Harold Lasswell (1927), following in
Lippmann’s footsteps, described the power communications
could exert on the mass soul. Lasswell and others used the
term “propaganda” to describe these effects.
In the 1930s, a group formed an Institute of Propaganda
that assembled a list of the “ABC’s of propaganda” that
included testimonial.
14. 1. Should governments in democratic countries
manipulate the tools of mass communication?
2. How could the tension between democratic
values and elites’ ability to manipulate public
sentiments be satisfactorily resolved?
3. Could the growing mass media offer citizens the
information they needed to make informed
judgments?
16. Two Step Flow Theory:
• Hypothesis introduced by Paul Lazarsfeld,
Bernard Berelson and Hazel Gaudet.
• Katz and Lazarsfeld developed the theory in
1944.
17. First: Opinion Leaders get
information from a media
source.
Second: Opinion Leaders
than pass the information
along with their
interpretation, to others
( family, friends ) etc.
19. 3. A NEW PERSPECTIVE:
Media has Powerful effects. (1930) Laswell
Media has Limited effects. (1940-1960)
Lazarfeld
Media has Moderate effects. (1970-1980)
Britishers
20. 4. Social science and Political
Communication:
This section describes the social science
methods that political communication
researchers employ to answer interesting
questions about politics and media.
21. Social science involves a series of logical and
empirical steps.
(Babbie, 2004)
Social Science is employed to develop a body
of knowledge of the role that political
communication plays in society.
( Holbert & Bucy, 2011)
22. Social Scientific approach is not the only way to
approach the study of politics and media. We can
gain insights from investigative articles in the
press , film and even political novels.
Social Science offers a dispassionate framework in
which researchers ideally set aside personal biases
and explore issues through the rigorous realm of
hypothesis testing and empirical methodologies.
23. 5. Research Methodology :
Methodology is to research
as cooking is to the work of
a chef. You need ideas to
start, but the proof is in the
empirical pudding. Methods
put hypotheses to the test.
24. Types of Research
Methodology:
There are a number of research methodologies that
are harnessed in political communication studies.
1. Content Analysis
2. Experiment
3. Survey
25. Content Analysis: A widely used tool in social science
research, content analysis is a systematic method to
quantitatively examine the characteristics, themes, and
symbols of a message.
Experiment: The hallmark of scientific research, an
experiment is a controlled study that provides evidence of
causation through random assignment of individuals to a
treatment or control group.
Survey:This is a dominant research strategy in political
communication (Holbert & Bucy, 2011).
A survey is a questionnaire or interview-based study that
documents a correlation or relationship between two or more
variables in a real-world setting, identifying factors that can
best predict a particular outcome.
26. CONCLUSIONS :
The history of political communication research
involves a series of ebbs, flows, conflicts, and
continuities.
Reviewing the history of political communication
scholarship, one glimpses several continuities.
Media effects do depend on people’s attitudes.
