Deck 21: The Audience

Question 1

Discuss the role of opinion leaders.Identify some opinion leaders in your life.

Answer 1

Answers will vary

Question 2

The mass media seldom collect and define facts for their audiences because most media presentations reflect the values and orientations of the audiences themselves.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

Is there really such a thing as "masses" who watch the media? Discuss the role of customizable personal media technology in the lives of individual audience members.

Answer 3

Answers will vary

Question 4

In his study of the social composition of audiences,which of the following characteristics did sociologist Darnell Hunt suggest would be most likely to affect the interpretation of news coverage?

A)gender
B)class
C)occupation
D)race

Question 5

Which aspect of Darnell Hunt's research on audiences was somewhat unique,particularly with regard to his analysis and interpretation of the data?

A)He divided people into groupings.
B)He went beyond noting racial differences in perceptions,and analyzed how they were manifested.
C)He researched Whites,African Americans,and Latinos.
D)He analyzed the data on a computer.

Question 6

Which sociologist studied the social composition of audiences to explain how an audience interprets news coverage?

A)Erving Goffman
B)Vivian Gornick
C)Darnell Hunt
D)David Demers

Question 7

The way the members of an audience interpret the media is often influenced by social characteristics such as occupation,race,education,and income.

Question 8

Which sociologist pioneered research on opinion leaders?

A)Erving Goffman
B)Robert Park
C)Deena Weinstein
D)Paul Lazarsfeld

Question 9

According to Darnell Hunt's research on audiences,which viewers were less animated when watching a 17-minute film clip of the 1992 riots in Los Angeles?

A)Whites
B)Blacks
C)Latinos
D)Asians

Question 10

A person who influences the opinions and decisions of others through day-to-day personal contact and communication is referred to as a(n)

A)gatekeeper.
B)opinion leader.
C)specialist.
D)concentrator.

Question 11

Even if the audience for a certain form of mass media is spread out over a wide geographic area and the members do not know one another,they will be somewhat distinctive in terms of

A)general interest.
B)age,gender,income,political party,formal schooling,and race and ethnicity.
C)the size of the grouping.
D)None of these answers is correct.

Question 12

The media audience is always a secondary group of observers who are spread over a wide geographic area and can most accurately be analyzed from the functionalist perspective.

Question 13

Sociologist Paul Lazarsfeld

A)pioneered the study of opinion leaders in his research on voting behavior in the 1940s.
B)described the depiction of women as reflecting "innumerable small murders of mind and spirit (that)take place daily."
C)researched rock music and found no sociologically credible evidence that rock caused sexual promiscuity,rape,drug abuse,Satanism,or suicide.
D)studied how newspapers helped immigrants to the U.S.adjust to their environments and taught them the customs and opinions of their new country.