Research Proposal: Sociology Of Media

SOCIOLOGY OF MEDIA SO 4033 PROJECT 2 (b) RESEARCH PROPOSAL: TELEVISION COVERAGE AND PUBLIC BELIEFS CONCERNING SOCIAL EXCLUSION IN THE REPUBLIC OF IRELAND KAREN KIELY 0643564 DIGITAL MEDIA DESIGN LECTURER: DR. EOIN DEVEREUX TUTOR: MS. JOAN ENRIGHT

THE RESEARCH PROPOSAL CONTENTS • • • • • • • •

The Active Audience Social Exclusion Selecting Audience Groups Research Methodologies Analysis Media Genres Benefits Reference List

THE ACTIVE AUDIENCE The term active audiences is described as audiences which “have a mind of their own” who “inject their own meanings into media messages that they receive”. (Student Media Services 2006) Audiences are 'active readers' as opposed to 'passive recipients' of media messages. (E. Devereux, personal communication, Nov 2006) The focus on active audiences applies greatly to this research proposal. Media producers' practice of encoding messages often affects the manner in which an active audience perceives a message. The interpretation of certain messages by the audiences can often lead to incorrect judgements on various topics including social exclusion. It is effective, therefore, to take into account how media producers and active audiences go about encoding and decoding messages relating to this topic.

SOCIAL EXCLUSION To be socially excluded one is “deprived from social recognition and social value”. Put another way, social exclusion means “the alienation of certain people within a society.” Social exclusion is often connected to a person's “social class, educational status and living standards”. (Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 2007) FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH SOCIAL EXCLUSION Individual Factors: Community Factors: Unemplyoment level of crime

High

Dependence on state benefit Poor housing Debt public transport Poor educational achievements authority services

Poor Poor local

(Radical Statistics 2006) There are a very broad range of groups in society today that are most likely to suffer from social exclusion. The poor - more specifically the homeless, immigrants, the long-term unemployed and the travelling community - make up for a number of the population in Ireland today.

The causes of social exclusion trace back to the economic and social changes in economies. As our society speeds forward to new technological and economic heights, it elevates some people and leaves others behind. Individuals who belong to underprivileged groups are at higher risk of facing social exclusion. `

(Canadian Counsel on Social Exclusion) For my research proposal, I would intend to focus on the unemployed population of Ireland.

SELECTING AUDIENCE GROUPS Selecting audience groups into whose beliefs and opinions I would research would require certain factors to analyse. For example, I would consider factors like: • age • gender • regional location • socio-economic status Choosing audience groups within the age bracket of 24-60 would be suitable for this research. Generally, adults have made it into the world of work by the age of 24, if not before, and retirement usually occurs around age 60. This audience group would have strong opinions on a topic such as unemployment. I would focus on both genders for this research though perhaps focus more on the male audience members due to the high numbers of long-term unemployment in men. Almost 70% of all unemployed people of Ireland in 2006 were male (Central Statistics Office Ireland 2006). Placing more emphasis on urban regions while selecting audience groups would aid my research as unemployment is more concentrated in disadvantaged areas which are more often than not inner-city areas. Socio-economic status is a major factor in choosing audience groups to research. Certain factors like occupation, education, religion and race can influence a person's opinions. Using audience groups from a wide cross-section of society would help me grasp a good idea on how poverty is perceived by the public.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGIES One research methodology I would use to examine audience beliefs about poverty and unemployment is analysis of social role and counter-role in soap operas and other television programmes. I would determine “what kind of roles are assigned for men, women, the elderly, ethnic minorities, children, adolescents and others.” (Berger 1991, p.50). Analysing this, I would be able to identify how messages are encoded by media producers and perhaps how these messages could be decoded by a member of the public. Another research methodology would be to carry out a survey on audience beliefs and opinions. First, I would take into account the socio-economic characteristics of the people I will be interviewing. I will ask questions on audience beliefs regarding poverty.

Hopefully, I would be able to find relationships between, for example, age and discrimination towards the impoverished, or regional location and personal experiences of unemployment (Berger 1991, p.38). Another technique Berger describes is the use of 'focus groups'. This basically involves interviewing two or more people simultaneously with a moderator leading the respondents in a free discussion on the topic. The discussion does not aim to build consensus, rather evoke from each person his or her opinions (Berger 1991, p.91).

ANALYSIS Following proposing my research, I feel that I would be lead to a number of conclusions. Taking for example Devereux's case study on the coverage of the funeral of homeless woman Pauline Leonard, analysing my findings may be similar to this case. Public opinion on the coverage of social exclusion in the media is displayed in this case study, as the story 'provoked an amount of reaction from the viewers' regarding the broadcasting of shots of the homeless grieving. (Devereux, 1998) Devereux goes on to say that there 'are no set groundrules about filming people who are poor'. The reporter in question was successful in in 'suggesting to the news editor that the story be included under the rubric of special features'. (Devereux, 1998) It is clear from this that broadcasting of socially excluded citizens, at least in 1992, was almost unheard of and the public were kept at a safe distance from such stories. Analysing my own research, I would firstly note how media producers encode, using my social-role analysis. From my surveys I will get an insight into how the Irish television-viewing public view the coverage of the socially-excluded and perhaps see how little or how much the socially excluded are actually shown in the broadcast media. Hopefully, analysing my research like this will help both my understanding of the television coverage of social exclusion but also that of the public service broadcaster RTE.

BENEFITS There would be a number of possible benefits for the broadcasting organization RTE following this research. Firstly, a detailed look into how the active audience perceives the factual information presented by RTE would help the organization in its presenting of such information to the public. Due to the wide cross-section of the respondents' sociological and economical backgrounds, it would be safe to say that RTE would have a firm grasp on most of the population's opinion. Furthermore, RTE will be able to focus on its fictional broadcasting content and how its audiences perceive this in the same manner.

REFERENCE LIST Berger, A.A. (1991) Media Research Techniques, California: Sage Publications. Canadian Counsel on Social Development Social Challenges: Social Exclusion [online], available: http://www.ccsd.ca/cpsd/ccsd/c_exclusion.htm [accessed 4 Jan 2007] Central Statistics Office Ireland (2006) Labour Market Principal Statistics [online], available: http://www.cso.ie/statistics/persons_by_sex_ecstatus.htm [accessed 4 Jan 2007] Devereux, E. (1998) Devils and Angels: Television, Ideology and the Coverage of Poverty, Luton: University of Luton Press. Radical Statistics (2006) Measuring Social Exclusion: A Lifespan Approach [online], available: http://www.radstats.org.uk/no076/mccrystaletal.htm [accessed 4 Jan 2007] Student Media Services (2006) AcademicDB [online], available: http://www.academicdb.com/active_audiences_have_a_mind_their_own_they_inject_11 676/ [accessed 4 Jan 2007] Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., (2007) Social exclusion [online], available: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_exclusion [accessed 4 Jan 2007]