vi

Action Theory and Communication Research

≥
Communications Monograph
Vol. 3

Editors
Karsten Renckstorf
Department of Communication, University of Nijmegen
The Netherlands
Keith Roe
Department of Communication, University of Leuven
Belgium

Mouton de Gruyter
Berlin · New York
vi

Action Theory and

Communication Research
Recent Developments in Europe

Edited by
Karsten Renckstorf
Denis McQuail
Judith E. Rosenbaum
Gabi Schaap

Mouton de Gruyter
Berlin · New York
vi

Mouton de Gruyter (formerly Mouton, The Hague)

is a Division of Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG, Berlin.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Action theory and communication research : recent developments in

Europe / edited by Karsten Renckstorf … [et al.].
p. cm. ⫺ (Communications monograph ; v. 3)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 3-11-018080-4 (hc : alk. paper) ⫺ ISBN 3-11-018081-2
(pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Mass media ⫺ Research ⫺ Europe. 2. Social action ⫺ Europe.
I. Renckstorf, Karsten. II. Series.
P91.5.E85A25 2004
302.231094⫺dc22 2004042698

ISBN 3-11-018080-4 hb.

ISBN 3-11-018081-2 pb.

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Printed in Germany.
 v

Acknowledgements

In the fall of 2001, Communications: The European Journal of Communi-

cation Research organized the 2nd International Colloquium on Action The-
oretical Approaches in European Communication Research. Prepared in co-
operation with the German Association of Communication Research and
the Department of Communication at the University of Nijmegen, this
three-day meeting was meant to bring together a group of European
scholars concerned with action theoretical approaches to communication
research.
In total, 22 papers were presented and discussed. More than thirty
scholars coming from six European scientific communities; i.e., Belgium,
Finland, Germany, Israel, The Netherlands, and the United Kingdom, and
who represented eleven European universities, presented insights into
their current communication research. The range of research topics pres-
ented was considerably broad, but the focus of the presentations was
clear; to contribute to a rich and promising research tradition which has
seldomly been thematized on a European level. In the present 3rd volume
of the Communications Monograph, revised versions of 19 colloquium
papers have been compiled to present an overview of current European
communication research based on action theoretical perspectives. This
volume should provide a comprehensive insight into the present state of
the art in European communication research, even more than the Special
Issue of Communications, edited by the present editors and entitled Action
Theoretical Approaches in European Communication Research: Theory,
Methodology, and Findings which presented a characteristic, but small
selection of just nine colloquium papers.
Many individuals have contributed to the successful completion of this
project. We would like to particularly acknowledge Michelle Camps and
Susanne Samuelsz for their assistance with the organization of the Collo-
quium, and Marieke Jansen for copy-editing this monograph. We are of
course very indebted to the many contributors for their original work and
their patience with the editorial requests and routines. Additionally, this
project would not have been possible without the generous financial sup-
port of the Faculty of Social Sciences of the University of Nijmegen and the
German Association of Communication Research. Last but not least we
would like to thank our publishers Mouton de Gruyter for their support in
bringing this project to a successful conclusion.

Nijmegen, Summer 2003

vi
 Contents vii

Contents

Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v

1 Action theory and communication research:

An introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Denis McQuail and Karsten Renckstorf

I Theory
2 Action theory as part of social science . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Erwin K. Scheuch (†)

3 With more hindsight: Conceptual problems and some ways

forward for media use research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Denis McQuail

4 The ‘media use as social action’ approach: Theory,

methodology and research evidence so far . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Karsten Renckstorf and Fred Wester

5 The foundation of communication and action in

consciousness: Confronting action theory with systems
theoretical arguments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Frank Huysmans

II Methods
6 Media communication and social interaction: Perspectives
on action theory based reception research . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Angela Keppler

7 Using protocol analysis in television news research:

Proposal and first tests
Gabi Schaap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

8 Reconceptualizing media literacy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141

Judith E. Rosenbaum and Johannes W. J. Beentjes
viii Contents

9 Elderly people’s media use in the context of personal

meaning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
Margot van der Goot, Johannes W. J. Beentjes and
Martine van Selm

10 ‘Para-social interaction’: Social interaction as a matter

of fact? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
Michael Charlton

11 Action theoretical approaches in organizational

communication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
Paul Nelissen

III Findings
12 Media use as an adaptation or coping tool in prison . . . . . 199
Heidi Vandebosch

13 Juxtaposing direct experience with media experience:

Does reality really matter? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
Jan Van den Bulck

14 The home as a multimedia environment: Families’

conception of space and the introduction of information
and communication technologies in the home . . . . . . . . . 231
Veerle Van Rompaey and Keith Roe

15 Patterns in television news use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253

Ruben Konig, Karsten Renckstorf and Fred Wester

16 Do well-balanced exemplars in news stories provide food

for thought? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279
Paul Hendriks Vettehen and Leo van Snippenburg

17 Between altruism and narcissism: An action theoretical

approach of personal homepages devoted to existential
meaning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291
Ellen Hijmans and Martine van Selm
 Contents ix

18 Ownership and use of ‘old’ and ‘new’ media among ethnic

minority youth in The Netherlands. The role of the ethno-
cultural position . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315
Leen d’Haenens, Cindy van Summeren, Madelon Kokhuis
and Johannes W. J. Beentjes

19 The stereotypical portrayal of Germans and its effect on

a Dutch audience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 345
Henk Westerik

20 Occupational practices of Dutch journalists in a television

newsroom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 355
Liesbeth Hermans

Contributors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 371

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 375
vi
 Action theory and communication research 1

1 Action theory and communication research:

1 An introduction

Denis McQuail and Karsten Renckstorf

Social action perspectives in (mass) communication research

Social action perspectives have played a major role in communication re-
search from the start of the academic enterprise called communication
science. Although far from being the mainstream approach to communi-
cation research in Europe, this tradition has developed its own theory, re-
search methods and a considerable amount of fresh and promising in-
sights into communication processes. It focuses primarily, although not
exclusively, on audience activity and mass media use both the central ob-
jects of study for communication research from the very beginning (cf.
Renckstorf & McQuail, 1996). Initially, the audience was conceived of as
an undifferentiated mass, a passive target for persuasion and information,
waiting, as it were, for media messages to come along so the audience
members could respond to them in a more or less uniform, quite fore-
seeable manner. However, as students of mass media effects soon came to
recognize, audiences were made up of real people, surrounded by and im-
bedded in social groups, which can be characterized as networks of inter-
personal relationships through which media effects are mediated. That is,
essentially, why audiences can resist the influence often intended by media
campaigners. People have their own varied reasons for using the media,
and it is they who choose to attend to media messages – or not. According
to a well-known assessment, “the initial mistake, was to suppose that
media choose their audiences. They aim to do so, but their selections are
less decisive than the choices which audience members make of media
channels and contents” (McQuail & Windahl, 1993: 132).
Evidence of selective exposure, selective perception and selective reten-
tion soon accumulated, showing that audiences tend to match their media
use – i.e., their choice of media channels and media content – to their own
tastes, ideas and informational needs. Thus, the chance of change oriented
effects from the media diminished and the chance of reinforcement in-
creased (cf. Klapper, 1960). It was about the time of that insight when
Katz (1959: 2) suggested mass communication researchers should pay less
attention to the question “What do media do to people?” and more to that of
“What do people do with the media?”. This is perhaps the most general for-
2 Denis McQuail and Karsten Renckstorf

mulation of the premise underlying all approaches of communication re-

search which assume that there is an active audience. Since then, it is more
or less considered common sense within important parts of the commu-
nity of communication researchers that mass media use must be concep-
tualized in terms of social action and, consequently, processes of mass
communication must be studied from a social action perspective.
Accordingly, many efforts have been made to set up such a social action
perspective for mass communication research (cf. Anderson & Meyer,
1988; McQuail & Gurevitch, 1974; Dervin, 1981, 1983; Renckstorf, 1989,
1994; Renckstorf & Wester, 1992, 2001; Renckstorf, McQuail & Jan-
kowski, 1996, 2001; Hunziker, 1988; Vorderer, 1992; Charlton & Neum-
ann, 1985; Charlton & Schneider, 1997; Altheide, 1985; Lull, 1980, 1988).
These efforts all aimed to create a social action perspective that would go
beyond the classical formulation of the social action principles within the
uses and gratifications research, which derived its primary logic from
functional analysis (Wright, 1960). The underlying logic of uses and gratifi-
cations studies has been summed up as follows: “They are concerned with
(1) the social and psychological origins of (2) needs, which generate (3) ex-
pectations of (4) the mass media or other sources, which lead to (5) dif-
ferential patterns of media exposure (or engagement in other activities),
resulting in (6) need gratifications and (7) other consequences, perhaps
mostly unintended ones (cf. Katz, Blumler & Gurevitch, 1974: 20).
Clearly, a social action basis is implicit in the classical formulation of the
uses and gratifications model for mass communication research:
“1) The audience is conceived of as active, that is, an important part of
mass media use is assumed to be goal directed … (2) In the mass com-
munication process much initiative in linking need gratification and
media choice lies within the audience member … (3) The media com-
pete with other sources of need satisfaction. The needs served by mass
communication constitute but a segment of the wider range of human
needs … (4) Methodologically speaking, many of the goals of mass
media use can be derived from data supplied by individual audience
members themselves – that is, people are sufficiently self-aware to be able
to report their interests and motives in particular cases … (5) Value
judgements about the cultural significance of mass communication
should be suspended while audience orientations are explored in their
own terms …” (Katz et al., 1974: 21–22; italics added)
What is formulated here – some thirty years ago – is the concept of a self-
aware, goal directed audience member, who is able to make sensible
media choices in order to serve his/her interests (needs) and motives by
means of media use. Thus, according to uses and gratifications research,
 Action theory and communication research 3

media use normally does not happen by chance or at random, nor can it be
imposed by the media themselves. Instead, media use is seen, albeit im-
plicitly, as a form of social action. The term is even used in the Weberian
sense, as media use is described here as an activity that is planned, shaped
and carried out by self-conscious actors who are interacting with the sur-
rounding social context and others in the environment and, thus, taking a
whole set of subjectively perceived functional alternatives and potential
consequences into account.
Since then the action theoretical approach has proved its value as a
framework for communication research in the US (e.g., Anderson &
Meyer, 1988) as well as in European communication research, most es-
pecially in the study of media audiences and their media use (e.g., Vor-
derer, 1992; Charlton & Neumann, 1985; Charlton & Schneider, 1997;
Renckstorf, McQuail & Jankowski, 1996, 2001; Renckstorf & Wester,
1998, 2001). It has deep roots in Weberian sociology, in Schütz’, Berger
and Luckmann’s sociology of knowledge, in symbolic interactionism and
phenomenology and it has survived the various storms that have beset the
practice of the social sciences since the collapse of structuralist and social
system paradigms (e.g., Sutter & Charlton, 2001). The social action ap-
proach privileges the perspective of the acting individual but offers guide-
lines for connecting the subjective orientation with networks of social in-
teraction and for treating ‘behavior’ as a social process. Research within
this framework takes account of the wider social context and calls for a
careful combination of empirical observation and interpretation, with a
corresponding diversity of methodologies. The appeal of this approach
also stems from its flexibility, its wide range of applications and its sensi-
tivity to cultural and social meanings.

Action theoretical contributions to European

communication research
For the purposes of the present volume we have adopted a broad formu-
lation of the social action perspective as it has developed within the social
sciences. We are more concerned with the general spirit of the approach
than with making good a claim to a narrowly defined school of communi-
cation research. A number of contributors to the book would not – for in-
stance – identify themselves primarily as followers of social action theory.
This partly reflects differences of disciplinary origin and partly the variety
of situations to which the approach has been applied.
The articles assembled in the present volume of Communications Mono-
graph, despite their diversity, can all be placed within the framework of so-
4 Denis McQuail and Karsten Renckstorf

cial action theory. Some are reports of empirical inquiries, others reflec-
tions on theory and/or methodology but each one sheds some light on the
significance of media use in everyday experience and contributes to an
understanding of communication in society. The contributions included
are published in three sections.

Theory
The first section, theory, contains four articles. Erwin K. Scheuch (chapter 2)
discusses the development of action theoretical approaches in recent com-
munication research against the background of a more general shift within
the social sciences from macro approaches and quantitative research, to
micro approaches and preferential use of interpretative research designs.
According to Scheuch, action theory seems especially applicable in situ-
ations of ‘strong’ media effects. Denis McQuail (chapter 3) looks back on
uses & gratifications research and reviews successes and failures of this
approach. This contribution benefits not only from the charm of updating
a classical article (cf. McQuail, 1985) but also from a specific proposal
McQuail develops, concerning the adequate conceptualization of the ‘mo-
ment of media choice’. Karsten Renckstorf and Fred Wester (chapter 4)
sketch an action theoretical perspective for communication research and
outline the general reference model of the so-called ‘Media Use as Social
Action Approach’. In their contribution, the authors reflect on their re-
search efforts up to now by re-assessing theory, methods and research evi-
dence of some twenty empirical studies. Frank Huysmans in his contribu-
tion (chapter 5) presents arguments for incorporating some of Luhmann’s
views – i.e., consciousness and communication as separate, but mutually
observing systems – into action theoretical approaches to the study of
(mass) communication processes.

Methods
Six contributions dealing with methodological, conceptual and/or prob-
lems of research methods and techniques appear under this heading.
Angela Keppler (chapter 6) is concerned with perspectives on qualitative,
action theory based reception research, presenting some basic consider-
ations regarding methods for relevant research. In much the same way, al-
beit one step further into the field of empirical research, Gabi Schaap
(chapter 7) suggests an alternative way to study the processing of television
news items by means of protocol analysis. As the processing of news is
conceptualized as an active, interpretive process by which viewers make
sense of the news, an argument is offered for a research method which
 Action theory and communication research 5

takes the viewer’s perspective into account by observing viewer’s thoughts

and verbalizations. As the results of first tests indicate, one type of proto-
col analysis, the so-called ‘thought-listening technique’ seems to be superior
to the other, the so-called ‘thinking-aloud method’. Judith Rosenbaum and
Johannes W. J. Beentjes (chapter 8) present an effort to re-conceptualize the
concept of ‘media literacy’, defined here as an indication of the extent to
which people are critical media users. Their development of a ‘construc-
tivist’ model of media literacy is based on the action theoretical reference
model of media use, as is the case in the contribution of Margot van der
Goot, Johannes W. J. Beentjes and Martine van Selm (chapter 9). These
authors present a new model for the study of ‘media use in the context of
personal meaning’, based on concepts drawn from the ‘media use as social
action approach’ on the one hand, and from the ‘personal meaning from a
life-span perspective’ as it is developed and used in recent psycho-geron-
tology.
Mass communication is often seen as communication without reciproc-
ity. According to Michael Charlton (chapter 10) it is not strictly necessary
to restrict the phenomenon of ‘para-social interaction’ to the social cogni-
tion of individuals; the social usage theory of language offers an instru-
ment to conceptualize language production as well as language compre-
hension as joint action, even if speaker and listener cannot see each other
and do not act simultaneously. Last but not least, Paul Nelissen (chapter 11)
presents an alternative way of looking at organizational communication.
His perspective, based on action theoretical notions regarding the role of
information needs and information use in everyday life, as well as Der-
vin’s sense-making methodology, may turn out to be a valuable alternative
to present mainstream studies of organizational communication.

Findings
The third section, findings, includes nine studies into recent empirical
European communication research. Heidi Vandebosch (chapter 12) reports
on her empirical study on media use by people in prison. Some of the core
assumptions of the media use as social action approach – such as that
media use can function as a routine activity or as a problem solving action –
are tested in a ‘captive audience’ situation, that is, the (stressful) prison
context of five Flemish penitentiaries. Empirical data illustrate that routine
media use softens the chronic ‘pains of imprisonment’, and that acute
prison stress leads to additional coping behavior. Jan Van den Bulck
(chapter 13) deals with some fundamental questions, such as; how do
people construct their image of reality? What is the role of direct experi-
ence of ‘real’ events, and what is the role of ‘mediated’ experience of ‘pseu-
6 Denis McQuail and Karsten Renckstorf

do-events’? Van den Bulck draws on cognitive theories, suggesting that

people use many inputs in order to construct their image of reality. His
empirical research addresses the interaction between television viewing
and direct experience in the case of ‘fear of crime’; empirical data show
that fear of crime remains related to television viewing, even when direct
experience is controlled for.
By means of an integrated quantitative and qualitative research design,
Veerle Van Rompaey and Keith Roe (chapter 14) study some of the ways in
which the diffusion of new information and communication technologies
is related to the disposition of physical and symbolic space within families.
The following two contributions deal with news: Ruben Konig, Karsten
Renckstorf and Fred Wester (chapter 15) explore patterns of television
news use, using data from a national survey in The Netherlands (n=969),
whereas Paul Hendriks Vettehen and Leo van Snippenburg (chapter 16) deal
with the question whether the journalistic practice of exemplifying news-
paper news stories by means of case histories really does have harmful ef-
fects on an audience. In their small-scale empirical study (n=51) they in-
vestigate whether readers of a exemplified news story use fairly balanced
exemplars as opportunities to reflect on the issue in question. Analyses re-
veal that the story containing exemplifications of the various viewpoints
led respondents to more differentiated reasoning concerning the issue
than the story containing just base-rate information.
From an action theoretical point of view, personal homepages are on-
line multi-media documents of identity constructions. Usually addressing
questions such as, ‘Who am I?’, personal homepages provide information
on both the creator’s personal and public identity, sometimes including
reflections on the ‘meaning of life’. Ellen Hijmans and Martine van Selm
(chapter 17) examine these existential meaning constructions in personal
homepages by means of qualitative content analysis. In a sample of
42 personal homepages they find that most answers to the ‘meaning of
life’ can be interpreted as either ‘divine/religious’, ‘experience centered’,
‘cosmic’ or ‘utopian’, thereby showing striking similarities with findings
of other studies on existential meaning. It becomes evident from their
study that the Internet offers people new venues for expressing orien-
tation (i.e., goals and objectives), beliefs, and experience reflecting
answers to the ‘meaning of life’. In their contribution Leen d’Haenens,
Cindy van Summeren, Madelon Kokhuis and Johannes W. J. Beentjes
(chapter 18) address the research question to what extent culture-specific
and socio-demographic characteristics, such as gender, age, SES, and
country of origin, influence ownership and use of ‘old’ and ‘new’ media.
By means of a survey conducted among Turkish, Moroccan, and Surina-
mese youth, aged between 12 and 19, residing in The Netherlands, the
 Action theory and communication research 7

question of which environmental factors play a role in this regard is in-

vestigated.
The media are often blamed for being a source of stereotypes by por-
traying ethnic minority groups, or foreigners in a stereotypical manner. In
his study, Henk Westerik (chapter 19) focuses on the effects of stereotypical
portrayal of Germans on the attitudes of a Dutch audience towards them.
The role of stereotyped portrayals on the interpretation of visual messages
is analyzed using data from an experiment and survey among Dutch
adults (N=492) in which an attempt was made to trigger anti-German
prejudice in The Netherlands. Empirical results from this study indicate
that although the response to the verbal label ‘German’ is less favorable
than to the label ‘Dutch’, there is no difference in response to photographs
of subjects labeled either German or Dutch.
News making is not an individual affair. Journalists work for an audi-
ence, they are members of occupational groups, adhere to professional
values, and work within the boarders and constraints of a news organiz-
ation. Liesbeth Hermans (chapter 20) in her study used an action theoreti-
cal framework to gain a better understanding of the process that takes
place when individuals act in their occupational role as ‘journalist’ in a
television newsroom. Empirical data were gathered by systematic obser-
vations made in the newsroom of the Dutch public channel’s news pro-
gram, the NOS-journaal, as well as interviews conducted with people
working in this newsroom. Findings show that these journalists work in
a news organization with a strong hierarchical structure; depending on
differences in responsibility and the specific position journalists occupy
within the news organization, journalists define and interpret situations
differently. This process of meaning-construction appears to be rooted in
different, but shared perspectives journalists use in order to make their
daily decisions.

The social action framework and the further

development of communication research
From this set of nineteen studies, the notion that the core media phenom-
enon can be viewed in quite varied ways emerges. It can be viewed as a
means of influence, as a set of material technologies occupying domestic
as well as mental and social space, as a tool for coping with pressures, as
a topic of conversation, as the basis for social interaction, as a work task
for ‘communicators’, and as an informal social interlocutor. The social
action framework allows us to connect fragments of observation and di-
vergent perspectives to create a more coherent whole. Of particular im-
8 Denis McQuail and Karsten Renckstorf

portance is the potential for bridging the gap between those who favor
quantitative-empirical methods of enquiry and advocates of qualitative or
ethnomethodological research. This division has ceased to polarize audi-
ence theory and research, with strong claims being made for ‘audience
reception analysis’ as opposed to traditional audience research, especially
as it is employed for purposes of management (cf. Jensen & Rosengren,
1990; Alasuutari, 1999). The philosophical and epistemological differ-
ences that arise in this connection are essentially unbridgeable, but the
social action approach offers possibilities for some cooperation in re-
search.
The nineteen studies also prompt us to ask questions about the shared
framework and the further development of communication research, as
done by Erwin K. Scheuch in his contribution to this volume. One such
question concerns the range of topics that can be tackled using this frame-
work. Does it take us much further beyond the immediate moment of
personal choice and experience on the part of an ‘acting individual’? Does
it help in shedding light on the larger system that shapes and constrains
individual experience? Secondly, to what extent does the social action
framework support or stimulate critical as well as descriptive and inter-
pretative inquiry? This question is particularly important for, in spite of
repeated claims, it is not always clear that the approach has set aside func-
tionalist assumptions and logic. Thirdly, is it possible to use this frame-
work to not only conduct cultural and social analysis, but to also deter-
mine to what extent both analyses are requisite? This relates especially to
the distinction or connection between a more empirical communication
science and a humanistic ‘cultural studies’ approach. Is the approach more
socio-centric than media-centric? On the face of it, it is by definition
socio-centric, with media use and consequences seen to depend on per-
ceptions of the social environment and on social circumstances and con-
texts. Again it is not clear that this debate matters very much when
it comes to tackling the questions our discipline is asked to address.
Fourthly, does the approach help us to answer pressing questions about
media effects and does it give us some assistance in designing mass media
policy, especially in those areas where vulnerable groups are at risk? The
contents of this volume suggest that the social action approach is a flexible
tool for addressing policy-related questions.
Some broader issues are also prompted by these remarks and by the re-
search presented here, especially concerning the definition of our field of
study and the boundaries that might be have to recognized, redrawn or
transgressed. The social action approach takes us beyond any narrow or
preconceived delimitation of any one particular field of media-related be-
havior. We are, for instance, drawn to create connections between media
 Action theory and communication research 9

use and a range of related phenomena, including patterns of leisure and

cultural consumption, lifestyles and social attitudes. The media often play
a key role in connecting and making sense of diverse areas of personal ex-
perience. This makes it difficult to draw boundaries for this field of study
and opens up an expanding horizon for research. But it can also be a
source of disciplinary uncertainty. We may find ourselves in a grey zone
where communication science ends and other branches of study, includ-
ing psychology and cultural studies, begin (cf. Roe, 2003; McQuail, 2003).
These various uncertainties are a sign of the depth and vitality as well as a
possible weakness in the field, but they need to be openly addressed either
individually or collectively.

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 11

I Theory
12
 Action theory as part of social science 13

2 Action theory as part of social science

Erwin K. Scheuch (†)

Abstract

Ever since the late sixties, social sciences have moved from macro sociology
and quantitative research to micro sociology with the preferential use of quali-
tative material. In economics, this has led to a shift from macro economics to
micro economics, and in sociology to a waning of structural functionalism and
an ascent of various forms of ‘interpretive sociology’. When applied to the field
of mass media, this development leads to an emphasis on the subjective inter-
pretation of media messages, and specifically to the view that the audience
shapes the effects that media have. This contradicts earlier ideas stating that
the media effects on people are weak. Katz, as supporter of this view, has later
conceded that there are situations where media have strong effects, and ‘Action
Theory’ appears especially applicable in such situations.

Keywords: macro versus micro sociology, interpretive sociology and media,

‘strong effects’ and ‘weak effects’, action theory

Changing foci in theorizing

There is still no general theory in sociology, despite bold attempts to the
contrary and a widespread yearning that these attempts would be successful.
The famous system-builders of the turn of the century, especially Spencer
(1879), had few followers in successive decades. One of those followers was
Leopold von Wiese (1933) in the 1920s and, since 1937, Talcott Parsons
(1973). Both were very successful at the time when their general theories
were formulated, and both were quickly forgotten after their deaths.
The plausible reaction to this state of affairs would be an attempt to
specify the realm in which various partial theories would be most appli-
cable, but unfortunately this is not the case. Instead, various theories, that
for non-believers have obviously restricted ranges of explanatory power,
claim to be general theories, the latest being various versions of ‘rational
choice’ (Axelrod, 1984; Elster, 1986). This provokes blanket rejections
which are not helpful, either.
Repeatedly, the accents have changed in singling out what used to be the
14 Erwin K. Scheuch

focus of attention for theorizing. Prior to the 1920s, research focused on

macro sociology, and especially the explanation of changes in large collec-
tivities, such as nations, social classes and/or major institutions. Of course,
there were always exceptions, such as Simmel (1970; especially Simmel,
1958) – with his descriptions of modern man – during the fin de siècle, and
more recently George Herbert Mead (1934) – emphasizing individual per-
ception. However, the most pervasive change regarding the research focus
of sociology has been a shift from the long-term analyses of collectives, to
the individual and his immediate environment in contemporary society1.
This coincides with changes in empirical referents and in methods, namely
from evidence for collectives to data on the behavior of individuals.

Conceptualizing the individual in a sequence of behavior

Until the 1950s, individuals were often conceptualized as being at the
mercy of structures. The extreme version of this view of man is behavior-
ism in psychology. In the stimulus response (SR) approach, the goal is to
find the proper stimulus; if the search is successful, the stimulus will invari-
ably trigger the response (Skinner, 1953; Hull, 1952). In sociology, the most
prominent representative of this view became George C. Homans, who
postulated that all behavior is reducible to a few basic mechanisms2 (Hom-
ans). Homans was one of the first to present the ‘methodological individ-
ualism’ that later turned out to be the foundation for various versions of
‘rational choice’: “Institutions are human behavior, and they are, therefore,
to be explained by the characteristics of that behavior” (Homans, 1962: 35).
Homans can be considered an exception in the rigid theoretical frame
of sociology. Conversely, Durkheim’s structural sociology – usually con-
sidered a one-sided form of macro sociology – treats human beings as
captives of social structure. His quantitative method of sociology treats in-
dividual cases as merely responding to their own social environment and
structures. Esser, however, criticizes this routine as a ‘Variablen Soziolo-
gie’ that fails to explain anything3. This statement assumes an understand-
ing of ‘explain’. Weber, for example, admonishes that explaining means to
characterize action (Handeln) based on its meaning (Sinn).
Talcott Parsons can probably be considered the most important scholar
of the structural-functional approach. As such, he is usually seen as a
major proponent of treating individuals as passive elements of structural
forces. This is understandable if we concentrate on the ‘mature’ Parsons,
and especially on the ones calling themselves ‘Parsonians’ (Parsons, 1952).
However, in his “Structure of Social Action” he very deliberately uses the
term ‘action’ instead of ‘behavior’4.
 Action theory as part of social science 15

However, at that time, Parsons’ basic unit of analysis did not concern the
actor but the ‘unit act’. Somewhat simplified, the unit act could be seen as the
result of the following factors: the actor, his goals, and the relevant norms for
behavior in a given situation (Scheuch, 1975: 286 ff, especially 309 f.). Both
‘goal’ and ‘situation’ were understood as particular to a given actor; situation
was Parsons’ subjective interpretation of an objective setting, and goal was
Parsons’ misinterpretation of Weber’s category of ‘Sinn’ (cf. Girndt, 1967).
Understanding this difference between Weber and Parsons clarifies the
implications of interjecting subjective factors into a flow of behavioral
acts. It is reasonable to try to include orientations that guide an actor’s be-
havior in micro settings. If such intentions exist, we then have a fuller
understanding of a ‘unit act’. This is especially interesting for pluralist so-
cieties. Here, a variety of interpretations could apply to the same situ-
ations. I disagree, however, with most of the current writing in micro soci-
ology that all behavior should be guided by intents. Some behavior is
better modeled as habitual, such as switching on the TV every day at the
same time, to see your favorite TV show. This opens the way for concep-
tualizing the subjective factor. ‘Goal orientation’ implies a conscious
choice, yet this notion contradicts our experience that most of the time we
do what appears ‘reasonable’ or ‘natural’ at a given time and place, such as
returning a friendly greeting. Goffman has made the self-conscious viol-
ation of ‘natural’ expectations of others and their reaction to this a
specialty in quasi-experimental field studies (Goffman, 1959, 1961).

Reconstructing the world of immediate experience

Since decades, the most important variety of interjecting into micro soci-
ology between stimulus and behavior has been conceptualizing it as a
‘Gestalter’ of reality. These approaches originated in social science in the
United States, where social psychology attained its strong position within
the social sciences. This American social psychology could be character-
ized by the notion of ‘perception’.
The origins of the various forms of what is called ‘interpretive sociol-
ogy’ or ‘symbolic interactionism’ can be traced back to Cooley. George
Herbert Mead is credited to be the ‘father’ of all following approaches,
even though most adherents consider themselves ‘modern’ compared to
behaviorist approaches.
Cooley is primarily remembered as a scholar of evolution and a pro-
ponent of dualism between primary and secondary groups. However, his
notion of the ‘looking-glass self’ has also had a major impact. This concept
is considered to be of great importance for the analysis of communication,
16 Erwin K. Scheuch

although outside the American scene it is not as well-known. To Cooley

(1972), ‘personality’ is a social construct, resulting from the perception of
ego as he experiences himself in the reactions of others. In perceiving their
mirror images in communications, the individuals actively create their so-
cial self. Thus, the core element of society are images as an outcome of
personal interchanges. Cooley understands these images not as ephemeral
but as hard facts with existential consequences for the actors.
In his view of science, Mead rejects the hope that we shall arrive at an
‘objective truth’, as all we have are communicated perceptions. “Objects
are constituted in terms of meanings within the social process of experi-
ence and behavior through the mutual adjustment to one another …
an adjustment made possible by means of communication …” (Strauss,
1964: 164). Meaning is constituted by action and communicated by ‘ges-
tures’, and these stand for ideas behind them. As actors exchange mean-
ings, society is created. Central to this is what Mead calls the difference
between the ‘I’ and the ‘me’ as two responding sides of the self. The ‘me’ is
the controlling, limiting, societal side of personality. The ‘I’ is the impul-
sive side of behavior, upon which the ‘me’ makes a judgment after an act
has taken place (Strauss, 1964: XXIII). In playing games, children learn
the difference between the I and the Me, the latter being experienced as a
‘generalized other’, that is, as perceived social standards. These processes
are reflected, a process that Mead defines as “the turning-back of the ex-
perience of the individual upon himself” (Strauss, 1964: 196). The ‘I’ in
these processes can act in a surprising manner, and, therefore, perception
is not completely predictable. Regardless of the degree to which a percep-
tion is dominated by the ‘I’ or the ‘Me’, it is to be understood as the inter-
pretation of signs, as an activity and not just a reaction.
In discussing the grandfathers of the subjective shift in microsociology,
one could add a third American, W. I. Thomas. His famous ‘Thomas the-
orem’ – “If people believe a situation to be real, it is real in its conse-
quences” – can be read as the Leitmotiv of this whole orientation. During
the ‘student revolution’ and its aftermath a subjective understanding of be-
havior, with the accent on communication, became popular in the US. It
was Blumer who offered his vision of Mead to give this interest a place in
the young generation. Although Thomas and Mead both had taught at the
same university, Mead was primarily influenced by James and Cooley.
Thomas had little influence on later developments5. At that same time, a
parallel process was taking place in Germany. Here Schütz became one of
the founding fathers of a subjective understanding of social reality, as he
was popularized in a younger generation of social scientists.
Blumer has been credited for introducing the term ‘Symbolic Interac-
tionism’, which then served as a general label for various forms of what
 Action theory as part of social science 17

Günter Wiswede calls ‘Interpretive Sociology’. This version of ‘verste-

hende Soziologie’ concentrated on what we cited as Parsons’ ‘unit act’
(Wiswede, 1998: 118 ff.). It is a kind of social science that sees the individ-
ual as being endowed with free will and as creatively reacting to the world
around him. This approach fits perfectly with the Zeitgeist of the late six-
ties and the seventies, the period in which Blumer was at the apex of his
influence. Blumer lists the premises of his version of symbolic interaction-
ism as follows:

(1) In responding to the world around them, people react by assigning

meaning; (2) Meaning is developed in social relations. Individuals act
based on their beliefs about reality. In acting, people take the role of the
other into account, and are, therefore, guided by unreflected knowledge
used in everyday behavior.

Blumer (1969) uses the decision process of juries in courts to show how
such unquestioned beliefs are introduced into a deliberate decision pro-
cess. The world is mediated through symbols, and in analyzing them,
Blumer restricts himself to the world of immediate experience. The ma-
terial he uses are mass media such as movies, and human documents such
as life histories. Blumer rejects objective science and justifies the use of
what he called ‘sensitizing concepts’ as adequate to a ‘fuzzy reality’.
Garfinkel called his combination of ethnoscience (i.e., research on the
knowledge members in preliterate societies use in dealing with their en-
vironment), the ‘verstehende Soziologie’ of Schütz, and writings of the late
Wittgenstein ‘Ethnomethodology’ (Garfinkel, 1967). The object of this
version of an interpretive sociology are the routines used in everyday be-
havior. Sociology is understood to be just one of the many ways of inter-
preting the world around us. Our ‘definition of reality’ depends on our im-
mediate environment. This leads to the assumption that in differentiated
societies several definitions of reality can coexist side-by-side (Cicourel,
1973: 100).
There are various further versions of this ‘interpretive sociology’ (e.g.,
‘constructivism’), some of which come close to solipsism. One of these
versions, Giddens’ structuration theory (Giddens, 1993; also Giddens,
1990), shall be discussed in more detail. Giddens’ theory concerns bridg-
ing the ontological contrast between structure and action, and, in doing so,
overcoming the conflict between a subjective and an objective sociology.
Structure is regarded as part of action; there is no structure that does not
express itself in action, and no action that is not molded by structure. The
actor is conceptualized as an ‘agent’, that is, someone who interprets the
conditions and execution of his mission. The mission itself – a standard-
18 Erwin K. Scheuch

ization of expectations – is called ‘agency’. Actors use modalities of struc-

ture to reproduce interaction systems and, thereby, reconstruct structural
properties. Structure should not only be considered a constraint; structure
also enables action. Although Giddens states that his view of structure
overcomes the constraints of a purely subjective sociology, it really re-
mains precisely that. After all, to Giddens there is no reality outside the in-
dividual actors. The approach used to confirm his ideas, is based on her-
meneutics, one of the most important characteristics of all subjective
sociology, that is ‘Be part of the life that you wish to analyze!’ It is in line
with this approach, that, in addition to quotes from empirical studies,
Giddens uses citations from radio interviews, mixes prose and poetry, and
includes in his publication caricatures from popular journals.
Esser attributes the rise of this interpretive sociology to a major societal
change, namely the partial destructuration in advanced societies and the
resulting extension of an individual’s freedom of choice (Esser, 1996). This
is in accordance with the views of a by now close collaborator of Giddens’,
Ulrich Beck (Beck & Beck-Gernsheim, 1994).

Deconstructing rationality
It is part of the ‘Zeitgeist’ spilling over into sociological theoretizing to
treat individuals as constantly reflecting about preferences, incessantly de-
liberating the pros and cons of alternatives (Beck, 1986; also Beck,
Giddens & Lash, 1994). In micro sociology, the sociological denomination
called ‘rational choice’ models man akin to the homo oeconomicus of
classical economics6. The ‘Concise Oxford Dictionary of Sociology’ de-
fines the simple version of the approach as follows: “Rational-choice the-
ory locates the source of order in the personal advantage individuals gain
through co-operative exchange” (Marshall, 1994: 163).
This approach was first developed in the 1960s in the United States. It
soon became one of the more popular approaches, attracting followers in
the United States, the United Kingdom, The Netherlands, and Germany
(Olson, 1965; Buchanan & Tullock, 1965; Becker, 1968). ‘Classical’ works
are Becker’s Theories on the family, Axelrod’s Analysis of Cooperation, and
especially the publications by Coleman (Becker, 1974, 1981; Axelrod,
1984; Coleman, 1986a + b, 1967, 1992; Lindenberg, 1975, 1984). By and
large, modeling behavior based on a simple model of rational choice has
so far not shown itself to be equal to other approaches. An example is the
attempt to quantify the effects of providing collective tickets for reduced
fares of public transportation in a small university town. The model ‘ex-
plained’ behavior change as only one of three factors (Bamberg &
 Action theory as part of social science 19

Schmidt, 1998). The simple version of rational choice led to tautological

results (Blinder, 1974; also Smelser, 1992), therefore ridiculing itself.
The economic approach of rational choice has become more compli-
cated. It allows various constraints to limit the scope of maximizing indi-
vidual utility as rational choices. The overall term for these varieties of
Rational Choice Theory (RCT) is ‘bounded rationality’. Examples of such
bounds are constraints of choices by laws and norms, the chances of los-
ing in a power contest, or bounds through affection (e.g., between
relatives). The narrower the range of alternative actions, the greater the
chance of rational choice. Behavior becomes ever more predictable from
just knowing the bounds.
The most far reaching adjustment to behavior in reality is the watering-
down of the assumption of rationality. Simon defines rationality as “… a
style of behavior that is appropriate to the achievements of given goals,
within the limits imposed by certain conditions and constraints. The con-
ditions and constraints referred to in the general definition may be objec-
tive characteristics, or they may be characteristics of the organism itself
that it takes as fixed and not subject to its own control.” The latter condi-
tion is called ‘subjective’ or ‘bounded rationality’ (Simon, 1982).
Boudon (1989) refers to this understanding of subjective rationality in
calling all actions rational “… where the behavior of a subject is governed
by reasons, which, although they are objectively wrong, are perceived as
good”. He refers to the results of an experiment, in which probabilities
had to be estimated and where most subjects made wrong conjectures.
Boudon, nevertheless, calls this behavior rational as the participants “…
had good reason to chose this wrong solution …” To Boudon, even the
belief of many non-literate tribes in witchcraft – such as the competence
of a magician to cause rainfall – is rational in the sense of subjective
rationality. The native just does not know any other reality (Boy & Miche-
lat, 1986). In a more demanding language ‘he does not know any other
reality’ becomes: “Subjective rationality is the product of the discordance
between the complexity of the world and the cognitive capacities of the
subject” (Boudon, 1989: 9).

Varieties of rational choice theories

Why cling to the adjective ‘rational’ in referring to belief in the supernatu-
ral, why stretch the meaning of ‘rational’ to cover both (i.e., different in-
terpretations of Keynesian economic policies and a belief in witchcraft)?
Why is the belief in ‘rational choice’ – as a variant on the neoliberal econ-
omic doctrin of the Chicago School of Milton Friedman – so popular
20 Erwin K. Scheuch

among social scientists? The fact that rational choice ‘explanations’ are
formulated as mathematical models could be part of the explanation.
Micro-economics are popular in the discipline, precisely because it invites
econometric modeling which exerts ‘a l’art pour l’art’ attractivity. So far,
the attraction of the rational choice models in economics has not been af-
fected by their usual irrelevance to real life economics. It has, for example,
even survived the multi-billion US Dollar failure in speculations by Nobel
laureates Sholes and Merton.
I suspect, however, that there is more to it than just the attractiveness of
playing games. The tendency to apply a laissez-faire image of the econ-
omy on various spheres of life, including academia, seems to indicate an
influence of the Zeitgeist. In a pluralistic society with ‘fun’ as a Leitmotiv,
it becomes highly unattractive and extremely exhausting to invoke norms
that limit choices. Under these conditions, the use of ‘rational’ functions as
a camouflage for embracing the doctrine of enrichissez-vous, or, more so-
ciologically phrased, to ‘maximize your personal utility’.
Downgrading the use of non-egocentric orientations to explain behavior
can work motivating in stretching the meaning of the concept of ‘rational’.
The parallel misunderstanding in economics is the preoccupation with the
stock market at the expense of the world of goods and services.
The concept of micro-economics has recently invaded sociology. The
economy is again viewed as part of society. The embeddedness of the vari-
ous market economies in their respective societies is the topic of an inter-
national group of scholars that label their approach ‘varieties of capitalism’
(VOC) (Crouch & Streeck, 1997; Hampden, Turner & Trompenaars,
1993). Cultural diversities are viewed not as an impediment to market
mechanisms but also as a precondition for order and effectiveness (Kir-
man, 1989). The economic systems of France, England, Germany, the US
and Japan are understood as national specific fits in a worldwide system of
trade (Hollingsworth & Boyer, 1998; Granovetter, 1992; Schenck, 2002).
Decisions made at the top level of major corporations can best be ana-
lyzed as the outcome of political processes instead of using a model of
economic rationality (Scheuch & Scheuch, 2001). Those having a prefer-
ence for modeling behavior as rational choice should consider that “…
over the last years the general theory of rational choice has been chal-
lenged on its home ground – the analysis of economic processes – by a
wide range of arguments” (Jaeger, 1993; also Hollis & Sugden, 1993).
There are not many situations in which modeling behavior along the
line of a ‘pure’ model of rational choice is acceptable. It is important to
choose the proper ‘bounds’ for modeling as bounded rationality increases
the range of applications. However, one major explanadum concerns the
choice of goals to be reached by ‘rational’ strategies (Miller, 1991). Even in
 Action theory as part of social science 21

limiting the bounds of rational choice models, the results of empirical

studies that question rationality assumptions need to be considered. This
concerns first and foremost the vast tradition of research on the relation-
ship between disposition and overt behavior. Attitudes do not always pre-
dict behavior; a large number of intervening factors also influence a
person’s attitude (Benninghaus, 1976). Results from many studies have
shown that ‘irrational’ reactions to situations of risk taking limit the appli-
cability of rationality assumptions. Complication of the models by non-
linear relations that prevail in reality is just one of many examples (Kahne-
man, 1982). Wiswede (1998: 115 f.) lists underestimation of the likelihood
of large risks and the overestimation of small risks as anomalies in reac-
tions towards risks. People will almost always show risky behavior in a
losing streak and protective behavior in a winning situation; which also
applies to underestimating the importance of the future and overreacting
to the present.
Results from some of my own studies showed that there is an inverse
relationship between the attractiveness of tiny chances of winning large
prizes and the availability of many smaller prizes, hereby assuming that
the total prize-money will be equal. The minute chance of winning big has
a much stronger motivation than the large chances of winning smaller
prizes. This leads to the conclusion that the rational choice approach, even
in its bounded versions, underestimates the frequency of behavior that is
not oriented on maximizing personal advantages (Etzioni, 1993). Most
rational choice approaches have problems in explaining irrational beha-
vior, dictated by the spur of the moment.
A dialogue with representatives of the rational choice approach on the
‘boundedness’ of the theory and when one should abandon this approach
altogether, is very difficult. There is the dogmatic stance that only the expla-
nation of behavior in terms of the meaning it provides the actors is worth-
while. This is, obviously, untenable as in the larger number of scientific
fields the mere description by means of concepts, or the plain registration of
correlations between variables is a considerable part of all research. Also,
the insistence on explaining concepts on the basis of reductionism could be
called dogmatism. However, this form of dogmatism is based on a com-
pletely erroneous image of how things are related in social life (more about
this in closing). The persistence of the idea of many proponents of rational
choice that Rational Choice Theory (RCT) would be the only approach de-
serving to be called scientific, was conducive to a camp-mentality. This, in
turn, kept RCT largely out of focus for quantitative social researchers.
Blossfeld and Müller (1996) emphasize that in the real world both norms
and calculus guide action, and call Esser’s subjective expected utility’ (SEU)
laudable as it overcomes this unnecessary juxtaposition7.
22 Erwin K. Scheuch

Basic to Esser’s rethinking of Rational Choice Theory is his attempt to

include Schutz’s central concepts into his modeling of behavior8 (Esser,
1991). This is a bold tour de force as Schütz (1974) is a leading phenom-
enologist, and this school of philosophy (or social philosophy) is usually
considered to be incompatible with the rational choice approach (Denzin,
1990). Esser approvingly refers to Schütz’ observation, that human action
in a ‘life-world’ (Lebenswelt) does not fit the assumptions of RCT. “Human
beings live in a life world characterized by knowledge that is ‘unquestioned’
but in an ‘objective’ sense is by no means ‘rational’” (Esser, 1993a). Esser
continues to quote Schütz, who states that people “… often act in everyday
life on the basis of widespread ignorance or rough typologies. Their actions
are more in accordance with routines and rules of thumb than with utility-
maximizing calculations … Thus there can be no doubt that ‘rationality’ is
not and cannot be a peculiar feature of everyday thought, nor can it, there-
fore, be a methodological principle of the interpretation of human acts in
daily life” (Schütz, 1964). Amen to rational choice?
Esser agrees that human action is usually guided by past experiences. If,
in a specific situation, one opts to repeat a course of action that benefited
him in the past, than this choice can be ascribed to the subjective rational-
ity of an actor. Accordingly, this version of Rational Choice Theory is
christened ‘subjective expected utility’ (‘SEU’). Esser emphasizes ‘habits’
and ‘frames’ to be important limits of a truly rational analysis, weighing
the expected consequences of options. The concept of ‘habit’ needs no
special explanation, but ‘frame’ does. ‘Frame’ is a concept taken from
symbolic interactionism. It is a central concept in the study of ethnome-
thodology, where it is used to characterize the relevance of a certain inter-
pretation of reality for a person’s preference structure9. Individuals con-
sider using habits and frames to be rational, as it is inconceivable that each
behavior act is calculated. Therefore, habits and frames seem to have the
same effect as institutions do in relieving individuals.
In the context of this contribution it is not necessary to judge Essers’
claim that Husserl was at heart a proponent of rational choice. Relevant,
however, is the understanding of behavior as varying between a mere
reaction to the stimuli that signal past experiences and the readiness to
reassess interpretations and actions. It seems impossible to stretch any
one approach as much as to cover a whole range of behavior. This will
lead to complications that makes such an approach unwieldy.
 Action theory as part of social science 23

The media as part of reality

One of the central problems in contemporary sociology – perhaps the
most central of all – is the gap between micro and macro sociology. Des-
pite many claims to the contrary we can see no satisfactory way in which
this gap has been bridged (Vanberg, 1975, 1982). One interesting field is
the modernization theory, but the claims made in this body of literature
which looks for the location of what is distinctive for modernity at the
level of individual actors, exists side by side yet is unrelated to as claims by
those social scientists who try to locate modernity in macro structures.
Perhaps this must be so as in reality the links between the macro level of
reality and the life worlds is in flux. The way in which mass communi-
cation is affected by this, and in turn influences these processes them-
selves should be a fruitful area of inquiry.
Ever since Weber, the ‘iron cage’ of bureaucratic structures has been a
central topic of macro sociology. Coleman (1986b: 20) conceptualizes
these as ‘corporate actors’. According to Coleman, the number of corpo-
rate actors with whom an American had contacts has increased five times
since 1944. This kind of social change is also central to newer writings of
Habermas, where his concern is the relation between what he calls the
world of systems (which is about the same as to what Coleman refers to as
corporate actors) and the ‘Lebenswelten’, a concept taken from the phe-
nomenologist Husserl. Habermas postulates that the ‘Lebenswelten’, the
worlds of immediate experience, and the systems have different forms of
integration but this difference blurs as the systems ‘colonize’ the lifeworlds
(Habermas, 1981). It is unfortunate that Habermas – as is characteristic
for him – uses a moralizing term to denote a real process. We already re-
ferred to the tendency to use a perspective taken from the model of a mar-
ket economy to evaluate other areas of social life, for example, the world
of learning or analyzing the family.
This is the very opposite of what the prevailing theories of social dif-
ferentiation would lead us to expect. Luhmann assumes that evolution
is guided by an experience that the differentiated areas of a society function
more effectively if they are granted their ‘Eigenlogik’ (i.e., steer-
ing mechanisms and standards specific to an area) (Luhmann, 1984, 1997).
While granting that differentiation, complete with ‘Eigenlogik’ is dominant
in modernization, the boundaries between areas and the relative weight of
differentiated realms are constantly contested (Tyrell, 1978; Wagner, 1996).
The media should be seen as a system that is still very much in flux, as it
has been for the last hundred and so years. Each time a new medium is
created, the existing media have to reposition themselves. Thus, when
radio came into being, newspapers had to change, and later the advent of
24 Erwin K. Scheuch

TV meant an adjustment for the radio. In recent years TV and its effects
changes with the proliferation of channels. Unfortunately, we lack studies
on the interaction between all the mass media, which also include books,
various forms of recordings, comics, a variety of journals and film as well
as all the media behind the media, such as news agencies, various press
services and information services for specified audiences. There has been a
tendency in mass communication research to concentrate on the medium
that is the newest on the market, such as the large volume of radio research
in the US in the fifties, and on TV thereafter. In addition mass communi-
cation research lacks the analysis of time series, and studies of changes in
the media over time are also absent. Although advertisements are now rou-
tinely studied in laboratory situations by means of various observational
techniques, as well as by surveys and panels, the data these studies gener-
ate is hardly ever analyzed from a social science perspective.
Most theorizing and empirical research takes place on the micro level,
and again it concentrates on TV, and specifically on the topics selection of
channels, programs and the effects it has on viewers. This is understand-
able as this is where the funds are. However, it fails to look at the depend-
ency of the results on the content offered, which cannot be understood
without analyzing the media as institutions. Although the term media sug-
gest that they are mere media, they are by no means just that. They them-
selves are obviously the topic about which they report, and they are by no
means usually neutral.
The very existence of the media change the reality. Events staged for re-
porting were an integral part of the so-called ‘student rebellion’ of 1968. A
vivid example was the TV image of the burning barricades in Paris on
which a student with an open shirt brandished a tricol-flag, a situation in-
spired by painting by Delacroix about the French revolution. The organ-
ization Greenpeace relies almost exclusively on staged events. During the
race riots in the 1960s in the US, African Americans would set houses of
other African Americans on fire because this provided provocative pic-
tures for live television coverage. When television channels in New York
decided that there would be only delayed reporting of such incidents, the
arson died down. The latest effect of TV altering reality is a change in the
criteria in selecting top managers for giant companies. They must by now
be media personalities that their presence on TV can influence quotations
on the stock market; Ron Sommer of Deutsche Telekom was once a past
master in accomplishing this. All this should be understood as a two-way
flow of influence between the media on the macro level, and groups of ac-
tors on the micro level.
Who would deal with the topic ‘the societal importance of the automo-
bile’ by ignoring the production and the distribution of the product, rely-
 Action theory as part of social science 25

ing only on the answers given in surveys by automobile owners? With

events of major and immediate importance such as the Seven Days War in
Israel or the fall of the Berlin Wall, the media have little latitude in giving
messages their own imprint. However, in reacting to such ‘real’ processes
as economic globalization the room for discretion is considerable. The
selectivity of content and geographic location were subject of empirical
studies as early as in the 1950s, and they would include tracing a news
item from the first hand observation, then the translation into the language
of news services, and finally the rewriting of the story by the newspaper
editor. The study of social control of journalists by themselves and by
third parties has been largely forgotten. With the present concentration of
research on the effects of TV viewing, the study of media as social insti-
tutions has suffered considerably.
This has left the field to the treatment of the media system by cultural
criticism. An elitist perspective from which most of the newer develop-
ments that pleased the majorities were seen as deplorable, characterized
‘Kulturkritik’ in Germany. This included criticism of leisure that now be-
came available to ordinary wage earners, and singled out for stern judg-
ments the use of mass media. Adorno was an extreme representative of
this elitist cultural criticism, where the mass media were the prime
example of ‘cultural decay’ (Adorno, 1966). Given the fact that he would
never ride in a tram because of the closeness of contact with ordinary
people, this is understandable for him as a person, but his writings fail
completely informing about the media. An example of such cultural criti-
cism that fails to inform about the real world is Baudrillard (1978, 1992).
One of the most successful cultural criticisms of the media was the For-
mula ‘the medium is the message’, and this has certainly a greater in-
formative value than the elitist cultural criticism of Europeans (McLuhan
& Fiore, 1967). Neil Postman (1985) was criticized for reducing the use
of mass media to having fun, although the Bamberg sociologists around
Ulrich Beck are sending out a similar message albeit in proper sociologies.
Very close to the Frankfurt School’s type of cultural criticism, however,
is the most recent fame of the proponent of the theses of the Mcdonaldi-
zation of the world, Ritzer (1993). Ritzer is unaware of the simple fact that
the dissemination of a brand name around the world is not the same as
spreading the same product; there is Néscafé around the world as a brand
but it has been adjusted to local/regional variations in taste.
26 Erwin K. Scheuch

Strong effects with active recipients

After systematically evaluating professional journals in sociology and
political science, Kaase concludes that mass communication as a topic is
in these publications at least marginal, but in many cases inexistent (Kaase
& Schulz, 1989: 24). The cultural criticism we just referred to is indeed ir-
relevant for social science but the empirical findings and the theorizing
media do not seem to find much interest in the discipline at large, al-
though they deserve better. The lack of cumulativeness in the field, and
specifically the absence of a common perspective, is held responsible for
this deficit (Renckstorf & Wester, 1999). This view motivates an attempt at
creating such a common frame, but according to our previous consider-
ations this is not without dangers. Given the variety of situations and ac-
tors, such a frame would have to be either so general that it has little in-
formative value or frightfully complicated as is the case with the further
specifications of SEU. However, if the limits for the realm of explanation
that the title of Rencktorf’s contribution suggests are really adhered to, the
doubts mentioned are probably not applicable.
In contrast to the pessimism quoted above I conclude that major con-
tributions from mass communication research for sociology in general al-
ready exist, if sociologists were to pay attention. And these are findings
which fit into the conceptual scheme offered by Renckstorf and Wester
(1999). When investigating the effects of election campaigning, Lazarsfeld
(1948) observed that overall the media had little effect in influencing
voters. The only noticeable effect of the media on ordinary citizens took
place via opinion leaders (Berelson et al., 1954; 111 ff.). In further studies
on propaganda around fifty or so years ago in the US, strong effects were
observed which took place only in the absence of prior information and
opinions on a topic (Klapper, 1960: 60). In publications for a general audi-
ence the proponents of mass society with their message of our helpless-
ness vis-à-vis the mass media industry dominated, yet nevertheless, Katz’s
position that media had weak effects became the general textbook wisdom
in the social sciences (Katz & Lazarsfeld, 1955).
In response to the Yom Kippur War, Katz published a change of his
position; in situations of dramatic disorientation, when existing knowledge
provided no guidance, the recipients of mass communications are deeply
influenced by them (Katz et al., 1973). The title of this contribution alludes
to an earlier publication where he stressed the prevailing desultory use of
media content, now acknowledging that a generalization to other situ-
ations is not acceptable (Katz & Foulkes, 1962). Meanwhile there is
a volume of evidence that even one of the propositions of mass media
teaching that was earlier considered nearly self-evident, the ‘agenda setting
 Action theory as part of social science 27

effect’, needs specification as to the content and the situation of recipients.

McCombs, who is credited to have proposed this effect first, originally
formulated this without qualifications as to time and content. Later he
conceded that in regard to media effects, time-space coordinates need to
be specified as well (McCombs & Shaw, 1993). Media effects are simply
not free of contingencies, and consequently no one model can fit all oc-
currences.
I interpret the ‘Action Theoretical Frame of Reference’ as an attempt to
extend the Action Theory of Talcott Parsons to also cover the concept of
Man in symbolic interactionism, which in principle is plausible as this
can connect with the early Parsons of 1937. By relying heavily on Alfred
Schütz, however, this comes close to a treatment of reality in the manner
of constructivists, and this is in my understanding uncomfortably close to
a reanimation of solipsism in classical Greek thought. I do not want to
enter into a theoretical discussion of the internal merits of the model de-
veloped by Renckstorf in his newer presentation, but respond merely to
the claim that this is a general frame of reference to study human behavior,
or action, as the authors would prefer to phrase it.
Since the ‘uses and gratifications’ approach was developed, the image of
Man at the base of mass-theories of society, namely as a passive target of
media, is being replaced by the view that the public actively shapes the
messages emanating from the communicators (Blumler & Katz, 1974;
Blumler et al., 1985). In the approach by Renckstorf the messages are inter-
preted by the recipients with reference to their ‘stock of knowledge’, a no-
tion taken from Alfred Schütz. If messages are interpreted as contradicting
what a subject can draw from its stock of knowledge, they are then concep-
tualized in the ‘action theoretical frame of reference’ as ‘problematic prob-
lems’. This pleonasm refers to the need to change the stock of knowledge,
whether altering an already existing element or adding a new one. We be-
lieve that the concepts ‘problematic problems’ and correspondingly ‘un-
problematic problems’, identify areas that in empirical research could in the
future be very fruitful.
However, the usefulness of this approach would be curtailed if its pro-
ponents were to insist that the only acceptable view of Man were to be the
active citizen who uses media following the norm ‘it is a citizen’s duty to
keep informed’. Informed about what? There is then the additional asser-
tion that in the ‘action theoretical frame’ instrumental and ritualized forms
of media use are integrated (Renckstorf & Wester, 1999: 45). The ‘action
frame of reference’ focuses on an active watching of TV news and suggests
a new model for those occurrences where the viewer is challenged to re-
organize his stock of knowledge. In real life this is an important but rare
moment in the viewing of TV news, as Renckstorf thinks it is highly ques-
28 Erwin K. Scheuch

tionable whether such TV use only occurs at low activity levels. Even at
moments when there is a more active stance, ‘problematic discrepancies’
are relatively rare. These acknowledgments by Renckstorf should make it
easy for him to recognize the proximity to the new position of Katz, that
while weak effects prevail in media use there are moments when the
media have the strong effects that mass-theories of society assumed to be
the norm. Viewed as a theory to model strong effects, the ‘action frame of
reference’ could characterize processes of change better than other known
theories.
I think that it is highly questionable whether the authors of this theory
should aim to develop their approach further into a frame of reference that
would cover all contents and all situations, relating to all levels of society.
For the foreseeable future it appears far more promising to develop
frames of reference for specific kinds of contents, situations, and actors.
By way of analogy, in medical therapy there is no searching for a drug that
could cure all diseases, instead research is trying narrow down indications
and counterindications for the use of specific medicines.
Parsons attempted a kind of ‘world formula’ to cover all forms of
human behavior, as is evident in his ‘Working Papers’ to a General Theory
of Action. This would have been fine work if he could have achieved it,
but he could not. This failure is no cause for lament as up to now (at least)
you cannot have such a formula in e.g., physics either: see the failure of
Heisenberg. Fortunately for the ‘action theory’ statement of Renckstorf it
is not presented as a theory in the strict sense but as a frame of reference.
Thus, the proper way to use it would be to ask how generally applicable it
is in ordering empirical information on media use.
Permit me to recall the way in which Weber describes the mechanism
effective in the operation of ‘Gresham’s Law’; people are not fully aware
of what they are doing, and even much less of why they are acting in
a specific way. Who remembers the content of a casual conversation a few
days later? Most conversations can be modeled as an exchange of friendly
sounds, yet every once in a while some such exchanges affect lives. Why
should this be different for mass communications? They are by now as
much part of our lives as conversing, consuming, or riding a car. They are
a backdrop of everyday life. The adequate perspective with which to catch
this would be looking for cumulative effects rather than focusing on com-
munications that as individual messages usually leave no distinct effect.
Yet every once in a while there is content that challenges our equilib-
rium. The pictures of the destruction of the World Trade Center by ter-
rorists are such a media content. There is nothing in our ‘stock of knowl-
edge’ of most of our contemporaries where they could draw on it. It is
here that we locate the usefulness of the new ‘action theory of reference’.
 Action theory as part of social science 29

Notes
1. Of course, there are also exceptions in this change of emphasis, such as Smuel
N. Eisenstadt (1966, 1969, 1974, 1996) with his concentration on axial changes
by large civilizations
2. It is largely unknown today, that Homans started criticizing Talcott Parsons’ func-
tionalism by demanding in the fifties ‘Bringing man back in’ (Homans, 1958).
3. The phrase is a bit difficult to render in English. It means that this routine in
quantitative research groups different cases into one box such as ‘length of TV
viewing’ – the variable – without explaining why they have a reaction in com-
mon – such as ‘voting’ (cf. Esser, 1993b: 592 ff.; Esser, 1996)
4. This abandoning of his earlier approach described then by himself as a volun-
taristic theory of action, is emphasized by James S. Coleman (1986a)
5. Blumer even wrote an essay on Thomas, but in his orientation toward Mead
references to Thomas remain marginal.
6. An example is Karl-Dieter Opp (1994). The authoritative overview of this
‘school’ is James S. Coleman and T. J. Faro (1992).
7. This agreement with Esser is partly in error. Esser indeed uses non-rational
orientations in behaving as ‘bounds’. In doing so he by no means refers to
norms which he does not like as guiding behavior but to ‘habits’ and ‘frames’.
8. Alltagshandeln und verstehen. Zum Verhältnis von erklärender und verste-
hender Soziologie am Beispiel von Alfred Schütz und “rational choice”. Tüb-
ingen: 1991. To understand the argumentation it is necessary to recall our char-
acterization of Esser’s restrictive understanding of “erklären”.
9. Habits are of special importance in opting for a course of action, frames in one’s
understanding the goal that might be reached by the course of action (Esser,
1990; especially: 234–241).

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34
 Conceptual problems and some ways forward for media use research 35

3 With more hindsight: Conceptual problems

3 and some ways forward for media use research

Denis McQuail

Abstract

Twenty years ago, I assessed the failure and future of the ‘Uses and Gratifica-
tions’ field of research (McQuail, 1984). In this paper, I will reflect on ‘Grati-
fications’ research and comment on conceptual problems and some ways for-
ward in ‘Media Use’ research. This approach is assumed to have the capacity to
provide a descriptive mapping of complex situations such as audience behavior
and audience experience, especially at a time of media change and expansion.
Against the background of a brief review of relevant developments in research,
thinking about media use and some suggestions for progress, it is concluded
that there is no escape from viewing the whole territory of media use and grati-
fications research from beyond the scope of any one theoretical perspective. As
the intrinsic interest in the field of audience research remains – including a
promise of interesting discoveries still to be made – it will require more perspec-
tives than a single researcher is likely to be able to deploy.

Keywords: media use, Uses and Gratifications, audience, behavior

Looking back on Uses and Gratifications research

As time passes, my qualifications for looking back on this tradition of re-
search increase, on the ground that I can look back over an even longer
time period since I carried out any audience research, even though my
claim to contemporary expertise diminishes. I was invited to write this
paper because of a previous occasion when I tried to strike a balance on
the failings and future of the Uses and Gratifications field of research
(McQuail, 1984), but I do, nevertheless, feel some sense of inauthenticity
about contributing to this issue. One reason for daring to do so is the im-
pression that I have received, in refreshing my knowledge of what is going
in and around this field, that not much has changed as far as the standing
and potential of this kind of research are concerned. There are much the
same aspirations on the part of researchers keen to chart the impact of
new technology, new media and new circumstances. Much the same
36 Denis McQuail

range of methods and techniques seem to be available. Much the same ar-
guments are still carried on, although with less intensity, about the relative
demerits of the approach and the merits of alternative forms of reception
or ethnographic research (cf. Schroder, 1999). In fact, in a general way,
empirical research into audience choice and motivation has been largely
rehabilitated. None of this is particularly surprising and, aside from chal-
lenges of reality, it is part of a general normalization of a project that has
had an uneasy journey through times that have been troubling but also in-
teresting for all branches of the social sciences. I do not wish to imply that
nothing has changed, but the changes that have occurred in the audience
branch of communication research have involved extensions into new is-
sues, adopting new frameworks for conceptualizing problems, rather than
of a fundamental theoretical or methodological kind.
Not least amongst the features of today’s environment compared to that
of twenty years ago is the rapid acceleration of alternative media forms
and of actual media outlets (multiplicity of channels). Accompanying this
are increased fluidity about what actually counts as ‘media use’, given the
variety of forms, behaviors and means of delivery. I am tempted to find in
this simple fact a renewed motivation for adopting an approach that does
have a capacity to provide a descriptive mapping of complex situations.
The controversies that overtook the field of ‘Uses and Gratifications’ re-
search came somewhat unexpectedly, although they could have been an-
ticipated by paying more attention to the revolution in sociological think-
ing that was taking place in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The objections
had also been lying rather neglected in the work of Herbert Blumer and
other followers of symbolic interactionism and the rise of critical sociol-
ogy. As I experienced it, the particular heavy blow to media use research
was delivered by Phillip Elliott in his paper published in the now seminal
overview of the field edited Blumler and Katz (1974). In the same collec-
tion I had published a paper (with Michael Gurevitch) that explored alter-
native theoretical underpinnings for the research, but was still unprepared
for the critical onslaught. There was much I could agree with in Elliott’s
critique, although I was and remain unconvinced that the approach was
flawed because it was too ‘psychologistic’ and not sociological enough
(another war going on at the time) or that it was intrinsically doomed to be
‘uncritical’ and serve only the ends of the oppressors.
Then and now there seemed and seems to be nothing intrinsically erro-
neous about perceiving aggregate media use as an ordered and relatively
predictable outcome of individual perceptions, wishes and opportunities.
In the history of audience research, even of mass media, few have really
doubted that media use behavior was gratifying to the individuals engaged
in it and that the kind and degree of gratification involved had something
 Conceptual problems and some ways forward for media use research 37

to do with the kind and degree of media use. Demonstrating this general
notion, in terms of statistical associations has proved relatively simple, but
finding causes of media use in the expectations expressed by the audience
has not been at all easy.
The problems of the approach have become apparent when scattered
insights, axioms and fragments of evidence have been put together and
systematically formulated as a theoretical model. As we know, this hap-
pened most clearly in the early 1970s, especially as reported in the volume
edited by Jay Blumler and Elihu Katz (1974). Their paradigm, or that
worked out by Rosengren in model form (1974), has been the starting
point for research, or for debate and critique, ever since. There has been
so much comment, reformulation, criticism and response concerning this
paradigm, that it is now almost impossible to give an objective account or
even a balanced assessment of the ‘Uses and Gratifications’ project and its
history.
The original model involved the following main assumptions:
– of underlying rationality in media selection and use;
– of interconnectedness between wider social experience and media
use behaviour and evaluation;
– of audience autonomy, arising from individual freedom of choice;
– of the possibility of measurement and classification of variables
which are mentalistic and/or cultural in nature;
– of the systematic, logical, sequential and causally connected nature of
media use processes.
These propositions, when formulated in this way, acquire the character-
istics of articles of belief but they can also be understood in different ways.
There are clearly some built-in tensions, including those between cogni-
tive and emotional factors, freedom and determinism, positivistic and
phenomenological theories, quantitative and qualitative methodologies.
The ghosts of most of the disputes in the social sciences are raised in one
way or another by the old ‘Uses and Gratifications’ paradigm. It has been
frequently attacked as too psychologistic, scientistic, behaviorist and func-
tionalist. It has also been represented as uncritically serving the interests
of media managers and as adopting a manipulative view of the audience.

Gratifications research lives on

Nevertheless, the model has survived in much the same form in the hands
of those who have any taste at all for empirical research into media pref-
erences and choices, which was its original purpose. Despite plenty of co-
38 Denis McQuail

gent attacks and deconstructions, not to mention its own failure to deliver
on its own promises, the model is surprisingly difficult to escape from or
to replace. Even approaches which are fundamentally different theoreti-
cally, such as Renckstorf’s phenomenological social action model (1996)
and much of the reception research that became the preferred alternative
(Alasuutari, 1999) show clear overlaps and similarities when it comes to
actual application in data collection and in the analysis of audience prac-
tices.
One reason for this, I suppose, aside from the very general common
sense validity of the basic idea, is the fact that the media gratification ap-
proach does capture, albeit in a formal manner, the way many people
as audience members, often express, when pressed, their own personal
understanding of how they go about using and enjoying media. This is not
surprising, given the claim made by gratification researchers that they al-
ways to listen first to the audience. The early Uses and Gratifications re-
search from Herzog (1944) onwards typically took as its point of origin the
audience’s own words and ideas (see also McQuail, Blumler & Brown,
1972), although critics of the interpretative school tended to ignore this
fact. But perhaps the endurance of the basic approach has less to do with
intrinsic validity than with the fact that the approach reflects the way in
which the typical audience member would like to think it goes about using
media, that is, in a more or less, consistent, coherent and motivated way,
guided by acceptable values.
In our own capacity as average audience members, our approximate
understanding of what is going on – the ‘natural’ version of the how and
why of media use – typically involves a rationalization in which one re-
gards the media as a suitable source of satisfaction of informational and
cultural needs and make one’s own choices according to circumstances of
time and place in line with these needs. The main descriptive typologies of
media gratification theory usually incorporate in a recognizable way the
relevant value systems which are deployed in everyday media use experi-
ence as well as cognitive elements which match common sense ideas.
All this, in itself, is not enough to provide any independent validation of
the whole enterprise of uses and gratifications theory and research, but it
does help to account for the degree of convergence which manifests itself
when different theoretical perspectives focus empirically on how people
themselves account for their own media choices and experience. In some
respects, uses and gratifications theory is very close to the ‘commonsense
theory’ of media use, as deployed by the audience (McQuail, 1994).
 Conceptual problems and some ways forward for media use research 39

Successes and failures

While the media gratification research approach has survived, if only for
want of an alternative, it cannot be said to have flourished, and its suc-
cesses are patchy and uneven. It has proven to be upto the not very de-
manding, although useful, tasks of describing audiences in terms of tastes
and expectations, identifying types and patterns of selection behaviors
and characterizing audience perceptions of different genres, forms and
content types. Such descriptive benefits are actually very extensive and sig-
nificant and may well be sufficient to account for the continued appeal of
the approach. They certainly facilitate classification of audience segments,
comparative analyses of various kinds, general accounting of program-
ming and the, planning of new media provision.
The failures relate, nevertheless, to some of the most important aspir-
ations of the gratification research ‘school’ in its heyday. These included the
aim of predicting audience demand, finding causal explanations of actual
choices and use patterns and identifying key intermediating variables in
effects research. Sometimes the results of media use research can be criti-
cized for the banality of findings. Kim Schroder, for instance (1999: 41)
cites an extensive overview of many uses and gratifications studies by
Gantz (1996) that concluded that “the primary gratification associated with
exposure to entertainment television is the entertainment such program-
ming provides … above all else entertainment programming is entertain-
ing”.
Some of the failures are not necessarily due to deficiencies of gratifica-
tions theory and research itself, but reflect more general and fundamental
difficulties facing communication research. Effect research, for instance,
has largely failed to produce unambiguous evidence of media influence,
inter alia, because supposed effects have other and deeper roots. On the
other hand, perhaps the failure to deliver independent evidence that media
use does actually solve the problems and meet the needs of its audience,
however plausible this supposition remains, cuts somewhat deeper.

Some reasons why gratifications theory does not work

As with other branches of research, difficulties and failures encountered
can also generate creative solutions and are always potentially educative
about the phenomenon under investigation, even if the lessons learnt
might well have been taken into account earlier. We are certainly not short
of explanations of why a promising and rather convincing general theor-
etical formulation of the uses and gratifications approach has not delivered
40 Denis McQuail

on its promise. An inventory of reasons for limited success is not in itself

very helpful, but it may be necessary for clearing the ground towards a
new path. The following of reasons for limited success are intended as
challenges not fundamental obstacles.

i) At the individual level of choice and media use (which is precisely

where the Uses and Gratifications approach claims to work best), beha-
vior is frequently not very rational, motivated or planned, but is the result
of habit, circumstance and chance, as well as being moved by emotions.
Figuratively speaking, there is a great deal of ‘noise’ in the channels that
link desires and expectations with actual choices. There is even reason to
suppose that there is often very little connection at the individual level be-
tween liking certain kinds of media content, actually choosing it and any
subsequent evaluation of the experience, just because there is so much
disturbance.
ii) Media use in its particular acts is frequently, even typically, of relatively
low salience and often subordinated to other activities and pre-occu-
pations (despite the value placed on media use in general). There is plenty
of evidence that media do not typically meet those communicative needs
which people think are personally very important (Katz, Gurevitch &
Haas, 1973; Rosengren & Windahl, 1989). Such needs are met by family,
friends and relationships embedded in institutional contexts. We can also
say that the longer term significance of media is often hidden from view
and its origins hard or impossible to trace.
iii) There is an intrinsic difficulty in finding an appropriate, shared and
communicable language or terminology for expressing and recording
ideas about motives, gratifications, uses, and so forth. The core concept is
itself ambiguous and uncertain. The language available to most of us,
whether as researchers or audience members, for describing media ex-
perience is not very rich and we are not very good at using it. Neverthe-
less, gratification research does tend to assume that everyone can talk
easily about the satisfactions obtained or sought from media.
iv) The various choices and moments of choice that precede media use
are embedded in interactive and sequential relations with the operation of
many other factors, of longer or shorter duration, some of them unpre-
dictable and even random (McQuail, 1997). It is probably logically as well
as practically difficult to presume to be able to discover the true causes of
media use behavior except in some artificially controlled situation.
v) The media ‘texts’ which form the object of interest to audiences are
particularly resistant to adequate classification in terms relevant to audi-
ence needs, except at the most superficial level. In addition, for various
reasons, gratification researchers have never been sufficiently interested in
 Conceptual problems and some ways forward for media use research 41

the actual content of what they study or, even if interested, unable to in-
corporate any sensitive measure of content into research (if only because
of the scale of the task).
vi) The outcomes of empirical research using typical instruments of scal-
ing and variable analysis tend to lean towards maximizing reliability and
generalizability rather than validity.
vii) The problem area and field of enquiry is endless and complex, invol-
ving very diverse phenomena, concepts and multiple levels of analysis.

Developments in media gratification research

Naming these difficulties helps one to understand the limited achievement
of the approach. Much effort has since been put into both criticism and re-
finement of the original 1970s approach, with particular reference to the
following matters, which are named without elaboration, although each
merits extended discussion. I am not concerned here any further with re-
sponding to criticism, unless it has some positive implication for audience
research. Some of the developments represent continued work within the
original tradition, others stem from the development of alternative para-
digms, particular those stemming from what is now called ‘reception re-
search’ and applications of ideas from ‘cultural studies’ (see Jensen & Ro-
sengren, 1990). Taken together, all the following points constitute evidence
of continued theoretical and empirical vigor in this field of enquiry.

i) The notion of audience activity has been developed since its early ap-
plications and alternative meanings and types have distinguished (e.g.,
Biocca, 1988). The simple notion of an ‘active audience’ has disappeared
and efforts have been made to recognize the habitual and unselective
character of much if not most audience behavior (Barwise & Ehrenberg,
1988).
ii) Similarly, theory and research have come to pay more attention to the
temporal order of stages in the media Use and Gratification process, from
background factors, to expectations to use, to reflection on use (Levy &
Windahl, 1983).
iii) The distinction between cognitive and affective/evaluative elements of
audience expectations and responses has been recognized and con-
structed into models (Palmgreen & Wenner, 1985), with a parallel differ-
entiation between what can be considered more cognitive or more ‘cul-
tural’ types of media content (McQuail, 1984).
iv) Along with this, one can note the recognition given to matters of emo-
tion and pleasure, the former stressed by psychologists, the latter by cul-
42 Denis McQuail

tural studies theorists (e.g., Fiske, 1987), but also in psychological ap-
proaches (see Zillmann, 1994). The original model was far too rationalistic
and perhaps simplicistic to cope with these aspects of media gratifications.
v) Separate mention is due to advances in understanding of media involve-
ment as an intrinsic physiological component in media use (various works
of Zillman, 1980).
vi) The normative character of media use has also been given more atten-
tion (e.g., Alasuutari, 1992; Krcmar, 1996). Although it is not a new dis-
covery that what people do and say in relation to the media is influenced
by social and moral norms, the original model tended to regard this as a
distraction from the true driving forces. The recommendation of value
neutrality made to audience researchers was taken somewhat too far and
led to neglect of the significance of social norms in the gratification pro-
cess as well as in the process of selection and use.
vii) The importance of both media and social structure together in creat-
ing a general orientation to media and thus a general basis for more specific
use decisions, has been given more adequate recognition (Weibull, 1985).
viii) The original model always tended to locate uses along with gratifica-
tions in what was often a somewhat confusing manner. Uses were trans-
lated into the coin of gratification for purposes of data-collection and
analysis. The particular emphasis placed in modern reception research on
the social-contextual influences on media use and on intrinsic, but ‘sec-
ondary’, satisfactions of media use has helped to redress the balance, by
refocusing attention on media use behavior itself.
ix) More generally, the ‘everyday life’ school of cultural studies has helped
to place media use in a wider context. It also looks at media use from a dif-
ferent perspective which helps to understand what people say about the
media and to gain a better idea of its significance or relative lack of signifi-
cance (Moores, 1993).
x) A related but different type of research which has developed into the
link between life-styles and patterns of media taste has much to offer (see
Rosengren, 2000), especially as the methods of research are usually close
to the preferred tools of uses and gratifications research (Sigrist, 1994).
The older concept of ‘taste culture’ is also relevant.
xi) Separate mention is due to studies of media fans (e.g., Lewis, 1992), es-
pecially as this is widened to include fans of different kinds of media con-
tent (e.g., of music, cf. Lull, 1992). The original tradition took the existence
of fans for granted and built fandom into its research designs, but without
much thought for the wider, collective, character of the phenomenon. Fans
were simply individuals with heavier consumption patterns.
xii) The arrival of new media (especially the Internet) and new uses of
existing media has been a stimulus to research and one of the strengths of
 Conceptual problems and some ways forward for media use research 43

the Uses and Gratifications approach has come into its own – the capacity
for comparative analysis of the appeal – for different media for different
audiences.
xiii) Finally, the considerable work done in neighboring fields on texts
and genres, especially in relation to entertainment and fiction has indi-
rectly helped would-be gratification researchers. These were, as noted
above, hampered not just by insensitivity in respect of media content, but
lack of developed tools and examples of text analysis. Research into how
audiences ‘read’ or ‘decode’ media texts (e.g., television news or soap op-
eras) is potentially very useful for media gratification research purposes. A
classic example is provided by Radway (1984).

A brief review of relevant developments in research and thinking around

media use is incomplete without a reminder that these itemized points
represent much broadening and changing of relevant theoretical ap-
proaches. In 1974, McQuail and Gurevitch distinguished three main vari-
ants of relevant theory under the names ‘structural/cultural’, ‘functionalist’
and ‘action/motivation’. The ‘functionalist’ variant represents the ‘main-
stream’ gratifications model, subject to many changes and influenced as
noted. The ‘structural/cultural’ approach has remained relatively underde-
veloped, despite its great explanatory power in relation to aggregate (and
individual) media selection behavior (see Weibull, 1985). However, it does
have a continuing value, especially perhaps in the area of new media re-
search referred to above.
The social action approach, with its much stronger emphasis on media
use as an outcome of subjective reflection on the life-world has since been
more clearly specified and advanced theoretically in various writings by
Renckstorf. The potential for application in empirical research is becom-
ing clear (Renckstorf, McQuail & Jankowski, 1999).
If one was sketching variant perspectives one would probably need to
include the broad ‘culturalist/reception’ theory approach as a distinctive
fourth alternative way into the territory of accounting for media use and
satisfaction. This in spite of the fact that it is partly constructed out of el-
ements of cultural, structural and social action theory.
One conclusion to be drawn from this excursion into the record of
critique and modification is that the original mission of charting media
gratifications and their origins, as envisaged 30 years or so ago, was truly
impossible. The scope and complexity of the task was simply too great
and the multiplicity of alternative disciplinary and methodological per-
spectives too numerous. There is also quite a lot of encouragement to be
derived from the richness of ideas and material generated over the years
by curiosity and enquiry concerning audience-media interactions.
44 Denis McQuail

Suggestions for progress: Some general reflections

The purpose of this paper is to reflect further on the lessons derived from
all this and to address a few limited aspects of the problem. It is quite clear
that we are faced with a number of inter-related, but separate, tasks of
problem-formulation and analysis. The terrain has to be subdivided into
manageable plots, so to speak. There are different ways of carrying out
this task of sub-division, to some extent depending on both the disciplin-
ary starting point and on the chosen theoretical perspective. Without de-
parting very far from the spirit of the original tradition of gratifications re-
search, an initial and quite pragmatic subdivision can be made in terms of
the main moments in a sequential account of media selection, attention
and response.
However, much more is involved than specifying and focusing on
stages in a continuous and systematic process. There may be little or no
system or process. Rather, these ‘moments’ constitute more or less auton-
omous topics or fields of enquiry which require different kinds of methods
and have their own set of goals. Very provisionally, these fields can be
identified as having to do with: taste culture and life style; media and con-
tent choice; involvement in the ongoing media experience and uses of
media; reflection on and evaluation of the media experience. In a little
more detail, the four areas can be summarized as follows.

Four ‘moments’ in media selection and use

A. Taste and life-style
This refers primarily to historical, personal-biographical accounts of
media likes and dislikes and general patterns of choice and use, with ref-
erence to the individual background, circumstances, personal tastes and
preferences as formed or developed in response to the changing possibil-
ities of media use. Basic habits and routines are explored and their in-
fluence assessed. The question of differences in media ‘affinity’ belongs
both here and in the succeeding stage (e.g., between reading, listening,
viewing).
B. Media choice
The process of choice-making and selection of media items at specific
times and places, given the situation represented by what is outlined under
A. Here we attend to search and choice strategies adopted by the audience
member, the role of information, the role of chance, the influence of social
context and of group dynamics. The influence of images of different media
(Perse, 1992) and of key genres, the application of personal normative
judgements and wider social norms relevant to content needs to be as-
 Conceptual problems and some ways forward for media use research 45

sessed. Developments in media have stimulated a valuable new body of

research into media choice (e.g., Webster & Wakshlag, 1983; Heeter &
Greenberg, 1988; McQuail, 1997).
C. Involvement in media experience and uses of media
Media use activity as ongoing and projected practice is the third moment
for research attention, where there are in fact two separate objects of re-
search interests. One relates to satisfactions directly experienced from the
content and behavior of media use, which are generally expressed in vari-
ous forms of ‘involvement’. Another relates to ‘secondary’ aspects and
implications of media as they fit into everyday routines and customary
practices associated with different life-styles and special occasions. The
context of use is central, preferences for solitary or for sociable attention
likewise being important.
D. Reflection and evaluation
The phase of evaluation is one where people reflect on their experience of
use, answer questions to interviewers, converse with others about the past
experience, compare their obtained expectations with what they expected
(Palmgreen & Wenner, 1985), confirm or revise plans about future use,
readjust selection strategies, learn new things about media content and so
forth.
It is almost inconceivable that one could really enquire deeply into all
these matters and interrelate the findings concerning the separate mo-
ments in any single overall model or even in a single extensive research
project. It is probably inadvizable to try. One of the failings of earlier re-
search was the attempt to do too much; too many variables, too many
levels of analysis, too much data collected. Essentially, it is a matter of
choosing priorities about what questions to answer and constructing
mixed designs as appropriate. There are quite rich materials available to
draw upon. It would also seem that the notion of gratification which is
chosen and the kind of operationalization which is indicated will differ
widely as between these fields of enquiry. There are different ways of
thinking about media gratifications as well as different ways of behavior in
relation to media and their contents.

A specific proposal concerning the moment of media choice

There are clearly many new opportunities for research and this suggestion
is addressed to just one aspect of the problem; that which relates to media
choice, the second ‘moment’ in the sequence just outlined. The focus on
media choice is influenced by two main considerations; first, that the po-
tential objects of enquiry in audience research, at whichever of the above
46 Denis McQuail

‘moments’ we select, are always complex outcomes of cognitions, valu-

ations and behaviors. Secondly, they are always subject to chance and un-
predictable influence. Because of this variability, we have to be careful not
to assume any fixed, consistent or predictable hierarchy or order in the
elements of cognition, affect and action. Unpredictability is also intrinsic
to media use behavior, which has its own dynamic, takes an interactive
course and is rarely deeply motivated or significant in itself. Frequently,
one cannot or do not plan or anticipate one’s media use gratifications.
These points are most relevant to the moment or field of media choice, al-
though there are some implications for other fields.
The specific and brief suggestion made here is that we can learn from
thinking about media effects, where it has proved fruitful to adopt alter-
native models of use and effect (Ray, 1973; Chaffee & Roser, 1986). Media
exposure can be precipitated in different ways and there are variable se-
quential and dynamic relations between knowledge, attitudes (affective dis-
position) and behavior which have been shown to have implications for ef-
fects. This theory is not directly applicable here, but it is suggestive for our
present purpose. I suggest the equivalents of the three elements as found
in gratifications research to be as follows:
Cognitions/information This refers to the general experience of media on
the part of the (potential) audience member; beliefs or opinions about
what is good for what circumstance, use or pleasure, based on experience;
specific information about the content of what is available.
Affective elements These cover feelings, emotions, attitudes (positive as
well as negative), valuations (personal and social/normative) in relation to
media use, to genres and to specific items of content. They also relate to
feelings about ones own circumstances and situation.
Conative level (actions) This refers to actions of search, selection, pur-
chase, media subscription, consultation, ongoing attention, physical in-
volvement, discontinued attention, zapping/switching, finding alternatives
to media use, discussion or comment concerning the media. More widely
it can refer to acquisition of reception equipment. Action often involves
other people in a social relationship.
To keep it simple, the following three variants of media gratification
processes can be distinguished, involving different relations between the
three basic elements as well as a difference of sequence.
 Conceptual problems and some ways forward for media use research 47

Variant I: The ‘traditional’ media need – gratifications model

Here the basic sequence of the three elements is as follows:

AFFECTIVE ––– COGNITIVE ––– CONATIVE

This reflects a version of the process of media use and gratification which
begins with an awareness of needs, feelings, emotions which are problem-
atic in one way or another. It is followed by a more or less motivated,
rational and informed selection amongst the available means (including
media use) for solving experienced problems; and is followed by choice
amongst actual media alternative and use (behavior).

Variant II: Circumstantial model of media use

Here the sequence is as follows:

CONATIVE –––––– AFFECTIVE –––––– COGNITIVE

The situation is one in which ‘exposure’ or ‘attention’ is triggered or initi-

ated by chance of circumstance or by unreflecting habit (e.g., opening the
morning or evening newspaper, turning on television after coming in, de-
pendence on other media use ‘gatekeepers’, random switching of tele-
vision channels). The person responds to what is offered and experi-
enced at first evaluatively, assessing its appeal or relevance positively or
negatively. If circumstances permit, this can lead to some informed deci-
sion to continue or to discontinue, to make some new choice or to con-
tribute to some decision with implications for subsequent behavior.
Learning takes place based on experience and reflection (this is the cog-
nitive phase).

Variant III: The rational consumer model of selective media use

COGNITIVE –––––– CONATIVE –––––– EVALUATIVE

This applies when the audience member has access to alternative media
suitable for different purposes, is well informed in advance about the con-
tent alternatives and is also conscious of certain needs and preferences.
Media use is then the result of an informed selection (behavior), which
is normally accompanied or followed by evaluation of the source and
48 Denis McQuail

its utility, with implication for subsequent behavior. This version seems
most appropriate for informational uses of the media and consultation for
instance. It could also apply to cultural content in the case of the well or-
ganized and selective audience member and where ‘cultural’ content fits
into a familiar and ordered set of categories.
These models are overlapping and interrelated types of media selection
and use, which may approximately characterize individuals, but which are
more relevant to characterizing different aspects of the process of selec-
tion. They are primarily intended for their heuristic value rather than as
bases for research design. As the comments indicate, all three models are
likely to apply to nearly everyone at some time or another. If the argument
is accepted, we should be careful, at the very least, not to assume that any
one model is useful for all purposes and situations. We should also be
aware that trying to fit empirical observations into an inappropriate model
can only lead to confused results. Any single model (or pure type) is likely
to be inappropriate.

In conclusion
While multiplying models and categories helps analytically and may offer
some guidance in designing research, it will not resolve the fundamental
problem of great complexity of what is involved in audience experience.
The proliferation and evolution of media has also made things more diffi-
cult since the early days of the Uses and Gratifications paradigm. From
now on there is no escape from viewing this whole territory of media
gratification research as beyond the scope of any one theoretical perspec-
tive or one person or team. It will require more perspectives than a single
researcher is likely to be able to deploy. The intrinsic interest of the field of
audience research as a whole remains and there is a promise of interesting
discoveries still to be made, especially at a time of considerable flux in
audience behavior as a result of media change and expansion.

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 The ‘media use as social action’ approach 51

4 The ‘media use as social action’ approach:

4 Theory, methodology, and research evidence so far

Karsten Renckstorf and Fred Wester

Abstract

An action theoretical perspective for communication research is sketched and

a general reference model of the so-called ‘Media Use as Social Action’ Ap-
proach is outlined; how an audience deals with the media of communication
(including mass media) is considered a form of social action that is not only
conceptualized as external action, but also as external action being accompa-
nied by internal action during the process of self-interaction. This change in
perspective obviously implies a shift of accent in communication research.
Some of the implications for research designing and choice of adequate re-
search methods are discussed and research evidence gained so far is critically
reviewed.

Keywords: media use, social action theory, audience studies, communication

research, methodology, symbolic interactionism

Some twelve years ago – the ‘Uses and Gratifications Approach’ had al-
ready lost its attraction for many colleagues and its perspective was suf-
fering from a considerable loss of attention in professional journals and
academic communication research – a group of Dutch and German
scholars at the Department of Communication, University of Nijmegen,
started with the cooperative undertaking of initiating and conducting a
series of empirical studies in communication research using a social action
perspective as the main point of departure (Renckstorf, 1989; Renckstorf &
Nelissen, 1989; Bosman et al., 1989; Renckstorf & Wester, 1992; Renck-
storf & McQuail, 1996). Since then, a large number of studies has been
published, for instance under the label of ‘Media Use as Social Action: A
European Approach to Audience Studies’ (cf. Renckstorf, McQuail & Jan-
kowski, 1996), and quite a number of studies are still underway or not
even fully sketched out yet. Some of the studies published concentrated
on theoretical (cf. Renckstorf & Wester, 1992; Renckstorf, 1996) and/or
methodological issues (cf. Hendriks Vettehen, Renckstorf & Wester, 1996;
Renckstorf & Wester, 1997; Hendriks Vettehen, 1998), whereas others
focused on empirical findings (cf. Bosman & Renckstorf, 1996; Frissen,
52 Karsten Renckstorf and Fred Wester

1996; Mutsaers, 1996; Renckstorf & Hendriks Vettehen, 1996a, 1996b;

Hendriks Vettehen, Hietbrink & Renckstorf, 1996). Twelve years later,
time has come to reflect again on our research efforts up to now. That is,
to assess anew theory and methodology of the approach, as well as the re-
search evidence gained so far.

Theory: Conceptualizing ‘media use’ as ‘social action’

At the core of an action theoretical perspective on human life one will find a
concept of man as an action oriented being. Here, people engage in activity
on the basis of their own objectives, intentions and interests; they are
linked through a diversity of interactions, and are capable of reflecting on
their own actions and interactions with others. During the course of
everyday life people are confronted with a large number of material and
immaterial events, other persons, objects, considerations and questions.
They are able to act upon all of these ‘objects’ in the environment, of
which the mass media and their messages are also a part. Such action,
however, must be given form by the person himself.
In contrast to the animal world, where behavior to a relatively large de-
gree is determined by external factors or instinctively regulated (e.g.,
Claessens, 1968), man does not live in a type specific environment in which
the instinctive capabilities of the organism readily provide acceptable reac-
tions (Berger & Luckmann, 1967: 47). Human beings must therefore create
their ‘life-world’ (Schütz, 1932), which is to be shared with others. In every-
day life the individual is regularly confronted with repetitive situations in
which solutions are developed and methods of response are tried out, to
which others in turn react. In this manner the person develops ‘recipe
knowledge’ (Berger & Luckmann, 1967: 42) with respect to potential situ-
ations and routines which can be employed therein. Society can be con-
sidered as the sedimented form of such shared meanings and actions.
As social beings, that is to say, as more or less successfully socialized
beings, people generally know how to behave, how to act relative to a
particular role or position in relation to particular happenings, persons,
objects or questions (see Helle, 1968; Zijderveld, 1974). According to the
normative view of social action (cf. Wilson, 1970; Krappmann, 1969, 1972)
such prescriptions for action and rules of behavior are central; the preg-
iven rules guide action. However, the concrete situation in which action
takes place is seldom completely identical to the situation in which ‘cor-
rect’ action was previously exercised. Moreover, the role the person has
to play consists in fact of an entire set of sometimes conflicting roles. In
addition – and this point can be equally problematic – it is also the case
 The ‘media use as social action’ approach 53

that the ‘object’ for which the personal actions must be designed is gen-
erally understood, but that one can never be completely sure of this as
the context is continually changing. So the individual’s actual action pro-
ceeds much less problem-free than one would expect on the basis of nor-
mative or dispositional assumptions of a theory of social action (see Wil-
son, 1970).
According to the interpretive view of social action, such as symbolic in-
teractionism (Mead, 1934; Blumer, 1969; cf. Manis & Meltzer, 1972),
or the action theory of Schütz (1932, 1972; Schütz & Luckmann, 1979,
1984; Berger & Luckmann, 1967), which constitutes the foundation of the
more recent variants of the sociology of knowledge (Zijderveld, 1974), the
meaning-making activity of the acting person stands central. The excep-
tional nature of human action is marked by the fact that the acting individ-
ual must interpret all components of such action – the situation, the objects,
the action of the other, and the action of the individual – in order to provide
them with meaning and in so doing to give form to the action. This does not
necessarily mean that each and every interaction situation will be experi-
enced as being problematic. Schütz remarks that the majority of everyday
experiences – that are in accordance with former experiences – are rou-
tinely stored in the everyday ‘stock of knowledge’ and are thus given an ap-
propriate meaning without difficulty. A subjective problem with which an
individual must consciously be concerned only arises:
“… if an actual experience does not readily ‘fit’ into a type at hand in the
stock of knowledge …” (Schütz & Luckmann, 1974: 202)
The normal procedure regarding the performing of an action in everyday
reality is that the everyday situation as a problem is characterized as non-
problematic. Such problems are naturally, and in a certain sense pre-reflex-
ively (Zijderveld, 1974), provided with meaning whereby action is made
possible (see Figure 4.1.).
According to an interpretive, action theoretical perspective, human ac-
tion in general, and human social action especially, is not to be considered a
‘reaction’ to an ‘objective’ action or even more generally an ‘object’, but as
carefully planned activity (‘re-action’) in the light of the actor’s own hier-
archy of relevances. Or, as Blumer expressed it:
“The human being is seen as ‘social’ in a … profound sense – in the
sense of an organism that engages in social interaction with itself by mak-
ing indications to itself and responding to such indications … Instead of
being merely an organism that responds to the play of factors on or
through it, the human being is seen as an organism that has to deal with-
what it notes. It meets what it so notes by engaging in a process of self-
54 Karsten Renckstorf and Fred Wester

Figure 4.1. Steps in the process of defining the situation (cf. Renckstorf, 1996;
Figure 4.1. Renckstorf & Wester, 1999: 42)

indication in which it makes an object of what it notes, gives it meaning,

and uses the meaning as basis for directing its action. Its behavior with
regard to what it notes … is an action that arises out of the interpretation
made through the process of self-indication”. (Blumer, 1969: 14, italics
added, KR/FW)
Of course, in defining the situation and in interpreting action and objects
(Thomas, 1932) a certain degree of help is provided by the social stock of
knowledge (Schütz & Luckmann, 1979, 1984) that is created in each cul-
ture and is transferred through learning processes. However, given that
 The ‘media use as social action’ approach 55

these patterns are applicable only within a particular cultural range and
are relatively situation specific, they are, taken on their own, necessarily
too general to really guide actions in the sense of making action problem
free for the actor.
Frequently, definitions of situations are to be created through negoti-
ations with others, and thus frameworks for meaning and interpretation
are formulated anew. The meaning attached cannot, thereby, be con-
sidered permanent, but is rather, in principle, subject to continuous re-in-
terpretation and re-definition (see Wilson, 1970; Blumer, 1969).
The above represents the general principles of the interpretive perspec-
tive of social action and social reality. Of course, these principles can also
be applied to themes in communication research. The result of such ap-
plication is evident: mass media and their messages are merely ‘objects’ in the
actor’s social environment, which provide the person with situations to be de-
fined. The actors and activities in the situation are also ‘objects’ for the
media using person, which have to be perceived, thematized and diag-
nosed. From this perspective the messages of the mass media are not to be
considered stimuli on their own, but rather events which, from the back-
ground of a (subjective) system of relevances (Schütz & Luckmann,
1979: 229–270; cf. Haferkamp, 1972), are perceived, thematized and diag-
nosed and thereby considered ‘objects’ which require interpretation. With re-
gard to the mass media and their messages this means that the media form
but a part of the meaning producing symbolic environment of human ac-
tors (cf. Hunziker, 1988).
In this perspective, viewers, listeners and readers are shortchanged if
they are conceptualized as mere ‘recipients’ of mass media messages. In
the framework of this perspective, media users are acting persons who in-
terpret media messages on the basis of their own objectives, values and
plans, and then – more or less carefully – construct their (external) ac-
tions. It is important to realize that the process of interpretation cannot be
entirely understood or explained on the basis of mere individual charac-
teristics; of course, the person comes to an interpretation by himself, but
this is not primarily an individual act (Lüscher, 1975). Instead, meanings
are social products, they emerge from procedures for defining within so-
cial interactions, and they constitute part of the identity of the person as
participant in the society (Blumer, 1969). Interpretation occurs on the
basis of the image the person has of himself; it is a form of self-interaction
in which experiences are confronted with the (subjective) knowledge sys-
tem as well as with the structure of relevances (Kleefmann, 1985). Inter-
pretation, in short, manifests itself within the framework of the person’s
actual and potential patterns of social action and interaction (cf. Schütz &
Luckmann, 1979, 1984).
56 Karsten Renckstorf and Fred Wester

On the basis of these considerations we are able to design a reference

model for mass communication research that structures processes of
mass communication following an action theoretical perspective (see Fi-
gure 4.2). As McQuail and Windahl (1993) noted, the action theoretical ref-
erence model shows some evident similarity with Rosengren’s model (Ro-
sengren, 1974). This implies that mass communication is an interactive
and recurrent process. Nevertheless, the starting point of the reference
model is different and alternative options are presented:
“At the outset (1) we see the individual adopting or having a definition of
the situation, in which experience from everyday life and interaction are
perceived, thematized and interpreted. The … factors of individual
make-up, social position and experience (2 and 3) enter into the defin-
ing and interpreting processes. The ‘route’ followed is then either con-
ceived as ‘problematic’ (4) or ‘unproblematic’ (5). If the former, action
on the problem is contemplated, motives (6) are formulated and deci-
sions about action taken (7). These can include media selection and use
as one type of external action (8). The alternative, unproblematic, route
can also lead, by way of everyday routines (9), to similar actions, also in-
cluding media use. … Whether motivated or not, media use is subject
to evaluation (10) by the individual and is followed by a new sequence
of definition and interpretation”. (McQuail & Windahl, 1993: 144)
The reference model (see Figure 4.2) shows that ‘media use’ is not to be
found on a single, fixed place. Obviously, this fact itself does not mean im-
provement, but with the aid of the model it is possible to identify, separate,
but also, integrate various relevant aspects of media use within one model.
For example, instrumental as well as ritualized forms of media use (cf.
Rubin, 1984), which often have been described as antagonistic concepts of
communication research, are here integrated within the same frame of ref-
erence. And, with regard to the process of defining the situation – in the
‘internal action’ phases of perceiving, thematizing and diagnosing – it is rea-
sonable to conceptualize ‘media use’ as ‘referring to information’ formerly
distributed via mass media, or, as making use of clusters of information re-
lated to complex images of reality which compare with what Lippmann
(1922) once called the ‘pictures in our heads’. Furthermore, in the internal
phase of the (ideal type of) action process – the phase relating to the ‘inter-
nal’ solution of a problem – ‘media use’ could be, once again, conceptual-
ized as the preferred internal ‘reference to information distributed via the
media’. In the phase of ‘external action’ – that is, what is often called ‘overt
behavior’ (cf. Mead, 1934; Hulett, 1966), the phase relating to the ‘external’
solution of problems –, ‘media use’ can also be conceived of as the ‘adoption
of models’ for action, as these have been found in mass mediated programs.
 The ‘media use as social action’ approach 57

Figure 4.2. General action theoretical reference model for empirical (mass)
Figure 4.2. communication research (cf. Renckstorf, 1996: 28; Renckstorf & Wester,
Figure 4.2. 1999: 44)

In Figure 4.2 the context of media use has been elaborated upon with re-
gard to general factors contributing to the explanation of media use. This
especially concerns the societal, biographical and situational factors that
produce action patterns of which media use is a part. For more specific re-
search purposes, however, this general action theoretical reference model
can easily be adapted and specified to investigate special research prob-
lems. In the past years, several more specific frames of reference have been
developed and employed in empirical communication research; for in-
stance, in order to specify processes of using information offered by public
information campaigns (Bosman et al., 1989: 126), in order to structure
heavy viewer’s use of television (Frissen, 1992; 1996: 61), or, in order to spec-
ify relevant elements of processes of using TV news (Renckstorf & Wester,
1999: 47; Schaap et al., 2001: 51; Konig, Renckstorf & Wester, 1998).
58 Karsten Renckstorf and Fred Wester

Methodology: Combining qualitative and quantitative research

The ‘Media Use as Social Action’ framework conceives audiences’ coping
with mass media and people’s use of mediated messages, as a form of
social action which is not only concerned with external action (overt beha-
vior) but also with internal action (covert behavior), or self-interaction,
during interpretation processes. Above all, this means that – in compari-
son to conventional communication research – a shift in perspective is
needed. The study of ‘media impact’ for instance, usually regarded as the
study of the ‘effects of mediated messages on the behavior of their audi-
ences’, here, instead, is to be conceptualized as the study of the ‘conse-
quences audiences take after having perceived, thematized and diagnosed
mediated material’. The implications of such a shift in perspective for re-
search designing as well as the choice of adequate research methods have
elsewhere been considered in more general terms (Renckstorf & Wester,
1992; Hendriks Vettehen, Renckstorf & Wester, 1996). Here, just some of
the direct implications for communication research will be sketched; first,
implications with regard to the research approach and, second, impli-
cations for the research strategy.

Research approach
While focusing on the consequences of communication processes, our
framework implies a choice for a methodology which does justice to the
perspective of the actor – as we are to understand his or her behavior. Since
people act on the basis of the meaning they attach to objects, we are to
understand the meaning people ascribe to the objects of their everyday
life. This means, a ‘verstehende’ or interpretive methodology is to be em-
ployed which pays explicit attention to the reconstruction of the world
of those involved. As for mass communication processes, this means –
in principle – both communicators and recipients. Interpretive re-
search shares a number of principles, four of which are briefly described
here:
(1) The basis of verstehen is the meaning people ascribe to their environ-
ment. People act on the basis of the meanings they attach to objects,
which together constitute their ‘world’ (cf. ‘life-world’; Schütz, 1967).
The object of research, then, is a pre-interpreted reality.
(2) In order to study people’s behavior as meaningful conduct, inter-
pretive research has to view the objects as they are perceived by actors
in their everyday life situations. The researcher has, in fact, the task of
reconstructing that reality (Schwartz & Jacobs, 1979). In Mead’s termi-
 The ‘media use as social action’ approach 59

nology (Mead, 1934/1970), this has to be done by ‘role taking’; that is,
the researcher has to place himself in the position of an individual or
group in order to determine the meaning of a situation – according to
the actor’s definition of that situation.
(3) There are two main implications regarding the research design.
First, as Blumer put it, there should be a direct examination of the empiri-
cal world (Blumer, 1969: 33), and, second, the research procedure has to
be as open as possible; that is, directed towards direct contact with the
reality studied. This leads to a different research procedure. The pro-
cedure is not to first formulate concepts, operationalize and then
measure them, but to respect the nature of the empirical world of every-
day experience by becoming acquainted with the sphere of social life
under study. Theories and concepts are to be elaborated through explo-
ration and inspection of that world. Filstead (1970: 2), in this regard, con-
sidered qualitative methodology as “firsthand involvement in the social
world”. To achieve an as detailed description of events as possible, dif-
ferent data gathering techniques, such as observation, interview and
content analysis should be employed that complement each other
(‘triangulation’).
(4) A thus accomplished description in terms of the actor’s perspective
towards social reality (‘inner perspective’), however, is not sufficient.
This meaningful reality has to be objectified in concepts. This principle
constitutes the core of qualitative analysis. Schütz (1972) and Bruyn
(1966) mention in this regard the ‘ideal types’, whereas Blumer (1969)
suggests the use of ‘sensitizing concepts’.
That these well sounding principles are far from being trivial for method-
ology – that is, the consistent combination of theory and concrete research
methods of an action theoretically based communication research – can be
illustrated regarding content analysis. Content analysis is by definition an
interpretive method, but this does not mean that any application of con-
tent analysis techniques is relevant. As to the perspective used here, me-
diated materials are not significant in their own right, but should be
studied from the everyday life perspective of their producers as well as
their users. The description of mediated material per se, whether possible
at all, is inadequate and content analysis as a research method for an ‘ob-
jective’ description of mediated material rather irrelevant. Instead, me-
diated materials have to be studied (a) in the context of the work media
users have to do in order to make sense of it, and (b) as the products of ac-
tions of media authors. As to the former, content analysis may be applied
to give information referring to the context of media reception. With regard
to the latter, one general application of content analysis as a research
60 Karsten Renckstorf and Fred Wester

method in an interpretive perspective is the description of mediated ma-

terials as the objectified forms of the activities of media communicators. Al-
though such a description may give insights into characteristics and vari-
ations in professional communicator behavior, these observations should
be related to the perspectives relevant in that context. Thus, applied in an
interpretive context, content analysis may be used in combination with,
for instance, document study, interviews and/or participation in media
production situations.

Research strategy

The action theoretical model focuses on the complexity of media use,

which is conceived as social action taking place within the individual and
social boundaries of everyday life situations. An adequate research strat-
egy, then, should aim not only at an understanding of individual media
use (including individual interpretation and meaning-making), but also at
an understanding of its social embeddedness. Essentially, a convincing re-
search strategy should be directed towards the study of regularities in
media use, for example, the study of individual and social patterns of media
use. That is, among other things, an integrated planning of various types of
qualitative as well as quantitative research is needed – exploratory, theory-
developing, hypothesis-testing and evaluation research – to enable inves-
tigation of such patterns.

The shift in accent from external observable action to internal action

processes – perceiving, thematizing, diagnosing and, further, projection
and decision of action – and the related need for more insight into these
processes also places certain demands on the research strategy. It is
evident that internal action processes (‘covert behavior’) cannot be
‘measured’ in the same way as external action (‘overt behavior’). The
former involves a more qualitative research strategy to determine
whether and how internal action processes can be made visible. Quali-
tative research can provide both the necessary analytical framework and
the research instruments (see Wester, 1995; Peters & Wester, 1989;
Hendriks Vettehen, Renckstorf & Wester, 1996). In this regard, even
biographical research, such as life history-research of (types of) recipi-
ents may be undertaken. The insights gained may later be used to
develop larger scale descriptive or hypothesis-testing quantitative re-
search. Quantitative research can help much in discovering regularities in
the processes of defining situations and, thus, the interpretation of me-
diated material that bring about certain routines and/or patterns in media
use. Thus, regularities in a whole series of actions are measured – and
 The ‘media use as social action’ approach 61

not just during one or two isolated action sequences. The same holds
true for the characteristics of the actor’s social situation and his stock of
knowledge; these structural aspects are the first to be measured. Next,
regularities in actions are related to regularities in social situation and
stock of knowledge characteristics. And, finally, regularities in the inter-
mediating processes are to be inferred from these relations. In such a
manner, quantitative research and quantitative methods may also help
to provide some essential insights into the processes leading to and fol-
lowing media use (cf. Hendriks Vettehen, Renckstorf & Wester, 1996).
In line with the research approach described above, the case study should
be used more often as a research design (cf. Charlton & Neumann, 1985;
Lull, 1980, 1988). This involves a clear reorientation towards the investi-
gation of a relatively small number of cases chosen on an analytical basis
rather than large representative surveys (see Barton, 1968; Strauss, 1987;
Wester, 1995). Clearly, this is not to say that (large scale) survey research in
particular, or quantitative research methods in general, could not be useful
in approaching the problems within the field of mass communication; on
the contrary, provided that the problem statement is clear and the re-
searcher has got considerably elaborate concepts of the field in order
to define hypotheses and operationalizations, quantitative research will
prove to be extremely useful. Sometimes survey research is essential, but
in relation to the framework presented here, survey research cannot be
the only or, without further specification, the preferred research approach
for empirical (mass) communication research.
The above-mentioned implications lead, again, to the need for an inte-
grated planning of various types of research – exploratory, theory-devel-
oping, hypothesis-testing and evaluation research – around questions for-
mulated on the basis of the theoretical framework. In such a program for
(mass) communication research, applied and fundamental research pro-
jects should be closely related. The status quo in communication research
nowadays is still such that large scale continuous and quantifying research
projects are solely characterized as relevant in a policy context. As is often
not recognized, however, many small scale qualitative research projects
also contribute substantially, and do often fit better in a policy context (cf.
Patton, 1980). That is why an integration of both qualitative and quantifying
research is proposed here (cf. Hendriks Vettehen, Renckstorf & Wester,
1996: 42).
Qualitative methods are especially suitable as a method of exploration
because of their flexibility (Wester, 1995). In using methods such as
participant observation, in-depth interviews and group discussions it is
possible to acquire very detailed empirical material. This enables us to
62 Karsten Renckstorf and Fred Wester

reconstruct intermediary definition and interpretation processes more

accurately and to develop theories on a more abstract level about the
way these processes work.
Quantitative methods, on the other hand, have attractive aspects such as
the relatively easy processing of data and the possibility of generalizing
research results statistically for larger populations than those investi-
gated.
Through planning and coordination, it should be made possible that these
types of research yield cross-pollination. One may also consider the for-
mula whereby research of the one type is in principle related to research
questions of the other type. The action theoretical reference model may,
therefore, function as source of guidance both for large scale quantitative
and for small scale qualitative research – as well as for their integration.

Research evidence so far

The function of research approaches in general, and reference models,
such as the general action theoretical reference model in particular, is at
least threefold and may be described as follows:
(1) ordering and structuring of relevant literature and existing research
findings,
(2) steering and stimulating present and future research, and,
(3) integration of findings of present and future research, and, thus,
allowing the accumulation of insights and building up a professional
‘body of knowledge’.

Ordering and structuring of research

With regard to the first function, ordering and structuring of existing research
findings, several attempts have been made to review specific fields of com-
munication research.
First of all, we started with an overview of existing literature in the field
of people’s use of public information campaigns resulting in several advices
for the reformulation of research questions and the reorganization of com-
mon research projects in this area (Bosman et al., 1989; Renckstorf & Van
Woerkum, 1990; Nelissen, 1991). A specific reference model was devel-
oped, which has, since then, been serving as solid base for numerous em-
pirical studies carried out by staff (cf. Van der Rijt, 1996, 1998, 2000; Van
der Rijt & Need, 1996) as well as students at the Department of Com-
munication, University of Nijmegen (cf. Nelissen, 2001). In all of these
 The ‘media use as social action’ approach 63

studies, audiences are not conceptualized as passive receivers of in-

formation delivered by public organizations, but as agents actively ap-
proaching mediated materials against the background of their own per-
spectives.
Another attempt was made regarding the problem of heavy viewing.
Despite the considerable social and scientific interest in the phenomenon
of ‘heavy viewers’, research had been driven by a rather one-sided and
stereotypical concept of this category of people, characterized by an ex-
tensive exposure to televised programs (Frissen, 1992, 1996). A theoreti-
cal perspective on heavy viewing was in fact absent and an adequate in-
terpretation of research findings was, thus, impeded. Heavy viewing was
often understood as being a part of a complex syndrome, which includes
lower education, lower mobility, lower aspirations, higher anxieties and
further class and gender related characteristics (cf. Gerbner & Gross, 1976).
Instead, as Frissen’s empirical study showed, heavy viewing can – and
should – be conceptualized as a multi-faceted phenomenon; that is, “… a
pattern of social action which can take different forms and follow different
definitions of the situation.” What Frissen found in her Ph.D. thesis, was
not “one, all embracing explanation of heavy viewing, but … empirical
clues for different, situation-specific explanations of the phenomenon of heavy
viewing in different stages of the life cycle” (Frissen, 1996: 69).
The – up to now – perhaps most ambitious attempt of ordering and
structuring relevant literature and existing research findings was made con-
cerning the field of TV news research. Three decades of academic TV news
research; that is, some 250 empirical studies published in the period
1970–1998, were reviewed and the findings published as an ‘action theor-
etical inventory of issues and problems’ (Schaap, Renckstorf & Wester,
2001). The enormous amount and the diversity of the studies was con-
sidered one of the problems in reviewing TV news research. In light of this
problem a specific action theoretical frame of reference for the study of TV
news use (see Figure 4.3) was developed and applied in order to provide a
systematic, consistent and theoretically coherent overview of recent re-
search on TV news use for the sake of pointing out ‘gaps’ of past research
and defining some ‘new’ issues for a future research agenda.
By reviewing the relevant research literature, the presumed lack of the-
oretical coherence soon became evident, and the conclusion was drawn
that research efforts up to then had not led to definite insights into either
the impact of TV news or the social functions of televised news. According
to the specified action theoretical reference model applied1, ten major re-
search domains were discerned. As could be shown, past research efforts
had not been evenly distributed among these domains. At least four some-
what ‘underdeveloped’ domains in TV news research were identified: ‘in-
64 Karsten Renckstorf and Fred Wester

teraction situation’, ‘action strategies’, ‘social networks’, and ‘objectivation’

(Schaap et al., 2001: 71).
For instance, little research has been done on the interaction situation in
which the use of TV news is embedded. Evidence so far, we concluded
“… allows for some sketchy conclusions about everyday viewing practices
and activities, but much is still uncharted” (ibidem: 72). As media use is
conceived of as a social activity, the influence of ‘others’ in the viewing sur-
roundings should be studied more systematically, for instance, with regard
to ‘para-social interaction’, or, with regard to the changing role the media
may play for their users in times of changing media landscapes. The role
of everyday time schedules, as well as the role ‘others’ play in developing
television viewing routines and/or patterns of TV news use, have not been
studied sufficiently.
Further domains, such as action strategies, social networks, and objecti-
vation, also turned out to be underinvestigated fields of TV news research;
many of the relevant research questions to be posed here are still left un-
answered, whereas others have not yet been answered in a really convinc-
ing way. It might seem quite evident – as to the domain of action strat-
egies – that most of TV news use is a matter of routine. However, very little
is known about situations in which people are confronted with in-
formation that is highly problematic to them. In other words, problematic
and non-problematic coping with TV news has hardly been discerned and
described – nor explained. Little is known about the effects of social net-
works on situation definitions of TV news users and little is known about
how the viewer is socialized in news viewing. Still less is known about
long-term effects of TV news use on behavioral patterns, or objectivation.
In fact, not a single study was found which specifically investigates action
patterns related to TV news viewing. Perhaps one of the most interesting,
but hardly addressed questions concerning objectivation is how patterns of
TV news use are influenced and shaped – that is, socially determined – by
(sub)cultural forms of news viewing.
On the other hand, four of the ten domains discerned – such as rel-
evance structure, definition of the situation, institutions and information – had
in fact enjoyed a great deal of past research efforts. However, as could be
shown, much is still to be investigated and/or re-investigated. The re-
search perspectives chosen so far have proved to be rather inadequate to
tackle the problem at hand in a convincing manner. For instance, the in-
terpretation of televised news, often conceptualized as recall and/or compre-
hension of TV news, has essentially been studied in cognitive processing
terminology only. Research results, often showing poor recall ratings as
well as low comprehension levels – in comparison to what had been de-
livered on screen –, have usually been interpreted from the standpoint of
 The ‘media use as social action’ approach 65

Figure 4.3. Specified action theoretical model for the study of television news use
Figure 4.3. (cf. Renckstorf & Wester, 1999: 47)
66 Karsten Renckstorf and Fred Wester

an ‘objective’ observer, whereas the results may also point to an integrated

processing of TV news. Evidently, viewers tend to restructure the news
and make inferences about news – following their own structure of rel-
evances – when processing them. This calls for a ‘user perspective’ on the
interpretation of TV news. Schaap et al., therefore, argued that it might be
just the practice of present mainstream news research – based on an ‘ob-
jective observer perspective’ – that “… accounts for a great deal of ‘mis-
understandings’ found in present recall or comprehension research” (ibi-
dem)2.
With regard to the domain of institutions – to give a last example, here –
we suggested to investigate the role information sources may play in the
process of news making. From an action theoretical perspective the pro-
cess of news making, carried out by professional journalists, is assumed to
be a process of continuously defining and re-defining what did happen and
what did not, thus, a process of constructing a social reality by permanently
taking decisions about which events, which developments in the world/the
country/the region, respectively did take place and which ones did not.
As journalists are almost always dependent on information they get from
others, journalists’ use of information sources should play a crucial role in
the process of news production (cf. Pleijter & Renckstorf, 1998: 84).
For a more comprehensive overview over alternative research issues for
the study of television news use suggested in our inventory, see Table 4.1.

Steering and stimulating research

An important function of research approaches is, of course, the function
of steering and stimulating research. By initiating and directing empirical
communication research in accordance with the approach at hand, it is sup-
posed to gain insights into the use people make of mediated communi-
cation – as well as the consequences this has.
Much of our research activities up to now have been concentrating,
though not exclusively, on the fields mentioned above3. For present pur-
poses here, we will limit our overview4 to just some twenty empirical
studies5 covering the following four areas: research on the use (1) audiences
make of television, (2) people make of information delivered by public in-
formation campaigns, (3) communicators make of the media (making news),
and (4) audiences make of television news.
 The ‘media use as social action’ approach 67

Table 4.1. Suggestions for television news research agenda (Schaap et al., 2001: 74)

Research Issues
Present Additional
(2) Institutions
– norms & values of news making – concept of news
– news content characteristics – non-media institutions
– news information sources
– quality of media performance
(3) Social Networks
– networks as sources – networks as knowledge provider
– networks as socialization agents – how the viewer is socialized

(5) Interaction Situation

– exposure & everyday life – time schedules
– watching news as social activity – other activities (attentiveness)
– parasocial interaction – ‘others’ presence (use patterns)

(7) Definition of the Situation

process
– interpreting news – interpretation differences (range)
– emotional response (news definition)
product
– comprehension – incidental learning
– recall – power of the text
– evaluation – actual outcomes

(8) Action Strategies

– routine – non-problematic coping
– active problem solving – problematic coping

(9) Objectivation
– viewing patterns – professional groups
– professional views

(1) On the use audiences make of television

According to the action theoretical model, audiences are considered to be
a central element in mass communication. They are actively engaged in
processes of mediated communication on the basis of their own specific
objectives, intentions and interests. Furthermore, the model postulates
that all participants in the communication process – communicators as
well as audiences – are capable of reflecting on their own behavior and
continuously do so in interaction with others within their social networks.
68 Karsten Renckstorf and Fred Wester

This active involvement forms the basis for the actor’s media use; that is,
his/her interpretation of reality and, thus, his/her interpretation of media
content. Research undertaken up to now addresses the use of television
and televised messages by different audiences and focuses on the ways
people within specific situations attend to, experience, and render meaning
to television and television content.
Issues investigated so far include heavy viewing, non-viewing, and attend-
ing to foreign TV channels, television-viewing in different social contexts, etc.
Frissen (1996): Heavy viewing as social action
In spite of the considerable social and scientific interest in the phenom-
enon of ‘heavy viewing’, research has been driven by a rather one-sided
and stereotypical image of the category of ‘heavy viewers’. ‘Heavy view-
ing’ was supposed to be a part of a complex syndrome, which includes lower
education, lower mobility, lower aspirations, higher anxieties and other class
and gender related characteristics. Frissen developed an alternative the-
oretical perspective, which considers ‘heavy viewing’ to be a form of so-
cial action. Using data from a 1989 national survey in The Netherlands
(n=956), no evidence is found for an all-embracing explanation of
‘heavy viewing’. Instead, some empirical support is gained in favor of
different, situation-specific explanations of the phenomenon of ‘heavy view-
ing’ in different stages of the life cycle.
Renckstorf & Hendriks Vettehen (1996a): Non-viewers in The Netherlands
The authors examine the relative small proportion of the Dutch popu-
lation that never watches television. The lack of interest in structural non-
viewers in recent communication research was rather remarkable, inas-
much as they constitute a substantial part of our contemporary, western
societies; the amount of structural non-viewers is estimated to be be-
tween 3 and 4 per cent of the adult population. Descriptive analyses of
data from a 1989 national survey in The Netherlands (n=956) suggest
that in The Netherlands there are two distinct types of non-viewers. First,
there are the very religious Calvinist non-viewers, who often belong to
the lower socio-economic strata and second, the non-Calvinist non-
viewers often stemming from higher socio-economic strata. These two
types of non-viewers hold totally different values and attitudes – and
differ sharply in their social activities as well as the use of other media.
The findings question – among other – the commonly held position that
non-viewing indicates social disintegration.
Renckstorf & Hendriks Vettehen (1996b): Watching foreign TV channels
As a result of the deregulation of national and international communi-
cation markets, the availability of foreign TV channels in The Nether-
 The ‘media use as social action’ approach 69

lands has been increasing tremendously over the past couple of years –
as it has in most of the European countries. It was feared/hoped that
watching foreign TV channels might undercut ‘cultural identity’, or put
differently, might help to educate people and prepare them for ‘world
citizenship’. The analysis of data from a national survey in the Nether-
lands (n=956) suggests that a preference for foreign TV channels does
not imply a greater interest in or appreciation of events happening out-
side the viewer’s immediate social and cultural environment. Instead,
watching foreign TV channels seems to be a case of availability, general
interest and program preference.
Brehm (1994): Patterns of watching television
An illustration of a qualitative survey conducted from the perspective of
the social action model for media use is Brehm’s (1994) investigation of
patterns of television viewing in the context of everyday activities
through interviews with persons living together (n=15). She elaborates a
typology of viewing patterns and finds that, although every household had
a dominant pattern for watching television together, there were different
viewing patterns for the partners when watching television alone.
Mutsaers (1996): Television viewing as social activity
Watching television usually takes place within the social context of
family life. As a consequence, viewers must take into account interests
and preferences for particular programs of other household members.
Program choice and selection is, therefore, seldom an individual affair,
but the result of group interaction. This is one of the factors that may
lead to different patterns in viewing behavior and differences in the social
uses of television between people living together and those living alone.
Using data from a 1989 national survey in The Netherlands (n=956), re-
sults support the idea that program choice is normally not an individual,
but a collective activity. Since co-viewers influence program choice,
viewers are often forced to let program preferences of their housemates
prevail over their own. Consequently, the larger the size of a household,
the more often viewers have to comply with choices of their co-viewers.
Furthermore, there is evidence for a correlation between the variety of
TV program types watched and the number of people in a household.
The more people to negotiate the program choice with, the more ‘im-
poverished’ the program choice of the family as a whole becomes.
Huysmans, Lammers, Renckstorf & Wester (2000): Television viewing and
the temporal organization of daily life in households
A considerable share of free time is spent in the social context of
a household (cf. Huysmans, 2001). The social character of living to-
70 Karsten Renckstorf and Fred Wester

gether affects the time a day activities take place. Time use research
in households provides an opportunity to study the extent of household
members’ conducting the same activities at particular times of the day.
Using data of a summer 1997 time use study, including several ques-
tionnaires and diaries, administered by a sample of households (n=136)
in Nijmegen, The Netherlands, a multilevel analysis of data on televi-
sion use shows to what extent television viewing is influenced by the
temporal organization of the household.

(2) On the use people make of information delivered by public

(2) information campaigns
How to explain presence or absence of an audience’s information need for
information delivered by public information campaigns and/or public in-
formation services? Why do some people actively seek information and
how do they manage to obtain it, whereas others are absolutely not inter-
ested? Questions like these have been important concerns for communi-
cation research on the ‘effects’ of public information campaigns, as
understanding these matters may offer insights which could assist us in de-
signing proper strategies to reach and inform people more adequately by
public information campaigns.
Research up to now has been concentrating, for instance, on the con-
cept information needs as well as on types of information seeking.
Bosman & Renckstorf (1996): On the concept of ‘information needs’:
Problems, interest and media consumption
The need for information as a predictor for information consumption has
been criticized in recent years, particularly because it was often used in
communication research as an autonomous explanatory factor. An ac-
tion theoretical view on the use of public information campaigns (cf.
Bosman et al., 1989) shows that subjectively experienced (perceived) prob-
lems are the central factor in the creation of a demand for information,
and therefore in the pursuit of knowledge. In this study the authors try to
establish the determinants of information needs. A distinction is made
between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation for information consumption.
Based on a secondary analysis of data from a 1989 nationwide survey in
The Netherlands (n=956), an examination is made into the relative im-
portance of subjectively experienced problems as an extrinsic motivation in
explaining information needs as well as information consumption.
Van der Rijt (1996): Information needs of the elderly
This study elaborates on the proposition that two main types of in-
formation seeking behavior can be distinguished, namely, the process of
 The ‘media use as social action’ approach 71

information seeking of a more routine character and, secondly, the pro-

cess of information seeking that is much more specific in nature. As sec-
ondary analyses of data (n=319) from research on relevance and feasi-
bility of a special health information program for elderly people on local
TV in the city of Rotterdam, The Netherlands show, there is empirical
evidence for the proposition. The first type of information seeking beha-
vior implies a more general orientation to accumulate information with
regard to a specific domain, while the second type is characterized by a
specific orientation seeking out specific information on a special topic.
Furthermore, it is suggested that each type of information seeking may
have different roots or determinants; the first type may be determined by
social position and professional interest, whereas the second type may
be determined by ‘problematic’ problems which people experience.
Van der Rijt & Need (1996): Problem-guided and interest-guided in-
formation seeking
In their study the authors test the assumption that different patterns of
information seeking behavior have different determinants. It is postulated
that the search for specific, instant information in a certain domain is
more problem-guided, while information seeking with a more routine
character is more interest-guided. These propositions were tested in an
evaluation study of a health information device (‘Youth and Health’) for
primary schools and day care centers in Rotterdam, The Netherlands,
and surrounding areas. A mail questionnaire was sent to the persons at
the primary school or day-care center who bear responsibility for
children’s health. As analyses of the data (n=218) show, there are two
different sorts of uses of the guidebook, with different explanations. A
routine search for information, indicated by an extensive reading of the
guidebook, is mainly determined by professional interest in health in-
formation, whereas a more specific search for information, as indicated by
using the guidebook as a reference volume, is mainly determined by the
number of actual health problems perceived. The results, thus, indicate
clear evidence for the foregoing propositions.
Van der Rijt (1998): Determinants of the consumption of health in-
formation in the media
In previous research on the use of health information some evidence
has been found for the supposition that at least two patterns of in-
formation seeking can be discerned: a problem-guided and an interest-
guided pattern. For the purposes of the first pattern (i.e., problem-
guided), the general mass media are supposed to be of little value, as the
information supply is volatile and thus just seldom available when
needed – in order to solve an instant problem. Mass media, therefore,
72 Karsten Renckstorf and Fred Wester

are better suited for the second type of information seeking, that is, the
interest-guided type, to scan available media on relevant health in-
formation. Using data from a 1994 national survey in The Netherlands,
analyses of a representative sample (n=782) of the Dutch population, 18
to 70 years of age, strongly support the assumption that exposure to
health information in the mass media is mainly interest-guided and
much less problem-guided. Relevant factors that determine a person’s
exposure to health information in the media appear to be gender, a pre-
ventive orientation towards health and professional involvement, as
well as active avoidance of health information.
Nelissen (2000): Informing cancer patients
In The Netherlands, cancer patients can turn to a great many agencies to
obtain information about their disease. Health practitioners in hospitals
may play an important role in supplying relevant information, because they
have direct and frequent contact with these patients. Using Sense-Making
methodology, the author tries to answer the following questions: Which
questions do patients have? How are they answered? What is the role of
the medical care network in this? Interviews with health practitioners and
their patients from two hospitals (n=17 and n=24, respectively) were
conducted. Qualitative analyses showed that patients generally consider
medical information supply to be satisfactory. Quantitative analyses
showed even more clearly than qualitative analyses, that patients’ ques-
tions are largely of a non-medical kind, whereas health practitioners tend
to restrict themselves to offering merely medical information.

(3) On the use communicators make of the media (making news)

Following the action theoretical model, professional communicators, such
as newspapermen, radio or television journalists, are also seen as import-
ant participants of processes of mediated communication. They, like audi-
ences, are actively engaged in mass communication processes on the basis
of their specific objectives, intentions and interests.
Issues investigated so far include the role information sources play for
journalists in the course of their daily routines of defining news and con-
structing reality, the role audiences play for TV news journalists, as well as
the role prejudice may play in the production and reception of TV news.
Pleijter & Renckstorf (1998): Deciding what’s news. A case study on the use
of information sources by regional newspaper journalists in The Nether-
lands
How do journalists define what ‘news’ is, how do they construct ‘real-
ity’ – and, what is the role journalists’ information sources play in the
 The ‘media use as social action’ approach 73

process of professional news production? The case study was designed

to explore how, when and why journalists of a middle-sized regional
Dutch newspaper make use of information sources. By means of a con-
tent analysis, including all news reports that appeared on the regional
pages in a four-week period in 1994 (n=482), and by means of partici-
pant observation and open interviews with a sample of journalists (n=12)
of that newspaper, daily professional routines of constructing reality and
defining news were investigated. Results from the content analysis show
that journalists tend to make use of socially acknowledged institutions
and organizations as primary sources of information. More specifically,
findings from participant observation and open interviews revealed that
the organization of news gathering as well as the professional standards
held by the journalists are factors responsible for the important role es-
tablished institutions (such as the police and local authorities) play as
sources of information.

Hermans (2000): Professional activities of television news journalists

This Ph.D. project aims at the perception TV news journalists have of
their audience – and the way it involves their professional activities. It was
decided to study the professional activities of Dutch TV news journalists
in a broader context, for example the way the news production process is
organized shapes the situational context for the professional activities of
journalists. The global research question was reformulated in two more
specific research questions: (1) How is the daily production process of TV
news organized in which the journalists act? (2) Are there shared mean-
ing schemes and reality constructs underlying the occupational activities
of the TV news journalists? Qualitative field research was administered;
that is, data were gathered in the natural setting of the newsroom of the
Dutch public broadcasting system (NOS-journaal), responsible for about
ten bulletins per day. The methods used to gather data for this case study
were observations, including informal talks, and open interviews (n=31).
Results show, among other, that journalists’ perception of their audience
is specified by thoughts, conceptions and interpretations they have of the
people for whom they make their news items. Journalists give various
meanings to the concept ‘audience’: on the one hand they refer to the
actual viewer of their program, on the other they refer to their potential
target group; that is, all people for whom the news is made. It seems quite
evident that journalists use their audience as a reference group to con-
sider how to present a news item. However, journalists think the audience
cannot and should not be involved in the decisions which events have to
be defined as news. Because of their professional skills, journalists find
themselves capable of making the best decisions – in the public interest.
74 Karsten Renckstorf and Fred Wester

Konig (ongoing): On the influence of prejudice on the production and

reception of television news
An ongoing research project on the influence of prejudice on the pro-
duction and reception of television news is introduced and outlined.
The theoretical perspective of the project is derived from the sociology
of knowledge of Berger & Luckmann (1967). Much emphasis is put on
the definition and discussion of television news and prejudice from this
perspective. The main research questions are introduced (including
questions such as ‘Is prejudice against Germany and Germans really
meddling with the production and reception of news?’, and, ‘How does
prejudice against Germany and Germans influence the production and
reception of news?’), and the research design is unfolded, using Dutch
television news about Germany and Germans as a case.

(4) On the use audiences make of television news

Having reviewed the relevant research literature at least four somewhat
‘underdeveloped’ domains in television news research were identified: ‘in-
teraction situation’, ‘action strategies’, ‘social networks’, and ‘objectivation’
(Schaap et al., 2001: 71). Not much research has been done so far on the
interaction situation in which the use of television news is embedded. As
media use is conceived of as a social activity, the influence of ‘others’ in the
viewing surroundings should be studied more systematically, for instance,
with regard to ‘parasocial interaction’, or, with regard to the changing role
the media may play for their users in times of changing media landscapes.
The role of everyday time schedules, as well as the role ‘others’ play with re-
gard to the development of television news viewing routines and/or patterns
of TV news use, have not been studied sufficiently.
The issues investigated up to now include the role of prior knowledge
and personal relevance in recalling TV news items, the use women make of
TV news, the exploration of routines and patterns of TV news use, as well as
the interpretation of televised news.
Hendriks Vettehen, Hietbrink & Renckstorf (1996): Differences between
men and women in recalling television news
One of the most consistent findings of television news research is that
men on the average recall TV news items better than women. Attempts
to explain findings such as these, however, have seldom been under-
taken. In this study hypotheses are tested in a laboratory setting (n=83)
with regard to differences in prior knowledge and personal relevance be-
tween men and women. The findings from this study suggest that prior
knowledge does have a mediating effect on recall. Men, in other words,
 The ‘media use as social action’ approach 75

do not necessarily recall all news items better, inasmuch as recall de-
pends at least partially on prior knowledge of the items presented.
Hermans & Van Snippenburg (1996): Women’s use of television news
Although most people watch television news regularly, little is known
about the meaning they attach to the genre ‘television news’ as a whole
or to the various issues reported. In this qualitative survey (n=14)
women from different social backgrounds were interviewed in order to
explore Dutch women’s use of the news; that is, news exposure as well as
rendered meanings. Analyses of in-depth interviews conducted suggest
that – in addition to commonly cited variables like educational level and
employment – type of employment and the cultural climate within the re-
spondent’s childhood family are also related to exposure and involve-
ment with TV news issues.
Konig, Renckstorf & Wester (1998): On the use of television news: Rou-
tines in watching the news
The action theoretical view on the use of TV news states that an appro-
priate concept of television news use should not only refer to internal
and external actions of self-conscious audience members, but should
also take into account the social and situational contexts in which news
watching is embedded. The so-called ‘interaction situation’ consists of
more than just a television set and a viewer watching the news. This
study addresses some dimensions of the interaction situation of using TV
news; that is, characteristics of the ways in which people routinely
structure the social and situational contexts surrounding their daily
news watching, are explored.
Using data from a 1994 national survey in The Netherlands (n=969),
routines in everyday use of television news use are explored and socio-
cultural profiles of everyday news watching are described. Two specific
routines in everyday news watching can be discerned and clearly distin-
guished from three more general routines in watching television in gen-
eral
Konig, Renckstorf & Wester (forthcoming): Patterns in television news use
In this study patterns of television news use are explored. In a previous
study (Konig et al., 1998) routines were defined as the standard ways of
using TV news in everyday situations, whereas patterns are defined here
as combinations of such routines. Using data from a national survey in
the Netherlands (n=969), results of quantitative analyses indicate that
people are much more likely to prefer watching TV news selectively
and attentively than watching the news while simultaneously engaging
in other activities. The chances of this preference for watching TV news
76 Karsten Renckstorf and Fred Wester

selectively and attentively are somewhat smaller for women, younger

people and people without well-informed citizen’s values. No evidence
of interaction between these determinants was found. Contrary to our
expectations, education, occupation, and having children do not seem
to influence self-reported patterns of television news use.
Schaap (ongoing): The interpretation of television news
The interpretation of televised news, in past projects has often been con-
ceptualized as a problem of recall and/or comprehension of television
news, and, as a matter of fact, has essentially been studied in cognitive
processing terminology only. Research results, often showing poor recall
ratings as well as low comprehension levels, have usually been interpreted
from the standpoint of an ‘objective’ observer, whereas the results may
also point to an integrated processing of television news. Evidently,
viewers tend to restructure the news and make inferences about news –
based on their own structure of relevances – when processing them.
This calls for a ‘user perspective’ on the interpretation of TV news, and
this is why, as we already mentioned above, Schaap et al. argued, it
might be just the practice of present mainstream news research that “…
accounts for a great deal of ‘misunderstandings’ found in present recall
or comprehension research” (Schaap et al., 2001: 72). In this ongoing
study an interpretive view on the use of TV news is used. Watching the
news is regarded as one of the many ways by which people try to make
sense of the outside world. They do so, it is assumed, by relating
news items (events) to the things they already know: comparing them,
weighting them, and sometimes using them to form an opinion on a
given subject. This process, which is called interpretation here, results in
thoughts. While it may be impossible to measure the process of interpre-
tation, it is presumed here, that it should be possible to administer cer-
tain techniques which can bring us close to people’s thoughts, that is the
results from that process. Thus, as is assumed here, it should be possible
to get an idea of what these internal processes constitute by measuring
the immediate outcome of interpretation processes. In the present stage
of the project it is tried to achieve this by analyzing verbal reports (cf.
protocol analysis).

Integration of research findings and accumulation of insights

The most important function of research approaches, evidently, is the

third function. The integration of findings of present (and future) research,
and thus allowing the accumulation of insights in order to build up a con-
sistent professional ‘body of knowledge’ is, obvious enough, crucial to the
 The ‘media use as social action’ approach 77

development of communication science as an academic discipline. How-

ever, this contribution does not provide us the appropriate context for
elaboration on this subject.
Although it will appear to us that the integration of findings, for in-
stance, of the projects sketched above should be possible in the context of
a meta-analysis, we have to admit that this has not been the case yet. At
this stage – with both past research efforts and ongoing research projects –
there is yet no clear evidence available as to whether the ‘Media Use as
Social Action’ approach really meets the demands of this third function.

In conclusion
As stated at the outset, a colloquium on “Action Theoretical Approaches
in European Communication Research: Theory, Methods & Findings”, is
a good occasion to reflect again on our research efforts up to now. That is,
to assess anew theory and methodology of the ‘Media Use as Social Action’
approach, as well as the research evidence gained so far.

What did we learn from this assessment?

First, the underlying theory was presented here in a rather compact ver-
sion, including a general action theoretical reference model. Essentially, this
modeling has up to now remained unchanged. Furthermore, several spec-
ified models have been formulated, relating to specific research issues. In
the specified action theoretical model for the study of television news use
ten domains could be discerned – and it seems as if the relevant research
problems up to now could be structured by means of these domains.

Secondly, with regard to the methodology both a research approach and a

research strategy have been sketched which meet the demands of an action
theoretical approach. The key issue of the research strategy, thus, is the in-
terpretation of individual actions and perspectives in terms of social pat-
terns. This asks for the integration of inventories (e.g., large scale survey
research) and interpretive research methods (e.g., qualitative case studies)
in order to discover action patterns – and define them in more generalized
terms.

Thirdly, the research evidence so far has been reviewed against the back-
ground of three functions research approaches should serve. As could be
shown, some success in monitoring; that is, in ordering and structuring of
past research efforts was booked. This success concerns both the field of
78 Karsten Renckstorf and Fred Wester

people’s use of public information campaigns, the problem of heavy viewing

and television news research. By means of specified action theoretical ref-
erence models, such as the specified action theoretical model for the study of
television news use existing research projects were inventoried and new rel-
evant research questions were generated.

Regarding the stimulating function, it may seem that a rather rich tradition
of empirical communication research has been emerging. As illustrated
above, research projects within four areas of research have been formu-
lated and carried out – showing some internal consistency and, thus, lead-
ing hopefully towards a coherent research program. But with regard to the
most important function of research approaches, that is, integration of find-
ings and accumulation of insights, we have had to state that at this point no
work has been done yet. Whether the action theoretical approach outlined
here, meets the demands of the third function could – and should – be as-
sessed in the context of a meta-analysis.

Evidently, much work remains to be done. But besides the series of ongoing
research projects, including projects on the conceptualization and measure-
ment of media literacy, the social embeddedness of media use and the use elderly
people make of ICT, etc., it has become evident that we should strive to for-
mulate and carry out such a meta-analysis of the approach at hand.

Notes

1. The specified action theoretical reference model for the study of tv news use has
been introduced and discussed more extensively elsewhere (cf. Renckstorf &
Wester, 1999; Schaap et al., 2001; Konig et al., 1998); the ten domains of tv news
research discerned by this modelling are: (1) situations, (2) institutions, (3) social
network, (4) information, (5) interaction situation, (6) structure of relevances,
(7) definition of the situation, (8) action strategies, (9) objectivation, and (10) so-
cialization (see Figure 4.3).
2. Despite of the fact that cognitive processes of news processing are now grad-
ually better understood, the consequences of affective processes remain largely
unclear. Consequently, we suggested that emotional reactions should be investi-
gated, because they may provide information with evaluations and judgements,
as the processing of news consists of both cognitive and affective components.
How these components might be intertwined and influence each other, ob-
viously, is difficult to investigate. Therefore, we suggested research on interpre-
tation differences of viewers from different backgrounds.
3. Since virtually all of the reviewed fields of communication research, i.e., the use of
public information campaigns, heavy viewing, and the use of tv news, have one main
 The ‘media use as social action’ approach 79

concern in common, i.e., how and why do people make use of media and mediated
messages – and what consequences does this have?, we choose for the title Media
Use in Everyday Life in order to indicate the efforts of our research program.
4. A more complete overview of the research projects carried out in the past years
is available in the Department Communication’s Research Assessments 1995,
and 2001, respectively (Faculty of Social Sciences/University of Nijmegen, 1995,
2001).
5. The studies are outlined here by means of the – sometimes slightly revised – ab-
stracts of the quoted research publications.

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 The foundation of communication and action in consciousness 85

5 The foundation of communication and action

5 in consciousness: Confronting action theory
5 with systems theoretical arguments
Frank Huysmans

Abstract

In action theoretical approaches to the study of mass communication processes,

media production and reception activity is interpreted (or ‘explained’) from the
point of view of individual consciousness. The intentionality of the actor is
viewed as the starting point for human (social) action. Communication is re-
garded as a process in which actors intentionally engage to exchange their
minds’ contents – and is therefore seen as a special case of human action. This
view is challenged by Luhmann’s social systems theory, which conceives of
communication as taking place outside of consciousness. Although communi-
cation is a product of the mutual non-transparency of individual conscious-
nesses, both consciousness and communication should be seen as self-repro-
ducing systems which cannot be a part of each other’s operations. According to
Luhmann, thoughts cannot be communicated – only communications can be
communicated, and thoughts can merely be thought. Actions should be seen as
the products of communication, namely of the attribution (be it through com-
munication or through thinking) of social descriptions to systems. Although it
may appear to be a fundamental issue, this difference in opinion between action
and systems theory can be overcome. In this article, arguments are presented
for incorporating Luhmann’s view of consciousness and communication as sep-
arate, but mutually observing systems into action theoretical approaches.

Keywords: action theory, systems theory, action, communication, conscious-

ness, social action

The individualism of action theory and the collectivism

of social theory
In an essay published in 1985, Jeffrey C. Alexander (1988) describes what
he calls the ‘individualist dilemma’ in phenomenological sociology and
symbolic interactionism. Both of these theoretical schools in sociology
86 Frank Huysmans

have opted for an individualist instead of a collectivist approach to the

problem of social order, i.e., how social order can exist given the fact that
people have more or less the same desires, the objects of these desires are
scarce and hence cannot be obtained by all. In stressing the individual
creative moment in social action, explaining how social reality can be
relatively orderly becomes a problem. In individualist theory, social life
must be opened to contingency to such an extent that it, “in the final
analysis, makes the understanding of order approximate randomness and
complete unpredictability” (Alexander, 1988: 224). Since most theorists of
society will not be satisfied with such randomness, Alexander posits that
they will incorporate “some aspect of supraindividual pressure or susten-
ance” (224) in their conceptual schemes. But even in doing so, these the-
orists are not willing to give up their individualist presuppositions. The
collectivist aspect of the theory, however, is not part of the theoretical
core; it is just ‘attached’ to it, and therefore
the collectivist reference will be indeterminate and vague. This indeter-
minacy and vagueness make it theoretically and empirically frustrating
and incomplete. To resolve this problem, obviously, the dilemma itself
(i.e., the choice between randomness or residual indeterminacy) must
be transcended; this can come about, however, only if the formal ad-
herence to individualism is abandoned (224–225).
The fact that phenomenology and interactionism have not followed that
last option is demonstrated in the remainder of Alexander’s essay. He
goes into considerable detail to show that both traditions have eventually
developed radical individualist positions in Harold Garfinkel and Herbert
Blumer, respectively. Their followers, Alexander notes, have been caught
within the individualist dilemma ever since (254).
Not having read the original essay, one could have the impression that
Alexander wished to do away with ‘individualist sociology’ in favor of
the collectivist stance he himself advocates. However, this is not the
case, for he makes a clear distinction between the presuppositions in re-
gard to social order on the one hand, and doing empirical research on
the other. Whereas he holds that the collectivist perspective is the sole
basis for a general framework for social theory, empirical research of in-
teraction between individuals “should incorporate whenever possible
the empirical insight of individualistic theories into the concrete oper-
ations, structures, and processes of the empirical interactions of con-
crete individuals” (225). There is, after all, no inherent contradiction be-
tween the assertion that only individuals are capable of autonomous
actions, and the simultaneous assertion that the results of these actions
have ‘emergent’ properties which cannot be traced back to the intentions
 The foundation of communication and action in consciousness 87

of individual actors (Alexander & Giesen, 1987: 20; see also Coleman,
1990).
This is roughly the perspective I want to advocate here. In both phe-
nomenology and symbolic interactionism, action is said to spring from the
individual consciousness of the actor, who interprets his environment (in-
cluding other actors, human artifacts, social institutions, cultural symbol
systems, etc.) and decides to act on the basis of this interpretation. In this
perspective, the social environment affects the situation only through the
conscious elaboration of the actor(s). Although this may be a useful guid-
ing principle for conducting empirical research, I want to argue that this
proposition cannot be held on to if the development of a social theory is
what is aimed at. The purpose, however, is not only to elaborate upon
Alexander’s remarks by showing that it is the stress placed on the actor’s
individual consciousness in both phenomenology and symbolic interac-
tionism that prevents either approach from being able to conceptualize the
‘collective moment’ in social action (see the next two sections). Next, I will
demonstrate a ‘way out’ by showing what can be gained for action theory
by seriously considering some of Luhmann’s remarks about the relation-
ship between consciousness and communication in social life. By distin-
guishing consciousness and communication as two separate but interde-
pendent systems, the first termed ‘psychic system’ and the second ‘social
system’, Luhmann offers an alternative perspective that, in my view, de-
serves being incorporated into action theory. What this means for the
study of human action in general and for social action approaches in mass
communications research in particular is sketched in the conclusion.

Phenomenological sociology: The foundation of action

in the stream of consciousness
If there is to be a founding father for the phenomenological branch in soci-
ology, it must be Alfred Schütz (1974) with his classic Der sinnhafte Aufbau
der sozialen Welt, which was first published in Vienna in 19321. Schütz sets
out to provide Weberian action theory with a phenomenological foun-
dation. He first criticizes Weber for not having properly defined what is
meant by the central category Sinn (meaning2) in his methodology, except
that the meaning and the motive for an action appear to be synonymous
(Schütz, 1974: 27). Weber (1984) analyzed the interconnectedness of
human social actions in terms of means and ends, and posited that social
actions can only be explained (in a second instance) after they have been
interpreted (‘verstanden’ ) by the researcher in terms of the subjective
meanings the actor(s) attach to it. In doing so, he instated individual con-
88 Frank Huysmans

sciousness in theory as the empirical locus of control in human social action.

Schütz, referring to the work of the philosopher Edmund Husserl, replaces
Weber’s means-ends-rationality by a phenomenological analysis of what
goes on in the consciousness of the actor while acting. Consciousness
directs its attention to itself by synthesizing actual experience with past and
future Bewusstseinserlebnisse. This synthesis, Sinnzusammenhang (meaning
context), provides the basis for projecting accomplished actions in the fu-
ture. By visualizing a future state in which this action shall be accomplished,
the actor mentally develops a project of his action, which, in Schütz’ view,
must be seen as the actual Sinn of his action (Schütz, 1974: 126).
In a next step, still firmly founding his analysis on strict Husserlian rea-
soning, Schütz explains how one consciousness can have access to the
Bewusstseinserlebnisse of another. Here, he falls back on ‘mundane’ ex-
periences of actors living in the ‘natural attitude’ (137ff; see also Schütz
& Luckmann, 1979, 1984). In everyday life, as an actor I only experi-
ence segments of another actor’s stream of consciousness through my
observations of his/her conduct and utterances, since most of the time I
subsume my experiences of the other’s conduct in objective meaning
contexts. That is, I only consider this actor’s finished meaning contexts,
not the meaning-giving process that has led to them (187ff). In order to
interpret the other’s actions, therefore, I only require access to my own
inner consciousness.
It is clear that Schütz, like Husserl, analyzes the social world strictly
through the acts of consciousness of individual actors. References to so-
cial categories such as ‘social environment’, ‘social relationships’ and
the like are made as if they can solely ‘exist’ through the eyes of indi-
viduals, the indivisible particles (‘atoms’) of social science. Also, the
emergence of patterned conduct in society is seen in terms of a reduc-
tion of psychic complexity, of freeing the individual from the burden of
having to choose each time anew how to behave in similar situations
(see, following Schütz in this respect, Berger and Luckmann, 1966:
50–51). The collectivist moment, in Alexander’s terms, is continually
mediated by individual consciousnesses. A prime example of the prob-
lems the theory runs into is tied to the concept of institutionalization as
advocated by Berger and Luckmann (1966). In an attempt to overcom-
pensate for the freedom of action that phenomenology bestows upon
individual actors, these authors tend to attach positive value to institu-
tionalization processes and the mutual integration of institutions. The
opposite process, segregation, is valued rather negatively. But for the
sociological observer, segregation of institutions is as much a phenom-
enon to be valued as is integration (Huysmans, 2001: 40)3. In short, due
 The foundation of communication and action in consciousness 89

to the problems that phenomenological sociology runs into because of

its individualist propositions, it has a tendency to theoretically ‘constrict’
individual freedom too tightly in order to arrive at explaining the relatively
orderly state most social systems find themselves in. The same, in my
view, is true for symbolic interactionism.

Symbolic interactionism: Definition of the situation

and joint action
As a branch of sociology under this heading, symbolic interactionism
has established itself mainly through the collection of essays by Herbert
Blumer, entitled Symbolic Interactionism: Perspective and Method (1986).
The most prominent essays are very programmatic in character, trying
to convince the sociological observer that the first thing (s)he should do is
get in touch with empirical reality (33–34). Blumer draws heavily on work
done in the Chicago School of sociology, in particular the work of George
Herbert Mead. In Blumer’s view, sociology has been too much concerned
with describing the “large parts or aspects” of society – institutions, classes,
organizations, corporations – in terms of “system principles”. Human
actors are seen as mere “media for the play and expression of the forces
or mechanisms of the system”. Instead, Blumer proposes to analyze what
happens in social systems “in terms of the process of interpretation en-
gaged in by the acting participants as they handle the situations at their
respective positions in the organization” (57–58). The point of departure in
his analysis is the definition of the situation. An acting individual needs to in-
terpret his immediate environment, give meaning to selected objects in that
environment, and construct a line of action before being able, indeed,
to act. ‘Joint or collective action’, as this takes place in groups and organ-
izations, relies on the same principle, even if the outcome of the fitting to-
gether of individual actions takes a direction unforeseen – if not unwanted –
by either participant. What prevents joint action from getting out of hand is
that both participants have the capacity to reflect on their own actions in
terms of how their counterparts interpret their behavior. They have devel-
oped an identity through repeatedly seeing their own actions through the
eyes of others. By being able to evaluate one’s own conduct from an outer
position, both interactants can consciously control their actions and
thereby arrive at a ‘joint’ action (cf. Mead, 1967: 73ff; Blumer, 1986: 111).
This point of view about the ‘nature of human action’ is extended to so-
cial science methodology: “one has to get inside of the defining process of
the actor in order to understand his action” (Blumer, 1986: 16). It is there,
as I have laid out elsewhere (Huysmans, 2001: 42–43) that Blumer starts
90 Frank Huysmans

to confuse his theoretical and methodological positions in speaking about

the nature and observation of ‘joint actions’. First, he states that theoreti-
cally joint actions have a dynamic of their own, which is more than the
sum total of multiple intertwining lines of action. So, in this stage of his
analysis an organizational principle is put forward. Methodologically, the
researcher who studies these joint actions is advised to seek contact with
the interacting individuals in order to get a grasp on their respective defi-
nitions of the situation, which “yields a picture of the organized complex”
of their joint action (Blumer, 1986: 58). Yet in a further, superfluous and
erroneous, step Blumer uses his methodological dictum as an argument
against theorizing joint actions in terms of organizational or system prin-
ciples (e.g., 59). This contradicts his own position. But there is no inherent
contradiction in both theorizing joint actions as having a dynamic of their
own and studying its emergence as such from the standpoints of the inter-
acting individuals (Alexander & Giesen, 1987: 20; cf., Alexander, 1988).
Multiple variants of the prisoner’s dilemma, in which the amount of com-
munication between the participants was varied, serve as a good case in
point (cf. Sears, Freedman & Peplau, 1985: 363–367). Like in phenom-
enological sociology, the idea that each action arises out of conscious con-
sideration and meaning attachment in each situation serves as a too
restrictive argument against theorizing social collectivities as having a dy-
namic of their own, a dynamic which provides boundaries for individual
meaning-giving. The point Blumer wants to make is that “the organization
of a human society is the framework inside of which social action takes
place and is not the determinant of that action. … Such organization and
changes in it are the product of the activity of acting units and not of
‘forces’ which leave such acting units out of account” (Blumer, 1986: 87).
Here, Blumer uses an old rhetorical trick; painting a caricature of the op-
ponent’s (i.e., ‘mainstream’ sociology’s) position in order to make your
own position look more acceptable. In doing so, however, he ties sym-
bolic interactionism too tightly to an anti-collectivist stance. Whenever he
speaks of social collectivities (like families, schools, churches), those col-
lectivities are seen as if they were individual ‘acting units’. The actions of
these ‘units’ are subject to the same situation definition and project-devel-
oping principles as are the actions of individuals.
Despite claiming that each collectivity in the last resort consists of act-
ing individuals, Blumer fails to describe how a collectivity succeeds in de-
marcating itself from its social environment and recognizes itself as such.
What is more, no distinction is made between an insider’s and the out-
siders’ views on the identity of the group. A social group’s definition of
itself may be wholly different from the definition the outside world has of
it (which is the case in individual identity formation as well). Since social
 The foundation of communication and action in consciousness 91

attributions of identity are a main source of social conflict, this is a serious

drawback of Blumer’s theoretical position. A social scientist trying to ac-
count for diverging identity attributions does not find, in symbolic inter-
actionism, the tools with which to construct a social theory that takes so-
cial mechanisms like these into account.
In stating that the social world and the meaning-giving processes taking
place within it arise from individual consciousness exclusively, and have to
be dealt with accordingly in a methodological sense, symbolic interaction-
ism has foresaken the potential of Mead’s pragmatic sociology. As Alex-
ander (1988: 251–252) puts it: “Whereas Mead usually, though not always,
spoke of meaning as the product of an unconscious attitudinal specifi-
cation of general cultural patterns, (…) Blumer’s individual is given in-
credible control over the meaning of his acts – a control contested only by
the presence of other, equally separated selves”4. How far the twain have
drifted apart gets clear, perhaps surprisingly, when Blumer’s work is con-
fronted with systems theory.

Systems theory: Human action as communicative attribution

As I have tried to demonstrate in the previous sections, both phenomeno-
logical sociology and symbolic interactionism have analyzed human ac-
tion and meaning-giving from the standpoint of individual ‘subjective
consciousness’. Either approach uses the ‘last resort’ argument to argue
against collectivism, by on the one hand acknowledging that supra-indi-
vidual categories like social structures and culture are important, but on
the other hand maintaining that ‘in the last resort’ it is the individual who
reproduces these categories in his actions. What is striking is that this has
been the case whilst there was an inherent necessity in neither approach to
take a polemicist attitude against collectivist positions5.
Nevertheless, the ‘last resort’ argument, convincing though it may
seem, has unduly prevented action theory from paying attention to the
analysis of social collectives. For it is one thing to say that every collective
arises from the situation definitions of actors engaged in joint action, but
quite another to arrive at descriptions, let alone explanations, for collec-
tive behavior. An important thing to recognize is that the objects an actor
finds present in the situation in which he is about to act are contingent upon the
actions of others. Therefore, his definition of the situation depends, to a
considerable extent, upon the definitions of his co-actors in that situation.
Blumer has tried to take this insecurity into account in his description of
the ‘joint action’ (1986: 109–110). But instead of first analyzing the prob-
lem, he immediately proceeds to its solution by mentioning the social
92 Frank Huysmans

character of definition schemes and the self-reflexivity each actor brings

to the situation. Talcott Parsons, whose ideas are strongly opposed by
Blumer, instead stresses the inherent insecurity in interaction situations
with his description of the double contingency problem:
The concept of interaction is the first-order step beyond the action con-
cept itself toward formulating the concept of social system. (…) The
crucial reference points for analyzing interaction are two: (1) that each
actor is both acting agent and object of orientation both to himself and to
the others; and (2) that, as acting agent, he orients to himself and to
others and, as object, has meaning to himself and to others, in all of the
primary modes or aspects. (…) From these premises derives the funda-
mental proposition of the double contingency of interaction. Not only,
as for isolated behaving units, animal or human, is a goal outcome con-
tingent on successful cognition and manipulation of environmental ob-
jects by the actors, but since the most important objects involved in in-
teraction act too, it is also contingent on their action or intervention in
the course of events (Parsons, 1968: 436).
The inherent instability of the interaction situation leads in Parsons’s eyes
to the genesis of a social system. According to Luhmann6 (1995: 103ff;
1984: 148ff), however, the solution Parsons brings to bear on the double
contingency problem – the presence of a normative orientation in both in-
teractants with the mutual assumption of consensus – already goes too far.
Luhmann states that this normative orientation compensating for the mu-
tual insecurity should not have been built, like Parsons did, into the con-
cept of double contingency. Rather, Luhmann sees double contingency –
“empty, closed, indeterminable self-reference” (Luhmann, 1995: 105;
1984: 151) as generating its own solution. In a situation of utter indeter-
minacy everything that happens has structuring value for the things to
happen next. After an initial step by one of the interacting participants,
every following step reduces complexity and thereby has determining
value.
Combining concepts from Parsons’s theory, general systems theory,
Weber’s categories of verstehende sociology, Husserlian phenomenology
and Mead’s pragmatism, Luhmann composes an abstract but at the same
time illuminating perspective on the social world. The fundamental rene-
wal Luhmann brings to social theory is that the double contingency prob-
lem, which arises in every situation in which two consciousnesses – mu-
tually intransparent ‘black boxes’, or psychic systems as Luhmann terms
them – meet, leads to the building of a social system which is nothing more
or less than communication, a self-referent network in which one com-
munication follows another. Communication, in Luhmann’s view, is not
 The foundation of communication and action in consciousness 93

something that emerges from consciousness. People are not speaking

their minds, translating their thoughts into words in what is called ‘com-
municative action’, like Habermas (1987) would have it (see Luhmann,
1995: 138, 1984: 192). Rather, both consciousness and communication
should be seen as self-determining and self-referent wholes on the basis
of meaning (Sinn). And subsequently, meaning is described as a phenom-
enon not exclusively restricted to the operations of consciousness. This
is a decisive break with the phenomenological tradition of Husserl
(Luhmann, 1995: 512; 1984: 93; cf. Kneer & Nassehi, 1993: 76) with far-
reaching consequences. Meaning refers to the ever-present difference, not
only in psychic experience but also in communication, between what
is actually present and what is temporarily pushed into the background of
attention. As meaning-based entities, psychic and social systems are
mutually dependent upon each other; i.e., communication ‘irritates’ con-
sciousness and vice versa. But they cannot interfere in each other’s oper-
ations. It is precisely because of the mutual non-transparency of con-
sciousnesses that communication comes about as a kind of ‘compen-
sation’.
It may not be clear from this brief sketch what is gained by such an ab-
stract perspective on communication and consciousness. Nor may it be
clear what it means for the conceptualization of human action, but I will
turn to that now. In my view, Luhmann provides rather thought-provok-
ing arguments, which should at least be reflected upon by action theorists.
Already in 1971, in a discussion with Habermas, he argued that if ‘mean-
ing’ is to be taken seriously as the basic concept of sociology, social
(and psychic) systems cannot ‘exist’ outside of meaning (Luhmann, 1971a:
11–12). The boundaries of society are meaning-constituted boundaries
and not of a physical or territorial nature. This is not to say that physical or
territorial boundaries are irrelevant, but it does say that they are not ‘part
of’ the system. Another implication is that a social system does not consist
of human beings. Instead, as has already been said, social systems consist
only of communications, and psychic systems consist of thoughts. In
these networks of mutually referring thoughts and communications
human beings are observed at most as entities in their environment. Mean-
ing, as a concept, is to be defined prior to the subject concept, as the last
necessarily presupposes the first (Luhmann, 1971b: 28). In action theory,
where meaning is seen to spring from the consciousness of the subject, it
is the other way around.
The implications of this for the conceptualization of human action can
be sensed now. Action is to be seen as a meaningful attribution of conduct
to a system, be it a social system (as in utterances like ‘the police have
taken precautionary measures’ or ‘my family has always travelled a lot’) or
94 Frank Huysmans

a psychic system (‘I have made good progress in my work today’; ‘you
shouldn’t have brought me flowers’). There is always a potential differ-
ence – and here a strong point of Luhmann’s theory comes to the fore-
front – between self-attribution of actions by a system and the attribu-
tion(s) to that system by other systems. For instance, one can be pleased
by one’s performance (‘I have done all I could to get the job finished
today’), whereas others may be not (‘Why is he leaving the office already,
can’t he work late for once?’). It is this difference in attribution that ac-
counts for much of social dynamics. If one confronts it with the way phe-
nomenology and symbolic interactionism conceive of human actions, it
can be seen that judging human social action from each actor’s intentions
leaves out the double contingency inherent in interaction. One can easily
surmise that the dissimilarity of perspectives can be socially important,
and even decisive, in juridical communication. What counts most in terms
of the social consequences is not whether the suspect actually intended to
kill the victim, or has actually committed the crime, but rather whether the
judge or the jury deems it proven beyond reasonable doubt that this was the
case and passes the according judgement (see Schneider, 1994). I will re-
turn to this briefly in the next section.
What strikes one is that Luhmann distances himself from a long tradi-
tion in sociology from Weber via Parsons to various strands of modern ac-
tion theory, which sees society as consisting of social actions, or human
beings. Social systems are no longer seen as the products of human action.
It is the other way around: “Sociality is not a special case of action; in-
stead, action is constituted in social systems by means of communication
and attribution as a reduction of complexity, as an indispensable self-sim-
plification of the system” (Luhmann, 1995: 137, 1984: 191). That such a
position will not be endorsed by symbolic interactionism is clear7; it is,
however, closer to Mead’s thinking than many a symbolic interactionist is
willing to concede (cf. Nassehi, 1993: 243).

Conclusion: Action theory between individualism

and collectivism
From the previous sections, one might have gained the impression that
a substitution of action theory by systems theory is advocated here.
My point is, however, more subtle than that. The question that will be
answered in this concluding section is; what can action theory gain by a
reflection on the criticisms that Luhmann brings to bear? A general
answer to that question would be; it can correct assumptions which have
been too one-sidedly individualistic, and thereby draw on the useful con-
 The foundation of communication and action in consciousness 95

tributions of phenomenology (Schütz) and pragmatism (Mead) to social

theory without incorporating the theoretical flaws added by either’s suc-
cessors.
Luhmann makes a very solid point in criticizing subjectivist theories,
which start with the subject and from there try to get a grasp of what ties
these subjects together. ‘Intersubjectivity’, in his view, is a formula which
is introduced the moment one tries to stick to the subjectivity of con-
sciousness and introduces something which cannot be conceived of in this
theory. The ‘inter’ contradicts the ‘subject’, or rather each subject has its
own intersubjectivity (Luhmann, 1986a: 42, see also 1995: 81, 146 [1984:
120, 202], 1997: 1027–1032). If one allows communication to be con-
ceived of as a system organizing itself outside of consciousness, this does
not mean, as is often claimed (for instance by Blumer), that the acting sub-
ject is determined from the outside, by the system. Even the opposite can
be said to be the case; i.e., because human beings are seen not as the
building blocks of society, but as objects in the environment of society, they
have more freedom in their actions, particularly more freedom to act ir-
rationally and immorally (cf. 1995: 212–213, 1984: 289). Communication,
after all, cannot take part in the operations of consciousness, and thus can
never tell consciousnesses what to think. Communication, on the other
hand, is more free to develop its own dynamics. This is more in line with
the common knowledge that once a conflict between two or more people
has started, it is very hard to control its course. Luhmann’s elaboration on
social conflict, in my view, serves as a case in point of the productivity of
this perspective (1995, 1984, chapter 9).
Furthermore, the point Luhmann makes about the Sinngrenzen (mean-
ing-constituted boundaries) of consciousness and communication should
be taken seriously both in action theory and in its methodology. Whereas
in action theory the actual performance of the preconceived act in the
outer world sometimes occupies a central place in the theory and these
acts are analyzed accordingly in research (as ‘physical entities’ so to
speak), this view is contested in systems theory. Everything that takes
place in social systems (in communication) does so in the form of mean-
ing. This is not to say that meaning would never refer to actual ‘things out
there’. Of course, we do move our bodies when we go shopping, and we
feel our vocal cords as we speak. There is a world out there, but for social
and psychic systems it only ‘exists’ in meaningful reference. An impli-
cation of this for empirical research is that actions should be analyzed ac-
cording to the theoretical scheme; i.e., as communicative or conscious at-
tributions. In the past decade, a discussion has been going on in German
sociology about the methodological implications of systems theoretical
thought which reconceptualizes Weber’s ‘Sinnverstehen’ and applies it to
96 Frank Huysmans

the analysis of communication protocols (see Kneer & Nassehi, 1991;

Nassehi, 1997; Schneider, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1997; Sutter, 1999; cf. Luh-
mann, 1986b) with illuminating results. The consciousness of the actor is
no longer seen as the primary or single source of meaning attribution. The
meaning of an action is constituted instead as a synthesis of self- and
foreign attribution, and the potential difference between the two can be
made productive (Schneider, 1994: 267).
In conclusion, action theoretical approaches in mass communications
research (see Anderson & Meyer, 1988; Charlton & Neumann, 1986;
Renckstorf, 1989, 1994; Renckstorf, McQuail & Jankowski, 1996;
Renckstorf & Wester, 1992; Schoening & Anderson, 1995) could develop
a more detailed perspective on the position of the mass media as a societal
subsystem (Luhmann, 1996). Describing the mass media as (a) social sys-
tem(s) is one thing (see for instance Renckstorf, 1994: 38), it is quite an-
other to explain their functioning from the situation definitions of the
actors involved, as action theory would have it. A more productive posi-
tion would be, in my view, to conceive of the mass media as a societal sub-
system, without downplaying the contribution of individual actors to its
functioning (see Scholl & Weischenberg, 1998; Huysmans, 2002). This en-
ables one to study the media supply and demand sides in one overarching
theoretical framework, which allows for human consciousness to observe
reality, but for the mass media as a social system as well. As was the case
in the study of juridical communication, the dissimilarity of perspectives
between the media themselves, between media and their users, and be-
tween media users themselves, could be rendered productive in a more
‘holistic’ approach (see Früh 1991) to media use research.

Notes
1. The English translation is entitled The phenomenology of the social world (1967).
2. A problematic translation, since the distinction between Sinn and Bedeutung in
German is blurred. A more apt translation, in my view, would be sense. I will
use meaning nevertheless in conformity to common practice in social science.
3. Another example of the underdeterminedness of social categories in Schütz’
work is the concept of ‘social time’. The concept pops up every now and then
(for example in Schütz and Luckmann, 1979, 1984) without being clarified. In
Schütz (1982: 224) a conceptualization is announced, but the manuscript ends
before the promise is redeemed. Nassehi (1993) concludes that social struc-
tures, and the social time category in particular, remain ‘underdefined’ in
Schütz (see also Huysmans, 2001: 71–75).
4. The same point of criticism on Blumer’s “misinterpretation of Mead” (Alex-
ander, 1988: 253) is made by Hans Joas in his dissertation Praktische Intersub-
 The foundation of communication and action in consciousness 97

jektivität (Joas, 1989: 12), who attributes the ‘enormous divergences’ between
symbolic interactionism and Mead’s work to ‘an extremely fragmentary recep-
tion’ of Mead’s work by Blumer.
5. “When we look at the most sophisticated and most successful strands of phe-
nomenology and interactionism, we see that they were not intended to be epis-
temological and ontological confrontations with theories that posit supraindi-
vidual order; rather, they were intended to give greater urgency to an empirical
aspect of order that has been neglected by most such collectivist theories, at
least post-Hegel; the relationship between the prior, supraindividual order and
the moment-to-moment unfolding of real historical time. The relations between
order and contingency, these traditions have argued, can be illuminated only by
a more detailed empirical understanding of the processes of individual con-
sciousness” (Alexander, 1988: 253–254).
6. Luhmann’s Soziale Systeme, Grundriß einer allgemeinen Theorie (1984) will be
cited here both in the original German version and in the English translation
(1995).
7. “‘Symbolic interactionism’ (…) builds a contingently acting alter ego into the
ego and sees, quite correctly, the process of mediation as the use of symbols.
But it treats the problem only on one side of the interaction, assuming that all is
the same on the other. It treats, so to speak, only half of double contingency and
thereby remains a theory of action. Social systems emerge, however, through
(and only through) the fact that both partners experience double contingency
and that the indeterminability of such a situation for both partners in any activity
that then takes place possesses significance for the formation of structures. This
cannot be grasped via the basic concept of action” (Luhmann, 1995: 108, 1984:
154).

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II Methods
102
 Media communication and social interaction 103

6 Media communication and social interaction:

6 Perspectives on action theory based reception
6 research
Angela Keppler

Abstract

Media and communication science have long been calling for an empirical
study into media and media-related communication processes as a whole. This
demand is founded on the insight that the foundation of media communication
is not just the one-sided influence of a sender on a recipient. In spite of all the
differences between direct communication and communication transmitted by
media, media communication also involves an interplay between media pro-
duction, media product and the circumstances of reception in which no one fac-
tor can ever completely determine the others. This contribution is concerned
with perspectives on qualitative action-theory oriented reception research.
Some basic considerations will be presented regarding methods which could be
ground-breaking for relevant research. The leitmotiv for this is the relationship
between media communication and social interaction as alluded to in the title.

Keywords: social interaction, media communication, meaning, mass-media re-

ception, television, media production

Introduction
This study aims to explain how only a combination of product and reception
analysis can provide the right perspective for research on mass-media recep-
tion processes. The domain of reception must be understood more broadly
than is usually the case. Reception involves not only the actual acquisition of
media messages, but also and above all the further communicative process-
ing of these messages, and especially their effects on peoples’ social praxis.
Media action in the broadest sense – and this concerns not only the domain
of production and its products, but also that of reception – should be under-
stood and analyzed as meaning-understanding and meaning-constituting, in
short; as meaningful action. Individual and societal interpretation patterns
are produced, consumed and reproduced by individuals in the frame of spe-
104 Angela Keppler

cific structural conditions. The aim of analysis should, therefore, not be to

discover the subjectively-intended meaning of an individual actor’s actions,
but rather to uncover the objective meaning structure1 of the respective ac-
tion, that of the respective concrete context of action.

A communication theory frame of reference

Research on communicative processes ought to be of central significance in
studying the social construction of reality. From childhood on, the individ-
ual’s personal identity is built up in meaningful social actions; adults’ daily
lives consist of mutually interwoven societal actions; individual and collec-
tive experiences and solutions for action and orientation problems are con-
stantly condensed and rendered inter-subjectively available by means of
communicative processes. Communicative processes with different orders
of magnitude produce the historical reality of a society. The systematic
study of the forms and functional multiplicity of communicative processes
and activities, as well as of how they are embedded in social interaction, has
developed over the past fifty years through the use of three approaches.
These include, first of all, the newer sociology of knowledge, particularly as
conceived and developed by Luckmann and Berger (1981), drawing on the
phenomenological (proto-) sociology of Schütz. Secondly, the approach of
ethnomethodology must be included, developed by Garfinkel. This approach
adopted specific Schützian ideas about the meaningful construction of the
social world and rendered them methodologically fruitful for the detailed
study of communicative processes using conversation analysis. The third ap-
proach, the ethnography of communication approach is equally important. It
was developed in the early sixties by Hymes and Gumperz, employing
American cultural anthropology and anthropological linguistics.
Communication research is linked to these traditions. I regard it as a fun-
damental discipline of social theory which understands communicative ac-
tion as “meaningful social action” in a Weberian sense (Weber, 1972: 1).
Communication should accordingly be understood primarily as a social
process, that is, a process in which people organize and produce under-
standing. This social process is in many ways predetermined: materially,
formally, linguistically and/or symbolically. Additionally, human com-
munication involves the use of already-accessible communication means
and communication forms. Communication is always linked to both social
and technological and media-technical preconditions. Researchers should
never forget this when studying societal communication processes.
The basic form of human communication continues to be a process of
oral, direct and reciprocal exchange. As a result of technical develop-
 Media communication and social interaction 105

ments, however, indirect forms of communication have gained in import-

ance and scope for modern societies. This makes it extremely important
to note that different forms of communication do not exist independently
of one another in the same social space. Rather, they have long been
multiply linked, an amalgamation which – with slogans such as ‘new
media’, ‘multimedia’ and ‘digital media’, is currently gaining in im-
portance. Exerting their influence not only on the advanced forms and
possibilities of digital communication, these various types of links be-
tween different forms of one-sided and interactive, indirect and direct
communication must become a central field of communication research.
Interpersonal face-to-face communication and communication using
technical media are connected on quite different levels. Interpersonal com-
munication plays, first of all, a major role in the production of media prod-
ucts by various media organizations. Secondly, on the level of presentation
and mode of representation of media products, its scope is steadily expan-
ding. And finally it plays a central role in reception, in the acquisition and
further processing of media contents.
However, the idea that communication should be understood as mean-
ingful social action applies to communication research in all these do-
mains. For the scientific study of communication this means that as ana-
lysts we draw on data which before any scientific consideration is already
based on actors’ interpretations. And, as Soeffner (1989) has convincingly
argued, this is as true of ‘quantitative’ research approaches as of ‘quali-
tative’ ones. In his article, Comments on shared standards of standardized and
non-standardized procedures in social research, Soeffner emphasizes that all
forms of social research – whether quantitative or qualitative – are based
on acts of interpretation, since they relate to data constituted by under-
standing, and reach their conclusions through data interpretation (Soeffner,
1989: 51–65). Thus while quantitative and qualitative procedures differ in
their methods, they do not differ in their premises and aims.
However, in research praxis, that is, in the application of concrete re-
search methods to concrete objects of investigation and approaches, this
results in quite significant differences; because of their research designs
and procedures, rigidly standardized methods start by narrowing down the
social space in which their subjects locate their action and reaction possi-
bilities. An open approach, on the other hand, accepts the communication
between researchers and their subjects as a constitutive component of the
research process. Openness is thus a necessary component of social re-
search interested in the interpretive-, action- and communication patterns.
These patterns become in a sense collectively binding, a characteristic
which is constantly reproduced by members of society and is modified by
their actions and interpretations. The central concern of action-theory
106 Angela Keppler

oriented social and communication research is to document this process

of constituting reality, analytically reconstruct it, and ultimately explain it.
Subjects’ modes of behavior cannot be understood simply as static repre-
sentations of an unchanging complex of effects, but rather as processual
segments of the reproduction and construction of social reality.

The connection between production, product and reception

The distinction between production and reception should also be dis-
cussed in light of the above-outlined perspective. Both are related to the
construction of a product. Media production aims at a specific spectrum
(and quantum) of reception; reception refers to a specific product per-
ceived as being an intentional and more or less meaningful presentation. In
the media product, in other words, the perspectives of production and re-
ception come together in a certain way. Even if reception can by no means
be understood as a response to the producer and mediator, as with direct
communication, it is nevertheless always the acquisition of a product cre-
ated in media production centers. The process of mass-media reception
cannot be understood without a precise study of the respectively received
products, and conversely the process of mass-media production cannot be
understood without considering its possible reception. Furthermore, re-
search must not only focus on producers’ intentions (what they want to
evoke or avoid), but also on possible responses which escape their notice.
Even determinedly reception-oriented research must always keep the
entire context of media communication in mind. I have previously indi-
cated that mass-media produced communication products themselves
provide important information to guide their reception. Borrowing from
Iser (1972), I have spoken of the ‘implicit viewer’ of media products. Using
the reception aesthetics of literature studies, media content can be seen
to render some perceptions more probable than others and encourage a
preference for activities in which one form of reception is more probable
than another, hence the concept of the ‘implicit viewer’. Unlike the text-
oriented approach of literary scholarship, however, the way in which a
product influences its perception, its potential reception, as it were, is only
one concern among others for the reception-oriented sociological ap-
proach. The study of the actual reception process must be given equal
consideration. What matters in empirical study is how specific products
are actually experienced, in other words; what free spaces for reception
are used or dispensed, within which contexts and in what ways.
Using the example of television viewing, it can be shown that different
genres display quite different degrees of openness to individual forms of
 Media communication and social interaction 107

viewer reception. Empirical studies have shown that non-fiction television

news reports tend to favor uncritical reception by encouraging viewers
to accept only the familiar as true, whether in terms of content or manner
of presentation (Keppler, 1985). It can be shown that non-fiction televi-
sion programs leave viewers less room for distanced reactions than, for
example, the various types of fictional television series. These findings
thus reveal the different structures of media products through the various
forms of actual reception.
In contrast to numerous investigations in the field of Cultural Studies, it
must, however, be emphasized that particularly in empirical research the
analysis of media products should be regarded as intrinsically valuable.
We should start from the premise that although the intrinsic character-
istics of media products may appear individually, in the reception process
they interact in within specific communication structures, which may re-
sult in a change in the perception of the product. Media communication
would be nothing without the media product, and by the same token, the
medium would be nothing without its social use. I would like to use two
examples to illustrate this.

First Example:
Intermeshing of communication and reception:
The communicative processing of media experiences
Media reception should be understood as an interplay of technically-me-
diated and direct personal communication, based on both produced and ac-
quired culture. For communication and cultural analysis this means that it
cannot be limited to the study of mass-cultural objectivations such as, for
example, the study of individual media products or genres, but must try to
discover the meaning contexts and practices in which these are located,
both for individuals and social groups. The interpretation of subjective
meaning-assigning and opinion-forming processes is one of the most urgent
goals. Studies which focus on the processing of media content in everyday
conversation can provide insight into these interpretation processes.
This is where Cultural Studies approaches meet those of ethnometho-
dology, the latter aiming to analyze the concepts of knowledge which so-
cial actors produce and employ in everyday life. For media research it is
primarily important to observe and describe in detail how pre-structured
meanings produced by various media are dealt with. Only on this basis
can valid non-reductive statements be made on topics such as the signifi-
cance of media in everyday life.
The methods of conversation analysis developed by ethnomethodology
provide excellent tools for analyzing communicative processes and pro-
108 Angela Keppler

cedures, not only on the level of production and the product, but also on the
level of reception. I will illustrate this briefly, using media reception research
as an example. The modes of communicative and interactive appropriation
of media offerings can be precisely observed and described using this ap-
proach, regardless of where one’s interest lies. Empirical research on these
concrete ways of dealing with the pre-structured production of meaning by
various media can provide insight into their actual use and thereby into their
precise meaning in different social contexts.
One of my conclusions in the frame of a broader analysis of family table
conversation was, for example, that for contemporary families television
is not necessarily a ‘communication-inhibiting device’. On the contrary,
my studies of media-related conversations show that, particularly in inti-
mate social communities, the media encourage conversation and thereby
help create meaning (Keppler, 1994). Such results cannot be obtained if
one limits one’s analysis to the ‘chronometric classification of types of ac-
tivity’. Rather, one must choose research methods in accord with the epis-
temological premises I described in the previous paragraph. Research also
shows that not only media productions complicate everyday conversation,
there are also structural limits to the ‘power’ of the media. For the laws
of direct communication are of a unique sort; if something has not been
appropriated in an intersubjective realm it will be unable to have any kind
of effect.
In the meantime, quite a number of studies have emphasized the idea
that people have a ‘free space’, a domain where they can determine their
own interpretation of a received media product, thus rejecting a simple
concept of one-sided communication. Examples include ‘Cultural Studies’
research, and also recent analyses in German-speaking countries of ‘media
appropriation’ in everyday conversation (Hepp, 1998; Holly & Püschel,
1993).
The perspective offered by a media product is seldom directly inte-
grated into the everyday orienting-knowledge of socialized individuals, a
notion supported by recent research. Only by way of specific social usage
do the communicative intrinsic qualities of a product reach its addressees.
And this usage often gives mass-media products their strongest effect pre-
cisely where it limits them in the filter of communicative processing.

Second example:
The relationship between media product and social use:
The perception of media actors on television
Even if under some circumstances we perceive actors on television, the
silver screen or theater stage as persons, it is still constitutive for all recep-
 Media communication and social interaction 109

tion processes that we can only communicate and interact with them in-
directly. A fundamental distinction between para-social interaction and di-
rect social interaction is that the latter refers to direct, two-sided face-to-face
communication in everyday life and the former to indirect, one-sided com-
munication with media characters.
In everyday conversation there are different ways of relating to the pro-
tagonists in television shows. Such conversations revolve around, for
example, how the shows were produced, how the sets were presumably
built, on what locations shows were filmed, and the quality of the acting
skills (Keppler, 1993: 11–24; Keppler & Seel, 1991: 877–889). Television
characters are clearly understood as representations. There also are, how-
ever, conversations about television series in which the boundaries be-
tween everyday reality and fiction become blurred. People talk about
characters and the actors playing them as if they were equally real and fic-
tional; both are, of course, confined to the closed world of the series.
Third, there are also cases of people discussing television characters as if
they were part of their everyday world.
These three types, which must be distinguished for analytical purposes,
often merge in everyday communication with viewers switching playfully
and non-problematically back and forth between different levels of per-
ception.
In this connection the decisive question for media theory concerns
the difference between media and everyday communication: Are ‘identi-
fication with and/or’ distancing from media personalities based on an
equation of media reality with the reality of everyday action, or is a pre-
condition a clearly-defined boundary between the two?
My thesis is that it makes a major difference whether we find ourselves
interacting with persons or characters, and that this difference has far-
reaching consequences for the identity-creating effects and socializing
force of the respective interaction (Keppler, 1995: 85–99; Keppler, 1996:
11–24). This thesis entails the supplementary assumption that interest in
(quasi)-interaction with fictional characters is based essentially on social
experiences of interaction with (real) persons. The important thing is thus
to differentiate between aspects shared by both types of interaction from
those specific to only one of them.
The main characters in a television series are typifications abstracted
from social actors and their individual attributes. In contrast, real people
are always particular individuals whom we sometimes, for example during
a conversation, socially typify, that is, assign to a general category. Social
typifications often form the background for moral or prejudicial judg-
ments of a person as a whole, or of a specific behavior. These typifications
are never of permanent duration; they can and do change, sometimes
110 Angela Keppler

within the same conversation (Keppler, 1987: 288–302). In concrete inter-

action with a social partner, however, the individual attributes and individ-
ual manifestations of specific persons always provide guidance. As people
change, the schemata assigned to them also change, and these two pro-
cesses of change are united in social life. This distinguishes real persons
from the characters in television series. The latter embody a specific type
of person and therefore remain essentially unchanged as long as the script
does not call for a change in their character. This must not happen too
often if the ’series‘ character is to appear as a consistent personality. A cer-
tain personal continuity is a precondition for the viewer’s familiarity with
characters, unlike real life, where people become acquainted with one an-
other in quite varied social situations and can also distance themselves or
break off relationships entirely. We know the ‘rules’ that apply to fictional
characters and can follow the actions played out in their world according
to these ‘rules’. We benefit from precise knowledge of the characters and
can even predict their actions. This gives rise to a highly-specific kind of
situation, because one can follow their easily grasped interactions with no
practical necessity to react.
The possibility of a change of attitude determined solely on one side,
not to be coordinated with the other side, significantly distinguishes inter-
action with television characters from that with real persons.
We perceive the people with whom we deal in everyday life as real per-
sons. In contrast to this we (usually) perceive the persons we encounter
when watching a television series as ‘like persons’, knowing that they are
not real persons, but rather characters acting out fictitious roles. The char-
acters of a film or a television series are generally understandable signs
for a type of person, but they are not real persons. Real persons, to the
contrary, are particular individuals without being mere signs of personal
abilities and idiosyncrasies.
The difference between ‘as’ and ‘like’ in behaving toward people illumi-
nates the difference between social and para-social interaction. On the one
side, quite different objects are perceived, sign-like constructs, for one thing,
individual actors, for another. On the other side, behavior toward characters
in a television series is often highly comparable to social exchange in the
recipients’ primary life-world praxis. Thus, it seems to be a continuation of
everyday interaction. But this type of interaction occurs by other means and
with other possibilities. And precisely because this continuation of social ex-
perience takes place on an entirely different plane, a certain enrichment of the
real social world of everyday life becomes possible here.
What does it mean, then, to perceive the characters in a series as though
they are real people and consequently to find oneself in a para-social in-
teraction with them? The precondition for such identification is the possi-
 Media communication and social interaction 111

bility created by the show, together with the capability given on the recipi-
ent’s side, to comprehend the staged behavior of the characters presented.
A character can only be perceived as a person if we can acquire a concep-
tion of what it is or would be like to be her. In the same way, we can only
perceive someone as a person if we can, to a certain extent, from an at least
hypothetically-assumed perspective, understand why the person acts as
she acts and feels as she feels. The ability to, even if only hypothetically,
assume the other’s role is a precondition for recognizing and compre-
hending her as a person. Identification with media characters is based on
life-world experiences of dealing with other persons. And more still; it fol-
lows the same patterns as identification in the face-to-face situations of
everyday life.
This shared structure of social and para-social interaction explains not
only the possibility of the latter, but also the fascination that has always
been exerted by the possibility of identification with fictional characters.
However, this fascination would be totally misunderstood if the major dif-
ference were overlooked which underlies ‘putting-oneself-in-a-relation-
ship’ of one person to another. Para-social communication, as I have al-
ready emphasized, occurs in a broad free space for identification which
renders it impossible to equate the real world with the fictional world.
Here we have an entirely different free space from the primary life world.
A far more arbitrary and non-binding sort of interaction with ‘others’ is of-
fered, together with much more variability in the perceptual relationship
to them. The object of identification (fictitious individual person, repre-
sented type, representing actor) can change, just as the type of identifica-
tion can. Furthermore, this relaxed2 free space always permits the very
real possibility of starting to view the characters of an episode not as per-
sons, but only as aesthetic constructs more or less skillfully integrated into
the text of the series. While we can, if we choose, react to television series
characters in a participatory manner, we must do this with the social
partners in our social world (at least insofar as we ourselves desire to be
taken seriously as participants in this world).
In regards to processes of media reception, one can conclude the fol-
lowing; not only can we discover behavioral patterns and make them ac-
cessible as means of identification (as Herzog already assumed), but in re-
flecting on the displayed behavior we can also play with these behavioral
patterns, demarcate ourselves from them, satirize them, etc. (Herzog,
1941: 65–95). Not complete, but rather partial identification is the rule in
perceiving media characters as persons.
How, in the process of perception, the spectrum of varying degrees of
identification is occupied and put to use is always determined by the indi-
vidual viewer or group of viewers. In each case we find active engagement
112 Angela Keppler

on the part of viewers, who bring their own life experiences to bear on their
interpretation of these characters. Whatever they acquire beyond merely
being entertained by a series always results from the interpretative activity of
viewing, varying between distance and lesser or greater identification. Only
by means of this active viewing can the effects of para-social learning arise
which Herzog observed early on. Just as a life-world experience must be
‘made’ by the subjects of this experience, the media experience is performed
with the creative participation of its subjects. In running through the range
of distancing and identification possibilities which the fictional world of a
television series offers, potential life roles are tried out by viewers under
highly relaxed conditions, and if self-understandings are modified, in the
long-run a transformation of self-understanding takes place just as in pri-
mary social experience. But, it must be repeated that this learning, even if it
employs analogous processes, nevertheless occurs in a basically different
situation: as a one-sided playing through and designing of life possibilities,
whereas in everyday life we mainly engage in two-sided interactions.

Conclusions
We will, for one thing, maintain that the full status of media products can
only be studied together with the possible and actual forms of reception.
The construction of these products always aims at specific reception possi-
bilities inherent in the product and furthermore aims at actual reception
success. Consequently, research should attach greater importance to the
interdependence of the media product and its social use. Production,
product and reception are thus to be treated as areas of research which
are of course analytically separate entities and, to a certain degree, also
methodically differentiated, but they cannot be isolated from one another.
If the study of this interrelationship is meant to include the processes
and procedures of actual media use, it is dependent on interpretive
methods which permit the reconstruction of recipients’ understanding to-
gether with the social context of that performance. Not only the example
of dealing with media personalities and characters, but also the example of
the communicative appropriation of media experiences should make clear
how distorting it would be to isolate media products from the individual
and social praxis in which they come together. Media products cannot be
understood independently of the possibilities used or rejected for their re-
ceptive appropriation. Since they only exist together with differing com-
petencies of acquisition, it would be extraordinarily unproductive to try to
methodically separate these products and their modes of use, whether
aesthetically implied or socially realized.
 Media communication and social interaction 113

Basically, the forms of communication occurring in media can only be

understood in terms of their position relative to forms of direct personal
communication. We could not understand the, in part serious, differences
between both forms of interaction if we tried to methodically isolate them
from each other. It is similar, I believe, for communication and media
research in general. All isolationism, whether of the products or their
‘effects’, whether of media or social interaction, fails to capture the phe-
nomena.

Notes
1. The aim of the procedure is to analyze the socially objectively effective, i.e., the
meaning mediated by societal institutions and the objective meaning structure
of action. In this sense Thomas Luckmann writes: “An ‘objective’ social-scien-
tific hermeneutics raises the claim to objectivity in two directions: (1) in regard
to testability or the uncovering of the interpretive procedure and the pre-knowl-
edge which enters into it (2) in regard to the direction and aim of the procedure,
that is, in regard to the socially ‘objectively’ influence exerting – on societal in-
stitutions and their historically objective meaning as action determinants (in
contrast to – the externally presumed – subjective action meaning of individual
actors) and on the objective meaning structure of the action (in contrast to the
subjectively-intended meaning of the action of an individual actor).” (Luck-
mann, 1981: 519).
2. It would be misleading to speak here of an “expanded” room for interaction, for
in other regards this is naturally strongly limited.

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 Using protocol analysis in television news research 115

7 Using protocol analysis in television news research:

7 Proposal and first tests

Gabi Schaap

Abstract

It is argued that research measuring viewers’ abilities to reproduce news items

or news facts, while useful, is of limited nature. To obtain a broader view of
what viewers ‘do’ with the news, an alternative way to study television news pro-
cessing is proposed: protocol analysis. Acquiring verbalizations of thoughts
may provide supplemental knowledge about television news processing. This
chapter discusses how this technique, which originates in cognitive psychology,
can be adopted in television news research. A short overview of television news
processing studies will be given. After a review of protocol analysis literature, a
possible research instrument will be outlined. Furthermore, the results of a
small-scale study to test the practicality of the instrument are reported and the
problems of validity as well as the implications for television news research are
discussed.

Keywords: Television news, reception research, Thinking Aloud Methods,

method development

Introduction
Research on the processing of television news by its viewers has mainly
focused on assessing the reproduction of news facts (Schaap, Renckstorf
& Wester, 2001). Results from this type of research indicate that people do
not learn much from television news (Gunter, 1987; Robinson & Levy,
1986). Although this is in itself an important finding, some feel that it in-
vokes a somewhat limited view of what people ‘do’ with information from
the news (Al-Menayes & Sun, 1993; Berry, 1983; Hendriks Vettehen &
Schaap, 1999; Woodall, Davis & Sahin, 1983). They argue that processing
the news is an active, interpretive process through which viewers try to
make sense of the information presented to them. This process involves
more than remembering and the subsequent reproducing of facts. Thus,
measuring reproduction of facts may not do justice to the complete pro-
cess of news interpretation (Al-Menayes & Sun, 1993; Graber, 1984). Up
116 Gabi Schaap

to now, not many studies have been devoted to the internal interpretive
activities of viewers, especially during watching (Höijer, 1989; Schaap et
al., 2001).
In this contribution, it is argued that it may be useful to take the viewer’s
perspective into consideration when studying television news interpre-
tation. As will be shown, the problem with using a more elaborate idea of
television news processing is that there are no research instruments that
satisfactorily correspond with this theoretical notion, and which can serve
as an alternative for recall and comprehension measures. In this contribu-
tion, the use of protocol analysis (using verbalizations of thoughts as data)
as an alternative instrument will be introduced.
First, this chapter will provide a short overview of the types of methods
used in, and the results of, studies on the interpretation of television news.
Next, it will describe protocol analysis as it has been used in other disci-
plines, such as cognitive psychology, and the way this knowledge has been
used in this study to construct a provisional research instrument. Finally,
this chapter will report on a first exploratory study on the practical use
of protocol analysis in television news interpretation research, which
answers two questions: 1) Does protocol analysis provide us with relevant
and analyzable data about the interpretation of television news? and 2)
What are the practical advantages and disadvantages of two verbalization
techniques in regard to television news research? In order to answer these
questions a test was conducted in which the subjects were asked to ver-
balize their thoughts while watching the news, and interviewed to assess
the problems that they had with the procedure.

The interpretation of television news in previous research:

Methods, results, and conclusions
This section provides a short overview of the research practices in studies
on the processing of television news. The following questions will be
answered: What do these studies measure and how do they measure it? For
a more extensive listing of literature in this area, see Schaap et al. (2001).

Methods used in previous studies

Research on the processing of television news consists primarily of recall
studies. Studies which measure recall and assess the accuracy of this recall
(comprehension) are based on what the researcher decides are the impor-
tant part(s), or the ‘gist’ of a news item or bulletin that the viewer should
be able to recall, and not on what viewers find interesting or meaningful.
 Using protocol analysis in television news research 117

What is considered important is an, often implicit, estimation of what

journalists would consider important (cf. Robinson & Davis, 1990). Sub-
jects are asked to list the factual information they remember of the news in
a given period, for instance the previous week (in field studies), or what
they remember of specific bulletins or items (in experimental designs).
The questioning format varies, ranging from free and open to cued and
closed recall questions. Pieces of information that the subject cannot re-
collect, or cannot recollect correctly are classified as ‘recall failures’
(Giegler & Ruhrmann, 1990; Gunter, 1987). In assessing comprehension,
it is the researcher who defines whether a person’s interpretation of the
news is ‘right’ or ‘wrong’. For instance, in a study conducted by Findahl
and Höijer (1985), subjects used already available knowledge to piece to-
gether parts of news items that they could not remember. When this was
the case, subjects were said to have ‘misunderstood’ the item. Mostly,
when researchers study interpretation (cf. Graber, 1984), their analyses
are based on measures of recall of information (Woodall et al., 1983). In
addition, research on the ‘reception’ of television news has used in-depth
interview techniques, in which respondents give their general thoughts or
views on the program they have seen (e.g., Höijer, 1990a; Jensen, 1998).

Results
A large number of studies have reported on forms of reproduction of tele-
vised information, and far less on comprehension. Results show that
people do not remember as much from the news as the researcher or
the journalist might expect (Gunter, 1987; Robinson & Levy, 1986). Also,
people seem to misunderstand the journalists’ meaning, or the item’s
‘message’ on a regular basis, as extrapolated from recall scores (Findahl &
Höijer, 1985; Giegler & Ruhrmann, 1990). Furthermore, we know that le-
vels of recall and comprehension are heavily related to the possession of
relevant previous knowledge (cf. Drew & Reeves, 1980; Graber, 1984;
Hendriks Vettehen, Hietbrink & Renckstorf, 1996). Reception studies have
shown that viewers often reconstruct the news into general themes which
can cut across journalist-defined themes (Höijer, 1990a; Jensen, 1998). In
addition, content and format features affect viewers’ recall and evaluation
(cf. Brosius, 1990; Brosius & Berry, 1990; Crigler, Just & Neuman, 1994).

Conclusions
Wherein lies the problem with news processing research? While quanti-
tative recall studies have yielded important information on how news is
dispersed en processed, the possibility that some information about how
118 Gabi Schaap

television news is interpreted is systematically being missed cannot be

ruled out (Al-Menayes & Sun, 1993; Berry, 1983; Woodall et al., 1983).
When we focus on what viewers remember ‘correctly’, and rebuke ‘incor-
rect’ recall, we might be discarding valuable information. This approach
leaves researchers with knowledge of what people do not do with televi-
sion news information (that is, remember it or understand it) but lack
knowledge of how people do use it (cf. Berry, 1983). Another problem,
which affects qualitative interview methods as well, is that recall is by defi-
nition imperfect, and asking subjects about their interpretation retrospec-
tively may suffer from this. Research using structured questionnaires, or
experimental recall questions (quantitative measures), as well as (quali-
tative) interview techniques, may benefit from the use of alternative
methods.

The viewer’s point of view

In this study an interpretive view of the use of television news by its
viewers will be adopted (Renckstorf & Wester, 2001; Schaap et al., 2001).
Watching the news is one of many possible ways for people to make sense
of the outside world. This sense-making, or interpreting, is a constructive
and cognitive activity in which a person relates events or information (for
instance in the news) to the things he/she already knows. The result of
these (re)constructive activities may be that viewers interpret the news
partly or entirely in their own terms. They alter and elaborate news in-
formation with their own knowledge, ‘file’ it under cognitive headings that
can be completely different from the journalist’s or researcher’s and re-
gard events in the context of their own themes (cf. Al-Menayes & Sun,
1993; Jensen, 1988). As a consequence, when asked about information in
the researcher’s terms as opposed to his/her own terms, a viewer may ex-
perience difficulties in retrieving information, thus accounting for the low
levels of recall and high levels of miscomprehension found in general
television news research. What might be useful, is research that takes the
viewer’s point of view into account. If one is aiming at understanding the
way people make sense of television news, one should drop the idea of
‘relevant information’ as a construct of the researcher. In the words of Al-
Menayes and Sun (1993: 58): “the meanings made by perceivers are what
counts as data”.
To explain the purpose of this study, I would like to refer to a very useful
distinction made by Segal and Shaw (1988). They make a distinction be-
tween: 1) cognitive structures, and 2) cognitive processes (the structured
knowledge of a person and how he/she makes use of it, respectively), and
3) cognitive products, the outcome of the processes in the cognitive struc-
 Using protocol analysis in television news research 119

ture. The first two variables are not directly measurable, but the third one
is. Cognitive products are sometimes more and sometimes less overt be-
havior, including thoughts.
In addition to being cognitive, meaning construction is situational; the
meaning an individual assigns to events changes across time and situ-
ations. Therefore it is necessary to study meaning at the moment of pro-
duction (or close) and in the situation it occurs (Findahl, 1998; Hendriks
Vettehen, Renckstorf & Wester, 1996). As we have argued, recall is imper-
fect, therefore retrospective interviews on how people interpret the news
are probably not entirely sufficient.
In sum, we are interested in the immediate outcome of cognitive pro-
cesses. These outcomes are partly external actions, in our case thoughts
said out loud. These thoughts in turn, are a good indication of the meaning
that viewers assign to television news. The frames of meaning people
apply when watching the news are of prime interest to communication
scientists, and hopefully ultimately our research instrument can provide
us with some insight in these frames of meaning. Therefore, we will focus
on ‘measuring’ the thoughts people have when watching the news.

A proposal
The goal of this study, then, is to develop an instrument that gives us an
idea of 1) what people ‘do’ with the news in their heads; 2) while they are
watching; 3) with as little interference of the researcher as possible. In
short, an observation procedure should create “a situation in which
viewers can communicate their reception” (Höijer 1990b: 33, italics mine).
Furthermore, a procedure should provide a systematic way of analyzing
data. Protocol analysis may enable us to do this (Van Someren, Barnard &
Sandberg, 1994).

Protocol analysis
Protocol analysis is a generic term used for research techniques which
have been applied mainly in cognitive psychology. These research tech-
niques are used to gain insight in cognitive processes and their outcomes
by means of verbal protocols produced by research subjects (Ericsson &
Simon, 1984). The name is given both to techniques for acquiring data as
well as analyzing them, although most authors seem to refer only to data
gathering (cf. Ericsson & Simon, 1984; Gilhooly & Green, 1996). Since
protocol analysis is relatively unknown in communication science, a gen-
eral introduction seems in place.
120 Gabi Schaap

Protocol analysis is based upon premises from so-called cognitive pro-

cessing approaches. It is assumed that people make sense of the surround-
ing world through information processing. This cognitive process can be
seen as a series of internal states in which incoming information is ma-
nipulated and transformed (Ericsson & Simon, 1984).
One of the most important concepts is that information is stored and
manipulated in a long-term and a short-term memory. The short-term
memory, or working memory, contains information that is the ‘current
focus of attention’. It consists of highly accessible information that is ‘kept
at hand’ for immediate usage. Its second function is to provide links be-
tween this information and information stored in long-term memory,
which can contain vast amounts of relatively permanent information. All
cognitive processes are regulated by what is in a somewhat uncanny way
named the ‘central processor’ (Ericsson & Simon, 1984; Fiske & Taylor,
1991; Gilhooly & Green, 1996; Van Someren et al., 1994).
Analyzing verbalizations of thoughts is possible, it is argued, because
the information stored in one’s short-term memory is not only easily ac-
cessible, but can also be verbalized without great effort (Ericsson &
Simon, 1984; Gilhooly & Green, 1996). While protocol analysis is not a
method in a strict sense as it has no rigid set of rules, there are of course a
number of general characteristics. Generally speaking, the method con-
sists of asking people to say, out loud, what they are thinking (mostly
whilst doing a task of some sort). Important in protocol analysis is that
subjects are not asked to justify or explain their thoughts or way of think-
ing. Thus, it keeps rationalizations by the subject to a minimum. Of equal
importance is the fact that this technique is as non-obtrusive as is possible.
The only probe subjects receive is the instruction to talk aloud. This has
the advantage that there is little possibility for a researcher to inadvertently
guide or direct answers, which is often the case for a personal interviewer
or a structured questionnaire (Ericsson & Simon, 1984; Van Someren et
al., 1994).
There are two major types of techniques for acquiring verbal protocols.
Firstly, verbal reports can be acquired by asking the subjects to verbalize
their thoughts at the moment they occur. Reports of this type are called
‘concurrent’ verbal reports. The method most associated with concurrent
measuring is the Thinking-Aloud Method. Secondly, subjects can verbalize
their thoughts shortly or directly after they have occurred; ‘retrospective’
verbalization. An example of this type of verbal reports is the Thought-
Listing Technique. Below, both techniques will be briefly described.
 Using protocol analysis in television news research 121

Thinking-Aloud Method
The Thinking-Aloud Method is a type of protocol analysis that makes use
of concurrent verbal reports. Verbal reports are the product of a subject
who is instructed to perform a task and report his thoughts at the same
time. That is, the subject is asked to “verbalize overtly all thoughts that
would normally be silent” (Gilhooly & Green, 1996: 43). The resulting
protocols can be transcribed, coded and analyzed.
Until now, this technique has been used to assess processes of problem
solving (e.g., math problems, puzzles or playing chess), to capture under-
standing of stories or sentences, or to help develop training or educational
programs (Green & Gilhooly, 1996; Newell & Simon, 1972; Van Someren
et al., 1994). Also, Thinking-Aloud Methods have been used to develop or
test computer software (Benbunan-Fich, 2001; Henderson, Smith, Podd
& Varela-Alvarez, 1995). Kushniruk and Patel (1998) cite a number of
studies concerned with understanding how medical personnel uses soft-
ware and how doctors assess a diagnosis. Finally, cognitive processes, so-
cial anxiety and self-efficacy have been studied using the Thinking-Aloud
Method (cf. Chamberlain & Haaga, 1999). In some of these cases, sub-
jects are required to think aloud while they listen to an audio tape, or place
themselves in a hypothetical situation. One of the main concerns of this
study is to assess whether Thinking-Aloud can be used in a meaningful
way to obtain verbal protocols from subjects while they are watching the
news, as opposed to performing a task.

Thought-Listing Technique
The second form of protocol analysis is retrospective. Subjects are asked to
list all their thoughts directly or shortly after performing a task, such as
looking at or listening to a stimulus (for instance, a text, a photograph, or
an audio tape), or solving a math problem. In practice, longer tasks tend to
be interrupted at small intervals in which the subject will verbalize his or
her thoughts.
Thought-Listing Techniques have been frequently used in some form or
another in clinical psychology and less often in communication science. In
clinical psychology, Thought-Listing Techniques have been used to assess
psychological disorders, such as social anxiety (Blackwell, 1985; Prins &
Hanewald, 1997) and to train patients’ behavioral skills (cf., Cacioppo,
Von Hippel & Ernst, 1997). For instance, Halford and Sanders (1988) used
the Thought-Listing Technique to assess differences in thoughts between
distressed and non-distressed couples. Fichten et al., 2001, studied the role
of negative thoughts in insomnia. In communication science, there have
122 Gabi Schaap

been studies on the relation between thoughts, recall and the framing of
newspaper stories (cf. Price, Tewksbury & Powers, 1997; Valkenburg, Se-
metko & De Vreese, 1999).
Both techniques, Thinking-Aloud as well as Thought-Listing, are by
now reasonably well established in psychology. The theoretical assump-
tions and the validity of these techniques have been well documented (cf.
Cacioppo et al., 1997; Davison, Vogel & Coffman, 1997; Ericsson &
Simon, 1984; Halford & Sanders, 1988; Lodge, Tripp & Harte, 2000). I
will speak about the problem of validity in the final section of this con-
tribution.

A pilot study
Before we can use one or both techniques to study the interpretation of
television news, we must determine the exact procedure. In this section I
will provide an overview of difficulties encountered and decisions made in
constructing a technique that, first and foremost, should produce relevant
material concerning the interpretation of television news. How can we
adopt and reconstruct procedures from other disciplines so that they may
be of use in the study of television news interpretation?

Basic requirements
The Thinking-Aloud Method and Thought-Listing Technique have a
number of general requirements in common. The setting in which the
Thinking-Aloud or the Thought-Listing takes place, for instance, should
be such that the subject feels at ease and comfortable to talk aloud. Fur-
thermore, the researcher should interfere as little as possible. Only when
the subject stops talking for an extended period, should the researcher ask
the subject to ‘keep talking’ (Ericsson & Simon, 1984; Green & Gilhooly,
1996; Van Someren et al., 1997). To avoid any involuntary ‘hints’ from the
researcher, such as nodding or smiling, Green & Gilhooly (1996) even
suggest the researcher to remain outside the visual field of the subject.
The instruction can very well be called a key element in the procedure,
on which the validity of the obtained data may depend (Höijer, 1989). It is
of central importance that it is perfectly clear to the subject what is ex-
pected of him/her. In both techniques, instruction is given to the subject
beforehand. The core of this instruction should be to ‘talk aloud’, or to
‘say out loud what you think’ (Cacioppo et al., 1997; Davison et al., 1997;
Ericsson & Simon, 1984; Green & Gilhooly, 1996; Van Someren et al.,
1994). In addition, some short phrases can be added to instruct the subject
 Using protocol analysis in television news research 123

to be as complete as possible (‘say everything you think’) and not to explain

or interpret what he or she thinks (Ericsson & Simon, 1984). Of course, a
difference between the instructions given by the two techniques is that in
one case, subjects are asked to talk aloud while watching the news,
whereas in the other case subjects are asked to talk aloud after viewing a
short segment of the news.
Green & Gilhooly (1996) and Van Someren et al. (1994) have also sug-
gested that the subject performs at least one warm-up task. After training,
most subjects know what is expected of them and have little difficulties in
doing what they are asked to do.

The conditions for the Thinking-Aloud Technique

The length of time the researcher will allow the subject to remain silent
should be specified beforehand (Green & Gilhooly, 1996). There does not,
however, seem to exist a general consensus on how long this period
should be. For example, Lodge et al. (2000), allowed 10 seconds of silence
before prompting the subject, while Gilhooly and Gregory (1989, in Green
& Gilhooly, 1996) allowed one minute before prompting. It also may be
kept flexible, depending on how the subject seems to be performing.
To the best of my knowledge, studies on concurrent verbalization while
watching a videotape or listening to an audio tape have not been conducted.
Most research involving Thinking-Aloud Techniques is concentrated on
task-performance, whereas my main concern is to find out if the same tech-
niques work in a situation where the subject is watching the news. There-
fore, I can only anticipate difficulties based upon common sense.

The conditions for the Thought-Listing technique

In several separate studies, Davison et al. (1997) used an audio tape to
which the subjects listened. The short tape was divided into segments
ranging from 10 to 15 seconds, after which there was a pause of 30 seconds
in which the subjects would say out loud what they had previously been
thinking. They called this a ‘near-concurrent’ approach, as close to the on-
line tapping of thoughts as possible. No reason was given as to why this
particular length of the segments and the pauses was chosen. In a similar
fashion, other studies give subjects time (or space) to list their thoughts,
without specifying why they are given as much or as little as they are given
(Cacioppo et al., 1997; Lodge et al., 2000). The main line of reasoning
seems to be that the segments and the spaces between them must be short
to facilitate the recollection of information from short-term memory, but
long enough to enable the subjects to verbalize all their thoughts.
124 Gabi Schaap

In quite a number of Thought-Listing studies the subjects are asked to

write down their thoughts (cf. Cacioppo et al., 1997). A disadvantage of
this way of working is that one is dependent on the subjects’ ability to
articulate their thoughts in writing rather than in spoken words, which
in itself requires verbalizing skills. Asking people to write down their
thoughts might thus put an extra step in the thought process. For this rea-
son I have chosen not to use this particular tactic.

Comparing two alternative techniques: A small scale test

A small scale study was conducted to test the practicality of a procedure
we designed based on the requirements described above. The very first
question I will answer, is whether it is at all possible for people to watch
the news while at the same time thinking aloud. Will people who are
watching the news produce verbal protocols and will these protocols con-
tain enough and relevant information for communication researchers to
analyze? Perhaps the verbalization of thoughts works well in psychologi-
cal research settings, but is it also effective or practical in audio-visual
communication research? This is a valid question, as according to an
overview by Cacioppo et al. (1997), protocol analysis is typically not used
under conditions that require a high cognitive load, such as a task requi-
ring a great deal of effort. Watching television news requires a lot of effort,
as viewers must cope with various sources of sounds and fast-moving
images all at the same time, and must deal with often complex information
(cf. Cohen, 2001). Therefore, when asking people to think aloud while
watching the news, it is not impossible that subjects will remain com-
pletely silent. If it can be achieved to have people voice their thoughts
while at the same time watching the news, still another important question
must be answered. How can one make sure that one capture as much rel-
evant verbalizations as possible? In other words, how can one create an
ideal situation in which subjects can verbalize their thoughts in an optimal
manner? A third important question is: how can one make sure that the
verbalizations one acquires actually represent (at least a large portion of)
the interpretation?
The goal of this study was to find out which of the two techniques
(Thinking-Aloud Method or Thought-Listing Technique) and which setup
would be the most effective and efficient way of getting people to talk
aloud. In two studies the techniques were compared in terms of the
amount of words and thoughts they generated (Blackwell, Galassi, Galassi
& Watson, 1985; Lodge et al., 2000). In both instances the Thinking-
Aloud Method yielded more material than Thought-Listing. This study
 Using protocol analysis in television news research 125

is set in a different context. It is exploratory, in the sense that it deals

with highly complicated audio-visual ‘stimulus material’: television news.
Therefore, this study’s working hypothesis is that I will merely find differ-
ences between the two techniques in amounts of words and thoughts.
Furthermore, I expect differences between Thinking-Aloud and Thought-
Listing Technique in amount of types of thoughts. Along the same lines,
and finally, I hypothesize that the variance of types of thoughts differs be-
tween the two techniques.
In addition to comparing the techniques on amount of generated ma-
terial, it is important to assess specific problems that subjects might have
in performing their task.

Procedure
Following the general requirements described above, I designed the fol-
lowing procedure. The two techniques were tested on a limited number of
subjects (N=35). The research group consisted of 17 men and 18 women.
They were selected to include a variety of age and educational back-
ground1. The ‘stimulus’ material was a recorded broadcast of the main
news program in The Netherlands (NOS 8 o’clock news) of Tuesday
21 November 2000. To assure the task would not be too strenuous on the
subjects, two news items were removed, resulting in a program with a run-
ning time of approximately 21 minutes. Two copies of the tape were used
in two separate settings. The version described above (the entire broadcast
minus the two items) was used for the Think-Aloud procedure (n=16).
The other copy was edited into segments, adding space between them so
the researcher would have time to stop the tape. This version was used for
the Thought-Listing Technique (n=19). The segments were edited in such
a way that they both represented a time-span that was neither too long nor
too short (generally around 20 seconds), and that they were divided into
more or less ‘natural units’ (for instance, no cuts in mid-sentences, or un-
natural shifting of images). The logic behind this was that subjects must be
able to retrieve their thoughts from short-term memory, before they were
‘lost’ to long-term memory. This resulted in a segmented news program of
24:16 minutes (including spaces between the segments), consisting of
67 segments with a mean length of a little under 18 seconds, with the long-
est segment running 27.4 seconds and the shortest 7.2 seconds. The first,
3.5 minutes item was used as a warm up item, and was not included in the
analysis.
The subjects participated in the verbalization task mostly at home, but
in a few cases the test was taken in a viewing room. They were provided
with specific instructions (see Appendix A) either to think aloud while
126 Gabi Schaap

watching, or to list their thoughts verbally after each segment. The sub-
jects participating in the Thought-Listing procedure were given as much
time as they needed to verbalize their thoughts. Immediately after the sub-
jects were finished, the researcher would start the tape again. During the
test, the researcher used an observation sheet with a transcription of the
text and images of the news program in order to make notes of the sub-
ject’s behavior, which were used in interviews that were conducted after-
wards. The verbalizations were recorded using a tape recorder and, after-
wards, transcribed into protocols.
After watching the news, the subjects were interviewed about their per-
formance, watching the tape again if they needed a cue to remember what
they thought during certain parts of the news (this was hardly ever the
case). The interview consisted of two parts (cf. Van der Veer, Om-
mundsen, Hak & Larsen, 2003; Jansen & Hak, 2000). The first part was
directed at the reconstruction of the thinking process, to clarify uncertain-
ties. This included asking the subject about sounds or expressions that the
researcher did not understand, or why he/she did not speak during a given
period. In the second part of the interview subjects were asked about their
experience with the procedure; how easy or difficult did they find it to ex-
press their thoughts, how did they report their thoughts and so on (see
Appendix B).

Coding
The criteria used for assessing differences between the two techniques fo-
cused on amount and richness of material. Surely, other criteria could be just
as informative, if not more so. However, as a first step in developing an in-
strument for television news interpretation, the aim is to investigate whether
this sort of technique can be used on a very practical level in a context that
radically differs from previous studies. Therefore, two techniques were
tested and the results compared both in a context with television news and
with research in different contexts. For this reason, coding focused on the
amount of words and thoughts as well as the variance in types thoughts, and
not so much in the actual content or meaning of the thoughts.
A first step in the coding process consisted of counting the number of
words used, omitting utterances directed at the researcher or statements
declaring that the respondent did not think anything. The next, more com-
plicated step, coding the material, consisted of two phases directed at
discriminating between several types of ‘thoughts’. In this process, the
protocols of the subjects’ verbalizations were grouped into segments rep-
resenting ‘thoughts’ (cf. Blackwell et al., 1985; Höijer, 1989; Lodge et al.,
2000). In the first phase, a rough division between different verbalizations
 Using protocol analysis in television news research 127

was made. The first step in grouping verbalizations into separate segments
was defining ‘meaningful units’. These are verbalizations representing one
line of reasoning, containing one specific argument, or statement. State-
ments can range from being very short (“I don’t agree”) to rather long
(“I don’t agree because … and …”). An additional way in creating seg-
ments occurred through taking verbalizations that were clearly separated
by time or, when subjects themselves indicated that they distinguished be-
tween ‘thoughts’ (“first I thought …, then I thought …”). The second and
final step in this phase was assigning a label to each segment/thought,
which provided a short description of the statement.
In the second phase, the goal was to distinguish between types, or
classes, of statements. Different content categories were created based on
the descriptive labels assigned in the first phase. Next, the various seg-
ments could be assigned to one class or type of statement. As there was no
a priori hypothesis about the kinds of statements the subjects would pro-
duce (as psychologists often have), open coding was applied, and a coding
scheme was developed along the way (cf. Green & Gilhooly, 1996; Höijer,
1989, 1990b; Wester, 1987). Segments would be classified according to the
type of statement made. This means that the coder was less interested in
the content of what was being said, as he was in what type of statement was
being made. Classification in types of statements occurred in three basic
steps. First, the coder distinguished between statements that were related
to the news in any way and statements that were not (for instance, state-
ments pertaining to the research situation). The reason being that, ulti-
mately, the goal of this research instrument is to capture interpretations of
the news, and not interpretations of the research context. The second step
was aimed at creating more specific sub-classes, again looking at the type
of statement made. One could, for instance, in the class of news-related
statements, distinguish statements about content aspects from statements
signifying some distance from the content, and from references to private
matters. In the third and final step, after reading and rereading the proto-
cols, the classes and labels were improved. After several rounds, classes
with labels were narrowed down into a coding scheme that classified seg-
ments into 12 types of ‘thoughts’, 10 of which were news-related, and 2
non-news related.

Results
The analysis of the material aimed at answering two different questions.
First, is there enough relevant verbal response from the subject to analyze,
and are there any differences in the amount of material (words, thoughts
128 Gabi Schaap

and types of thoughts) between the two tested techniques? Secondly, what
problems do subjects encounter while verbalizing their thoughts in con-
junction with watching the news? Is it possible for them to verbalize their
thoughts?
While the techniques succeeded in obtaining enough material to be
used in the analysis (see Table 7.1), some notable differences between the
two methods in amount and types of material were found. To assess dif-
ferences in means between the two subject groups, both the number of
words and thoughts were compared using a T-test for the equality of
means2. Earlier, the expectation was to find differences between the two
techniques in the amount of words subjects would produce while watch-
ing. As Table 7.1 shows, this hypothesis was confirmed. Subjects in the
Thinking-Aloud Method setting used significantly less words (p= .002)
than subjects in the Thought-Listing Technique setting.
Analysis shows that subjects in the Thinking-Aloud condition reported
a mean of 41.94 thoughts during the news, while subjects in the Thought-
Listing Technique condition reported an average of 75.42 thoughts. While
this shows that people in both techniques are able to report quite a large
number of thoughts, it is also another indication of differences between
the two techniques (p= .012).
Thoughts that were not directed at the news, but at the procedure or the
research setting, were then eliminated. This difference remains when only
the number of news-related thoughts were analyzed (p= .01), pointing in a
direction in favor of the Thought-Listing Technique (see Table 7.1)3.
The final expectation, that one of the techniques would be better suited
in allowing the subjects to report on the different types of news-related
thoughts could not be confirmed (p= .12). However, when analyzing all
types of thoughts separately, one important type of thought (thoughts hav-
ing a direct relation to the textual content of the news) was found to differ
significantly (p= .000), with Thought-Listing Technique subjects having
more of this type of thoughts (M=36.12; SD=14.54) than Thinking-Aloud
Method subjects (M=14.69; SD=7.08). This is remarkable, as this type of
thought was by far the most frequently reported type in both techniques.
Apparently, in the thought-Listing Technique subjects are better able to
report the most frequent appearing type of thought.
Levene’s test for the equality of variances showed that the final hypoth-
esis (there is a difference in variance in types of thoughts between the two
techniques in favor of the Thinking-Aloud Method) was not substantiated
(p= .18). Both techniques do not differ in variance of types of thoughts.
To answer another question for this test study; what problems do
subjects encounter while verbalizing their thoughts in conjunction with
watching the news? Is it possible for them to verbalize their thoughts?, I
 Using protocol analysis in television news research 129

Table 7.1. Thinking-Aloud Method and Thought-Listing Technique:

Table 7.1. Number of words and thoughts compared

Thinking- Thought-
Aloud Listing Tech-
Method nique
(n=16) (n=19)
Mean SD Mean SD Sign.a
Number of words 560.94 489.16 1966.74 1585.03 .002
Number of thoughts 41.94 32.38 75.42 40.60 .012
(total)
Number of news- 38.31 29.27 68.84 35.33 .01
related thoughts
Number of non-news 2.75 2.98 6.37 7.68 .09
related thoughts
Number of types of 7.06 2.11 8.00 1.37 .12
news-related thoughts
a 2-tailed

interviewed the subjects on how they had experienced the procedure.

Two types of problems are frequently mentioned by the respondents. The
first problem has to do with the nature of the occurrence of thoughts.
Nine subjects participating in the Thinking-Aloud Method and five of the
Thought-Listing Technique reported having multiple simultaneous
thoughts and not always being able to report them all. They indicated that
thoughts sometimes occurred extremely fast (in ‘flashes’) or even at the
same time, and that they had to choose which thoughts to report and
which not, or that the thoughts just passed on and were forgotten. This
concurs with other studies that found that subjects did not verbalize every
single thought they had (Davison et al., 1997; Halford & Sanders, 1988;
Höijer, 1989).
A second type of verbalization problem was the inability of some sub-
jects to verbalize and keep track of the news at the same time. As could be
expected, this was a problem mostly reported in the Thinking-Aloud
Method condition; all subjects, except two, reported so, versus five sub-
jects involved in the Thought-Listing Technique. The problem results in
the subject ending up doing one of two things; either he/she would follow
the news and not talk aloud, or talk aloud and not follow the news for
a few moments (and as a result, sometimes missing points crucial for
understanding). This ‘synchronization’ problem has been indicated by Van
130 Gabi Schaap

Someren et al. (1994) in other research contexts. It is therefore a problem

not unique to our study.
In addition to actual problems, the subjects indicated several ways in
which the research procedure may have affected their behavior. Although
only a limited number of subjects said this was the case, this was a recur-
ring theme in the interviews. One way the procedure sometimes affects
performance, is that the verbalization task may either increase or reduce
the number of thoughts. This may either be because a subject concen-
trates on thinking, he/she is listening and/or watching less or more in-
tently than in a normal situation, or because thoughts are catalyzed by the
subject’s verbalizations.
A second manner in which the task influences the subjects, is that it
may encourage subjects to focus their attention and thoughts more on
particular aspects of the news than in a normal situation. For instance,
they might look more at the visual aspects of the news, or in contrast
may pay more attention to the text of the news than they normally
would.
Finally, another way in which the procedure could influence on the way
people watch, is the level of concentration with which they watch. Twenty
subjects (seven in the Thinking-Aloud Method condition; thirteen in the
Thought-Listing Technique condition) said their concentration on the
news was either higher or lower (because they were concentrating on per-
forming the task). In contrast, eleven subjects claimed that the way they
thought about the news was not in any way influenced by neither the task
nor the procedure.

Conclusions and discussion

The goal of this study was to assess whether or not protocol analysis could
be a useful alternative to other methods in order to study the interpre-
tation of television news during watching. In this small pilot study, I
wanted to find out if two techniques could be of use on a practical level.
As shown, both techniques are well established in other research areas,
and can serve to study various issues. Before I will reach some con-
clusions, I will look at some of the limitations of this particular study.
First, the data were drawn from a very limited sample (N=35). Con-
clusions must therefore be seen as preliminary and indicative at the most.
Secondly, although the technique ensures that the researcher cannot guide
the subjects’ answers, he is still present. There is no way in which one can
entirely rule out the possibility that the research context and the fact that a
researcher is present has an influence on the way subjects’ report their
 Using protocol analysis in television news research 131

thoughts. One can however assume that the influence is seriously dimin-
ished compared to other approaches.
What can be concluded from the results? The findings give some indi-
cation that people are indeed able to verbalize thoughts while watching the
news, albeit not always without problems. Furthermore, this verbalizing
leads to protocols which can be analyzed in at least a basic fashion. They
do not, for instance, consist of merely basic cries or one-syllable utter-
ances. An advantage of the material produced, is that it can be analyzed in
a qualitative manner (focusing on meanings) as well as a more quantitative
manner (e.g., psychologists’ analyses of number of negative thoughts).
The amount of reported thoughts did show differences between the two
techniques, albeit counter to results from previous research (Blackwell et
al., 1985; Lodge et al., 2000). This study obtained some good indications
that the Thought-Listing Technique yields more material than the Think-
ing-Aloud Method. The difference between my results and those of pre-
vious research may be explained by the different research context. As in-
dicated by the subjects themselves, television news as a ‘stimulus’ (as
opposed to for instance math problems) produces an ongoing stream
of sounds and images. This proved to be especially problematic in the
Thinking-Aloud Method setting. As the individual’s capacity to perform
multiple mental actions at one moment is limited, this requires the subject
to concentrate on either the task (reporting on thoughts) or (certain parts
of) the news. Either choice results in loss of material. Subjects concentrat-
ing specifically on the verbalization task will miss information in the news,
to which he or she cannot react. On the other hand, subjects may concen-
trate on following the news, but as a consequence will be unable to ver-
balize thoughts. This reasoning might also explain that some subjects in
the Thinking-Aloud condition experienced extended periods in which
they were virtually unable to verbalize their thoughts.
The problem seems to be serious enough to render the Thinking-Aloud
Method, while proven useful in other research settings, of limited practical
use in television news research, at least compared to the Thought-listing
Technique. Conversely, the Thought-Listing Technique has the advantage
of separating the verbalization from the other mental tasks. This makes it
easier for the subjects to report on what they thought seconds earlier while
watching the news, resulting in a greater amount of reported thoughts. It
must be noted, however, that it seems to be wishful thinking to assume
that we can make subjects report every single thought they have (Davison
et al., 1997; Halford & Sanders, 1988).
A somewhat related issue concerns the difference in amount of words
and thoughts in relation to the prompts given. While in both versions the
initial explicit instruction given to the subjects was kept constant, a point
132 Gabi Schaap

could be made that the Thought-Listing Technique version, with its 67

sections of black space, contains 67 implicit prompt to think aloud. The
Thinking-Aloud Method version only contains the one explicit prompt at
the beginning and occasional explicit prompts by the researcher in the
case of prolonged silence by the subject. What became clear in this study
is that the way subjects are instructed to perform the task is of capital im-
portance. It has to be absolutely clear to the subjects what is expected. In
the Thinking-Aloud condition it must be emphasized that the subjects
should report as often as possible. The practice item proved very helpful
in this regard, as it gave the subject the chance to get acquainted with the
task, and it gave the researcher an extra possibility to assess whether the
subject had understood his task and to correct misunderstandings. For in-
stance, during the practice item, some subjects seemed to be under the
impression that what was expected was that they only give their opinion
on events and not that they report every thought they had. This could be
easily determined and corrected before the actual task was started.
Now that I have demonstrated that the Thought-Listing Technique, at
least in this very small study, is superior to the Thinking-Aloud Method in
terms of amount of verbalizations generated, this leaves a number of im-
portant questions. First of all, how should the results be interpreted? I have
only analyzed the amount of words and ‘thoughts’ that people utter when
watching the news. Does this automatically mean that the material is more
relevant as well? We, as communication researchers, are mostly interested
in the interpretation frames or perspectives that people adopt while watch-
ing the news. The question that should be addressed in further research is
whether the material generated by one technique is not only superior in
amount, but also in quality. Does this technique also generate interpre-
tations that are more relevant (to researchers) than the other technique?
This calls for the analysis of the actual content of verbalizations.
Secondly, and equally important, is the question of construct validity.
Apparently, it is possible to obtain verbalizations, using the Thought-List-
ing Technique. In this study these verbal utterances were known as
‘thoughts’. However, what we got could be considered merely as sponta-
neous reactions to the news. Therefore, the question remains, whether
these verbalizations have a close relationship with actual thoughts and in-
terpretations. Again, the impossibility of looking inside people’s heads
prevents any researcher from directly measuring what they think or ver-
ifying what they report. However, there have been some studies that pro-
vide secondary evidence that there is at least a strong correlation between
thoughts and verbal reports.
One indicator for construct validity is congruent validity; the ability of a
method to discriminate between groups of people with different charac-
 Using protocol analysis in television news research 133

teristics, assessed by means of another, preferably undisputed method.

Davison & Vogel (1997) report on various studies in which validity for
Thinking-Aloud type procedures has been assessed4. In a number of these
studies (amongst others: Bates, Campbell & Burgess, 1990; Coffman &
Davison, 1997; Davison & Zighelboim, 1987; Schwartz & Garamoni,
1989) scores obtained through standardized psychological methods for as-
sessing personality traits (for instance, anxiety, or self-efficacy) were found
to correlate with thoughts that could be expected on the basis of these per-
sonality traits.
Another indicator for construct validity is concurrent validity; the ability
of a method to distinguish between groups, based on the theoretical ex-
pectation that the groups should be different on certain features. One
study, using the Thinking-Aloud method (Davison, Robins & Johnson,
1983), showed that through the analysis of thoughts of subjects one was
able to discriminate between subjects exposed to a tape containing social
criticism and subjects exposed to a control tape. Halford and Sanders
(1988) report on a study where they found the Thought-Listing Technique
to discriminate between distressed and non-distressed couples. Distressed
couples were found to report more negative thoughts about their partners
than ‘normal’ couples.
Finally, some studies compare Thinking-Aloud procedures with other
cognitive assessment methods. The extent to which different measures re-
sult in similar results for a construct is called convergent validity, which
may act as another indicator for construct validity. The assessment of con-
vergent validity of cognitive assessment methods has been problematic,
mainly because of faulty comparisons in tests (Chamberlain & Haaga,
1999). Evaluations of construct validity of Thinking-Aloud procedures on
the basis of this research therefore remain tentative. For instance, Black-
well et al. (1985) found significant differences between Thinking-Aloud
Method and Thought-Listing Technique. However, they had the subjects
report their thoughts verbally in one procedure and in writing in the other.
This may account for a large proportion (if not all) of the differences. Al-
though Chamberlain and Haaga (1999) state that there is usually low con-
vergent validity between questionnaire methods and Think-Aloud pro-
cedures, a number of studies did find a (although not always very high)
correlation of either the Thinking-Aloud Method or Thought-Listing
Technique with different assessment methods such as questionnaires and
interviews (Cacioppo et al., 1997; Fichten et al., 2001; Henderson et al.,
1995; Prins & Hanewald, 1997) scale items on psychological traits (cf.
Davison et al., 1997) video-mediated recall (Halford & Sanders, 1988;
Lodge et al., 2000) and behavior (Cacioppo et al., 1997; Fichten et al.,
2001; Henderson et al., 1995).
134 Gabi Schaap

Thus, although I have not, at this stage, tested the validity of Thinking-
Aloud techniques in a test situation with television news, there are some
indications of the validity of these techniques. We must, however, address
this issue in the future. Research in which answers to questionnaires or in-
terviews on television news issues are correlated with verbalizations of
thoughts, may provide us with clues on the validity of our instrument.
Other instruments may also be helpful in this regard, such as video-me-
diated recall (Halford & Sanders, 1988; Lodge et al., 2000) or the signaled-
stopping technique (Hawkins et al., 1991)5. Combining several methods
for optimal results may be useful (Van Someren et al., 1994).

Notes
1. Age varied from 20 to 64 years (mean 38 years). Education was distributed as
follows: 6 subjects had lower education (20 %), 13 subjects had middle-range
education (37 %), and 16 subjects had higher education (43 %). We assigned
subjects to one of the two techniques in couples (of same sex, education, and
age group) as much as possible to ensure a more or less even distribution
of these characteristics over the techniques. The author would like to thank
Solange Schlösser for her invaluable help in gathering data.
2. To assess differences between means we chose to carry out a T-test for the
equality of means. We did this to have some indication about the status of the
differences between the two instruments, regardless that we are aware of the
fact that the formal conditions for a T-test are not met in our study. This means,
of course, that significant differences reported here should be interpreted as just
that: indications.
3. On average between 6.56 % (Thinking-Aloud Method) and 8.45 % (Thought-
Listing Technique) of the subjects’ thoughts were devoted to non-news related
issues.
4. They also find their method valid on face, concurrent and predictive validity.
5. Video-mediated recall is a retrospective technique in which subjects are asked
to recall their thoughts while either rewatching a tape of stimulus material in
short segments, or watching a tape of their own performances on a task. In the
signaled-stopping technique, subjects watch a film, and must press a button
whenever a ‘thinking change’ occurs or when they think something meaningful
happens.

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Appendix A: Verbalization Instructions

Instruction I: Thinking-Aloud Method
We are interested in what you think while you are watching the news. For
this reason, we ask you to think aloud while you are watching. We want
you to tell us everything you are thinking from the moment the broadcast
starts, right until the end. We would like you to think out loud constantly,
until the end of the broadcast. In sum, you tune in to what you are think-
ing and say that out loud.
The important thing is to keep talking. It is important that you are as com-
plete as possible: this means that you should report seemingly ‘irrelevant’
thoughts as well. It does not matter whether your thoughts are about the
news, about yourself, the situation, or something different. It does not
matter whether they are positive, negative or neutral. All thoughts matter.
If you should remain silent for an extended period, I will ask you to keep
talking. Do not try to formulate your thoughts in advance, or to explain
what you are saying. Just pretend that you are alone in the room and are
talking to yourself. It is not a test; you cannot perform poorly or well.
Do you have any questions?
We will start with an item to practice.

Instruction II: Thought-Listing Technique

We are interested in what you think while you are watching the news. For
this reason, we ask you to think aloud. We ask you to list all thoughts you
have while you are watching the news broadcast.
Every now and then we will stop the broadcast. You then have time to say
your thoughts out loud. After you’ve finished, we will continue the broad-
cast. In sum, you tune in to your thoughts while you are watching and say
them out loud later.
 Using protocol analysis in television news research 139

It does not matter whether your thoughts are about the news, about your-
self, the situation, or something different. It does not matter whether they
are positive, negative or neutral. All thoughts matter. It is important that
you are as complete as possible: this means that you should report seem-
ingly ‘irrelevant’ thoughts as well. Do not try to formulate your thoughts
in advance, or to explain what you are saying. Just pretend that you are
alone in the room and are talking to yourself. It is not a test; you cannot
perform poorly or well.
Do you have any questions?
We will start with an item to practice.

Appendix B: Interviews
I Cognitive Interview
Topic list

Respondent number: _____

Date: __________

Introduction
This part is meant to check whether I have understood everything you
said correctly. If needed, we can rewind the tape of the broadcast, to help
you to recollect the thoughts you had. Then, I can check whether or not I
have missed some things and whether I understood the things you said.

Interviewer: Consult your notes on the observation sheet to ask questions!

The questions below do not necessarily have to be asked in the presented order.

1. You said: “…” [consult notes] What did you mean?

2. You said: “…” [consult notes]. Why did you say that? What were you
thinking when you said it? How did you come to that thought?
3. Can you tell me, when you review the item, what you were thinking?
4. What else did you think?
5. During some parts, you did not say much or anything. Didn’t you
think anything at that moment?
140 Gabi Schaap

II Qualitative interview
Topic list

Introduction
This part is meant to look at the procedure we followed, and your experi-
ence with it.
1. Was the instruction clear to you? Did you understand what was ex-
pected?
2. Did you find it difficult or easy to think aloud?
3. Did you encounter any problems?
4. Were there specific moments when you had these problems?
5. Did you find it difficult to verbalize your thoughts?
6. Did you find it difficult to keep following the news because of your
task to think aloud?
7. You had to think aloud: do you think that it has affected your
thoughts?
8. Was the stream of thoughts interrupted by the thinking aloud, or by
the news?
9. To what extent does the manner in which you just watched the news
differ from the normal situation? Do you normally talk aloud while
watching the news?
10. Did you have other types of thought than you normally would? For
instance due to my presence.
11. Did you have less or more thoughts than you normally would?
12. Were you less or more concentrated during watching, or was there no
difference?
13. Do you think the procedure, or the interview situation affected what
you said aloud? For instance, did you not say certain thoughts aloud?
14. Do you watch the news on a regular basis? How many times a week?
Which bulletin do you watch?
15. Did you happen to see this particular broadcast before?

Year of birth: 19__

Sex: M/F
Education: _______
Were there other persons present? Y/N
Did the procedure take place without interruptions? Y/N
 Reconceptualizing media literacy 141

8 Reconceptualizing media literacy

Judith E. Rosenbaum and Johannes W. J. Beentjes

Abstract

This contribution describes the first step in a research project aiming at the de-
velopment of an instrument to measure media literacy. In short, media literacy
can be defined as the extent to which people are critical media users. Although
media literacy has been a popular research topic for several decades, so far no
attempt has been made to develop an instrument and measure the level of
media literacy of the general population. In light of the increasing importance
of the media in our daily lives, finding out the extent to which people appraise
the media in a critical manner is worthwhile. This contribution outlines the first
step towards the creation of such an instrument: the reconceptualization of
media literacy1.

Keywords: media literacy, social constructivism, social action theory, model de-
velopment

Why media literacy?

The importance of media literacy is related to the assumption that the
media are institutions that play a large role in people’s lives. This role be-
comes apparent on both the individual and societal level.

The role of the media on the individual level

First of all, research has shown that people spend a large amount of time
using the media; people are bombarded with thousands of mediated
messages every day, and children grow up in a world saturated with media
messages (Dorr, Browne Graves & Phelps, 1980) An example of this re-
search is a survey carried out in the U.S. on behalf of the Kaiser Family
Foundation. This study found that children between the ages of 8 and 18
spent 6 hours and 32 minutes per day using the media (Roberts, Foehr,
Rideout & Brodie, 1999).
Second, people are likely to obtain most, if not all, of their knowledge
about aspects of the world not directly accessible to them from the media
142 Judith E. Rosenbaum and Johannes W. J. Beentjes

(Alvardo & Boyd-Barrett, 1992; Robinson & Levy, 1996), a notion which
leads to the assumption that the media seem to have the power to shape
people’s ideas about and opinions on subjects with which they have had
no direct experience. Additionally, research has discovered that the por-
trayal of people, events and situations in the media is usually far from un-
biased and objective (Entman, 1989). Hence, one can conclude that the
media are capable of leaving people with an image of (a part of) reality
which is biased and, at times, incorrect.
Third, the media serve various functions in people’s lives, for not only
do they provide people with information and entertainment, but they also
serve as a mediator in people’s personal relationships and the creation of
their personal identity. According to Winnick (1988), the media function
as a user’s friend, clock and minister, by providing punctuation and the
opportunity for para-social interaction. Additionally, the media and par-
ticularly television serve two cultural functions. First, the media teach
people about their own culture, as well as about others, through the
stories they tell. In oral cultures, the values, norms, laws and history are
passed on by the recounting of society’s myths and stories. In contempor-
ary Western societies, television has been described as the reviver of this
tribal transmission of myths and stories, by reinforcing norms and values
through its messages (Brown, 1998; Fiske & Hartley, 1978; Gerbner et al.,
1978). Hence television can be described as an important socializing
agent, on a par with traditional socializing agents such as the family and
church. Additionally, television has a second cultural function as bard; i.e.,
it contributes to the maintenance of one’s cultural identity by making
media users feel that their way of seeing and structuring reality really does
work, and that other people share this reality with them (Fiske & Hartley,
1978; Berry, 1988).

The role of the media in society

On a societal level, the media play an important role, for there appears to
be an organic link between communication and democracy. Keane (1991),
who described this link in great detail, explained that direct democracy is
only possible in small states, whereas in modern, larger states, a democ-
racy requires mechanisms of representation; i.e., the mass media. Taking
the increasing pervasiveness of the media into account, Keane concluded
that the public sphere, defined by Habermas (1989) as the forum of public
discussion, has moved into the domain of the media. As a result, it is often
argued that the media have gained control over most democratic pro-
cesses (Potter, 1998; Silverblatt, 1995). This raises the question what the
consequences of this development will be for the quality of the democ-
 Reconceptualizing media literacy 143

racy. Entman (1989), who examined the relationship between communi-

cation and democracy, noted that the latter is definitely affected by the
power and performance of the media. How the media affect democracy
will be explained in the following paragraphs.
A ‘true’ democracy has two basic requirements. As Bagdikian (1985)
pointed out, in order to maintain a democracy, the media must, first, sus-
tain a plurality of voices where both the majority and the minority can be
heard. He added that in a modern, dynamic and rapidly changing society,
a lack of diversity in the media leaves people partially blinded and thus un-
able to fulfill their role as participating citizens. Additionally, a lack of such
diversity could lead to a population becoming apathetic and disinterested
which will in turn also weaken the democracy. Thus, the second prerequi-
site for a well-functioning democracy is a competent citizenry which has
access to and is fed by information relevant to issues on the political
agenda (Brants & Neijens, 1998: 149; Hobbs, 1998a).
Recent developments in the media suggest that the diversity in the
content offered by media institutions, which, as described in the pre-
vious paragraph, is very important to the maintenance of democracy, is
threatened by the commercialization of the mass communication indus-
tries. Although advocates of market sovereignty claim that economic
competition between different newspapers, television or radio stations will
meet the needs of the audience, it can also be argued that the increasing
importance of financial gains within the media have led to less diversity in
media content.
First, the budget available for the production of news has, in the case of
a large number of television stations, been decreased, since audiences are
known to prefer entertainment. This is an important development since,
in terms of democracy, news programs are of vital importance for they are
one of the main sources of information that people use when reflecting on,
and making decisions about the future of their society. Since this focus on
financial gains means that news producers will try and cut back expenses,
it will also mean that journalists are more likely to spend as little money as
possible on finding information. In practice this means that reporters have
come to rely more and more on the political elite for most of their in-
formation, which has resulted in the news being more one-sided and
superficial than when reporters relied on more than just one source (Ent-
man, 1989).
Secondly, Keane (1991) suggested that the profit-oriented attitude of
most media institutions works against the opinions of minorities and pro-
motes those of the majority. Keane (1991), like Bagdikian (1985), noted
that the increasing importance of media advertising actually appears to re-
strict the listening, reading and viewing choices of many media users as
144 Judith E. Rosenbaum and Johannes W. J. Beentjes

well as the quality of media content. This development appears to be

caused by the fact that program content is adapted to the lowest common
denominator in order to attract the largest possible audience.
The decline in the quality of the information provided by the media, as
described above, suggests that citizens need to be more than merely en-
gaged in order to uphold a democracy. Citizens can only obtain a com-
plete picture of societal developments, if they know how to access and se-
lect a wide variety of sources of news, and are able to critically evaluate
media content. According to Entman (1989), however, most citizens seem
to shy away from such a critical attitude and prefer cosmetic images and
airy promises. Therefore, the news, in order to attract large audiences
(and thus sell advertising slots), has no choice but present simple, super-
ficial news. Hence, the poor quality of the news is probably not only re-
lated to the profit-minded nature of the media institutions, but also to the
audience’s tastes.
The role that the media play in the maintenance of democracy makes it
clear that if one wishes to sustain a well-running democracy, media users
must be media literate. This entails three items: first, they must know how
to access varying sources of information, secondly, they must know how
to critically select, analyze and evaluate messages, and finally, they must
be aware of the fact that the media do not present the entire scope of
opinions regarding a specific issue, but highlight only a few.

Previous media literacy research: Lack of theory

This research project will differ from previous projects on one important
point, namely through the development of a theoretical framework. Al-
though media literacy has been defined in various ways, no definition has
been constructed using any kind of theoretical framework. This is most
likely the result of the ‘grassroots’ nature of the research into media liter-
acy; i.e., most media literacy research is based on the practical experi-
ences of educators in the field of media education.
The lack of a theoretical basis has one very important consequence for
research into media literacy. It means that there is no clear idea of what it
is that people need to know in order to be considered media literate. Each
scholar uses his/her own approach to the concept of media literacy which
has resulted in numerous different versions of what media literacy entails
(cf. Brown, 1991; Van der Voort & Vooijs, 1989). As a result of this lack of
unanimity about how to define media literacy, a confusing diversity of ad
hoc approaches to the subject of media literacy has arisen (Considine,
1997). This lack of a common definition means that one is unable to com-
 Reconceptualizing media literacy 145

pare either the content of all the various media education projects or the
effects of such programs, and that as a result researchers can learn very
little from one another’s mistakes or successes. Additionally, because
there is no common ground between the various researchers, it has been
impossible to create a common body of knowledge and findings from
which research into media literacy can move forward.

Uses of an instrument to measure media literacy

Concern about the potential influence of the media on the general popu-
lation, as underlined by the previous paragraphs, has led to the creation of
numerous media literacy projects (e.g., Brown, 1991; Criticos, 1997;
Greenaway, 1997; Hobbs, 1998a, b; Hobbs & Frost, 2001). In spite of this
concern, however, little is known about the level of media literacy of the
average media user, as testified by Buckingham, Hey and Moss (1992).
This is because media literacy research has been concerned mostly with
testing the effectiveness of various media literacy programs (cf. Hobbs &
Frost, 2001; Vooijs & Van der Voort, 1989, 1990) and little research has
been concerned with measuring the so-called entry condition; i.e., knowl-
edge of the media that pupils possess before entering a media education
project (Alvardo & Boyd-Barrett, 1992; Bouwman, 1989; Duncan, 1996;
Fuenzalida, 1992; Hobbs, 1998a; Piette & Giroux, 1997). In 1989, Van der
Voort and Vooijs already suggested that the development of an instrument
to measure the level of media literacy of the general population would be
very useful, and in 1992 Hart noted that effective learning in media edu-
cation depends on three factors, the first of which is knowing about stu-
dents’ current state of knowledge and understanding. Brown (1991) also
suggested that a media program should be evaluated for its effectiveness
with subjects through time, an observation which implies the need for an
instrument to measure students’ level of media literacy. In our research
project, an attempt will be made to create an instrument to measure what
people know about the media, and their own use of the media. Develop-
ing such an instrument could be very beneficial to future research for the
following two reasons.
First, the results obtained with this instrument could provide in-
formation about the way in which media consumers approach the media.
It could supply answers to questions such as; how critical are media con-
sumers, are they aware of how they use the media, and of the possible im-
pact of the media?
Secondly, the information received from this instrument could render
future media education projects more effective, because media education
146 Judith E. Rosenbaum and Johannes W. J. Beentjes

projects can be adapted more adequately to students’ ability. Van der

Voort and Vooijs (1989) noted that the problem with most media edu-
cation projects is that because of the lack of information on the entry be-
havior and/or knowledge of the participants, they are not based on what
students already know about the media, but instead on what researchers
feel media consumers should know about the media. This implies that the
goals that these media education projects have set may not be realistic or
appropriate.
Thus, the eventual aim of this study is to develop an instrument to
measure media literacy. However, the development of such an instrument
requires a well-conceptualized and theoretically grounded concept of media
literacy, which will be developed in the following paragraphs.

Conceptual foundations for media literacy

Various scholars concerned with media literacy or media education have,
most of them without actually referring to it, adopted a social constructiv-
ist perspective, a perspective which, according to McQuail (2000), as-
sumes that the media create a symbolic environment.
First, many authors observed that two of the basic requirements of
a media literate audience are: 1) that they are aware that the messages
produced by the media are constructed representations of reality, and 2)
that individuals construct meaning from these messages, thus construct-
ing their own perspective on reality (e.g., Alvardo & Boyd-Barrett, 1992;
Brown, 2001; Masterman, 1980). Both of these aspects of media literacy
closely resemble the principles of the social constructivist perspective.
Second, during the National Leadership Conference on Media Literacy
in 1992, various media literacy researchers discussed the specific mean-
ings and uses of media literacy. Aufderheide (1997), in her report of this
conference, described five precepts which the majority of the different
media literacy projects appear to have in common: (1) media and media
messages are constructed; (2) media messages are produced within econ-
omic, social, political, historical and aesthetic contexts; (3) the interpre-
tative meaning-making processes involved in message reception consists
of an interaction between the reader, the text and the culture; (4) media
have unique languages, i.e., characteristics which typify various forms,
genres and symbol systems of communication; (5) media representations
play a role in people’s understanding of social reality. Various other re-
searchers also advocated these same precepts as forming the foundation
for media literacy research (Brown, 2001; Hobbs, 1997).
These concepts suggest a constructivist approach to the media due to
 Reconceptualizing media literacy 147

their resemblance to the principles of constructivism as advocated by con-

structivists such as Berger and Luckmann (1967) and Adoni and Mane
(1984). The constructivist approach to the media assumes that reality is
not an objective entity, but a social construct, created through people’s ac-
tions (Van den Bulck, 1996). McQuail (2000) adds that this process of
reality-construction is two-fold. First, the media construct a version of so-
cial reality by “… framing images of reality in predictable and patterned
ways” (421), and second, people construct their own view of social reality
in interaction with the symbolic constructions offered by the media.

Developing a constructivist model of media literacy

The development of a model which could serve as a theoretical frame-
work for the concept of media literacy is based on the action theoretical
reference model of media use as developed by Renckstorf (1996) and
specified by Schaap, Renckstorf and Wester (2001) (see Figure 8.1). The
action theoretical perspective on media use is based on social constructiv-
ism, for it presumes that people construct their own realities, using the
media as one of the means to achieve this construction.
The Schaap et al. model describes the role that the media play in
people’s lives, and specifies this role by naming three societal domains
which play a part in determining how people construct reality: institutions,
information and interpretation. It describes, in great detail, all the steps
that individuals take in order to arrive at an interpretation of a media
message, and a construction of reality.
The first reason why we decided to use this model as the base for the
development of a theoretical framework was because media literacy, like
the action theoretical reference model of media use is all about how
people deal with the media. The second reason is related to the notion that
a great deal of previous research into media literacy implies a link to the
constructivist perspective (see previous paragraph), which forms the the-
oretical basis for this model as well.
When constructing a model of media literacy based on the Schaap et al.
model, only those elements and relations were included which were rel-
evant for a study into media literacy. This led to the creation of the follow-
ing heuristic model (see Figure 8.2).
The first element in the newly developed model, ‘Institutional features’,
refers to the economic, legal and technological aspects of the production
of mediated messages. Because ‘institutional features’ in the constructivist
model of media literacy refers to features of media institutions only, the
name of this element has been changed into ‘media institutions’. In terms
148 Judith E. Rosenbaum and Johannes W. J. Beentjes

Figure 8.1. Action theoretical reference model for the study of TV news use:
Figure 8.1. Reduced Version (Schaap, Renckstorf & Wester, 2001)
 Reconceptualizing media literacy 149

Figure 8.2. A constructivist model of media literacy

of media literacy, this element entails knowledge about the economic,

political and legal contexts within which media messages are produced,
and how these contexts influence the actual media institutions and the
type of contents they produce.
The next two elements in this model are called ‘social network’ and
‘situations’. Both refer to the social environment surrounding an individ-
ual. Schaap et al. (2001) describe the element ‘social network’, as the social
situation which can affect the content of a media message as well as a per-
son’s attitude towards the media. In regard to media literacy, this element
suggests an awareness of societal structures, and how these interact with
150 Judith E. Rosenbaum and Johannes W. J. Beentjes

the media; i.e., how the media influence the social structures and how the
cultural and social structures in a given society influence the media and
their messages. It also suggests an understanding that other people, be-
cause they may live in different social circumstances, may interpret the
same message differently.
The third element is called ‘situations’ and refers to “All events of which
the media may take notice” (Schaap et al., 2001: 52). Regarding media lit-
eracy, this element suggests that people should know that what one sees,
hears or reads in the media is a skewed and biased reflection of reality.
This element includes the knowledge that what one perceives through the
media is a representation of selected events. Additionally, this element in-
cludes the ability to understand that the media do not provide a perfect
reflection of reality. The first three elements, ‘media institutions’, ‘social
network’ and ‘situations’ together make up the social cultural context of
media use.
The fourth element, ‘information’ is described as “… the entire range of
situations a person is confronted with” (Schaap et al., 2001: 53). Although
the Schaap et al. model focused on all incoming information, in the con-
structivist model of media literacy this element refers to the representation
of people, places, events and situations by the media only. First of all, this
element refers to the manner of representation; i.e., the extent to which a
message is biased. Secondly, this element refers to the awareness that a
media message is a construction, and to the understanding of the way in
which the representation is created; i.e., the codes and conventions used
in a media message. Finally, this element refers to the notion that people
should be aware of the fact that there are multiple sources of information.
In this model the elements information and the social cultural context
are portrayed as being related to each other. This relationship symbolizes
the notion that the content of a media message is influenced by not only
the nature of the situations that determine the content, or by the institu-
tions that produce the message, but also by the social structures that help
define the boundaries within which a message will be produced. In terms
of media literacy, this relationship entails the awareness that dominant so-
cial norms and values, as well as the nature of the institutions in which a
message is produced, influence the content of the message. Additionally,
the relationship between information and social cultural context also runs
in the reverse direction. In this case it refers to the extent to which a media
message reflects the dominant social cultural norms and actions in a so-
ciety, and/or the extent to which a media message affects the social cul-
tural environment.
The following elements, ‘interaction situation’, ‘structure of relevances’,
‘definition of the situation’, ‘action strategies’, ‘objectivation’ and ‘sociali-
 Reconceptualizing media literacy 151

zation’ may be regarded as aspects of the interpretation of media content

or ‘information’. The fifth element, ‘interaction situation’, refers to the
situations in which people use the media. In respect to media literacy, this
element suggests that media users should be aware of the types of situ-
ations in which they use the media, the extent to which the media are used
for para-social interaction.
The sixth element, ‘structure of relevance’ refers to the “conditions of
internal action” (Schaap et al., 2001: 53), and is concerned with the struc-
ture of an individual’s knowledge. In terms of media literacy, this element
refers to people’s awareness that ‘everything inside their head’ determines
how they respond to the media. In this sense, this element does not differ
from the element ‘definition of the situation’. The latter posits that people
should be aware of the process through which they analyze the media, and
thus implicitly includes an understanding of the knowledge, motives and
goals that aid people in reaching their interpretation. In short, since both
‘structure of relevances’ and ‘definition of the situation’ refer to the same
aspect of knowledge about media use, we have decided to combine these
two elements into one, namely ‘definition of the situation’.
‘Definition of the situation’, element 7, refers to the interpretation pro-
cess, wherein one uses one’s structure of relevances to come to an under-
standing of the media, as well as to the result or product of this inter-
pretation process (Schaap et al., 2001). In terms of media literacy, this
element refers to people’s ability to analyze and interpret media content. It
also includes people’s awareness of the way in which they interpret media
messages, and that everything inside their mind, such as motivation, goals
and knowledge, influences how they look at media messages.
The eighth element ‘action strategies’ refers to the action designed by
the individual as a result of the received information and the subsequent
definition of a situation (Schaap et al., 2001). In regard to media literacy,
this element refers to three issues. First, it suggests that people know what
kinds of situations inspire them to use the media. This includes both situ-
ations that involve media use, and situations that do not. Second, this
element refers to an awareness of how the media inspire people to take
certain actions. More specifically, this element also refers to the ability to
access and select multiple sources of information.
The ninth element, ‘objectivation’, refers to the creation of habitual be-
havior patterns, which can include media use. This element suggests that
media literate people should be aware of their routine use of the media;
i.e., their patterns of media use. It also suggests that media literacy in-
cludes knowing how routine patterns of media use came about.
The tenth and final element, ‘socialization’, refers to the process through
which an individual becomes a member of a society, and internalizes its
152 Judith E. Rosenbaum and Johannes W. J. Beentjes

norms, values and accepted patterns of behavior. Regarding media liter-

acy, this element suggests that media users should be able to see how the
media socialize people into society by teaching them the dominant norms
and values.
In the model the element ‘interpretation’ is linked to both ‘information’
and ‘social network’. First of all, the relationship between ‘information’
and ‘interpretation’ runs both ways. On the one hand, it refers to the in-
fluence that the content of a media message might have on the way in
which the process of interpretation occurs. On the other hand, it refers to
the process through which people construct their own version of the in-
formation presented to them through this process of interpretation.
Second, the relationship between ‘social network’ and ‘interpretation’
refers, on the one hand, to the extent to which one’s interpretation is in-
fluenced by one’s culture. On the other hand this relationship also points
to the notion that one’s interpretation of a mediated message can influence
the dominant norms and values, and culture in general. An example of
this would be when the broadcasting of, what at first seems a provocative
program, gradually renders what used to be considered transgressive be-
havior more accepted.
In short, we have used the action theoretical reference model as ex-
plained by Schaap et al. (2001) as a heuristic model to identify the essential
elements of media literacy. These elements are presented in what can be
called a constructivist model of media literacy (see Figure 8.2). The model
is characterized as constructivist because all the components imply that
media use plays a role in people’s construction of reality. This model differs
from the action-theoretical model as developed by Schaap et al. (2001) be-
cause it does not have the intention to display the process through which
people construct their actions. Instead it outlines a conceptualization of
media literacy by showing the main components of media literacy, as well
as the relationships between the components. The model reconceptualizes
media literacy as knowledge and abilities concerning the production, inter-
pretation and content of media information within a socio-cultural context,
as well as knowledge about the relations between these elements.

A constructivist model of media literacy: A synthesis?

How does this newly developed model relate to previous research in the
field of media literacy? This question is explored by briefly comparing the
components of the model to previous ideas about what media literacy
should entail. The elements ‘social cultural context’ and ‘information’ as
defined in the constructivist model of media literacy appear to be a com-
 Reconceptualizing media literacy 153

pendium of most of the features of media literacy discussed in previous

research. Conversely, although some of the steps described in the element
‘interpretation’ are discussed by various researchers, on the whole this el-
ement is not often discussed or mentioned in relation to media literacy.
Descriptions of media literacy in existing literature that can be categor-
ized under the element ‘institutions’ emphasize different aspects of the in-
stitutional context in which media messages are produced. Some authors
focus on specific aspects of the institutional context. Dorr, Browne Graves
and Phelps (1980), Lewis and Jhally (1998), Meyrowitz (1998) and Tho-
man (1999) for instance, mentioned the knowledge people should have
about the economic goals of the media; i.e., their profit motive. Swinkels
(1992) posited that people should be familiar with the producers’ inten-
tions and the conditions of production. Vooijs and van der Voort (1989)
pointed at insight into the different kinds of television stations, the various
broadcasting systems and an understanding of the tactics of programming.
Others provided a broader description of the institutional context.
Brown (2001), for instance, notes that people should learn about: “…
forces shaping media content, including advertising, economics and gov-
ernment regulation and interest groups” (684). This description is echoed
by several other researchers, such as Aufderheide (1997) and Hobbs
(1997; 1998a; 1998b). Buckingham (1998) argued that media literacy
should include knowledge about ‘media agencies’, or “… knowledge
about who communicates what and why, who produces, what are the
media institutions, economics and ideology, intentions and results” (32).
Alvardo and Boyd-Barrett (1992) and Davies (1997) also referred to this
aspect, which was first developed by the British Film Institute.
Finally, Lloyd-Kolkin, Wheeler and Strand (1980) when discussing
what people should know in regard to the institutional context of media
production, mentioned: “… the television industry, including the net-
works, local stations, public television … the role of the advertiser, the im-
portance of ratings and of scheduling. Basic federal regulations regarding
television and the financing of programs and the relationship between pro-
ducers, networks and affiliates” (123).
The next element, ‘social network’, is often touched upon in descrip-
tions of media literacy. Some authors note that media literacy involves the
understanding that people from different backgrounds tend to interpret
the same message differently, as well as the ability to describe how these
different groups of people will interpret media content differently (Criti-
cos, 1997; Hobbs & Frost, 2001; Meyrowitz, 1998; Thoman, 1999). In ad-
dition, Criticos (1997) described media literacy as the ability to look at the
media from a political, social, racial or gender perspective that is different
from one’s own.
154 Judith E. Rosenbaum and Johannes W. J. Beentjes

Some authors focused on a second aspect of element ‘social network’,

namely the knowledge of the social conditions of the production of a
message (Lewis & Jhally, 1998; Hobbs, 1998a; Alvardo & Boyd-Barrett,
1992). Brown (2001), for instance, noted that “Critical viewing is one
major component of media literacy, referring to understanding of and
competence with television, including its social, cultural, psychological as-
pects” (681).
A final aspect of ‘social network’ that some researchers focused on was
the relationship between media content and culture (Swinkels, 1992).
Greenaway (1997) claimed that understanding that media texts influence
one’s culture and the society’s dominant ideology is a core concept of
media literacy. Quin and MacMahon (1997) posited that media literate
people should be able to explain the way in which stereotypes in the
media serve the economic and social interest of particular groups in the
community. Finally, Lloyd-Kolkin et al. (1980) mentioned the awareness
of the social responsibilities of the creators of media content, and the ex-
tent to which the media influence lifestyles and values.
The third element of media literacy is ‘situations’. Authors who dis-
cussed this element focused mainly on the relationship between reality
and the media when discussing media literacy. Criticos (1997) described
media literacy as the ability to see how the media reflect reality, Alvardo
and Boyd-Barrett (1992), Buckingham (1998) and Davies (1997) all
claimed that media literacy includes understanding the relationship be-
tween media texts and actual places, people, events and ideas. Media lit-
eracy also includes an awareness of the fact that messages are a represen-
tation of social reality and that mediated messages define perceptions
about the world that people share with one another (Hobbs, 1997, 1998a).
Hobbs also claimed that media literacy includes the awareness that mess-
ages have a relationship to the lived experience of individuals in many cul-
tures, and that these messages help people make sense of the past, present
and future; i.e., these representations play a role in people’s understanding
of social reality.
The next element of media literacy is, according to the constructivist
model of media literacy, ‘information’, or the content of mediated mess-
ages. As is the case with the two elements discussed in the previous para-
graphs, various researchers have focused on different features of the same
element.
Some authors focus on the awareness of the constructed nature of
media content. Worsnop (1992) claimed that media literacy entails the
awareness that media content is a construction. Criticos (1997) seconded
this idea, and noted that students should be able to see human agency and
the manufactured nature of media content below the surface. They should
 Reconceptualizing media literacy 155

also be able to discern falsification, bias and absences in media reportage

and representation. Lloyd-Kolkin et al. (1980) included knowledge about
the construction of news stories. They also claimed that media literacy in-
cludes understanding the portrayal of social and personal values in the
media.
Other authors emphasized the textual analysis of media content. Auf-
derheide (1997) alleged that people should know that form and content are
related in every medium, each of which has a unique aesthetic, codes and
conventions. Quin and MacMahon (1997) stated that textual analysis be-
gins with a study of the text’s construction, the symbols, the narrative and
the encoding of a message. Lloyd-Kolkin et al. (1980) were more specific
in their description of media literacy; they noted that media literacy in-
cludes the ability to analyze content in terms of plot construction, charac-
terization, dialogue and pacing. Brown (2001) and Finch and Jackson
(2001) added the ability to discern and describe more technical codes and
conventions, such as those related to the creation of specific images and
sounds. Additionally, Vooijs and van der Voort (1989) deemed recognizing
stereotypes through watching television an important aspect of media lit-
eracy.
Finally, some authors note that media literacy includes knowledge
about which production techniques are expected to elicit specific re-
sponses from a certain audience and why. Meyrowitz (1998), for instance,
argued that media users should be able to recognize the variables typically
used to shape perception and response to mediated communication.
Buckingham (1998) claimed that people should not only be familiar with
the different kinds of media categories, but also how this categorization re-
lated to people’s understanding of media content. The same claim was
made by Alvardo and Boyd-Barrett (1992) and Davies (1997). Lastly,
Hobbs and Frost (2001) claimed that audiences should be able to identify
specific visual elements designed to draw the attention of specific target
audiences.
As opposed to the previous components, ‘interpretation’ is a relatively
little discussed element of media literacy. Various authors, if they focus on
the ‘interpretation’ element of mass communication, restrict their descrip-
tion of media literacy to a very general outline of the element ‘interpre-
tation’, especially when compared to the model. Hobbs (1997, 1998a), for
instance, emphasized that individuals negotiate meaning by interacting
with messages, and that the meaning of a message is found in the act of in-
terpretation. She added the notion that the interpretative meaning-making
process involved in message reception consists of an interaction between
the reader, the text and the reader’s culture. Additionally, Worsnop (1992)
noted that people will use the combination of the text and their own per-
156 Judith E. Rosenbaum and Johannes W. J. Beentjes

sonal experiences to create a whole new meaning for a specific part of

one’s social reality
Other authors provide a more detailed description of what people need
to know in order to be considered media literate. Some, for instance, pro-
pose that media literacy includes the awareness of how much time people
spend with the media, and why. As Lloyd-Kolkin et al. (1980) pointed out,
one should not only be aware of the quantity of one’s media use, but also
the role that the media plays in one’s life. This view on media literacy re-
flects the element ‘interaction situation’.
A large number of media literacy researchers, when outlining a defini-
tion of media literacy, discuss the element ‘definition of the situation’.
For instance, Worsnop (1992) stated that people should be aware that they
bring their own personal experience into the interpretation process.
Hobbs and Frost (2001), on the other hand, noted that one should also
understand one’s motivation for using the media. Additionally, according
to Alvardo and Boyd-Barrett (1992) media education included students
being able to understand how they make sense of a message, and Tho-
man’s (1999) notion of media literacy also entailed the ability to challenge
and question media content. Vooijs and van der Voort (1989), when pro-
viding a summary of existing television literacy projects also entailed a
few aspects which belong to the ‘definition of the situation’ category. For
starters, they noted that a television literate viewer is one who is critical of
media content, one who not only understands media content, but who can
evaluate it as well. They claimed that television literacy also included the
ability to critically evaluate television commercials, thus reducing their
impact.
The element ‘action strategies’ received far less attention than ‘definition
of the situation’. Vooijs and van der Voort (1990) claimed that media liter-
acy entails the ability to manage one’s own use of the media as well as a
readiness to compare media content to outside sources of information.
This claim was echoed by Lloyd-Kolkin et al. (1980), who noted that
media literacy included the ability to compare portrayals of specific
groups of people to the real world, as well as the ability to compare dif-
ferent sources of news. Thoman (1999) and Hobbs (1997) also posited that
media literacy included the ability to access and select as well as verify, or-
ganize and remember information.
Only a few authors discuss the last two elements ‘objectivation’ and
‘socialization’. In regard to ‘objectivation’, Desimoni (1992) mentioned
that the media education project taught in the Swiss canton of Vaud in-
cluded rendering people aware of the amount of time they spend using
the media, and teaching them to make conscious decisions about their
use of the media (cf. Vooijs & Van der Voort, 1989). The element ‘sociali-
 Reconceptualizing media literacy 157

zation’ is briefly touched upon by Thoman (1999) when she noted that
media literacy includes the ability to know how; “The media shape what
we know and understand about the world we live in” (51; cf. Lloyd-Kolkin
et al., 1980).
So, in past media literacy research, ‘interpretation’ is described in a
manner limited to either a general idea of what it entails, or to a very
meager discussion of, in most cases, only a few of the five steps outlined in
the model. This is where the constructivist model of media literacy is
more than just a synthesis of existing research, for the model describes, in
great detail, a total of five steps involved in the process of interpretation.
Each step outlining an important part of the process through which people
come to an interpretation of a media message.
Besides these nine elements of media literacy, the model also depicts
several relationships between the various elements, some of which have
been discussed in previous research, others which have not. The relation-
ship between ‘social cultural context’ and ‘information’ is discussed briefly
by a few researchers. Brown (2001) emphasized the influence that media
institutions have on the content of a media message, while Greenaway
(1997) and Lloyd-Kolkin et al. (1980) focused on the extent to which a
media message might influence one’s culture. The notion that the domi-
nant culture influences the content of a mediated message appeared to be
ignored in media literacy research.
The relationship between ‘interpretation’ and ‘social network’ is limited
to a brief, general description by Hobbs (1997, 1998a). She claimed that
the interpretative meaning-making process involved in message reception
consists of an interaction between the reader, the text and the reader’s cul-
ture.
The link between ‘information’ and ‘interpretation’ is only discussed
from one point of view, namely that people will bring their own personal
experience into the act of interpretation (Worsnop, 1992). Hobbs (1997,
1998a) also briefly touched upon this relationship when she mentioned
that individuals negotiate meaning by interacting with messages, and that
the meaning of a message is found in the act of interpretation. The notion
that the specific content of mediated message might influence the process
of interpretation is not mentioned.
Thus, when it comes to outlining the concept of media literacy, the con-
structivist model of media literacy is more than just a summary of pre-
vious research. Not only does it discuss the element ‘interpretation’ which
is largely ignored by most researchers, it also provides a more complete
picture of the relationships between the elements of media literacy than is
the case in previous research. In short, one can conclude that the model
expands current knowledge and assumptions about media literacy.
158 Judith E. Rosenbaum and Johannes W. J. Beentjes

Moving forward
In this study an attempt was made to construct a theoretical foundation
for research into media literacy through the creation of the constructivist
model of media literacy. This model defines media literacy as knowledge
and abilities concerning the production, interpretation and content of
media information within a socio-cultural context, as well as knowledge
about the relationships between these elements.
The eventual aim of this research project is to develop an instrument
to measure media literacy, for little is known about how media literate
people actually are. The constructivist model of media literacy can be
used to lay the groundwork for the development of such an instrument,
because it outlines the elements of media literacy, and the relationships
between those elements, that people should be aware of. In order to de-
velop such an instrument, this research project will move through the fol-
lowing phases. First of all, the aspects and relationships as defined in the
constructivist model of media literacy will be operationalized. The next
step will be to use these operationalized concepts to develop open-ended
questions, which can be used in a one-on-one interview. The results from
these interviews will, in turn, be used to create a quantitative survey,
which will be used to measure the level of media literacy of a much larger
population, which should produce some insight into the knowledge and
understanding that people have of the media.

Notes
1. This reconceptualization was completed in a previous article (Rosenbaum &
Beentjes, 2001). In this contribution the definitions of the various aspects of
media literacy have been re-examined and where needed, adapted.

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162
 Elderly people’s media use in the context of personal meaning 163

9 Elderly people’s media use in the context

9 of personal meaning

Margot van der Goot, Johannes W. J. Beentjes

and Martine van Selm

Abstract

Our aim in this chapter is to develop a theoretical model that describes the con-
nection between elderly people’s media use and personal meaning construction.
This theoretical model is the starting point of our research project on elderly
people’s media use. Personal meaning construction refers to the process in
which persons assign meaning to themselves and their lives. The (re)construc-
tion of personal meaning is important especially for elderly people, because
later life is characterized by changes (for example losses) that may lead to ex-
periencing daily life as less meaningful (van Selm & Dittmann-Kohli, 1998).
The central question in our research project is how media use contributes to
this process through which elderly people experience their daily lives as more or
less meaningful. We developed our theoretical model (MUPM-model: Media
Use in the context of Personal Meaning) by integrating two theoretical ap-
proaches. The first approach studies media use as social action (Renckstorf,
1994, 1996; Renckstorf & Wester, 2001). The second approach studies per-
sonal meaning from a life-span perspective (Dittmann-Kohli, 1990, 1994,
1995; van Selm & Dittmann-Kohli, 1998).

Keywords: Elderly, media use, personal meaning, social action

Introduction
Much of the research on elderly people’s media use was conducted in the
1970s in the United States and was focused on television. Several authors
(Rubin, 1982; Schulze, 1998) summarized this research and argued that in
future research on media and the elderly, elderly people should no longer
be considered to be a homogenous group and age should no longer be
considered to be the factor that explains media use. In research on elderly
people’s media use, more attention should be paid to the situational cir-
cumstances and psychological characteristics of seniors. Schulze (1998)
164 Margot van der Goot, Johannes W. J. Beentjes and Martine van Selm

emphasized the role of socialization and personality. She states that future
research on communication and ageing should try to explain the pri-
mary and secondary communication of the elderly by looking at their
(media)biography, their situation, their personality and their media com-
petences.
We agree with these authors that in research on elderly people’s media
use attention should be paid to differences within the elderly population
regarding their media use. In our research project we emphasize personal
meaning construction because we think that personal meaning construc-
tion plays a central role in the connection between people’s circumstances
and their media use. That is to say, people interpret situations and sub-
sequently construct media use in a way that is meaningful to them. Per-
sonal meaning is also central when studying media biography and sociali-
zation, as people, during their lives, learn in which context which media
are meaningful to them.
This chapter focuses on the theoretical model that we are developing
for this project. On the basis of the MUPM-model (Media Use in the con-
text of Personal Meaning) we are able to study how media use is con-
nected with the way elderly people experience their daily lives. The
MUPM-model is based on concepts that are drawn from two approaches.
The first approach is related to communication science and considers
media use to be social action (Renckstorf, 1994, 1996; Renckstorf &
Wester, 2001). The second approach is part of psychogerontology and
studies personal meaning from a life-span perspective (Dittmann-Kohli,
1990, 1994, 1995; van Selm, 1998; van Selm & Dittmann-Kohli, 1998;
Thissen, Westerhof, Dittmann-Kohli & Stevens, 2000; Westerhof & Ditt-
mann-Kohli, 1997). In this chapter these two approaches will first be dis-
cussed separately. Next, the similar roots of these two approaches and the
relevance of both approaches for studying elderly people’s media use will
be described. Finally, the MUPM-model and its application in empirical
research will be explained.

Media Use as Social Action

The Media Use as Social Action model has been developed by Renckstorf
(1994, 1996; Renckstorf & Wester, 2001) and is meant to yield insight in
how individuals deal with the media in their daily lives. In our present so-
ciety, media use is one of the actions that people construct in their daily
lives. Media use, therefore, should not be analyzed using theory that is
only applicable to media use, but theory that is also applicable to other ac-
tions as well (Renckstorf, 1977).
 Elderly people’s media use in the context of personal meaning 165

In this approach, media use is seen from an action-theoretical perspec-

tive. A central tenet is that people interpret the ‘objects’ that they come
across, before they construct action. Action is thus always constructed by
individuals on the basis of the meaning they assign to situations (Renck-
storf, 1994, 1996; Renckstorf & Wester, 2001). For research on media use,
this central tenet means that people who watch television or who read the
newspaper should not be considered ‘recipients’ of media messages, but
rather as subjective producers of meanings. They are not passive, but they
actively construct media use and interpret media use in accordance with
their own objectives, intentions, and interests (Huysmans, 2001; Rencks-
torf, 1994, 1996; Renckstorf & Wester, 2001).
Regarding media messages this central tenet implies that these mess-
ages are interpreted. If individuals observe media messages, they will in-
terpret the messages based on their individual stock of knowledge. The
same media message may thus be interpreted differently by different indi-
viduals. Media messages in turn may influence individuals. On the one
hand, the message can correspond with the knowledge in the individual’s
stock of knowledge and to that extent confirm individuals in what they al-
ready know. On the other hand, a media message might cause problems
when it does not comply with the individual’s stock of knowledge (Huys-
mans, 2001; Renckstorf, 1994, 1996; Renckstorf & Wester, 2001).
The model distinguishes between ritualized and instrumental media
use. Media use is constructed by individuals based on their stock of
knowledge. If past experience has taught that media use is suited for a spe-
cific type of context, individuals will use media without further reflection.
This is called ritualized media use. When, on the other hand, a situation
does not correspond with the stock of knowledge, individuals may ac-
tively construct media use as the solution to a problem. This is called in-
strumental media use (Frissen, 1996; Huysmans, 2001; Renckstorf, 1994,
1996; Renckstorf & Wester, 2001).
The Media Use as Social Action model posits that media use consists of
internal as well as external action. Media exposure is a form of external
action that is constructed by individuals on the basis of their interpretation
of a situation. Internal action regarding media use takes place, for in-
stance, when individuals use information from media messages in order to
solve a problem (Huysmans, 2001; Renckstorf, 1994, 1996; Renckstorf &
Wester, 2001).
166 Margot van der Goot, Johannes W. J. Beentjes and Martine van Selm

Personal meaning from a life-span perspective

Personal meaning system

The personal meaning system is a reservoir of thoughts that individuals
have about themselves and their lives. It is an internal model of the sub-
jectively experienced personal reality. It is regarded as a structure of cog-
nitions in which insights, as well as feelings and goals are represented. Not
only cognitions about the internal world and the personality are repre-
sented in the personal meaning system, but also cognitions about the re-
lationship between individuals and their environment (Dittmann-Kohli,
1995).
Although personal in nature, the personal meaning system is also in-
fluenced by culture in which collectively shared opinions prevail on, for
example, life stages, meaning in life, and the rights and duties of individ-
uals. These opinions influence what people think about themselves and
their lives (Dittmann-Kohli, 1995; Westerhof & Dittmann-Kohli, 1997).
An important aspect of the personal meaning system is the dimension
of time, by which individual stories obtain ‘depth’ in terms of past, present
and future (Dittmann-Kohli, 1995). In addition, a spatial organization is
defined between objects, persons and events, and the ‘Lebensraum’ is
subdivided in zones. The space-dimension is more static than the dimen-
sion of time, but over a longer period the spatial subdivision is also subject
to change (Dittmann-Kohli, 1995).
Experiences and stimuli that individuals come across, have to be pro-
cessed. An essential element in this processing is that individuals feel the
need for cognitive consistency and that they strive for experiencing their
lives as positive (Thissen et al., 2000). This implies that changes in the per-
sonal meaning system may be induced by changes in environmental or
bodily changes. When changes in the environment of individuals take
place, a discrepancy may occur between the situation and the personal
goals or ideals individuals are striving for. The discrepancy normally is re-
duced in order to maintain an adequate understanding of self and life and
to maintain a certain degree of internal balance. This means that the per-
sonal meaning system is a dynamic reservoir (Dittmann-Kohli, 1994).

Components of personal meaning

Reker and Wong (1988) were the first authors to formulate a model in
which elderly people’s experience of personal meaning was subdivided in
a cognitive, a motivational and an affective component. Subsequently,
several other authors (van der Lans, 1992; van Ranst, 1995; van Selm &
 Elderly people’s media use in the context of personal meaning 167

Dittmann-Kohli, 1998; Thissen et al., 2000) have used these components

when studying the personal meaning of elderly people. Positive meaning
indicates that individuals interpret their experiences and understand their
lives (cognitive component); that they evaluate what is good and impor-
tant, that they set goals and make plans (motivational component); and
that they experience happiness and satisfaction (affective component)
(Thissen et al., 2000).
The cognitive component refers to the view individuals have on their
own lives, life in general, and the world (van Ranst, 1995). Reker and Wong
(1988) call this a ‘belief system’ or ‘world view’. Functions of these beliefs
are interpretation, evaluation, and prediction (Thissen et al., 2000). These
views on reality affect a person’s understanding of life and experiences as a
coherent whole. Van Selm (1998) points out that the cognitive component
of meaninglessness may be experienced for two reasons. First, when the
individual’s stock of knowledge fails to provide ‘repertoires’ needed while
dealing with (new) situations. This failure may cause daily life to become
confusing, unpredictable and uncontrollable. Second, when individuals ex-
perience that their stock of knowledge differs fundamentally from other
people’s. This may lead to social isolation and alienation.
The motivational component refers to a person’s value system. Values
are guides in daily life; they determine the goals individuals pursue and the
way individuals live their lives. Both pursuing goals and reaching goals as-
sign meaning to life (Reker & Wong, 1988). This component indicates the
drives individuals may have, and what they strive for (Thissen et al., 2000).
The motivational component of meaninglessness is experienced when dis-
crepancies occur in the sphere of goals. For instance, a discrepancy may
occur regarding the probability of a goal being reached (van Selm, 1998).
The affective component refers to personal feelings. Meaningfulness is
accompanied by positive feelings, whereas the affective component of
meaninglessness refers to negative feelings (Reker & Wong, 1988; van
Selm, 1998; van Selm & Dittmann-Kohli, 1998; Thissen et al., 2000).

Domains of the personal meaning system

Cognitions in the personal meaning system can be subdivided in several
domains. Domains can be regarded as the thematic fields of the personal
meaning system. Between individuals, domains vary with respect to their
content and their significance (Westerhof & Dittmann-Kohli, 1997). Ditt-
mann-Kohli (1995) remarks that some overlap exists between the several
domains. Moreover, specific cognitions can simultaneously be part of dif-
ferent domains, as different domains emphasize different aspects of the
cognitions.
168 Margot van der Goot, Johannes W. J. Beentjes and Martine van Selm

Dittmann-Kohli (1995) distinguishes the following domains: psychologi-

cal self, physical self, social environment, non-social environment, time and
evaluation. Cognitions within the domain psychological self reflect the men-
tal model individuals have of their internal worlds and psychological pro-
cesses (Dittmann-Kohli, 1994). This domain contains cognitions about,
among others, personality, skills, and mental processes such as social
comparison (Dittmann-Kohli, 1995).
Cognitions about the physical self refer to physical aspects of the indi-
vidual, for instance one’s own body, health, psychophysical skills, auton-
omy, sexuality and appearance (Dittmann-Kohli, 1995).
Next, cognitions that refer to the relationship between individuals and
their environment are part of the personal meaning system. These cogni-
tions are subdivided in cognitions that refer to the social environment and
cognitions that refer to the non-social environment. Cognitions on social
environment refer to personal relationships individuals maintain with other
people, such as cognitions regarding social skills or loneliness. Cognitions
on people in general and on religion are also considered to be part of this
domain (Dittmann-Kohli, 1995).
Cognitions about the non-social environment refer to issues such as
study, work, achievements, spare time, and material resources such as
money, property and housing conditions (Dittmann-Kohli, 1995).
The last two domains, time and evaluation, partly differ from the other
domains. On the one hand, they cannot be considered domains, since
they belong to another level. They are the cognitive dimensions of putting
in a time order and evaluating, that are imposed on the other domains
mentioned. On the other hand, they do represent domains, namely do-
mains that consist of cognitions regarding time and cognitions regarding
the evaluation of self and life (Dittmann-Kohli, 1995).

Personal meaning and later stages of life

The approach that studies personal meaning from a life-span perspective
assumes that individuals come across changing circumstances during the
course of life. They adapt their motivations, insights and feelings to these
changing circumstances in order to maintain a sense of meaningfulness.
Several authors allege that personal meaning can play an important role
in the lives of elderly, inasmuch later life is a period of change. Change
may both undermine the construction of positive meaning, as well as
stimulate positive meaning (van Selm, 1998; van Selm & Dittmann-Kohli,
1998). Van Selm and Dittmann-Kohli (1998) distinguish five aspects of
ageing potentially endangering the experience of positive meaning in the
second half of life. First, biological ageing. Biological ageing may result in
 Elderly people’s media use in the context of personal meaning 169

a diminished ‘world within reach’ (Dittmann-Kohli, 1990). Second, the

time to realize plans and goals diminishes. Third, age-related social struc-
tures and stereotypes may deprive elderly people of social status and re-
spect. Fourth, the loss of a spouse is a potential cause of social isolation.
Additionally, the end of life as a couple involves the loss of a culturally
highly valued life style and the loss of identity as part of a couple (van
Selm, 1998). Moreover, the loss of people nearby draws attention to the
finiteness of life. Fifth, this stage of life involves a process of evaluating the
balance between achievements and missed changes, between investments
and rewards during the past life. This life review may result in a sense of
pride in one’s achievements in life, but it may also generate a sense of
meaninglessness.

Comparison of two approaches: ‘Media Use as Social Action’

and ‘Personal Meaning from a Life-span Perspective’
The approach that studies media use as social action, and the approach
that studies personal meaning from a life-span perspective, share several
premises. Both approaches state that individuals actively construct their
actions on the basis of their interests and goals. The individual stock of
knowledge is a central concept in both approaches. Individuals interpret
new situations on the basis of this stock of knowledge and action is con-
structed on the basis of this interpretation. Both approaches assume that a
discrepancy may arise between the situation and the individual stock of
knowledge.
However, the two approaches also differ in several ways. The Media
Use as Social Action model focuses on a process; the model describes the
different steps of the process of the interpretation of situations and the
construction of media use on the basis of the individual stock of knowl-
edge. On the contrary, the approach that studies personal meaning from
a life-span perspective does not focus on a process; the composition of
the stock of knowledge of an individual at a particular point in time is de-
scribed. In this second approach, the term personal meaning system is used
instead of the term stock of knowledge. This reservoir of thoughts that in-
dividuals construct and reconstruct about themselves and their lives can
be subdivided in thematic units (domains). Additionally, in this second ap-
proach three components of personal meaning are distinguished. There-
fore, on the basis of these theoretical concepts that are developed within
psychogerontology, more insight can be yielded in the individual stock of
knowledge as mentioned in the Media Use as Social Action model.
Within the approach that studies personal meaning from a life-span per-
170 Margot van der Goot, Johannes W. J. Beentjes and Martine van Selm

spective it is assumed that the personal meaning system helps individuals

to understand events and to construct action. New information is judged
on its relevance and is evaluated with the help of the personal meaning
system (Thissen et al., 2000). Within this approach it is emphasized that
individuals adjust their personal meaning system following new situations.
The different steps of these processes are not described within this ap-
proach, but they are described in the Media Use as Social Action model.
The MUPM-model is developed by combining the personal meaning
system with the process that has been described in the Media Use as So-
cial Action model. The individual stock of knowledge that is a central el-
ement of the Media Use as Social Action model is replaced by the per-
sonal meaning system so to speak. In this manner, media use can be
studied in connection with personal meaning.

The MUPM-model: A theoretical model for media use

in the context of personal meaning
The MUPM-model shows how media use can be part of the process of
personal meaning construction (see Figure 9.1). In the model, the personal
meaning system is regarded as part of a person’s stock of knowledge. In-
dividuals define or interpret situations on the basis of their personal mean-
ing system, that is, the cognitions they have regarding themselves and
their lives. This interpretation process is seen as a comparison between
the situation and one’s personal meaning system. People compare the cur-
rent situation with their insights, goals, and feelings. A discrepancy occurs
when a situation does not correspond with one’s personal meaning sys-
tem. People may, for instance, not understand a situation, not be able to
reach personal goals, or feel lonely. In these cases, questions regarding
meaning in life might be asked and life might be experienced as less mean-
ingful. Discrepancies may be reduced by adjusting one’s personal mean-
ing system to the emergent situation. However, people may not be able to
reduce all discrepancies. In this case, they experience a particular part of
their lives as less meaningful.
Alternatively, a discrepancy may be reduced by constructing external
action. Media use is regarded as one instance of external action. Media
use may play a role in reducing discrepancies either because of media use
in itself, or because of the content of media messages. Media use that is
constructed to reduce a discrepancy is called instrumental media use. In-
strumental media use may play a role in how people deal with changes in
their lives. An example of the reduction of a discrepancy by media use in
itself is a woman who watches more television in the evenings after her
 Elderly people’s media use in the context of personal meaning 171

Figure 9.1. MUPM-model: Theoretical model for media use in the context of personal
Figure 9.1. meaning

husband died. An example where the content of media messages plays a

role in the reduction of discrepancies, is a man who feels confirmed by the
content of a television program that going into retirement was the right
thing for him to do. In these examples, media use contributes positively to
personal meaning.
Media may also contribute positively to personal meaning by showing
people how they can reduce discrepancies. An example is a woman who
feels bored and useless. After watching a television program about volun-
tary work she decides to find voluntary work herself. Doing voluntary
work becomes a new goal for her.
Media use is not only intentionally constructed to reduce discrepancies
but media use may also be carried out in a ritualized manner. Ritualized
media use has been constructed by individuals, earlier in their courses of
life, following a discrepancy, and this media use then turned out to be use-
ful in that situation. Therefore, this media use is now constructed in a rit-
ualized manner in comparable situations. An example of this is when in-
dividuals read a regional newspaper every day giving them the feeling that
they are participating in social life. This type of ritualized media use does
not contribute positively to personal meaning in the sense that it helps re-
172 Margot van der Goot, Johannes W. J. Beentjes and Martine van Selm

ducing a discrepancy, but it may contribute positively to personal meaning

in the sense that it confirms one’s insights, motivations, or feelings. Addi-
tionally, it can prevent the emergence of discrepancies.
People do not only construct media use, they also interpret their media
use. Media use may be said to contribute negatively to personal meaning
when it leads to discrepancies with one’s personal meaning system. This
discrepancy caused by media use in itself might, for example, be a man
who says that he is reminded of the emptiness of his life because he
spends most of his time watching television. A discrepancy caused by the
content of media messages might be a the woman who feels that she looks
old because people on television always have such young appearances. A
special case of a discrepancy that is related to media use is a discrepancy
caused by not using media. For instance, a woman who does not know
how to surf on the Internet, and feels excluded because of this.
If media use concurs with one’s personal meaning system, media use
will not lead to a discrepancy. In these cases, media use may contribute
positively to personal meaning as it confirms one’s insights, motivations,
or feelings. An example might be a woman who watches quiz shows in
order to test her memory and who subsequently concludes that she is still
able to bring up the answers quite quickly.

Components and domains

In the MUPM-model, the personal meaning system is conceptualized in
terms of three components, referring to the basic functions of personal
meaning, and four domains, referring to the thematic areas of the personal
meaning system (see Table 9.1). This model shows that each cognition in a
personal meaning system may be characterized by a combination of a
component and a domain (see the cells in Table 9.1). As discussed above,
cognitions regarding insights in situations, life in general and the world are
defined as belonging to the cognitive component; cognitions regarding goals
and values are categorized under the motivational component; and cogni-
tions regarding feelings are subsumed under the affective component. In
terms of domains, cognitions may refer to the psychological self, the
physical self, the social environment, and the non-social environment. As
literature on this subject gives a rather broad definition of the domain so-
cial environment (Dittmann-Kohli, 1995), we propose to subdivide this do-
main in two sub domains, namely individuals and society. Cognitions in the
domain individuals refer to relationships with other people, for instance
friends, family, love, social skills, loneliness and the need for being ap-
preciated. Cognitions in the domain society refer to people in general, the
society, politics and institutions.
 Elderly people’s media use in the context of personal meaning 173

The extent to which media use by elderly people is connected to their

personal meaning system can be described in terms of the components
and domains of personal meaning (see Table 9.1.). As an example we take a
woman who watches more television after her husband has died. Her hus-
band’s death makes her feel useless in the evenings. This indicates a dis-
crepancy concerning the motivational component (she feels useless) and
the domain individuals (referring to a loss in the interpersonal sphere).
Watching more television is a way for her to reduce this discrepancy.
The woman who watches quiz shows to gain insight into the quality of
her memory and subsequently concludes that her memory is still good,
may be another example. Here, media use contributes to the cognitive
component (as the cognitive component refers to insights that people
have) and the domain psychological self (ideas about one’s memory are
part of this domain).

Table 9.1. Table of components and domains of personal meaning

Psycho- Physical Social environment Non-social

logical self environ-
self ment
Individuals Society
Cognitive Watching
component quiz shows
confirms
ideas about
how well
the memory
still works
Motivational Media use to
component fill the even-
ings after
husband has
died
Affective
component

Surrounding society, and individual and social characteristics

Both the surrounding society, and the individual and social characteristics
of individuals influence the process that has just been described. The sur-
rounding society influences individuals through for example the media or-
ganizations present in a society, and through the values regarding what is
174 Margot van der Goot, Johannes W. J. Beentjes and Martine van Selm

considered to be appropriate. Additionally, individuals differ from each

other regarding their individual and social characteristics, such as sex, age,
level of education and social class. Schulze (1998) mentions several el-
ements of the ‘personal totality’ that influence the media use of elderly
people: aspects of socialization, their (media)biography, current living
conditions, media available to them, competence to use the media, and di-
mensions of the personality.
In research on elderly people’s media use it is important to pay atten-
tion to these individual characteristics. Of particular importance are the
changes that elderly people go through that are characteristic for this stage
in life. Examples of these changes are biological ageing and the loss of a
spouse. Elderly people may experience discrepancies because of these
changes. The MUPM-model shows that media use can be constructed to
reduce discrepancies. In other words, media use can play a role in the re-
construction of meaningfulness after an age-related change in life.
The media biography is also of particular interest for research on
elderly people, because the current seniors grew up at the time when
television did not exist and they experience the rise of new media such as
the Internet when they are already in the later stages of life.

Application of the MUPM-model in empirical research

We presented a theoretical model (entitled MUPM-model) that describes
the connection between elderly people’s media use and their personal
meaning construction. The MUPM-model describes the extent to which
media use of seniors contributes to the process of experiencing every day
life as more or less meaningful. Media use can, then, be described in terms
of the components and domains of personal meaning. The MUPM-model
is the starting-point of our study on elderly people’s media use. In this re-
search project, we focus on personal meaning construction, because we
consider personal meaning construction to play a central role in connect-
ing people’s circumstances to their media use. Namely, people interpret
situations and subsequently construct media use in a way that is meaning-
ful to them.
A research method that is particularly suitable for studying elderly
people’s media use in connection to their personal meaning, conducting in-
depth interviews with elderly people about their media use. The MUPM-
model can be a guideline in constructing those interviews and in analyzing
them. Additionally, the MUPM-model may be used to perform a second-
ary analysis on interviews already performed in earlier research on elderly
people’s media use. The table consisting of the components and domains
 Elderly people’s media use in the context of personal meaning 175

(Table 9.1) is of particular importance here. The table can be used for sys-
tematically creating interview guides and for categorizing what came to
the fore in in-depth interviews. This categorization shows the way in which
media use is connected to elderly people’s personal meaning.
In a pilot study, we conducted in-depth interviews with eight seniors. The
interviews were set up on the basis of the MUPM-model, the table of com-
ponents and domains being the central element of the analysis. The results
of this first small empirical study were promising. First, attention was paid
to aspects of media use that had received little attention in earlier research
on the meaning of media use for elderly people, for instance people’s feel-
ings regarding media use. Second, the subdivision in components and do-
mains turned out to be an interesting basis for systematically comparing the
results of this pilot study with the results of earlier research.
The next step in our project will be the design of further interview
studies based on the model in order to refine the definition of the compo-
nents and the domains. A refined model will enable us to gain more in-
sight in the role of media use in people’s personal meaning construction.

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 ‘Para-social interaction’ 177

10 ‘Para-social interaction’:
10 Social interaction as a matter of fact?

Michael Charlton

Abstract

Action theories about the process of mass communication are often theories ex-
plaining the behavior of individuals dealing with a social matter. Either they
describe how individuals are dealing with the hardware of media transfer; i.e.,
interaction between man and machine. Or they describe the cognitive and emo-
tional interaction between the text base and the corresponding mental model of
the text; i.e., interaction between concept formation and evaluation processes
in the mind of the subjects. Hence, so-called para-social interaction between
media protagonists and media recipients is often reconstructed as a special kind
of individual mental behavior. Both producers as well as consumers are meant
to act separately and independently. Hence mass communication is often seen
as communication without reciprocity. But, as will be argued in this contribu-
tion, it is not strictly necessary to restrict the phenomenon of para-social inter-
action to the social cognition of individuals. The social usage theory of lan-
guage offers an instrument to conceptualize language production and language
comprehension as a joint action, even if the speaker and listener cannot see
each other and do not act simultaneously. This point of view may be useful for a
better understanding of the reasons why and the manner how people perform
certain communicative acts in the frame of mass communication.

Keywords: mass communication, individual communication, media distribu-

tion, media reception

Introduction
In the majority of action theories, mass communication is seen as non-
reciprocal communication. However, in my opinion, it is not necessary to
restrict the phenomenon of para-social interaction to individuals’ social
cognitions, because it may be possible and reasonable to conceptualize
media production and perception as a social action based on exchange
and co-operation. In order to validate this opinion I will first present a so-
cial usage theory for language, which is, according to its authors’ opinions,
178 Michael Charlton

also valid for the explanation of mass communication. Secondly, I will re-
fute some of the arguments made by critics of this theory. Next, I will
present the process of production and perception as two interpenetrating
demonstration acts. The first circle of action, only incompletely recipro-
cal, refers to text production and text understanding. The second, com-
pletely reciprocal circle of action refers to text dissemination and text ac-
quisition. By embedding the first circle of action into the second circle of
action the incompletely reciprocal circle of action is moved into the social
framework as well.
In this contribution, I will mainly focus on text reading and writing as
social action. The reason for this is that the research I have conducted into
this area so far, is mainly occupied with reading. However, I see no ob-
stacles in applying the argumentation developed for the present research
to other media, such as television or radio, in future studies.

The social usage theory of language by H. H. Clark

The social usage theory of language, as proposed by Herbert H. Clark and
others, offers an instrument to conceptualize language production and lan-
guage comprehension as joint action, in spite of the fact that speaker and
listener can not see each other and do not act simultaneously. This point
of view is useful for a better understanding of the reasons why and the
manner in which people perform certain communicative acts in the frame
of mass communication.
Clark (1996) defines the “… face to face conversation” as “basic set-
ting”, which is formed by its decisive components “co-presence, visibility,
audibility etc. …”(9). If some of these premises are no longer given in
media based communication, Clark talks about “non basic settings”,
which he refers to as gradual but not principle deviation of the standard
situation.
According to a suggestion made by the English psychologist Markovà
(1990) I chose the term ‘dialogism’ for the special relationship between the
co-operation between the author and reader of a text. By using this term I
intend to, following Clark, stress the fundamental equality between text
production and reception, and a dialogue, without losing sight of the dis-
tinctive features of the former, such as the lack of a co-presence.
 ‘Para-social interaction’ 179

Criticism of the social usage theory and partial refutation

Equating mass communication and individual communication is criticized
among others by Klaus Merten who claims: “Structural elements of the
dialogue such as symmetry of communication, equality of communi-
cators, and mutual perceptibility cannot be found in mass communi-
cation. An adaptation is scientifically simply not permissible” (2000: 8).
Thus, Merten denies the comparability of dialogue and mass communi-
cation. He substantiates that the reciprocity and the mutual perceptibility
are not a part of mass communication. In a similar way Goody & Watt
(1968) as well as Ong (1982) theorized about the meaning of co-presence
and mutual perceptibility. They came to the conclusion that mediated
communication (literacy) and unmediated orality differ in many features.
The special research program Orality and Literacy in which I participated
was inspired by this debate. Over 12 years 33 research projects worked on
this question which resulted in the conclusion that a definite relationship
between the kind of the medium and the way of communication cannot be
proven (‘language of proximity, language of distance’; cf. Raible, 1998).
Instead, the distinction between conceptual and medial orality respectively
literacy, which vary independently of each other, proved to be helpful and
appropriate.
The question remains, if reciprocity and equality of speaker and listener
can also be found in the relationship between author and reader. It has
often been claimed that reciprocity is not given in mass communication
just because of the fact that feedback from message receiver to transmitter
is not possible. In my view however, the postulate of mass communication
having a special position starts from inappropriate assumptions. Ad-
mittedly it is correct that a single transmission is structured like a mono-
logue. Nevertheless, this monologue is undoubtedly part of a chain of ac-
tion, in which media producers as well as the audience participate in
mutually organized turns (i.e., sequences of interrelated actions as defined
in linguistic pragmatics). The impression of lacking reciprocity originates
merely from the long time-span of single turns. If turns are distributed
over long periods of time the sequential structure is no longer easily vis-
ible even though communication would not have come into being with-
out it.
180 Michael Charlton

Text production as a demonstration act:

Text reception as compliance with instruction
I regard the events that happen before reading as well as during and after
reading texts as a process of bargaining. The text producer, e.g., the author
of a novel, wants the recipient (by reading his text) to activate specific
knowledge and emotional states, to see known facts in a new light, to learn
something new, to get involved with the perspective of the characters in
the novel and so forth.
Like all linguistic communication, each text, e.g., a novel, consists
of demonstration acts and denomination acts. After the German com-
munication researcher Siegfried J. Schmidt (1973), this structure of dem-
onstration acts can be described as instructional semantics (‘Instruktions-
semantik’). By the demonstration act the author instructs the reader to
develop certain characters and events in his or her world of imagination
against a more or less thoroughly presented background. Led by the auth-
or’s instructions the reader constructs a situational model for him or her-
self (cf. Rink, 2000). Not only oral speech and written text production can
be understood as demonstration acts. In film production, demonstration
acts are carried out through the presentation of actors in on stage (pres-
ented characters and actions), locations (presented living environment of
the characters), and requisites (presented objects).
If the recipient is not willing to co-operate and does not at least partly
get involved in the author’s instructions he/she will not understand the
text. However, both co-operation and resistance are typical for every text
reception. It is known that Stuart Hall (1980) distinguishes between three
different kinds of ‘unruly’ reader behaviors: the preferred reading, the ne-
gotiated reading, and the oppositional reading.
Frequently, the recipient will gather information even beforehand from
experts (e.g., literature critics) or friends (e.g., other people who have al-
ready read the novel or still want to read it) about what consequences it
might have when one pays attention to the text; e.g., will it presumably
bore or grip, scare or amuse, disconcert or reassure its readers? Using a
small reading extract, the potential reader examines if the novel ‘appeals’
to him or her. This ‘conversation’ with the text is continued during the
reading. The reader most often does not read the text the way it is pres-
ented to him (linearly, without breaks, without back-and-forth-hopping)
but takes breaks, browses, thinks, and hence something like a discussion
between the reader and the text develops.
In our recently finished survey about novel reading which included
1025 novel readers (the sample is representative for Germany), it has been
shown, that novel reading ‘against the grain’ is not at all untypical. Even
 ‘Para-social interaction’ 181

though literary texts are generally structured by their authors to be read

through all the way from the front to the back, many readers deviate from
this pattern and formulate own questions to the text or do not read the text
in the given sequence.

Survey Results
Questions from a telephone interview with 1025 German ‘frequently’ or
people who read novels on a regular basis ‘occasionally’
I browse forward while reading, e.g., to the end of 22 %
the chapter.
I read the end of the novel prematurely. 16 %
I browse backward while reading. 53 %
I read several novels simultaneously. 17 %
I write comments into the book or on an extra sheet 11 %
when I read a novel.
I mark certain passages while reading. 20 %
I finally break off the reading if I dislike the novel. 54 %
There are certain passages in a book I read several times. 64 %

Figure 10.1. Survey results on styles of reading novels

Thus, on the one hand, readers react to a text as expected, e.g., by getting
emotionally affected or by constructing a fictional world in which the
characters can move in accordance with the rules of action. The Prague
semiotic Mukarovský describes this dialogical alternating relationship in a
work critic as follows: “… the reader here is a silent partner in the con-
versation, who is constantly being told that his opinion of the matter is im-
portant; to him are addressed the minute, humorous distortions of reality,
on his emotional participation are calculated the lyrical passages; here we
can really begin to speak of an interpenetration of prose with dialogue”
(Mukarovský, 1964: 147). On the other hand, the readers also behave like
interaction partners in a face-to-face dialogue by listening repeatedly to
certain aspects while ignoring and overlooking others, by questioning
statements, by not keeping to the text flow and so forth.
Thus the text courts for the attention of the reader with the promise to
fulfil his reading needs, if only the reader is willing to follow the text in-
structions. The reader either co-operates or refuses, s/he manipulates the
text or asks for help. In the library, some of the textbooks carry the signs
of this dialogue in the form of marginal notes (e.g., the remark ‘you can’t
182 Michael Charlton

be serious!’ as a sign of disagreement between author and student). In an

extreme case, the recipient will render any chance for communication
with the text impossible by finally putting it aside.

Text dissemination and text acquisition as reciprocal social acts

The reading process requires that somehow, text producer and text recipi-
ent co-operate. However, no closed circle of action, which would be in-
terpreted completely by reciprocity and symmetry, develops through
mere co-operation. Neither can the producer check if the recipient is fol-
lowing the instructions, nor can the recipient lead the producer to certain
actions. This complete reciprocity is now established through a different
relational structure, which both participate in equally; the market.
Mass communication is only possible if text producer and text recipient
have met each other preliminarily. In the literature, TV, and radio-market,
the symmetry and reciprocity sought after are found in the sequence sales
promotion, contracting, and finally supply of the, seemingly monologue-like
structured, communication. It thus appears that this form of communi-
cation, against what its first appearances may suggest, can also be taken as
sequence of mutually organized turns1.
However, it remains to be examined if reciprocity can be proven here
only in regard to the external framework (offer and acquisition of texts), or
to the reader-text-interaction in the narrow sense as well. When examining
this, one must first determine what kind of relationship authors, texts, and
text recipients go into while reading or watching.
We have already seen that the mass media follow the sequential prin-
ciple, which is also prominent in the reciprocal oral speech. Strictly speak-
ing, in mass communication we are often (but not always, see below) deal-
ing with two or more interpenetrated demonstration acts. On the one
hand, the demonstrating and naming is inherent in the text (every text
demonstrates and names something), on the other hand, it is also present
in the act of showing the text. For instance, the television station shows the
newsreader, whose news text points to the facts.
One might take this conclusion to be exaggerated, but the mass medial
demonstration act must be conceptualized as a potentially multiple dem-
onstration merely because some phenomena could not be explained
otherwise. Thus, on the one hand, it is possible that apart from the dem-
onstrator (e.g., the broadcasting station who records a stage production
for television) the demonstrated person wants to show something as well
(e.g., an actor, who presents himself as a certain character). It occurs just
as often that the depicted ‘actor’ has no demonstration intention (e.g., an
 ‘Para-social interaction’ 183

animal in a documentary who does not want to show anything presum-

ably). On the other hand, a demonstrator (e.g., a literary critic who ap-
pears on a televison program) might point to a text, which again is point-
ing to something itself, without the necessity that the person who wants to
criticize the novel, points to the same as the author of the original text. If
one conceptualizes mass communication as a multiple demonstration act,
it is possible to take further facts into account, e.g., that authorship can
rest on many shoulders; that texts keep their demonstrating function even
beyond the author’s death; that the production and dissemination of texts
is mostly not in the same hands as the authorship and so forth.

Conclusion: Mass communication as social act

So far, texts have been understood as monologues, which in fact are ‘ac-
quired’ by the recipient in a social negotiation process, but which are then
silently and willingly ‘consumed’. Due to the double structure of the dem-
onstration act, however, this description provides only an incomplete pic-
ture of the reception process. On the one hand, the text itself constitutes a
whole structure of different demonstration acts, which can lead the
readers or viewers to completely different facts. On the other hand, the
viewers accept one text instruction while they refuse others; i.e., the
viewer not only negotiates a contract with the text supplier in advance of
the reception, but he/she still struggles or interacts with the ‘author in the
text’ while interpreting the text.
It is in the nature of mass communication that those who initiate the
demonstration act (director of a broadcasting station, editor, author, etc.)
cannot observe the debate of a reader or a viewer with their instructions to
produce a certain text-environment. In general, the reader is silent. Only
few people use the possibility of so called ‘follow-up communication’
(Huth & Krzeminski, 1981)2.
It cannot be completely denied, however, that even the viewer’s silence
is some kind of reaction, which, like the silence in daily life communi-
cation or on stage (e.g., Meise, 1996), must often be seen as a fully valid
response, or turn. Just because the previous action of ‘offering and buying’
is firmly established by contract, this does not mean that the ‘interactively
weak’ action of silence cannot be taken as speech act or talking turn. Even
if in our society writing a text, physically producing a book, and selling are
done by different persons, author and reader still continue to meet in a
common social field of action; the market with its constitutive exchange
processes. Thus far, the same is valid here as in all other contract relations,
which control the exchange of goods and money. Following the seller’s
184 Michael Charlton

offer of goods for sale and the customer’s purchase of goods, it is only
very rarely that the consumer issues a formal feedback about his or her
satisfaction with the quality of the goods. Nevertheless, the customer
communicates his/her satisfaction or dissatisfaction indirectly to the seller,
by either doing further purchases or not, by recommending the product or
not, etc. Thus, as a rule, the sequential position of the consumer following
the agreement of the contract is weak.
As a consequence of these assumptions, mass communication is not
representing a one-way-communication as long as it remains integrated
in the national economic relations of exchanging goods (compare Fi-
gure 10.2). If publishing companies and broadcasting stations orientate
their production to the successful selling, respectively to the number of
viewers, then merely the reception of the goods ‘text’ represents important
information for the originator, even if this reception occurs without feed-
back. Readers ‘vote’ through their purses; that is, as long as they obtain
and pay for the product, it does not matter, from the producer’s point of
view, if they give no feedback about the product.
According to Habermas (1981: 367), action always receives its meaning
from the social context in which it is embedded. The free enterprise con-
text of the reader-text-relationship is a special case, which only takes place
in the general reciprocity of communication postulated above. Presum-
ably (or hopefully), the context factor ‘exchange of goods’ is not even the
most important one in regard to media production and reception; how-
ever, the function of this context can be illustrated especially well. Besides
the market as context factor of the reading action, the mutual participation
of author, text, and reader in the cultural context must be considered most
important in a model concerned with explaining text reception. Recently,
the German sociologist Wenzel (2001) has outlined and more thoroughly
justified this chain of argumentation in the tradition of the social theories
of George Herbert Mead and Talcott Parsons for the production and use
of electronic media. Some counter-arguments against this position can be
found in Sutter (2001).
So, what does that mean for the so-called para-social interaction? Here
too, numerous demonstration acts, which neither have to fulfil the postu-
late of symmetry nor the reciprocity of social actions in every detail, are
integrated into the closed social circle of action. To see it as a whole, para-
social interaction is part of a social-reciprocal action.
 ‘Para-social interaction’ 185

level 1
joint action on the market
mutually coordinated turns
sequentiality, reciprocity, equal power

media producer speaking media consumer speaking

in his role as a partner in his role as a partner
on the information market on the information market

“Pay attention “I don’t know if I’ll see it,

to this program!” but at least, I will pay for it”
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
media producer speaking media consumer speaking
in his role as a sender in his role as a recipient
of the media message of the media message

“See the “I’ll do it my way,

world this way!” but show your point of view”

level 2
para-social interaction
viewer addressed, but monological speech
no sequentiality, no reciprocity, one-sided power

Figure 10.2. The two action circles, in which text producer and reader are involved*

* Media producer and media consumer are simultaneously involved in two entwined com-
mon actions. On level 1 they meet each other as an equal powerful partner on the market.
On level 2 they differ in their access to the information channel.

Notes
1. The described sequence can be found wherever products distributed through
mass communication must be ordered and paid by the recipient (books, maga-
zines, pay TV, etc.). Even the receipt of free-TV-channels in Germany is bound
by a contract. In the case of programs or printed material that are free of
charge, the situation is more complicated but just as reconstructable in action
theoretical terms. An Actor, B, who is interested in the dissemination of per-
suasive advertising, contacts a broadcasting organization. A chain of actions de-
velops: A offers broadcasting time, B buys broadcasting time from A, A sends
commercials for B; A offers programs to C, under the condition that C is will-
ing to accept commercial breaks in return; B appeals to C via commercials to
186 Michael Charlton

buy his products, C orders the products and B sells. The difference to Pay-TV is
that the ‘sale relation’/consumer relation between C and B is not a normative
commitment but is only empirically realized by a large enough part of the audi-
ence. Even though not each viewers trades with B, they still do so with A, who
is allowed to lead him into temptation on B’s behalf.
2. At the moment, there is an increasing tendency in German TV to include the
viewer. Thus, for example, the fixing of persons, who have to drop out of the
game show ‘Big Brother’, is determined through interpenetrated nominations
by participants and viewers; the viewers’ participation is increased by prices for
those who call. Possibly, an even higher percentage of participation can be
reached in the future by feedback via the internet. However, only certain
readers/viewers write letters, which also do not reach everybody who is in-
volved in the text production process. TV stations most often subordinate the
department responsible for reader’s letters under the director’s office. The in-
formation exchange with the single editorial offices is not always ideal.

References
Clark, H. H. (1996). Using language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Goody, J. & Watt, I. (1968). The consequences of literacy. In J. Goody (Ed.), Literacy
in traditional societies (pp. 21–68). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Habermas, J. (1981). Theorie des kommunikativen Handelns. Bd. 1: Handlungs-
rationalität und gesellschaftliche Rationalisierung. Frankfurt: Suhrkamp.
Hall, S. (1980). Encoding/decoding. In S. Hall, D. Hobson, A. Lowe & P. Willis
(Eds.), Culture, media, language (pp. 128–138). London: Hutchinson.
Huth, L. & Krzeminski, M. (1981). Zuschauerpost – ein Folgeproblem massenmedi-
aler Kommunikation. Tübingen: Narr.
Markovà, I. (1990) Introduction. In I. Markovà & K. Foppa (Eds.), The dynamics of
dialogue (pp. 1–22). New York: Harvester Wheatsheaf.
Meise, K. (1996). Une forte absence. Schweigen in alltagsweltlicher und literarischer
Kommunikation. Tübingen: Narr.
Mukarovský, J. (1964). K. Capek’s prose as lyrical melody and as dialogue. In
P. L. Garvin (Ed.), A Prague school reader on esthetics, literary structure, and style
(pp. 133–149). Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press.
W. Raible (1998) (Ed.). Medienwechsel. Erträge aus zwölf Jahren Forschung zum
Thema “Mündlichkeit und Schriftlichkeit. Tübingen: Narr.
Ong, W. J. (1982). Orality and literacy. London: Methuen.
Rink, M. (2000). Situationsmodelle und das Verstehen von Erzähltexten: Befunde
und Probleme. Psychologische Rundschau, 51, 115–122.
Sutter, T. (2000). Sinnstrukturen der Medienkommunikation. In T. Sutter &
M. Charlton (Ed.), Massenkommunikation, Interaktion und soziales Handeln
(pp. 21–45). Wiesbaden: Westdeutscher Verlag.
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und der Handlungsraum der Hochmoderne. Weilerswist: Velbrück.
 Action theoretical approaches in organizational communication 187

11 Action theoretical approaches in

11 organizational communication

Paul Nelissen

Abstract

Organizational communication policies are becoming increasingly important

in organizations (e.g., de Moor, 1997; Van Selm & Nelissen, 2000). Being
well-informed is not only crucial for the quality of employees’ performance on
the work floor; it also keeps employees informed about company policy and
strategic short and long-term decisions. In this paper, the importance of a sys-
tematic approach to communication or information systems in organizations is
emphasized. This means that a theoretical anchoring is needed to explain and
predict the effectiveness and efficiency of organizational communication. I as-
sume that action theoretical approaches can be useful in tackling theoretical
and methodological questions in this field of research.
Next, I will briefly present an impression of mainstream theories and studies
in this field so far. Most studies take organizations as units of analysis. Differ-
ences in organizational structures and cultures, and variations in styles of
management are used to explain the efficiency and effectiveness of organiz-
ational communication. In my perspective, an organization is not an abstract,
physical object or entity but the result of a dynamic process. Employees inter-
act with each other within a well-defined context – creating and sharing
knowledge – making sense of their situation – playing and taking different,
sometimes conflicting, roles. In this contribution, I try to increase our under-
standing of the fundamental processes underlying the search and use of differ-
ent types of information by employees. I present several implications of the use
of interpretive approaches to the study of organizational communication, in
particular the Sense-Making Methodology (Dervin, 1989; Nelissen, 2000).
Finally, I will end with some examples of research questions, using an action
theoretical approach.

Keywords: organizational communication, Sense-Making methodology,

knowledge sharing, information participation
188 Paul Nelissen

State of the art in brief

In the early beginnings of organizational communication, communication
systems were seen as management tools (see Van Putte, 1996: 57). The
‘dominant coalition’ within an organization used media, consultations and
directives to inform and control employees. Researchers, implementing a
media centered approach, stated that “a transmissional perspective of
communication research conceptualizes communication as a transfer of
information from source [management team, P.N] to destination [em-
ployees, P.N.]” (Renckstorf & McQuail, 1996: 6). The ineffectiveness of
organizational communication gave rise to alternative conceptualizations
of communication within organizations.
Recent studies on the role of organizational communication focus on
structural characteristics of the organization, different types and flows of in-
formation and cooperation between employees (Koeleman, 1995; Van
Putte, 1996; de Moor, 1997). Authors stress the importance of structure and
culture in organizations, management styles, socio-demographic and struc-
tural characteristics of employees in order to describe the use and effects of
organizational communication (Mintzberg, 1979). Several studies have con-
sidered the perceptions of employees within an organization (Simons,
Derksen & de Ridder, 2000). In these studies, special attention is paid to the
involvement and commitment of employees with the organization.
Other studies have focused on categorizations of information types and
information flows. Reception of the various types of information is import-
ant for both employees’ individual everyday performance on the work floor
(work instruction) and the adjustment of one’s own activities to those of
other employees (control information). Koeleman (1995) adds that knowl-
edge of the organization’s short and long-term objectives and the con-
sequences of strategic decisions for the individual employee (strategic in-
formation) are also of importance. He also mentions the increase of
self-actualization and commitment to the organization (motivational in-
formation) as important elements of perception.
Researchers distinguish several different flows of information: top-
down and bottom-up, but also horizontal and parallel flows. Effectiveness
of communication systems through several information flows is often ana-
lyzed using organizations as units of analysis (McPhee, 2000).
In my opinion, there is no one theory to connect the different catego-
rizations of important concepts determining the effectiveness and effi-
ciency of organizational communication. In most studies, the order of de-
pendent and independent variables is not theoretical underpinned, leaving
the following questions unanswered. Are characteristics of employees,
such as involvement, a precondition or a consequence of the use of organ-
 Action theoretical approaches in organizational communication 189

izational communication? Do needs for information regarding inno-

vations in organizational structure or culture lead to active information
seeking behavior or do people await information provided by the manage-
ment team? This theoretical and methodological problem is surely recog-
nized by communication scientists (see Hendriks Vettehen, 1998).
What is missing is a frame of reference or conceptual model in which
relevant concepts are adequately determined and convincingly intercon-
nected. In creating such a theory, effects of organizational communication
can be explained and predicted.

New ways of looking at organizational communication:

An action theoretical approach
This discussion will be based on Van Putte’s approach of organizational
communication. She defines organizational communication as “… the in-
tentional production of messages, that can be followed by reception and
interpretation within an organizational, relational and informational con-
text. Hence, a relationship between sender(s) and recipient(s) is given
shape. The organizational context consists of the following elements:
strategy and policy, structure, culture, and environment that are unique
for each organization individually.” (Van Putte, 1998: 80 [translation by
author]). Key concepts in this perspective on organizational communi-
cation are participation in organizational openness and integration of in-
formation types and flows. The concepts of transparency and knowledge
sharing are related. The concept of information participation empha-
sizes the idea that employees, both sender and recipient, engage in an ex-
change of (informal and formal) information (see also Evers, 1999: 39).
Employees, for example, act as sending agents in order to meet the in-
formation needs of other employees. Information participation, one of the
key concepts, shows that action theoretical elements are present in this ap-
proach; people interact with each other within a well-defined context, cre-
ating and sharing knowledge, taking and playing different roles, making
sense of their situation. Hence an organization is not an abstract, physical
object or entity, but instead the result of a dynamic process. In elaborating
this concept, McPhee (2000) refers to Weick (1979); “For Weick (1979),
organization was the process of organizing, of interpreting an enacted en-
vironment in a way that led to orderly action”.
The action theoretical perspective explicitly shows that organizations
are dynamic, constantly changing systems, producing and reproducing
themselves in the employees’ heads. Demographics of employees and cat-
egorizations of structure and culture are necessary, but cannot completely
190 Paul Nelissen

account for subjective definitions and perceptions on which employees act

and communicate. These structural characteristics of organizations give
insight into the context of communication participation; they cannot,
however, explain or predict communication effects.
We state that employees should be seen as actors within a well-defined
social cultural organizational context, this being an important part of
people’s everyday life. Different roles are taken on and played simulta-
neously: the professional, the confidante, the friend, the superior, the sub-
ordinate (and even, some cases, the lover).
In this chapter, I attempt to increase understanding of the fundamental
processes underlying the search for and use of information, and the con-
sequences for design and evaluation of communication systems in organ-
izations. I will use the Sense-Making Methodology as a theoretical foun-
dation for using organizational communication (Dervin, 1981, 1989).

Theoretical foundation: Sense-Making methodology

The quality of communication systems in organizations can be analyzed
by examining the extent to which employees are enabled to handle their
work situation. Sense-Making Methodology (Dervin, 1983, 1998) consists
of a coherent set of meta-theoretical concepts and assumptions, and a re-
lated set of methods that has explicitly been designed to tap the way in
which people make sense of the world around them. The construction of
situational definitions by employees is central to this perspective, as I as-
sume that all employees experience their work situation in their own way.
With these (subjective) constructions in hand, the management team can
build (and rebuild) an appropriate, effective and efficient communication
system. It is important to be receptive to employees’ information needs.
The management team should show empathy towards employees’ per-
spectives as to meet individual and collective needs as completely as poss-
ible. One needs to understand employees’ problem-handling processes
and the role both information seeking and information use may have in
them. The needs employees have during their daily work are crucial to the
form and content of information services. In order to assess the quality of
organizational communication, one can use Sense-Making methodology.

Information as a thing versus Information as a construction

From the perspective of Sense-Making, information is used to make per-
sonal sense of the world around us. Information is not considered to be
something that exists independently of the individual. Information has a
 Action theoretical approaches in organizational communication 191

largely internal existence, being one component of the individual’s frame

of reference. Dervin emphasizes the difference between communication
as transmission (information-as-thing idea; a brick thrown into an empty
bucket) versus communication as dialogue (information-as-construction
idea; clay formed into a shape of one’s own choice). Other action theor-
etical approaches make a similar distinction between a mechanistic, beha-
vioral approach and an interpretive, action approach to communication
(Renckstorf & McQuail, 1996).
In organizational studies, communication in organizations is often con-
ceptualized to be the transmission of messages with different types of in-
formation, between employees. Effectiveness is limited by structure and
culture and by involvement and motivation of employees. From an inter-
pretive point of view, information has no meaning of its own, being sep-
arated from its production or consumption context. This concept of ‘in-
formation as a construction’ may influence the process of designing
organizational communication systems. The main precondition of effec-
tiveness for such a system is not only the attainability of internal target
groups (transmitting information), but also, and more importantly, the
usefulness of the system as a whole for employees to realize their organ-
izational and individual goals. In order to study these qualities of com-
munication systems, a deeper understanding is needed of people’s every-
day life, and especially their occupational situation. What answers are
people looking for, what solutions are offered and what answers are given?

Moving through time-space

The application of Sense-Making draws on the central metaphor within
the approach – the idea that humans move through time-space mandated
by the nature of the human condition to bridge gaps (Dervin, 1999). In
my application, then, I will focus on three of Sense-Making’s central con-
cepts – situation, gap, and use. The situation is the temporal and spatial con-
text in which people rationalize things. People judging situations may be
influenced by different aspects of a situation, such as the importance of the
situation for the individual, previous experiences, skill in handling the situ-
ation, and the social context. As these aspects influence the individual’s
situational definition, they can also influence and predict information
needs and uses (Dervin, 1983; Dervin, Jacobson & Nilan, 1982).
Gaps are questions or information needs people have when they wish to
make sense in a space-time context (situation). Trouble-free movement is
obstructed here and can be investigated by analyzing a Micro-Moment
Time-Line step. One can retrace the subject of the gaps, the situation in
which gaps arise, and the importance of a gap.
192 Paul Nelissen

The uses, finally, consist of the information or aid that enables the indi-
vidual to make sense again. In reconstructing the nature of the in-
formation search process and the degree of its success, detail is important.
Therefore, questions about the ease of addressing a question, the rel-
evance of an answer, the reason for relevance, and strategies for bridging
gaps should be addressed. Basically, the intent, following Dervin (1983), is
to attend to and be able to codify the extent to which a person’s sense-
making (seen as required for movement) is facilitated or blocked.
The key research question to be answered during the design, the imple-
mentation and the evaluation of a communication infrastructure is whether
it enables all members of the organization, to move through time-space and
to bridge different gaps easily, in their ways to fulfill individual and collective
needs and goals. The quality of organizational communication can only be
determined in the situations it is used. The non-use of information is not al-
ways the result of an obstinate attitude. It may be the result of a lack of in-
sight into the different sense making strategies within the organizations.
We conceptualize participation in organizational communication as an
everlasting, continuing dialogue between individuals and groups, aimed at
defining and bridging gaps on the one hand but on the other hand on giving
solutions to others in order to reach organizational targets. It is not just the
managers but also the co-workers who are constantly confronted with in-
formation seeking colleagues. Managers and co-workers select from the
many solution strategies they have in their repertoire. We presume that em-
ployees will differ in their offers of solution strategies depending on their
function and position in the organization and their knowledge of possible
solutions. People in higher ranks will not necessarily have the best sol-
utions. Actors (both managers and co-workers) who can place themselves
in their colleague’s situations will be more successful than those who only
use their own frame of reference to interact and to come up with solutions.
As we have already pointed out, actors are not completely free defining
their professional situation. McPhee (2000) emphasizes that many aspects
over time become collectively shared and (re)defined. McPhee refers to
Max Weber who offered an interpretive analysis of bureaucracy:
‘… members use the ideal type conception of bureaucracy to under-
stand the conduct of other members and to guide their own actions; be-
cause they all act in patterns organized by the ideal type, their actions
coordinate in such a way that organizations consequentially and mean-
ingfully exist.’ (McPhee, 2000: 1).
The fundamental processes underlying information seeking and in-
formation use ask for a flexible communication system. Integration, trans-
parency, participation and knowledge sharing are important starting
 Action theoretical approaches in organizational communication 193

points for designing an appropriate communication system. New In-

formation and Communication technologies might be helpful to meet the
challenges brought forth by this new way of looking at organizational
communication. As dialogue needs to be a key concept in organizing
communication, an interactive medium such as Intranet might be of use.
An Intranet can be designed as a flexible platform for different types and
flows of information (see Van Selm & Nelissen, 2001). Furthermore, an
Intranet offers the possibility of participating in organizational communi-
cation as a receiver of adequate solutions but also as a sender of in-
formation for others.

Research questions
Finally, I would like to present some of the consequences this perspective
could have on research. In order to assess the quality of communication
systems in organizations one should determine whether employees are
enabled to make sense of their professional situation. In other words, one
has to obtain a full portrait of the gaps employees face, its consequences,
attempts to bridge them and the success, and the outcomes (helps and
hindrances).
To gain an understanding of the contexts, gaps, and uses people experi-
ence, Dervin (1983) has proposed using a combination of qualitative and
quantitative research methods. Qualitative research should be used to ex-
pose employees’ personal, subjective interpretations of their own situation
and their construction of gaps and uses. A quantitative approach allows for
the enumeration of the differences between people and to systematically
capture them so as to come to a useful communication system design.
The employees’ sense making can be analyzed by answering the follow-
ing questions:
– What questions do employees have?
– What is the experienced and/or expected usefulness of sources of in-
formation in the organization?
– How accessible are sources of information and aid in the organiz-
ational communication system?
– Can questions be dealt with satisfactorily?
– Are there any common denominators in employees’ questions?
Systematical enumeration by coding questions, based on content-analytic
templates, gives us the opportunity to determine and improve the quality of
the organizational communication system. It also gives us insight into the
questions that can be expected in the future, given the assumption that
194 Paul Nelissen

people in similar situations will have comparable questions. These insights

could help managers to better attune their agendas to their employees.
Sense-Making studies to date have relied heavily on various content analyti-
cal and text analytical procedures for translating actor responses into sys-
tematically coded categories of extracted themes. In this approach, the gap
facing of employees can be conceptualized as an instance of question-ask-
ing – and thus the questions employees have become the unit of analysis.
Questions can be categorized into different content-analytical schemes, de-
veloped in different Sense-Making studies (Dervin, Jacobson & Nilan, 1982;
Nelissen, 2000; Nelissen, Van Eden & Maas, 1999). Examples of these
often-used content analytical schemes are (see also Nelissen, 2000: 308):

Time focus: the period of focus: past, present, or future.

5W focus: the unit (what, who), time (when), space (where), or the con-
nection between time and space (why) of focus.
Valence focus: the evaluation of the time-space context, or, in other words,
the evaluation of the road chosen or to be chosen: bad, neutral, good.
Entity focus: the unit of focus: the employee him or herself, others, or a
situation or object.
Movement focus: the movement through time and space: from past to pres-
ent (how did I get here?), present (where am I now?), from present to fu-
ture (how do I get there?), and future (where will I be?).
Descriptive focus: coding in this template takes place through content de-
scriptions. For each research situation, a specific descriptive focus needs
to be developed.

Conclusion
In this contribution, I have tried to present a new perspective of organi-
zational communication. I have focused on the individual employee, find-
ing his way within the organizational context. This perspective, based on
action theoretical notions regarding the role of information needs and use
of information in everyday life, might be a fruitful addition to mainstream
studies of organizational communication.

References
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Dervin, B. (1983). An overview of Sense-Making research: Concepts, methods and re-

sults. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the International Communi-
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Dervin, B. (1989). Audience as listener and learner, teacher and confidante: The
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196
 197

III Findings
198
 Media use as an adaptation or coping tool in prison 199

12 Media use as an adaptation or

12 coping tool in prison

Heidi Vandebosch

Abstract

In this contribution some core assumptions of the social action approach to

media use; i.e., the interactive relationship between people and their environ-
ment, the interpretative role of the individual, and the fact that media use can
function as a routine activity or as a problem solving action, will be tested in the
prison context. I will first pay attention to the ‘transactional’ stress model,
which emphasizes that stress is a psychological state that is the internal repre-
sentation of a particular and problematic transaction between a person and
his environment. Subsequently, the relationship between stress and media use
will be discussed. These general theoretical assumptions are then applied to the
(stressful) prison context. Finally, some quantitative and qualitative data in re-
gard to the experienced problems and the media use of prisoners in five Flemish
penitentiaries will be presented. These data illustrate that routine media activ-
ities soften the chronic ‘pains of imprisonment’, and that acute prison stress
leads to additional coping behaviors.

Keywords: media use, ‘transactional’ stress model, Flanders, prison, (non)grati-

fications

Introduction
Taking Renckstorf’s (1989) theoretical model of the social action perspec-
tive as a starting point, one sees that people’s definition of a situation is the
basis for their external actions. A situation can be defined as an ‘unprob-
lematic problem’, generating everyday routine actions, or as a ‘problem-
atic problem’ requiring motivated (coping) actions.
According to Renckstorf most everyday situations are characterized as
‘unproblematic problems’. “Such problems are naturally, and in a certain
sense pre-reflexively (Zijderveld, 1974: 70) provided by meaning whereby
action is possible”. A subjective problem with which an individual is con-
sciously concerned, on the other hand, “only arises if the actual experi-
ence does not readily ‘fit’ into a type at hand in the stock of knowledge”
200 Heidi Vandebosch

(Schütz & Luckmann, 1984: 202, in Renckstorf, 1996: 26). This definition
of a ‘problematic problem’ is a rather theoretical one. It seems to under-
emphasize the practical nature of most problems, and their relationship
with human needs. Schütz and Luckmann (1974: 14–15), however, also
note that “My stock of experience serves me for the solution of practical
problems” and their example illustrates how such problems are linked
with human needs; driven by famine I want to know if a certain mush-
room is eatable or not. If this knowledge is not available, I can undertake
action to solve this problem (Schütz & Luckmann, 1974: 13). In Ro-
sengren’s Uses and Gratifications model (1974: 271), with which Renck-
storf’s model shows great similarities, this connection between needs
and perceived problems is also stressed. Even empirical communication
studies in the field of social action research seem to concentrate on the re-
lationships between subjective experienced (practical) problems, media
motives and actions. Bosman and Renckstorf (1996), for instance, have
demonstrated the links between people’s worries about certain topics
(criminality, science, disasters, politics, health and finances) and their in-
formation needs and consumption. Similarly, Van der Rijt (1996) has in-
vestigated the relationship between older people’s problem experience
(i.e., the extent to which they have to cope with a number of problems be-
lieved to be related to aging, such as psychological and physical problems
of aging, financial problems, problems of spending leisure time and prob-
lems of safety), and their interest in specific information. In what follows,
I will focus on problem experience and media use of people in prison.

Stress
Imprisonment is usually described as a stressful situation. According to the
‘transactional’, ‘appraisal’ or ‘interactional’ stress model, stress is a psycho-
logical state which is the internal representation of a particular and problem-
atic transaction between a person and his environment (Cox & Ferguson,
1991; Gaillard, 1996). In a first phase there are the environmental demands,
pressures or stressors to which a person is exposed. ‘Appraisal’ is the con-
secutive, evaluative process during which a person matches these stressors
against his or her personal abilities to cope with them. Stress arises when-
ever a person experiences an imbalance. The recognition of such a stress
condition is accompanied by psychological and physiological changes (e.g.,
the individual feels excited, fearful, depressed, furious; has a high blood
pressure, an increased heart rate, or suffers from insomnia). These condi-
tions lead to ‘secondary appraisal’ – the individual thinks about what (poss-
ibly) can be done to eliminate or to reduce the stress – and to ‘coping’.
 Media use as an adaptation or coping tool in prison 201

Coping refers to cognitions and actions that follow the stressful trans-
action and – whatever their outcome – have the primary function of elim-
inating or reducing the stress and the psychological (and physiological)
conditions that go along with it (Cox & Ferguson, 1991). Coping reactions
can be focused on the problem itself, or on the accompanying emotions,
and can be categorized as ‘approach’ or ‘withdrawal’ reactions. Steptoe
(1991), for instance, notes that ‘problem focused behavioral approach cop-
ing responses’ are overt actions intended to deal directly with the situation
(i.e., active problem solving or attempts at control). Avoidance or escape
from the situation, are examples of ‘problem focused behavioral withdra-
wal coping’. Coping responses performed at the cognitive level that are di-
rected towards dealing with the problem involve attempts to change the
way in which stressful situations are perceived (situational redefinition or
restructuring), whereas wishful thinking and daydreaming are categorized
as ‘problem focused cognitive withdrawal coping’. Among the coping re-
sponses that are focused on the emotions, Steptoe distinguishes ‘emotion
focused behavioral approach coping responses’ such as seeking social
support and information, ‘emotion focused behavioral withdrawal re-
sponses’ like seeking distraction and avoiding information, ‘emotion fo-
cused cognitive approach coping responses’ such as the expression of
emotions, and ‘emotion focused cognitive withdrawal coping responses’
like emotional inhibition, repression and denial. People differ in the way
they handle stress situations, and thus have their own coping style.
‘Coping’, however, is not uniformly defined in the psychological litera-
ture. Some authors use this concept to refer to effortful and conscious re-
sponses, ruling out activities that are automatic (see for instance: Cox &
Furgeson, 1991; Zeidner & Saklofske, 1996). Others think that even beha-
viors that appear to be rather automatic and effortless, such as smoking
(Roskies, 1991) and drinking, may be considered ‘coping responses’ (Ho-
lahan, Moos & Schaeffer, 1996). Most psychological models also refer to
coping as a reaction to stress. Behaviors intended to avoid or to prevent
stress, are, strictly speaking, not coping actions. Carpenter (1992: 6–7),
however, notes that: “We may well find that such behaviors do indeed op-
erate like coping behaviors performed in response to a current stress reac-
tion, arguing against the distinction”.
A third disputed point concerns the distinction between ‘coping’ and
‘adaptation’. Sometimes coping is considered a special form of adaptation,
elicited by a situation that is particularly problematic (a ‘crisis situation’),
induces stress, and demands new, conscious efforts. Adaptation then
refers to routine, even automatic, modes of getting along. According to an
alternative view, however, the line between routine problem solving and
coping is blurred (Costa, Somerfield & McCrae, 1996). In some cases the
202 Heidi Vandebosch

word ‘adaptive’ is also used to refer to the effectiveness of coping be-

haviors and cognitions (see for instance Zeidner & Saklofske, 1996), since
not all coping responses solve or soften the problem and the accompany-
ing negative emotions. Some even worsen the problem, or have no effect
at all. Ideally, ‘adaptive coping’ leads to a permanent problem resolution
with no additional conflict or residual outcomes while maintaining a posi-
tive emotional state. Anyway, ‘adaptive coping’ protects a person by elim-
inating or modifying the conditions that produce stress or by keeping the
emotional consequences within manageable bounds (Zeidner & Sak-
lofske, 1996). Generally speaking, people that rely more on ‘approach
coping’ (than on avoidance behavior and cognitions) handle stressors
better (Holahan et al., 1996), since this type of coping, in the short and in
the long run, has positive effects on people’s psychological well-being,
health and social functioning.
The above-mentioned stress model attributes an important role to the
individual. Whether certain pressures or stressors from the environment
are indeed experienced as stressful, depends upon the appraisal by the in-
dividual, who defines the situation as threatening or not. Factors influenc-
ing this appraisal are: the socio-demographic characteristics and the per-
sonality of the individual (including his or her personal coping resources,
psychological strength, and problem-solving abilities, resulting, for in-
stance, from previous encounters with similar situations), the social sup-
port from family and friends, the degree of control about the occurrence
of the event, and so on. Even when a person (originally) experiences
stress, coping strategies – which also differ from individual to individual –
can solve or reduce the impact of the problem that causes stress. The
mental and physical well-being of a person thus depends on his or her sus-
ceptibility to stress and his or her coping resources.
The psychological literature also makes a distinction between two types
of stress: acute stress and chronic stress (see for instance Jenkins, 1991;
Wheaton, 1997). Acute stress is often linked with ‘stressful life events’.
These are “discrete, observable events standing for significant life changes
and possessing a relatively clear onset and offset; between the onset and
offset, they are made up of a relatively well-defined set of sub-events de-
scribing the ‘normal’ progress of the event” (Wheaton, 1997: 52–53).
Examples of stressful life events are: the death of one’s spouse, a divorce,
a jail term, or a marriage (Thoits, 1983: 38). Chronic stress, on the other
hand, does not necessarily start as an event, but develops slowly as a per-
manent problematic condition in people’s social environment and roles,
and has a longer time course than ‘life events’. Some forms of chronic
stress are: threats, structural limitations, insecurity, conflict, and limited
choice (Wheaton, 1997). Gottlieb (1997: 9) however, notes that “acute and
 Media use as an adaptation or coping tool in prison 203

chronically stressful experiences may shade into one another and interact
in a variety of ways”. Furthermore, he describes coping styles that are
more likely to be elicited by chronic than by acute stressors. According to
Gottlieb, people who are constantly challenged to react to immediate, spe-
cific and repeated biological, environmental, or psychosocial demands, or
who re-experience traumatic events internally through intrusive thoughts,
sensations or images, tend to employ two ways of coping: “They adopt a
vigilant stance that assists them to prepare for, detect and respond rapidly
to fluctuations that can affect their well-being, and they employ various
strategies of gaining respite or relief that help them return to baseline le-
vels of arousal and regain their energy”. It is, for example, typical for
people who are regularly exposed to stressors, to use coping strategies that
help them to temporarily remove or mask these stressors. According to
Gottlieb (1997: 24):
“Television viewing is the prototypical respite strategy that can become
a habitual means of dividing one’s attention and therefore by softening
somewhat the impact of harsh realities. Eventually, the television may
be left on permanently, providing easy escape from unpleasant intrusive
thoughts, interactions or other stressful demands.”
As is evident from this citation, media can function as coping tools. The
relationship between stress, problems and media use will be investigated
more in depth in the following section.

Stress and media use

As already suggested by Rosengren (1974) and Renckstorf (1989), external
actions such as media use can solve a particular (stress producing) prob-
lem (people who are bored, for instance, may go to the cinema to be
entertained). But even when media activities do not classify as (partial)
solutions for certain problems, they can support other problem focused
coping reactions by suggesting solutions for the problem, stimulating the
redefinition of the situation, providing distraction, and reaching themes
for wishful thinking and daydreaming. Negative emotions can be sup-
pressed or expressed by media activities, and even some physical side ef-
fects of stress (such as insomnia) can be remedied, for example, by watch-
ing television (Bantz, 1982). The fact that media can be used in different
ways to cope with stressful or problematic situations, is evident from com-
munication studies conducted (mainly) within the framework of the mood
management theory, the uses and gratifications approach and social action
research.
204 Heidi Vandebosch

Bryant and Zillmann (1984), for instance, illustrate how watching TV

can be used to alleviate boredom and stress (i.e., work pressure). Their
study shows that people who are bored are more likely to tune into excit-
ing TV programs. Excited or stressed persons, on the other hand, prefer
relaxing contents (see also Zillmann, 1985). Bryant and Zillmann (1984)
also refer to specialized TV shows ‘featuring soaring birds’, rippling water-
falls, logs burning in a fireplace, gently crashing ocean waves, slow mov-
ing clouds or tranquil country scenes complemented by ‘muzak’ all de-
signed to bring peace of mind. Furthermore, they show that watching
television can be used as a remedy for insomnia by stressed people.
Kubey (1986) notes that less affluent, less educated and divorced re-
spondents are more inclined to watch television, to avoid negative moods
that often coincide with loneliness and unstructured time. As indicated
above, poorer and lower educated people are often exposed to chronic
stressors, while divorced people may be experiencing a stressful life event.
The relationship between chronic stress and TV use is also measured in
the study of Perse en Rubin (1990). More particularly, these authors pay
attention to the affect of chronic loneliness (which is the result of a cogni-
tive evaluation, whereby a person judges the quantity or the quality of so-
cial interaction as being insufficient) on watching local news and soaps.
Chronically lonely people appear to watch both kinds of programs to fill
unstructured time.
Anderson, Collins, Schmitt and Smith Jacobvitz (1996), on the other
hand, have concentrated on the links between stressful life events and
watching TV. They argue that TV programs can only reduce stress effec-
tively when they generate thoughts that are not related to the stress induc-
ing thoughts, and invoke emotions that are neutral or positive. Comic TV
programs, game shows, entertaining programs and so on, seem to meet
these requirements, but news and information programs do not. Since ac-
tion/violent/horror programs engage conscious cognition, they may help
to displace unpleasant thoughts. These programs, however, may also be
avoided because they invoke negative moods. The study of Anderson et
al., shows that, as far as their male respondents were concerned, there is a
positive correlation between the experience of stress and the amount of
TV viewing. For women, there is a positive correlation between stress and
the scores on a TV addiction scale. Stressed men view more violent/ac-
tion/horror programming; stressed women more often tune into game
and variety shows.
Potts and Sanchez (1994) come to similar conclusions. They note that
depressed people use TV viewing as a coping strategy; more specifically
as a way to avoid or surpress their dysphoric moods and to increase pleas-
urable experiences. Although the television news may provide additional
 Media use as an adaptation or coping tool in prison 205

information to depressive people (which can help them determine how to

act in a certain – problematic – situation), may be partly entertaining, is
often viewed within an agreeable social situation, and shows people who
live in even more tragic circumstances (Zillmann & Bryant, 1994), it ap-
pears again – at least for men – that ‘no news is good news’.
Social action studies about the information needs of the general public
(Bosman & Renckstorf, 1996) and of elderly (Van der Rijt, 1996), and re-
search about heavy viewing (Frissen, 1996) also stress that people often
search information (in the mass media) in order to cope with their subjec-
tively experienced problems. Furthermore, the latter study points to the
fact that watching television offers the chance to forget about the problem
(through distraction or escape).
As this short literature review shows, problems and stress thus lead to
different kinds of motives for the use of media as part of a particular prob-
lem or emotion focused coping strategy. It should be mentioned however,
that media can also be the source of stress and problems. Schaap et al.
(2001: 65), for instance, note that violent pictures “seem to leave people
with problematic and ambivalent feelings with which they must cope.”

Prison stress
When we apply stress theory to imprisonment, it is obvious that the
prison environment itself is an important source of stressors. The classic
‘pains of imprisonment’ by Sykes (1958) and the ‘environmental concerns’
by Toch (1977), refer to the fact that certain basic human needs are frus-
trated in correctional institutions. More specifically, prisoners suffer from
the deprivation of freedom, autonomy, goods and services, heterosexual
contacts, safety, privacy, structure, support, emotional feedback, activity,
communication (Keve, 1974), and variety (Cooke, Baldwin & Howison,
1990). On the other hand, there are ‘imported’ stressors, originating from
the broader environment, such as the death of a family member, problems
with children (Cooke et al., 1990), or related to the past or the future of the
prisoner, such as feelings of guilt concerning the crime or doubts about life
after prison.
Although a ‘jail term’ is classified as a stressful life event in the psycho-
logical literature, imprisonment also shows great similarities with forms of
chronic stress. Certain negative aspects of prison life, for instance, can be
softened but not totally removed. Moreover, the long duration of some
prison terms also makes possible a comparison with chronic stress. Thus,
parallels can be drawn between the rather constant negative aspects of
prison life (Flanagan, 1995) and the ‘ongoing life stressors’ in a ‘normal’
206 Heidi Vandebosch

life, and between so-called ‘situational triggers’ in prison (the end of a re-
lationship, bad news from ‘outside’, the cancellation of a visit, a transfer to
another institution, an unexpected punishment, the delay of the release
date, or the worsening of the normal negative aspects of prison life (Liebl-
ing, 1992) and ‘life crises and transitions’ (Holahan et al., 1996). Toch
(1982: 28) also notes that “prison demands occur as onslaughts (such as a
menacing cell mate with a knife) or as cumulative wear and tear (noisy tier
mates)”.
The kinds of chronic and acute stressors prisoners are exposed to, and
the degree to which these stressors are experienced as problematic and
stressful, depend on a series of personal and environmental factors such
as; the prisoner’s socio-demographic and criminal background, sentence
length and phase of imprisonment, the kind of institution the prisoner
lives in and the personal regime he or she is subjected to (Johnson & Toch,
1982; Tittle, 1972; Goethals, 1980; Parisi, 1982). These different mosaics
of problems evoke different adaptation styles or coping strategies. In
criminological literature, these concepts are mostly used to refer to the
constellations of behaviors and cognitions that prisoners develop as a
reaction to the rather constant negative elements in their environment,
which are guided by a basic psychological orientation towards imprison-
ment. Such adaptation or coping reactions are an attempt to solve or
soften the experienced problems and to remove or reduce the (initial)
stress and the negative emotions and physical side effects that accompany
it.
To avoid further confusion, I will reserve the concept ‘adaptation style’
to refer to the responses that inmates develop shortly after their arrival in
prison to soften the influences of chronic stressors related to imprison-
ment (and which become routine internal or external actions). These re-
sponses are situated in the prison context and imply the inmate’s accept-
ance of his/her imprisonment. They (ideally) reduce the initial stress to an
acceptable level. The obtained equilibrium is however precarious, and
explains the existence of acute stress, which leads to additional ‘coping
reactions’ (Vandebosch, 1999).

Prison problems and media (non-)gratifications in (Flemish) penitentiaries

Studies about the media use of prisoners are scarce. Inspired by strong
media effects theories, communication scholars have mainly been inter-
ested in captured criminals as an ideal research population to investigate
plausible (causal) links between preferring or consuming certain types of
media contents (e.g., violent TV programs and pornography) and com-
mitting certain types of crimes (e.g., violent and sex crimes). Fisher (1989)
 Media use as an adaptation or coping tool in prison 207

and Lindlof (1986, 1987), however, have departed from the cultivation and
the uses and gratifications approach, respectively, to study the long and
short term ‘effects’ of media use in prison. The fact that media use can
generate gratifications and soften the harsh prison experience, is also oc-
casionally mentioned in criminological studies (Clemmer, 1958; Galtung,
1967; Auberson, 1973; Fabiani & Soldini, 1996).
In this part of the paper I will concentrate on the results of a study into
the media use of Dutch-speaking, convicted prisoners, in five Flemish
penitentiaries with varying regimes and prison populations. This research
combined quantitative and qualitative methods: a survey among 177 in-
mates, and follow-up in-depth interviews with 33 of them, (for a more ex-
tensive report on the research methods and techniques, the selected
prisons and inmates, see: Vandebosch, 1999, 2000a.)
With the standardized questionnaire, administered during a face-to-face
interview of approximately one hour, variables such as the subjectively ex-
perienced problems, the importance of prison media and non-media ac-
tivities and the motives for television use were measured. As is evident
from Table 12.1, the most important problem for the respondents was
their isolation from the outside world, and more specifically, their separ-
ation from family members, friends and acquaintances. This probably ex-
plains the enormous importance attached to interpersonal contacts with
loved ones. External actions like receiving visits, making telephone calls,
and receiving/writing letters obviously softened the most important pain
of imprisonment. The mass media (and especially television) were also
often used to keep in touch with the outside world. 96 % of the respon-
dents owned a TV set (which they had bought or rented in the institution).
The average viewing time was 309 minutes (almost five hours) on week-
days, and 341 minutes on Fridays. On Saturdays and Sundays, prisoners
spend even more time in front of their television screen, namely 6 hours
and 40 minutes. The top three of television motives consisted of ‘I watch
television to keep informed about what’s happening in the world’, ‘I watch
television because I like certain programs’, and ‘I watch television to
relax’. It is not surprising then, that news and other informative programs
scored best in the respondents’ list of favorite programs, and were fol-
lowed by entertaining programs such as action movies, music and comic
programs. Work was also considered very important, because it allowed
prisoners to earn money (which they could use to buy additional products
in the prison canteen), and because it was a (useful) way to pass time.
The prison experience, however, was not uniform. The lack of privacy
was a more serious problem for those respondents who had to share a cell
with one or more fellow inmates, and for those prisoners who had been
in prison for a longer time. Respondents with a cellmate also felt more
208 Heidi Vandebosch

strongly that their autonomy was limited. Feelings of insecurity were most
prominently present among respondents who had just arrived in prison,
and were not yet familiar with the prison environment. Younger persons
apparently missed the outside world (goods and services, persons and
sex) more than older prisoners. And one ‘deviant’ problem (missing
drugs), was more often mentioned by persons with a higher criminality
score. This subjective degree of criminal involvement also correlated posi-
tively with the degree to which a person perceived the lack of sexual con-
tacts as problematic. This experience was also sex-related; female prison-
ers attached less importance to the lack of sexual contacts than male
inmates. Feelings of guilt about the committed crimes were most promi-
nently present among those individuals convicted of very serious crimes
(such as rape and murder), and were experienced to a lesser degree (or
not) by prisoners with higher criminality scores. Problems such as the
lack of activities, the lack of professional support, and the lack of move-
ment, were strongly connected with the institution where the respondent
resided. The inmates of the penitentiaries in Hasselt and Dendermonde
complained more about these prison deprivations than their colleagues in
other institutions. The lack of physical movement was also more frustrat-
ing for younger people, who furthermore gave higher problem scores to
‘the lack of professional support’. The latter deprivation was also more
problematic for respondents without a prison job and for inmates who
had spent more time in prison. The fear of mental deterioration increased
with the sentence length and the time spent in prison. Both factors also
correlated with the degree to which respondents felt appreciated by
people from outside; the longer the sentence, the less appreciated the in-
mate felt by friends and acquaintances from ‘outside’, and the more time
one had spent in prison, the more the lack of appreciation by family
members was considered a problem. Finally, the fear of becoming un-
worldly was more widespread among older prisoners and long-termers.
Because of the limited sample size it was difficult (if not impossible) to
completely isolate the influence of each subjectively experienced problem
on media use (or in other words, to control for background characteristics
of prisoners, institutional factors, the phase of imprisonment, and the ex-
perience of other problems). Nevertheless, simple (partial) correlations
between problem scores and (media) action variables did reveal some sig-
nificant relationships. The direction of these (possibly) causal relations,
can, however, be discussed in some cases.
Among those prisoners who had a cell of their own, for instance, there
was a negative correlation between experiencing a privacy problem and
the importance attached to talking with members of the personnel (who
could possibly disturb this privacy), and a positive correlation between ex-
 Media use as an adaptation or coping tool in prison 209

periencing a privacy problem and the importance scores given to listening

to the radio and listening to CDs and/or audio tapes (activities that allow
prisoners to exclude disturbing noises from the prison environment, es-
pecially when they have a headset).
Respondents who had a greater fear of becoming unworldly, watched
more television on weekdays, gave higher importance scores to watching
TV, displayed a greater appreciation for Flemish soaps, and watched TV
more to ‘chase away negative thoughts’. These correlations could indicate
that prisoners who were more dependent on television, and more often
tuned into relaxing TV programs, in this way were losing their sense of
reality.
This was at least suggested by prisoners (especially long-termers) who
participated in the in-depth interviews (see infra) when they were talking
about the negative long-term effects of watching television in prison.
These results, however, could also be interpreted in the opposite direction.
Maybe persons who felt they were losing touch with ‘normal life’ (outside
the prison walls) thought that local soaps could teach them more about
this (although this action clearly couldn’t ‘solve’ the problem).
Persons who suffered more from the fact that they were separated from
their family, friends and acquaintances, attached more importance to re-
ceiving visits. Those who perceived the lack of sexual contacts as more
problematic, gave higher scores to erotic TV programs (even when con-
trolling for degree of criminal involvement and age).
Stronger feelings of insecurity went along with lower importance scores
given to (potentially dangerous) collective prison activities, such as doing
sports and walking in the prison yard.
Those who felt neglected by family and friends from outside said that
making telephone calls and receiving visits – activities they probably had
to miss (more) – were less important to them. These persons also thought
that TV motives like ‘I watch TV to feel less lonely’ and ‘I watch television
to chase away negative thoughts’ applied better to them.
Prisoners who had the impression that the prison personnel didn’t like
them gave lower scores to ‘talking to the prison personnel’, ‘attending con-
certs and theatrical performances’ (activities under supervision of prison
guards) and ‘reading books’ (another ‘intellectual’ activity that is appreci-
ated by the personnel). Those who suffered more from ‘the lack of physical
movement’, ‘the lack of activities’ and ‘the lack of opportunities to meet fel-
low inmates’ attached more value to collective activities that took place
outside their cell (such as doing sports and walking in the prison yard). The
lack of alternative activities also led to higher media consumption (for in-
stance, prisoners watched more TV) and the perceived insufficient contacts
with fellow inmates made respondents watch TV ‘to feel less lonely’.
Table 12.1. Experienced problems, importance of prison activities and TV motives (Source: Vandebosch, 1999, 2000a)
210

Experienced problems Score Importance of prison activities Score TV motives Score

(0=no problem at all, (0= not important at all, (0=absolutely not true,
10= a very serious problem) 10= very important) 10= very true)
1. Miss persons from outside 8.9 1. Receive visits from family, 9.06 1. To keep informed about 8.78
2. Miss sexual contacts 7.8 friends, etc. what’s happening in the world
3. Miss things (goods and 2. Make a telephone call 8.90 2. Because I like to watch certain 8.67
Heidi Vandebosch

services) from outside 7.7 3. Receive letters 8.51 programs

4. Feelings of guilt towards 5.8 4. Work 8.45 3. To relax 7.48
people left behind 5. Watch television 7.80 4. To have a laugh 6.91
5. Lack of privacy 5.1 6. Listen to tapes and/or CDs 7.68 5. To pass time 6.90
6. Lack of professional support 7. Write letters 7.62 6. To learn useful things 6.89
in prison 4.7 8. Talk with a fellow prisoner 6.78 7. Because I’m bored 6.80
7. Feelings of guilt about the 9. Listen to the radio 6.62 8. To be diverted 6.44
crime 4.6 10. Consult teletext 6.47 9. To get information about 6.18
8. Lack of autonomy 4.2 11. Walk in the prison yard 6.35 crime and justice
9. Lack of activities in prison 3.7 12. Read magazines 6.33 10. Because I have nothing else 6.18
10. Feeling unloved by society 3.3 13. Do sports (outside or in a to do
11. Doubts about future 3.2 sports or fitness room) 6.13 11. To see what has changed 5.68
12. Uncertainty about prison 14. Watch the info channel of the ‘outside’
rules 2.9 institution 5.73 12. To keep mentally fit 5.06
13. Lack of movement 2.8 15. Talk with the personnel 5.46 13. Because it is thrilling 5.04
14. Feel like nobody in prison 16. Read newspapers 5.25 14. To forget for a while that 4.97
knows you like you really are 2.5 17. Attend movie performances 5.19 I’m in prison
15. Fear of mental deterioration 2.4 18. Activities in the recreational 15. To feel less lonely 4.34
16. Fear to become unworldly 2.2 room (play billiards, cards, 16. To chase away negative
17. Having a low self-esteem 2.1 table-tennis, …) 5.06 thoughts 4.23
Experienced problems Score Importance of prison activities Score TV motives Score
(0=no problem at all, (0= not important at all, (0=absolutely not true,
10= a very serious problem) 10= very important) 10= very true)
18. Too few opportunities to 19. Attend concerts, theatrical 4.82 17. Because it’s exciting 4
meet fellow inmates 1.4 performances in prison 18. My TV set replaces a radio
19. Feeling unloved by friends 20. Follow courses 4.72 set 3.75
and acquaintances from 21. Play computer games 4.16 19. To have a topic to talk about 2.68
outside 1.4 22. Indulge in hobbies 20. To be on my own 2.61
20. Feeling unloved by the (in cell: e.g., draw, paint, 21. Because I recognize myself
prison personnel 1.3 do puzzles, write, etc.) 4.09 in certain characters 2.42
21. Feeling unloved by family 23. Study in cell 3.72 22. To keep away from trouble 2.32
members 1.2 24. Read books 3.07 23. Because it reminds me of
22. Feeling unsafe 0.9 25. Read/look at advertising home 2.25
23. Miss drugs 0.7 brochures 2.93 24. To be together with other 1.11
24. Feeling unloved by fellow 26. Pray 2.58 inmates
inmates 0.7 27. Read prison brochures 2.41
28. Participate in concerts,
theatrical performances 2.32
29. Go to the chapel 2.07
30. Read comic strips 1.07
Media use as an adaptation or coping tool in prison
211
212 Heidi Vandebosch

Finally, the ‘fear of mental deterioration’ correlated negatively with the

frequency of book reading and a preference for informative radio pro-
grams. Here again, mutual influence was possible. A person who did not
function very well mentally, could experience difficulties with reading
books and listening to informative radio programs. On the other hand,
these intellectual activities could foster the inmate’s mental well-being.
In the in-depth interviews data were gathered about the motives for
(non-)participation in prison media and non-media activities, and about the
obtained (non-)gratifications. The inventory displayed in Figure 12.1, shows
that activities were indeed selected because prisoners thought they softened
a particular routine prison problem, or at least did not worsen it. Activities
from which people expected the opposite were avoided. In the case of acute
stress, media and other activities were also used to express negative emo-
tions (or to invoke positive ones) and to soften the accompanying physical
side effects of stress (such as insomnia). On the other hand, the list of
avoided and obtained non-gratifications shows that (media) activities could
also create or worsen problems, and induce stress (For an extensive report
on the media (non-)gratifications in prison, see: Vandebosch, 2000b, c).

Conclusion
This chapter, which is concerned with the problem experience and media
use of prisoners, illustrates some core assumptions of the social action ap-
proach to media use. For instance, it points to the active, interpretative
role of people in defining their situation. In prison, this meaningful inter-
action between individuals and their environment creates unique mosaics
of prison problems.
This study also shows that media actions can indeed be an answer to
situations defined as ‘unproblematic or problematic problems’. Prisoners
use audio-visual and print media to soften their routine prison problems
(the so-called ‘pains of imprisonment’). In the case of acute stress, inmates
undertake (non-routine) media actions, to cope with their situation. These
media actions fit into the behavior or emotion focused coping strategies
described in psychological works. Media use, however, not only generates
positive effects (or gratifications), it can also create problems and induce
stress, thereby worsening the prison experience.
Finally, this research shows that combining quantitative and qualitative
research techniques (i.e., a survey and in-depth interviews) may indeed be
a fruitful strategy in social action research. For example, while quantitative
methods allow us to statistically test the relationships between perceived
problems, and (non-) media actions, qualitative methods allow us to re-
 Media use as an adaptation or coping tool in prison 213

Motives for the participation in activities Motives for non-participation in

(gratifications sought) & gratifications obtained activities (avoided non-gratifications) &
obtained non-gratifications
Pass time. Stop the time.
(e.g., watch television to pass time)
Variation. Monotony.
(e.g., avoid listening to the radio
because commercial radio stations
play the same hits several times a day)
Good for physical health. Bad for physical health.
(e.g., watch television to catch sleep when stressed)
Safe. Unsafe.
(e.g., avoid watching television in the
recreational room)
Good for mental health. Bad for mental health.
(e.g., read books or watch informative TV programs such
as current affairs programs, quizzes, …)
Useful with the prospect of release. Not useful with the prospect of release.
(e.g., crimewatch programs show how investigators work;
this is useful in the light of future criminal activities)
Affirmation of personal identity, values and norms; In conflict with self-image, values and
beneficial for self-image. norms; negative influence on self-
(e.g., consume socially valued versus socially disvalued image.
media contents, depending on one’s criminal or
non-criminal self-image (see: Vandebosch, 2001)
Contacts with other people, support and appreciation from No contacts with other people, no
other people (including the appreciation from society, appreciation or support from other
contacts with the other sex). people.
(e.g., consume media contents that remind of home,
watch TV programs to see(handsome) people of the
opposite sex, …)
Privacy. Intrusion of privacy.
(e.g., use headphones to ban prison noises)
Contact with nature.
(e.g., watch nature documentaries)
To keep informed about what’s happening ‘outside’, get Incredibility of information.
‘criminal’ information.
(e.g., read newspapers, magazines, … to keep informed)
Obtain goods and services, earn money. Too limited remuneration.
(e.g., sell erotic magazines for a pack of cigarettes or a
telephone card)
Autonomy. Restrains autonomy.
Express negative emotions, relief stress. (e.g., cry while Invoke tension and negative emotions.
listening to a favorite song)
Invoke positive feelings. (e.g., laugh while watching a
comic movie)
Distraction. Remind of problems. (e.g., avoid
romantic movies because they remind
of own relationship problems)

Figure 12.1. Motives for (non-)participation in media and non-media activities,

Figure 12.1. obtained (non-) gratifications, and obstructions for participation
Figure 12.1. (media examples) (source: Vandebosch, 1999, 2000b, c)
214 Heidi Vandebosch

veal the processes of meaning-creation that underlie people’s situational

definitions and their obtained (non-)gratifications from consecutive (non-)
media actions.

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 Juxtaposing direct experience with media experience 217

13 Juxtaposing direct experience with media

13 experience: Does reality really matter?

Jan Van den Bulck

Abstract

A number of authors have struggled with the interaction between direct experi-
ence and TV effects. Some went as far as to say that the effect of TV on, for in-
stance, fear of crime is in fact an artifact of the viewer’s actual experience with
crime. Such authors assume that a clear hierarchy of experiences exists in
which direct experience (the ‘highest’ form of experience) always takes preced-
ence over mediated experience (the ‘lowest’ form of experience).
This paper draws on cognitive theories to suggest that people use many in-
puts in trying to construct an image of reality. Schema theory has shown that
people often believe first impressions until they become untenable. Many of the
perceptions influenced by television are partially disconfirmable. This means
that they are not easily contradicted by direct experience. Empirical data show
that fear of crime remains related to TV viewing even when direct experience is
controlled for.

Keywords: direct experience, hierarchy of experiences, TV effects

Mediated experience and relevance

A number of authors have remarked that watching television sometimes
seems to mimic direct experience. Thus Bandura (1978) mentioned ‘vicari-
ous reinforcement’ (as part of learning processes); others coined concepts
such as ‘vicarious role-taking’ (Ellis, Streeter & Englebrecht, 1983; Peterson
& Peters, 1983), ‘vicarious involvement’ (Altheide & Snow, 1979) or ‘para-
social interaction’ (Horton & Wohl, 1979). The addition of ‘vicarious’ or
‘para-social’ indicates, however, that the authors consider these processes
not to be ‘real life’. Boorstin (1964) expressed this most explicitly by dis-
cussing ‘pseudo-events’ – events, such as press conferences, which only
take place for them to be reported or covered by the media. In Boorstin’s
opinion such events are therefore not entirely ‘real’.
More recently, Dayan and Katz (1992) did not use the word ‘pseudo-
event’ to refer to events such as royal weddings or cycling contests. Even
218 Jan Van den Bulck

though the carefully edited images television shows of these events are
very different from what those physically present at the event witness, the
authors do not believe that the TV viewing experience is any less ‘real’
than the experience of standing in the middle of the crowd outside the
church. Indeed, many viewers will answer ‘yes’ when asked whether they
‘saw’ the wedding of the British Prince Charles with Diana Spencer. Be-
cause such events are often carefully scripted to make sure they look good
on television, the authors believe that in a way only the TV viewer has ac-
tually seen ‘the real thing’. Those people physically present during the
event are little more than stage props, necessary to create the right atmos-
phere on television.
In TV effects research many authors have struggled with the concept of
‘experience’. Some of the criticism of George Gerbner’s Cultivation The-
ory deals with the question of whether TV effects are actually possible
when viewers have direct experience of the same issue. This discussion
was triggered by the findings of a Canadian study. Doob and MacDo-
nalds (1979) interviewed people from four areas. They selected a high
crime and a low crime area in both the center of a city (Toronto) and a
more rural area. While there appeared to be a relationship between TV
viewing and fear of crime, the relationship disappeared in three of the
four neighborhoods when the areas were looked at separately. Authors
who claim that cultivation effects are spurious usually refer to these find-
ings. People who live in high crime areas are more at risk. As a result they
are more frightened. Because of their fear they stay home more and be-
cause they stay home more they watch more television. The relationship
between watching a lot of television and fear of crime therefore appears
to be an artifact (cf. Tamborini, Zillmann & Bryant, 1984; Weaver &
Wakshlag, 1986; Potter, 1988). The conclusion of this line of reasoning
seems to be that direct experience makes television effects impossible.
Direct experience always takes precedence (cf. Tamborini et al., 1984;
Heath & Petraitis, 1987).
Tyler (1984), therefore, discerns three levels of experience. The first
level is that of direct, personal experience. The second level is that of so-
cial contacts, or ‘interpersonal’ experience, where people learn from the
experiences of others. The third level is mediated experience. Weaver and
Wakshlag (1986), who make a similar distinction, believe there is a hier-
archy of experiences. Direct experience is the highest form, while me-
diated experience is the lowest form. They claim that ‘it appears that social
perceptions are formed and reinforced on the basis of the highest order
experience available’. This is the rationale behind the theory that television
can only influence perceptions in matters of which the individual has no
direct or interpersonal experience (cf. Shapiro & MacDonald, 1992;
 Juxtaposing direct experience with media experience 219

Adoni, Cohen & Mane, 1984; Weaver & Wakshlag, 1986; Hawkins & Pin-
gree, 1990; Shapiro & Lang, 1991).
It has been shown that most viewers know they are watching fiction
when they do so (cf. Potter, 1988). How, then, can this be construed as
any kind of experience leading to assessments of the real world? There are
three different theories which can be used to answer this question.
One school of thought believes that a distinction should be made be-
tween the ‘literal’ reality of, for instance, the news on the one hand and
other types of reality on the other hand (cf. Potter, 1988). When they
watch a murder in a movie most people know that they are not witnessing
a real murder, but they may well believe that they are watching a careful
dramatization of what a real murder would look like. As Meyrowitz (1979:
75) put it: “We do not respond to the televised situation as we would to a
real situation, but we respond to the concept of the real situation”. Movies
and television drama suggest in many ways that what they show mimics
reality. Typically, for instance, actors and directors will stress in press-in-
terviews how they rode with police officers to learn how to make their act-
ing more realistic. According to Bauer (1992) viewers have actually come
to expect and demand a high level of ‘apparent facticity’. When a movie
does not look realistic enough watching it may be annoying or irritating.
The second school of thought believes that television effects are a kind
of processing error. Shapiro & Lang (1991), for instance, believe that
people can only learn from television fiction if a kind of ‘coding error’ is
made. This means that people occasionally and by accident remember fic-
titious information as if it were real. Likewise, other authors remark that
people remember information more easily than the validity of that in-
formation (Shrum, 1995; Shrum & O’Guinn, 1993; Mares, 1996). Heavy
viewers are people who have seen more fictitious information and will
therefore have more of these faulty memories (Shapiro & Lang, 1991).
Television effects then become little more than an accumulation of small
memory errors.
The third school of thought believes that effects only occur in areas that
do not really concern the viewer. Adoni et al. (1984) refer to Berger &
Luckmann’s sociology of knowledge to distinguish ‘fields of relevance’.
Some areas in life are very relevant because they refer to ‘immediate prag-
matic interests’ (Berger & Luckmann, 1976). These Adoni et al. define as
‘close’. Others refer to ‘my general situation in society’. These are ‘remote’.
Adoni et al. (1984) believe that what is close will be learned through direct
experience, while what is remote may be learned through mediated ex-
perience (cf. Adoni & Mane, 1984). Other authors have made similar dis-
tinctions. Heath and Petraitis (1987: 99) remark that Doob and MacDo-
nalds’ ‘fear of crime scale’ is actually a ‘fear of neighborhood crime scale’.
220 Jan Van den Bulck

Many authors believe that television will only (or mainly) influence per-
ceptions, feelings or opinions regarding situations at societal level. To
make judgments at the personal level people are more likely to be in-
fluenced by personal experience only (cf. Cook, Kendzierski & Thomas,
1983; Tyler & Cook, 1984; Tyler, 1984; Tamborini et al., 1984; Heath &
Petraitis, 1987; Ferraro & Lagrange, 1987; Hawkins & Pingree, 1990).

A hierarchy of experiences
The distinctions between, on the one hand, ‘close’ and ‘remote’ life areas
and, on the other hand, direct and mediated experience suggest that TV
effects are only likely in an area which is ‘remote’ and/or when direct ex-
perience is missing. Both conclusions are questionable.
First, a closer look at Doob and MacDonalds’ results seriously chal-
lenges the idea of a hierarchy of experiences. In one of the four neighbor-
hoods those respondents who watched a lot of television did report higher
levels of fear than those who watched less. Strangely enough, the relation-
ship between TV viewing and fear only existed in the high crime neigh-
borhood. According to the Hierarchy of Experiences hypothesis these are
the very people who should not be influenced by television because they
have direct experience with crime. Gerbner, Gross, Morgan and Signor-
ielli (1980, 1981) noted this contradiction too. They explained the relation-
ship as a case of ‘resonance’; when people have direct experience of a situ-
ation that is related to what is shown on television, they receive a ‘double
dose’. Neither Weaver and Wakshlag (1986), who assume that a hierarchy
of experiences exists, nor Gerbner et al., who claim that different types of
experiences may reinforce one another, offer an explanation of the under-
lying psychological processes.
Second, the idea of a distinction between ‘close’ and ‘remote’ is less
convincing than Adoni et al. (1984) suggest. The authors appear to con-
fuse directness of experience and importance of experience. Some aspects
of life can be very important and hence ‘close’, while direct experience
may be missing or unreliable. When a shocking event, such as the killing
of a nation’s president, occurs, people will automatically turn to the media
for corroboration of the rumor. While the matter is perceived as import-
ant and ‘close’, direct experience is probably less reliable than mediated
information. Similarly, during puberty information about ‘how to seduce
women’ may be very important for a young heterosexual boy. Direct ex-
perience may be missing or unconvincing and the experiences of his peers
may not be seen as very effective or worthy of imitation. Such a person
might turn to television-fiction for compelling examples of heterosexual
seduction, which is an integral part of much mainstream drama (cf. Davis
 Juxtaposing direct experience with media experience 221

& Baran, 1981). Boyanowsky, Newston and Walster (1974, cf. Boya-
nowsky, 1977) offer interesting evidence of such processes. The authors
studied the behavior of girls in two dormitories of a school in which a girl
had been murdered. Girls for whom this experience was extremely ‘close’
because they slept in the same dormitory as the murdered girl started to
consume more violent movies than a comparable group that had no direct
experience with the crime. The realistic experience of the girls in the first
dormitory did not stop the appeal and influence of fiction. Instead they ap-
peared to seek out all vicarious experiences and information which might
help them to come to terms with what that happened. In other words, the
fact that certain aspects of life are close may cause people to actively
search for information and ‘experiences’ wherever they are available and
regardless of the kind of media concerned.
Furthermore, direct experience is no guarantee for a realistic and cor-
rect image of reality. Classic behaviorist experiments show how a rat can
be made ‘superstitious’. If a rat gets food each time it touches a lever it will
eventually learn that pressing the lever produces food. If, however, the rat
turned around three times before pressing the lever it is possible that the
animal believes that turning around three times is part of the behavior
necessary to produce the food. The rat now has a distorted image of real-
ity but direct experience will always confirm the theory; each time the rat
turns around three times and presses the lever food will be produced
(Watzlawick, 1976).
These observations call for a different classification of experiences.
Clearly, direct experience or the importance of events do not necessarily
impede television effects. Experiences should therefore not be classified
according to their physical attributes (direct, interpersonal or mediated)
but rather according to the contribution they make to people’s processing
of information about reality. Attribution and schema theorists have shown
that people have a tendency to “treat information as reality” (McLeod &
Chaffee, 1972: 50). People make a lot of inferences about reality from
all sorts of information (cf. Ross, 1978a, 1978b; Ross & Anderson, 1982;
Fiske & Taylor, 1991). Logically, conclusions are true only if the premises
are true but in real life people usually do the opposite. If a theory is
acceptable and credible it is often adopted and remains true until it is
explicitly contradicted. Reeder and Brewer (1979) and Fiske and Taylor
(1991) discuss the interaction between experience and perception of real-
ity and propose a hierarchy of schemas based on the extent to which they
are logically disconfirmable. However vague a theory about reality (or
‘schema’) may be, it is contradicted only in very particular circumstances.
First of all, theories can be partially or fully restrictive. A fully restrictive
theory only permits “a narrow range of behavior, so it is easily discon-
222 Jan Van den Bulck

firmed” (Fiske & Taylor, 1991: 153). Should a person believe his or her
neighborhood to be very safe he or she will probably change that percep-
tion if he or she is mugged in broad daylight. Many perceptions, however,
are partially restrictive, meaning that “they permit a rather wide range
of behaviors, so that they are difficult to disconfirm” (Fiske & Taylor,
1991:153). The perception that the neighborhood is a very dangerous
place is confirmed if a neighbor is mugged, but a month without any
mishap or misdemeanor is no reason to doubt one’s judgment of the
area. Typical of this kind of example is that it is a hierarchically restrictive
schema. It can easily be disconfirmed at one extreme, but not at the other.
If a neighborhood is considered safe that perception will change immedi-
ately if a heinous crime is committed. If it is considered dangerous even a
long period of calm may be perceived as a temporary lull. Finally, Fiske
and Taylor remark that schemas can also differ in the extent to which they
are practically disconfirmable. As they point out, there are traits most
people can display only rarely (such as bravery) as a result of which per-
ceptions regarding such traits will almost never be disconfirmed.
Such a cognitive theory of experiences sheds a different light on the dis-
cussion of media effects. If direct experience is missing, perceptions be-
come practically not disconfirmable. This does not, however, suggest that
the reverse is automatically true. Direct experience does not make me-
diated experiences ‘fully restrictive’. In fact, a closer look at many of
the variables customarily used in effects research shows that they are
usually only ‘partially restrictive’. Typical variables are ‘fear’, ‘trust in
other people’ (cf. Hawkins & Pingree, 1981), ‘perception of the world as a
mean place’ (Rubin & Peplau, 1975), etc. Perceptions such as ‘most people
can’t be trusted’ or ‘the police do not do enough to safeguard the safety of
ordinary citizens’, which are typical of television’s ‘mean world’ are not
automatically disconfirmed by direct experience.

Research question
This contribution examines the interaction between TV viewing and direct
experience. If the Hypothesis of a Hierarchy of Experiences (in which di-
rect experience takes precedence over mediated experience) is correct,
then no relationship between TV viewing and traditional ‘effect’ variables
should be found when controlling for direct experience. This contribution,
however, hypothesizes that many of those effects variables are ‘partially
restrictive’. Experience with crime usually does not disconfirm the image
of the world cultivated by television.
It is generally considered good practice in behavioral sciences to ‘bal-
ance’ scales by asking questions which are alternatively worded either
 Juxtaposing direct experience with media experience 223

positively or negatively. One should not only ask respondents whether

they distrust people, one should also attempt to rephrase such questions
and ask whether they trust people. Reeder and Brewer’s theory about dis-
confirmability of perceptions challenges this. The item ‘people can be
trusted’ (which is fully restrictive) is not just the mirror-image of the item
‘people cannot be trusted’ (which is partially restrictive). This papers tries
to show that variables that appear to refer to the same latent concepts may
behave quite differently, depending on whether they are partially or fully
restrictive. In fully restrictive items, direct experience may play a central
role. In partially restrictive items it may not.

Method
Subjects
Seventy-seven undergraduate students in media studies, all living in Flan-
ders, received credit for taking part in a research project. They were care-
fully trained as interviewers using documented and tested techniques
(Billiet & Loosveldt, 1988). Each student was sent to a randomly selected
area. In this area twelve addresses were randomly selected from the tele-
phone directory. To reduce bias resulting from non-ownership of a tele-
phone or non-registration the interviewers selected the house to the im-
mediate left of the selected address. In this house they were to interview
the member of the household older than eighteen who was next to cel-
ebrate his or her birthday (cf. Oldendick & Link, 1994). They were not
allowed to interview any other member of the household when met with a
refusal or when the selected person was not at home. After three attempts
they had to move to the next selected address where the same pro-
cedure was repeated. This method resulted in a sample that reflects the
demography of Flanders rather well. One province was underrepresented
and there was a slight overrepresentation of respondents with a university
degree. After careful examination of the data for coding errors and other
abnormalities 909 questionnaires were retained for analysis.

Measures
Television exposure. To measure total television viewing respondents were
asked to indicate how many hours of television they watched on an aver-
age weekday, on a Friday, Saturday and Sunday. They were also asked
about their frequency of viewing; did they usually watch TV every week-
day, three out of four, two out of four, one out of four or no weekday? The
224 Jan Van den Bulck

same was asked for Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. Frequency of view-
ing for each day was multiplied by the number of hours for that day and
the results were added to create an estimate of weekly viewing volume.

Experience with crime. Seven questions were asked to ascertain whether

the respondents had any experience with crime: (1) Have you ever been
mugged or attacked on the street? (2) Has your house ever been burgled?
(3) Has your house been burgled in the past year? (4) Has one of your
neighbors been mugged or attacked on the street in the past year? (5) Has
one of your other acquaintances or members of your family been
mugged or attacked in the street in the past year? (6) Has the house of
one of your neighbors been burgled in the past year? (7) Has the house of
one of your acquaintances or members of your family been burgled in
the past year?

Distrust. A ‘trust in other people scale’ was based on Hawkins and Pingree
(1981). Questions included: (1) Most people only think of their own inter-
ests; (2) Most people can be trusted; (3) You can’t be too careful when
dealing with other people; (4) Most people will try to help you; (5) Given
half a chance most people will try to take advantage of other people;
(6) Most people try to be honest. Respondents had to answer on a five-
point scale ranging from ‘totally agree’ to ‘totally disagree’.

Background variables. These included gender, age, level of education,

number of organizations the respondent was a member of, and whether or
not the respondent had a job.

Results

Experience with crime and trust

A little less than a third of the respondents (30.4 %) had personal experi-
ence with crime. A little over a third had no personal experience but had
indirect experience through what had happened to friends, neighbors or
relatives (43.3 %). About a quarter of the respondents did not reply posi-
tively to any of the experience questions. They were classified as people
without direct or indirect experience of crime. These are the people with
only media experience.
Using the three positively worded questions from the ‘trust’ scale a
‘trust in other people’ scale was constructed. All three variables loaded
above .76 on one factor (E=1.855, R2=61.8). The three negatively worded
 Juxtaposing direct experience with media experience 225

questions were combined to construct a ‘distrust in other people scale’.

Two variables loaded above .76, the third variable loaded above .45
(E=1.404; R2=46.8). In both cases standardized factor scores were saved.

Fully restrictive perceptions

An analysis of variance was performed to establish whether having per-
sonal, interpersonal or media experience influenced trust in other people.
As control variables gender, age and level of education were entered. No
interaction effects were found. Only significant variables were kept in the
final model (R2=.03; F(3,853)=9.045, p<.0001). Trust in other people ap-
peared to increase with age (Beta=.15, p<.0001) and with level of education
(Beta= .15, p<.0001). People who have personal experience with crime,
however, display less trust of other people (Beta=-.08, p=.023). Television
viewing did not seem to be related to this variable.

Partially restrictive perceptions

An analysis of variance was performed to establish whether having per-
sonal, interpersonal or media experience influenced lack of trust in other
people. As control variables gender, age and level of education were en-
tered. No interaction effects were found. Only significant variables were
kept in the final model (R2=.11; F(2,858)=53,226, p<.0001). Only two
variables seemed to affect levels of distrust. Distrusting people decreases
with level of education (Beta=-.23, p<.0001), but it increases with amount
of TV viewing (Beta=.17, p<.0001).

Discussion
In behavioral sciences it is sound methodological practice to use balanced
scales. The concepts of Reeder and Brewer and the findings presented
above seem to challenge that approach if it is used to establish the role and
position of mediated and direct experience in people’s construction of an
image of reality. In this view ‘trust’ in other people is not just the positive
mirror image of ‘distrust’. It is the opposite end of a continuum. Trust is a
fully restrictive concept. Any experience to the contrary will force people
to change their beliefs (or schemata). Distrust, on the other hand, is par-
tially restrictive. One counterexample (a generally mistrusted person ex-
hibiting honesty) is no reason to change one’s perceptions. It is therefore
no surprise that personal experience with crime affects trust in people,
while it does not add anything to perceptions of distrust. The role of televi-
226 Jan Van den Bulck

sion is more complex. Given what is known about the contents of televi-
sion’s mainstream it is no surprise to find that television does not affect
trust in people in a positive way. On the other hand, personal experience
seems to be strong enough to force people to review their optimism about
other people, while television’s ‘scary world’ does not seem to have the
same effect. Perhaps fully restrictive views require salient, distinctive
events for them to be challenged. In the partially restrictive mode, televi-
sion did have an effect while direct experience did not. In that case one
might argue that confirmation of the schema works through constant rep-
etition, while individual events do not add much to the whole.
This contribution tried to show that direct experience and mediated ex-
perience are not necessarily juxtaposed. Direct experience does not auto-
matically make TV effects impossible. Television shows powerful images
that can offer information which the viewer may consciously or subcon-
sciously try to test in reality. People are not necessarily logical when they
do this. As long as their schemas and theories about reality are not dis-
confirmed they are likely to remain credible. Many such perceptions
about the real world are only partially disconfirmable. Television may feed
overestimation of crime in society. Direct experience is not likely to dis-
confirm these perceptions for a simple reason; negative experiences with
crime (e.g., being a victim or a witness of crime) confirm the partially re-
strictive view. All evidence to the contrary is lost because of the partially
restrictive nature of the experience. One night, month or even year with-
out being attacked is not experienced as evidence of safety. On the
contrary, not unlike the superstitious rat people may regard any direct ex-
perience with crime as a confirmation of the television image, even if the
real incidence of crime is much lower than the elevated crime rates of
television’s drama and news.
This study offers support for perspectives which look at media use from
a social action point of view (cf. Renckstorf & Wester, 2001, for a recent
overview). The Renckstorf model redefines media use as a form of social
action. The present contribution does a similar thing. Media are not pres-
ented as a foreign body which ‘distorts’ perceptions of reality which would
otherwise have been correct. Media images or media experiences are de-
fined as just one type of experience amidst several other types. Whether
or not the experience (mediated or other) leaves a trace and has an effect
does not depend on the characteristics of the media, but on the type of
experience it presents. The level of disconfirmability of experiences re-
sembles Renckstorf’s model of external action, which makes a distinction
between ‘problematic problems’ (which would occur when a mediated ex-
perience challenges existing beliefs and forces a viewer to change his or
her believes) and ‘non problematic problems’ (which can be equated with
 Juxtaposing direct experience with media experience 227

experiences which are partially disconfirmable and therefore do not force

the viewer to change his or her perceptions) (cf. Renckstorf & Wester,
2001).
Further research should look at two things. First, the distinction be-
tween direct experience and mediated experience could be examined in
other settings, with other variables. Maybe direct experience with crime is
too traumatizing and constitutes a special case. Other examples may yield
different results. Second, the implication of Reeder and Brewer’s concepts
should be studied in depth. How much of the previously conducted re-
search has been affected by these processes without acknowledging it?
Rubin, Perse and Taylor (1988) have discussed the fact that whether one
used positively or negatively worded questions appeared to make a big
difference when testing the validity of certain media effects theories. The
authors felt they had found a flaw in media effects theory. Shrum (1995)
on the other hand remarked that Rubin et al. did not test attitudes (as they
claimed), but rather perceptions which had been influenced by the pro-
cess referred to as ‘confirmatory hypothesis testing’ (clearly an example of
the development of partially restrictive schemata).
Some authors discussing the link between media exposure and direct
experience have taken the idea of partially disconfirmable schemas to its
extreme and have, as it were, described the opposite hierarchy of experi-
ences. C. Wright Mills already mentioned in ‘The Power Elite’ that “the
individual does not trust his own experience (…) until it is confirmed by
others or by the media” (1956: 312). Anthony Giddens (1991) probably
went furthest by remarking that in a society dominated by media a ‘reality
inversion’ may occur whereby mediated experience becomes the primary
and most important experience people have of certain situations. When
people are confronted with ‘the real thing’ they will show a tendency to
judge reality by their media experience. The latter will often be experi-
enced as ‘more real’ than daily life. It is the validity of information and the
processing strategy employed by an individual which will decide how per-
ceptions of reality are affected. Whether or not the experience was me-
diated or direct, probably does not matter too much.

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 The home as a multimedia environment 231

14 The home as a multimedia environment:

14 Families’ conception of space and the introduction
14 of information and communication technologies
14 in the home

Veerle Van Rompaey and Keith Roe

Abstract

An integrated quantitative and qualitative research design was employed to

study some of the ways in which the diffusion of new information and com-
munication technologies (ICT) is related to the disposition of physical and
symbolic space within families. A typology of family types based on possession
of media appliances was constructed based on over 900 telephone interviews.
This typology consisted of four types of families: ‘traditional’, ‘intermediate’,
and ‘multimedia’. It was then used as a basis for selecting 38 families for in-
depth-interviews. Out of these, ten families were chosen as case-studies to par-
ticipate in a Family Interaction Game (FIG). The results of the FIG indicate
first, that it is not only media appliances that induce compartmentalization, but
also the conceptions and organization of space that families employ and, sec-
ond, that besides the television set, the computer appears to be an important
factor in shaping family space and should be studied accordingly. Furthermore,
the interviews indicate that privacy is not always attainable in the family con-
text, especially not for teenagers.

Keywords: Media in the family, new media, media appliances, family context

Introduction
It has always been assumed that the media affect family life. There have
been many studies into the impact on family life of television (Kubey,
1986; Lull, 1980, 1988; Morley, 1986; Krcmar, 1996), the VCR (Levy,
1980a, 1980b; Morgan, Shanahan & Harris, 1990), and computers
(Brimm & Watkins, 1985; Caron, Giroux & Douzou, 1985; Dutton, Ko-
varic & Steinfield, 1985; Haddon, 1992). Currently, however, families are
confronted with radical changes in the structure of the media environment
(such as digitalization, the Internet, and multimedia technology), changes
232 Veerle Van Rompaey and Keith Roe

which pose new challenges to family life. Furthermore, more and more
families live in houses that are equipped with many different media ap-
pliances (Livingstone, 1998; Morley & Silverstone, 1990). These changes
raise questions about spatial organization.
The use of space has frequently been investigated by the Family Studies
discipline which makes a distinction between physical and symbolic space
(Morgan, 1996). Physical space can be defined as the architectural struc-
ture of the house in which the family lives. According to Wentling (1990)
this structure can be either traditional or transitional. Traditional houses
are privacy orientated, emphasizing separated and one-purpose rooms
that are completely closed off from other rooms in the house. Transitional
houses are less private, more open and community-oriented. Every home
may contain both components.
Symbolic space, on the other hand, the concept which has been studied
most often, refers to the meaning that families ascribe to the spaces in their
home or in their environment; spaces which are guarded by boundary man-
agement between the public and the private. As such, Goffman’s (1959)
concepts of ‘frontstage’ and ‘backstage’ behavior can be seen as aspects of
symbolic space. ‘Frontstage’ behavior is public and observable and defines
the situation for anyone else present at the time. ‘Backstage’ behavior is not
always visible to the other persons present. Rasmussen (1997) indicates that
when using ‘older’ media such as books, newspapers, magazines, television
and radio in the presence of another family member, frontstage and back-
stage behavior mostly coincide, since what we do is apparent to the other
person present. What researchers are now beginning to find is that new ICT,
such as the Internet, are blurring the boundaries between private and public
space (cf. Meyrowitz, 1985; Frissen, 1992). Hence while frontstage and
backstage behavior used to coincide while using the media, with the emerg-
ence of these new technologies, backstage and frontstage behavior may
become disconnected (Rasmussen, 1997; Gumpert & Drucker, 1998). For
example, through telephone calls, Internet chat lines, and E-mail one can
communicate beyond place, thereby ‘disconnecting’ from our surround-
ings. Physically one can be in the same room as another family member but
mentally one is somewhere else. As Rasmussen indicates, this is typical of a
‘virtual context’. The emergence of a virtual context, combined with an in-
creasing density of media appliances, and especially ICT, in the home, has
led to the emergence of a popular thesis postulating greater privatization
and individualization within the home, leading to more and more social iso-
lation both of the family as a whole and of its various members (Gottlieb &
Dede, 1984; Vitalari & Venkatesh, 1988; Livingstone, 1998, 1999).
In this context we propose to adduce the concept of compartmentaliz-
ation. According to Gumpert and Drucker (1998: 431):
 The home as a multimedia environment 233

The personalization of media technologies coincides with a design em-

phasis on separate places for separate functions and inhabitants that
partition adults from children and men from women. The architectural
style of the home and the positioning of media appliances in the home
can therefore create different compartments.
However, we argue that there are two types of compartmentalization:
physical and symbolic compartmentalization. Physical compartmentaliz-
ation is a consequence of the architectural structure of the house (e.g.,
a child is separated from its parents when it is in his own bedroom while
the parents are in the living-room). It is not a condition for symbolic
compartimentalization. Symbolic compartmentalization occurs when family
members are mentally separated from each other and as such create their
own private space. Although, at the moment, privacy is of growing im-
portance and it appears as if privacy can be obtained by everyone, it seems
that in the family context this democratic view might be somewhat exag-
gerated. As Allan and Crow (1991) have indicated, teenagers are not al-
ways able to create their own private spaces, and react by turning to lei-
sure activities outside the home in order to evade their parents.
The purpose of this paper is further to investigate families’ conception
of space in relation to ICT. In this paper we will try and answer the fol-
lowing research questions:
1. Where are media appliances placed in the home?
2. Which appliances are central and which are peripheral?
3. Do media appliances induce physical and/or symbolic compart-
mentalization between family members?

Method
The data reported here are drawn from a major study concerned with the
role played by the media in Flemish family life conducted in the spring of
1999. In the first stage computer assisted telephone interviews (n=965)
were conducted with a representative sample of Flemish families (one-
person households were excluded). The resulting data were then subjected
to a K-means Cluster Analysis (Sharma, 1996; SPSS Inc., 1997) for the
purpose of constructing a continuum from which a typology of families
based on density of ICT in the household could be drawn. The number of
different media appliances at home were used to calculate a three cluster
solution. For this purpose standardized values were used.
234 Veerle Van Rompaey and Keith Roe

Table 14.1. Final cluster centers (means of the standardized variables for each cluster)

Cluster
1 2 3
widescreen TV –,01216 –,00967 ,04419
tape recorder –,49657 ,61078 ,49660
cd player –,53745 ,63408 ,66223
cd-rom player –,52042 ,24565 1,31500
PC –,21440 ,25361 ,28206
decoder for pay TV –,06364 ,09219 ,02808
digital video camera –,13857 ,09166 ,29254
discman –,33595 ,35827 ,48184
wireless telephone –,21630 ,14290 ,50651
portable PC –,22522 –,05460 ,93171
e-mail address –,31868 –,31260 1,81239
fax –,34689 ,03406 1,13760
mobile telephone –,31941 ,27021 ,52142
internet connection –,38145 –,37613 2,12129
cable –,19531 ,11687 ,20220
colour TV –,32218 ,35410 ,39467
modem –,43193 –,16859 1,80844
multimedia PC –,49518 ,17498 1,31965
answering machine –,27038 ,16010 ,57572
record player –,24622 ,31900 ,20493
radio –,40912 ,56223 ,36307
satellite dish –,09847 ,04861 ,25514
semaphone –,16300 ,09087 ,27666
stereo –,52554 ,62200 ,59424
telephone –,29747 ,20656 ,58637
TV with teletext –,31265 ,28862 ,39544
VCR –,33753 ,26229 ,54785
video camera –,24124 ,21455 ,35433
radio alarm clock –,41232 ,54210 ,28276

Table 14.2. Distances between final cluster centers

Cluster 1 2 3
1 3,261 6,121
2 3,261 4,496
3 6,121 4,496
 The home as a multimedia environment 235

Three types of families were thus identified:

Type 1 (54 %). This consisted of ‘traditional families’ characterized by low
media density (i.e., television, telephone, and a limited number of audio
appliances).
Type 2 (31 %). This consisted of ‘intermediate families’ characterized by
average possession of media. They differ from type 1 in having more ap-
pliances (more television sets and audio media) and from type 3 in not
having newer ICT such as Internet and E-mail.
Type 3 (15 %). This consisted of ‘multimedia families’ with a high density of
appliances and the presence of E-mail, Internet, cd-roms and so forth.

The means of all variables differ across the three clusters. These variables
were therefore all important in identifying the three clusters. However, the
means of Internet connection (F=1859,35), modem (F=727,502) and E-mail
address (F=623,759) differ the most. These variables were therefore more
important in identifying the three clusters.
On the basis of this typology 38 families were then selected for a quali-
tative study involving in-depth interviews: 6 families from type 1, 15 from
type 2, and 17 from type 3. Of these, 31 (4 in type 1, 13 in type 2 & 14 in
type 3) contained children. The interviews were conducted in the home
with parents and children together.
Out of these, ten families (5 from type 1, 2 from type 2, and 3 from
type 1) were then chosen as case-studies and these families make up the
subject of this chapter. The sample was restricted due to the time-intensive-
ness of our research design. However, it is not in the scope of this inves-
tigation to generalize findings. The aim is to give an insight in the ways in
which families introduce media in their spatial framework. In order to
study families’ conception of space in relation to ICT, the Family Interac-
tion Game (FIG) was employed. This method is based on the work by
Cromwell and Peterson (1981).
In each of the ten cases, family members are given the assignment to
draw their ideal home together. They have to draw the ground-plan of the
house and furnish it. They are asked to label each room and to point out
which family member may use that particular room. When the ground-
plan is finished, the family is given the opportunity to buy media ap-
pliances to put into their ideal home. For this purpose they are assigned an
amount of money (8678 €/ approx. 7300 USD) and a price-list containing
the price of each media appliance. This way the family is forced to reach a
consensus and make decisions about the house and about the placing of
media appliances that they find important enough to buy.
236 Veerle Van Rompaey and Keith Roe

Table 14.3. One-way analysis of variance

Cluster Error
Mean Mean
Square df Square df F Sig.
widescreen TV ,180 2 ,998 897 ,180 ,835
tape recorder 128,604 2 ,699 897 183,977 ,000
cd player 156,063 2 ,674 897 231,558 ,000
cd-rom player 193,142 2 ,577 897 334,550 ,000
PC 25,542 2 ,951 897 26,871 ,000
decoder for pay TV 2,217 2 ,997 897 2,224 ,109
digital video camera 11,714 2 ,971 897 12,061 ,000
discman 61,173 2 ,884 897 69,233 ,000
wireless telephone 31,834 2 ,923 897 34,481 ,000
portable PC 72,552 2 ,865 897 83,923 ,000
e-mail address 264,762 2 ,424 897 623,759 ,000
fax 118,516 2 ,741 897 159,966 ,000
mobile telephone 53,557 2 ,868 897 61,679 ,000
internet connection 365,358 2 ,196 897 1859,349 ,000
cable 13,303 2 ,353 897 37,688 ,000
colour TV 53,304 2 ,898 897 59,366 ,000
modem 274,660 2 ,378 897 727,502 ,000
multimedia com- 183,611 2 ,567 897 323,595 ,000
puter
answering machine 44,078 2 ,866 897 50,876 ,000
record player 31,733 2 ,918 897 34,584 ,000
radio 93,566 2 ,801 897 116,856 ,000
satellite dish 7,162 2 1,000 897 7,161 ,001
semaphone 12,721 2 ,862 897 14,761 ,000
stereo 145,035 2 ,689 897 210,548 ,000
telephone 51,031 2 ,849 897 60,114 ,000
TV with teletext 45,876 2 ,887 897 51,714 ,000
VCR 57,707 2 ,863 897 66,879 ,000
video camera 29,105 2 ,927 897 31,400 ,000
radio alarm clock 87,526 2 ,785 897 111,428 ,000
 The home as a multimedia environment 237

Since this is a task that confronts the family with a hypothetical prob-
lem, it provides the opportunity to find out how different media ap-
pliances are incorporated in the family home. It also gives us an indication
as to which appliances are the most important to own and which are more
peripheral according to the different families. After they have completed
this task, the family members are asked to fill in a short questionnaire in
which they can rate their satisfaction with the family solution. Family in-
teractions are recorded and transcribed.

Results
Physical space
In order to get a clearer view of Flemish family homes, data from the
quantitative survey, with regard to architectural style and media density,
will be combined with results from the FIG.

Architectural style. The following results are based on the survey data from
families with children (n=617).

Table 14.4. Percentages of separate rooms in Flemish homes (n=617)

Number Room 0 1 2 3 4 >4 Total

Bathroom 0.6 89.8 9.1 0.5 0 0 100
storage room 12.7 67.7 13.5 4.5 0.8 0.8 100
Kitchen 22.5 76.3 1.1 0 0 0 100
dining-room 47.2 50.2 2.6 0 0 0 100
kitchen + dining-room 89.1 10.7 0.2 0 0 0 100
living-room 33.9 64.8 1.0 0.3 0 0 100
living-room + dining- 80.1 19.9 0 0 0 0 100
room
kitchen + living-room + 88.0 12.0 0 0 0 0 100
dining-room
Study 58.8 38.4 2.3 0.3 0.2 0 100
Bedroom 0 0.6 16.2 53.8 22.0 7.2 100
parental bedroom 0.3 99.4 0.3 0 0 0 100
children’s bedroom 2.3 28.8 50.6 14.9 4.9 0.5 100
Guestroom 73.1 23.5 2.8 0.3 0.2 0.2 100
238 Veerle Van Rompaey and Keith Roe

An average Flemish family home consists of eight separate rooms. The

modal home consists of one bathroom (90 %), one kitchen (76 %), one liv-
ing-room (65 %), one storage room (68 %), one dining room (50 %), one
parental bedroom (99 %) and two children’s bedrooms (51 %). There is a
trend towards open spaces, so that the living-room, dining-room and
kitchen, or in some cases, only the living-room and dining-room (20 %)
can be situated in the same space (12 %). This trend leads to more transi-
tional houses.
Physical compartmentalization seems to be a feature of the traditional
homes. Transitional homes, on the other hand, are more open, implying
fewer strictly separated compartments. However, in line with previous
research (Wentling, 1990), the results of the FIG indicate that the ideal
family home is mostly not just transitional or traditional. In most cases
they are a mixture of both. More specifically, we found that most families
drew homes that were transitional downstairs and traditional upstairs.
This could be due to the fact that the more community oriented places
such as the living room, kitchen and dining-room are to be found on the
lower level of the ideal home. Upstairs one will find the children’s and
parental bedrooms and the bathroom which in all ten cases are places
that are separated from one another by walls and doors. As this family
discussion and design of the upstairs and downstairs of their ideal home
shows:

Mother: That’s the kitchen and that will be the living room, this large
corner. (to her son) You can make the door here.
Son (14 years old): That isn’t a door, we leave that open. That’s a new de-
sign. And then we make the dining room here.
Mother: yes, and the sitting area.
Son: So does everybody agree, or should we look at it again?
Mother’s partner: Look at what?
Son: Well here (points at the open space)
Mother’s partner: It’s O.K. like that. We’re just going to leave that open.

In this design, it is more plausible that physical compartmentalization oc-

curs because family members retreat to the traditional oriented spaces.

Media density. Our survey results suggest that more and more Flemish
family homes are equipped not only with more than one set of ‘old’ media
appliances but also with lots of ‘new’ ICT. As a result family homes are
more and more becoming centers of multimedia activities.
 The home as a multimedia environment 239

Figure 14.1. FIG: One families’ design of the downstairs and upstairs of their ideal
Figure 14.1. home.
240 Veerle Van Rompaey and Keith Roe

Table 14.5. Percentages of Flemish households with children number of media

Table 14.5. appliances at home (n=617)

Number media appliances 0 1 2 >2 Total

television 1.5 54.8 32.4 11.3 100
VCR 8.4 75.2 13.6 2.8 100
radio 10.1 27.0 24.6 38.3 100
CD-player 5.4 43.1 29.4 22.1 100
PC 67.9 29.9 1.3 0.9 100
multimedia PC 54.9 39.4 4.7 1.0 100
portable PC 993.0 6.7 0.3 0 100
CD-ROM player 47.4 46.4 4.9 1.3 100
E-mail 84.4 12.9 1.3 1.4 100
internet connection 82.1 17.8 0.2 0 100
telephone 4.4 62.4 22.4 10.8 100
GSM 63.7 29.7 6.0 0.6 100

In 1999, 45 % of Flemish families with children were in possession of

a multimedia computer. Slightly more had a CD-ROM player (53 %),
16 % of Flemish families with children had one or more E-mail addresses
and 18 % were connected to the internet. 64 % Flemish families with
children owned video-and/or computer games and 47 % of these had a
game console such as Playstation or Nintendo.
Silverstone, Hirsch, and Morley (1992) already recognized this chang-
ing media context within the family home, although they still regard televi-
sion as the ‘leading object’ in the household. However, they acknowledge
that the presence of other media appliances has certainly changed the con-
text and even the meaning of ‘watching television’. Indeed, the results of
our FIG show that, in all ten cases, the television remains the most im-
portant focus of the family home. It is situated in a central space of the
ideal living-room and is in all cases, except one, accompanied by the video
recorder. The family ground-plans also show that furniture and especially
sofas are often placed in a circle facing the television in order to create a
cozy sitting area. Very remarkable in this regard was that every family
wanted to have a large television set in its ideal living-room. Even the one
family that did not have television in their real life (because the father was
opposed to it) incorporated a large television set into their ideal home
which was situated in the center of the living-room with the sofas pointing
towards it.
 The home as a multimedia environment 241

Figure 14.2. FIG: One families’ design of the living-room of their ideal home

In some cases families even began designing their ideal home by iden-
tifying a space to accommodate the large television set. When designing
their ideal living-room many families compose it around the space where
they want their television set to be placed. This is illustrated by a family
who, while they were drawing their ideal living-room, wondered where to
put the television:

Mother: I want a long chair to be put here (in the living room) …
Daughter (12 years old): Or we could put it like that (points at where she
wants to place the sofa). Here, and that’s the television set, OK?!
Mother: In the middle of the room?
Daughter: Yes, here you have the sofas (around the TV), and then you can
watch it like that.
Mother: So where do you want to put the television set? In the middle of
the sofas?
242 Veerle Van Rompaey and Keith Roe

Daughter: Here you have the kitchen, and then you can put your televi-
sion set over here, so that when you sit here, you can see it …
Mother: No, no, the kitchen is over there!
Daughter: So what is this then?
Mother: That’s the dining table. That’s this table and it’s going to be a rec-
tangular one not a round one.
Son (10 years old): (is a bit puzzled) So this is where we put the TV then, is
it?
Mother: Those are the chairs (around the dining table)!

In another family:
Mother: So, when you enter the living room …
Father: You can put your sofa like this, in the middle.
Mother: (adjusts the placing of the sofas)
Father: the three-seater, and the two-seater opposite each other.
Son (16-year old): And then we need a very large cupboard for the televi-
sion set.
Father: A TV, my son?
Son (12-year old): And a very big one …

When given the chance to buy media appliances the large television set
was seen as an important family purchase, without which ‘one just could
not go on living’, as some families put it. This was also reflected in the fact
that in all ten cases it was one of the first and least contested media ap-
pliances to be bought from our list. This is contrary to the small television
set which was usually purchased as a second TV and which was, in ac-
cordance with their demands, put in children’s ideal bedrooms:

Interviewer: Now that the ground-plan is done, you can start buying
media appliances.
Mother: So, first the basic stuff.
Son (18 years old): Television in my room.
Mother: Let’s do this systematically.

Furthermore, the use of this small TV in children’s ideal bedrooms differs

along developmental lines. Younger children tend to want one in order to
play with their game console in their own bedroom while adolescents tend
to want one in order to actually watch television. In addition, we found, in
our intermediate and multimedia families in particular, that the computer
has the same importance attached to it as the television set. It is also re-
garded as an obvious presence in the home:
 The home as a multimedia environment 243

Son (9 years old): So everybody can choose which media appliance he

wants?
Mother: No no, that’s not how it’s done. Listen guys, we’ve got a certain
amount of money and with that we can buy whatever media appliance
we want for the house. So you can’t say: “I want this and I want that!”
because then we’re out of money. We should first look into what is very
important for us to have. You first have to purchase those things that
you can’t live without.
Son (11 years old): So instead of a TV in the bedroom …
Father: We spend it all on computers! (laughs)

Also in line with the findings for the large television set, we found that
families accommodated the computer from the beginning:

Father: I think we should bear in mind …, well I often think about a com-
puter corner. A separate corner. And I even thought … for myself that
is … a computer corner, somewhere …
Son (11 year old): In a study?
Father: In the living room or so. A study, but more like a separate corner,
perhaps with a man’s height division, but that you’re still in the same
room. Perhaps the front here (points at the living room), but with a very
low wall here. And there we put everything: my computer and mother’s
computer (laughs). And it has to be very pretty, you can see that some-
times in some places where they have these beautiful computer tables.

Children also seemed very interested in having a PC in their ideal bed-

room. Overall, children splash their ideal bedroom not only with ICT but
also with swimming pools, waterbeds and jacuzzi’s. As illustrated by this
10-year old boy’s bedroom design (see Figure 14.3).
In accordance with this finding, our survey data indicate not infre-
quently that the computer related media are situated in the children’s bed-
room, this being the case for almost half of the computers (ordinary PC
and multimedia PC) and 16 % of the modems reported.
244 Veerle Van Rompaey and Keith Roe

Figure 14.3. FIG: a 10-year old boy’s ideal bedroom design

Table 14.6. Percentages of Flemish families with media appliances in the children’s
Table 14.6. bedroom, living-room, parental bedroom, kitchen and study

room media children’s living- parental kitchen study n

appliance bedroom room bedroom
PC 30 24 3 2 26 198
multimedia PC 19 31 2 2 41 278
modem 16 26 1 1 49 155
telephone 3 73 18 15 13 590
CD 45 82 4 9 7 582
radio 44 62 11 44 7 553
TV 19 97 12 6 3 606
stereo 38 87 3 5 5 570
VCR 9 92 4 3 1 565

In line with previous research (Beentjes et al., 1999; Livingstone, Holden

& Bovill, 1999), our data suggest that children’s bedrooms, unlike parental
bedrooms, are increasingly equipped with all sorts of media appliances.
This becomes obvious when the results of the FIG are studied. An im-
 The home as a multimedia environment 245

portant question to be asked, in this regard, is whether or not children’s

bedrooms are becoming secluded multimedia islands where children go
to evade family life and as such create a physical compartmentalization
between themselves and their parents. We argue that this is also depend-
ent on the child’s stage in development. Teenagers seem especially inter-
ested in creating a private space of their own. As such, during the entire
FIG, they spend most of the time designing and decorating their ideal
bedroom. These become cozy multimedia relaxation areas. Not infre-
quently sofas and audio appliances are put in them. One 16-year old
wanted to guard this private space by putting a surveillance camera at the
bedroom door:

Figure 14.4. FIG: a 16-year old boy’s ideal bedroom design

Symbolic space. Although teenagers design ideal bedrooms that are very
private, this does not always convey the real life situation. New ICT, how-
ever, may induce new opportunities for the creation of privacy. Previous
research has already indicated that teenagers may use a computer to be
more independent of their parents (Murdock, Hartmann & Gray, 1992).
We also observed that teenagers often use computer games to create a
screen between frontstage and backstage behavior, thereby creating their
own private space and, as such, a symbolic compartmentalization be-
tween themselves and other family members:
246 Veerle Van Rompaey and Keith Roe

Interviewer: Do you find it annoying when they (16 year old son and
12 year old son) are playing on the computer?
Mother: Yes.
Father: They close themselves off at that moment, socially speaking. The
only contact they have at that moment is with the computer not with us
and that really gets on my nerves. Especially when they put on a headset
to hear the tunes that accompany the game.

Kraut et al. (1998) have also indicated that the Internet might be used by
teenagers to withdraw from social contact as a means of obtaining greater
privacy within the family. We also found that the Internet is often used for
privacy creation in our multimedia families. In addition, we observed that
teenagers in our multimedia families liked E-mail and chatting, indicating
that a ‘virtual context’ is ideal for teenager’s privacy creation since the
frontstage is totally separated from the backstage and, as such, they can
create a space of their own which cannot be invaded by parents or other
family members, even when they are in the same room. This is illustrated
by a mother talking about the use that their children make of the sole PC
that is connected to the Internet. In this family this connection was situ-
ated in the living-room and even though the children had a computer in
their own bedroom, without an Internet connection, they still preferred
the computer downstairs in the living-room.

Mother (about her children): They don’t have any notion of time when
they’re sitting in front of their computer. If we didn’t say anything they
would be busy on the Internet from eight o’clock in the evening for hours
on end until late at night. … If we don’t draw the line they would keep on
doing it. That’s why I’m a bit concerned about having an Internet con-
nection in all their bedrooms. We’re thinking about that but then it’s dif-
ficult to supervise in each room whether they are sleeping or still chatting.

We found that chatting and E-mail seem to be very popular with teenage
girls. Perhaps this could be because chatting is analogous to another favo-
rite female pastime; telephoning (cf. Rakow, 1988; Anderson, Arceneaux,
Carter & Miller, 1995).

Daughter (13 years old): It’s absolutely wonderful. I can never stop with it.
I chat with this one boy and then I just can’t stop. I say to him ‘bye, I’m
off’ and five minutes later, there I am still chatting!
Mother: Most of the time you are chatting with ten people at the same
time. When I say ‘It’s time to stop’, then she has to say goodbye to ten
people, so that half-an-hour later she’s still busy saying goodbye.
 The home as a multimedia environment 247

Interviewer: Do you always chat to the same people?

Daughter: Yes, especially, well there are a few boys from school, but also
my friends.
Mother: She doesn’t chat with strangers!
Daughter: I use the phone less.

With regard to the telephone, Rasmussen (1997) indicated that conflicts

between communication and physical space can be solved by placing the
telephone in a place where family members can talk without being over-
heard by other family members. However, according to our data, in most
Flemish families, the telephone is placed in the living-room (73 %), which
wittingly or unwittingly leads to a decline in privacy for the person who is
using the telephone. It will then be very difficult to create a mental wall be-
tween back and frontstage. It might be easier to create this division by chat
and E-mail.
This process can even be facilitated by having an internet connection in
the children’s bedroom which was already the case in the oldest son and
daughter’s bedroom of one family – as is shown by the upstairs of their
ideal home (see Figure 14.5).
In this case, frontstage and backstage behavior are no longer relevant
since symbolic compartmentalization is replaced by physical compart-
mentalization.

Discussion
In this study an integrated quantitative and qualitative research design
was employed to study some of the ways in which the diffusion of new
information and communication technologies (ICT) is related to the
disposition of physical and symbolic space within families. First, the con-
cepts of physical and symbolic space are elaborated on and an increasing
compartmentalization of family life is postulated. From over 900 tele-
phone interviews a typology of family types based on possession of
media appliances was constructed, divided into ‘traditional’ (low media
density), ‘intermediate’ (average media density), and ‘multimedia’ (high
media density) families. This typology was then used as a basis for select-
ing 38 families for in-depth interviews. Out of these, ten families were
chosen as case-studies which participated in a Family Interaction Game
(FIG).
Families are more and more equipped with all sorts of media ap-
pliances. Our FIG indicates that the computer is a media appliance that
seems to be of equal importance to that of the television. Furthermore, in
248 Veerle Van Rompaey and Keith Roe

Figure 14.5. FIG: One families’ design of the upstairs of their ideal home
 The home as a multimedia environment 249

line with previous research, our data suggest that children’s bedrooms,
contrary to parental bedrooms, are increasingly equipped with all sorts of
media appliances. An important question to be asked is whether or not
children’s bedrooms are becoming secluded multimedia islands where
children go to evade family life, thereby creating a physical compartmen-
talization between them and their parents. This seems to be especially de-
sirable for teenagers. They design cozy and secluded multimedia bed-
rooms.
In addition, we found that physical compartmentalization can be in-
duced by designing a more traditional oriented home, although most
homes seem to be a mixture of both architectural styles. It follows that it is
not only media appliances that induce individualization but also the con-
ception and organization of space within the family that allows for physi-
cal compartmentalization.
Although they design privacy-oriented bedrooms, privacy is not always
attainable in the family context, especially not for teenagers. For them two
options remain: they can either participate in lots of leisure activities out-
side the home or they can use the Internet (especially for chatting and
E-mail) to create their own private space. The first option seems to be
popular in our traditional and intermediate families which are not in pos-
session of an Internet connection, the second is popular in our multimedia
families.
Future research into the impacts of new ICT on family life should bear
in mind that families’ organization and conception of space is an impor-
tant factor in regard to the degree of impact families permit ICT to have
on their lives. Second, the computer has become an important factor in
shaping family space and should be studied accordingly. Furthermore, it
would be interesting to investigate whether teenagers’ preference for the
virtual context could lead to a retreat from leisure activities outside the
home because they seem less important for the creation of a private
sphere.

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252
 Patterns in television news use 253

15 Patterns in television news use1

Ruben Konig, Karsten Renckstorf and Fred Wester

Abstract

In this study we explore patterns of television news use, using data from a
national survey on Media Use in The Netherlands conducted in 1994 (n = 969).
Results indicate that people are much more likely to prefer watching television
news selectively and attentively than watching the news while simultaneously
engaging in other activities. Moreover, the chances of this preference for watch-
ing the news selectively and attentively are even greater for men, older people,
and people endorsing well-informed citizen’s values. They are somewhat smaller
for women, younger people, and people without well-informed citizen’s values.
No evidence of interaction among these determinants was found. Contrary to
our expectations, education, occupation, and having children do not seem to in-
fluence self-reported patterns of television news use. A possible explanation for
the difference between men and women, is the subjective definition of ‘home’ as
a sphere of leisure for men and a sphere of labor for women, which traditional
role-expectancies may still engender. A possible explanation for the inclination
of older people and people with well-informed citizens values to prefer watching
the news selectively and attentively, may be found in a relatively strong feeling
that watching the news is important.

Keywords: television news use, traditional gender role expectancies, subjective

relevance, well-informed citizen’s values, age, birth-cohort

Introduction
Qualitative research shows that people use television and television news
in their everyday life as an everyday activity. Watching television or televi-
sion news appears to be nothing special and, as with any other everyday
activity, people seem to develop routines in watching television and tele-
vision news (e.g., Morley, 1986; Van der Molen, 1989; Morley, 1992;
Hermans & Van Snippenburg, 1993; Hagen, 1994a, 1994b). Using quanti-
tative research methods, Konig, Renckstorf and Wester (2001) explore
such everyday routines in watching television and television news for the
Dutch population as a whole. On the basis of survey data, they show that
254 Ruben Konig, Karsten Renckstorf and Fred Wester

at least three routines of watching television can be discerned in The

Netherlands in 1994. The first routine involves watching television greg-
ariously. People using this routine hardly ever watch television alone and
talk a lot in front of their television sets. The second routine involves
watching television habitually and unselectively as primary activity. People
switch on the set because they want to watch television, not because they
want to see a specific program. This routine comes closest to what is often
called ‘heavy viewing’ (cf. Frissen, 1996). The third routine involves
watching television as a background for other activities such as eating,
talking, reading, working, and domestic activities.
Konig, Renckstorf & Wester (2001) also describe two routines of watch-
ing television news in particular, that the present study will elaborate on.
These two routines of news watching can clearly be discerned from the
three routines of watching television in general. One routine involves se-
lectively and attentively watching the news as primary activity, whereas
the other routine implies that people not only watch the news, but simul-
taneously engage in other activities as well. The authors show that these
routines are not distributed evenly across people with different individual
and social-structural background characteristics. For instance, they show
that men are more likely to display a routine of selectively and attentively
watching the news as a primary activity than women, whereas women
more often show a routine to engage in other activities while watching the
news than men. However, what the authors did not investigate, is whether
men or women tend to prefer one of the two routines; that is, in their ac-
tual behavior2. In general, it is not yet clear whether or not different people
report a different routine to apply more strongly to their own news-watch-
ing behavior than the other routine. That is, routines in watching the news
were explored, but the authors did not explore patterns of television news
use that may have evolved out of preference for one of these routines3.
Routines are defined here as standard ways of using television news in
everyday situations, whereas patterns are defined as combinations of such
routines. The aim of the present study is to gain additional insight in
people’s television news use by exploring such patterns – that is, combi-
nations of routines – of television news use.
Is it possible to identify social categories that have developed different
patterns of television news use? That is, is it possible to identify social cat-
egories of which the members have typically developed a preference for
one of the two routines in watching television news? One may expect that
people with different social-structural backgrounds, with their different
roles and situations in life, develop different patterns of television news
use (cf. Berger & Luckmann, 1991; Merton, 1968; McQuail, Blumler &
Brown, 1972; Wright, 1986). In this contribution, these different patterns
 Patterns in television news use 255

of television news use will be explored both theoretically and empirically.

Theoretical reasoning will serve as starting-point for the empirical explo-
ration.
From an action theoretical point of view (Renckstorf, 1996; Renckstorf
& McQuail, 1996), this means that we will have to find theoretical reasons
for differences in the typical ‘interaction situation’ in which members of
specific social categories usually watch the news, or differences in the typi-
cal context in which these members watch the news in everyday situ-
ations. The context concerned does not only consist of the physical sur-
roundings such as the couch on which the viewer is seated and the other
people present in the room, but also of internal processes of the viewer
such as his or her preoccupations and drowsiness after a hard days work.
In fact, the ‘interaction situation’ consists of everything that influences the
processes of giving meaning to the news and the items in the news
(Renckstorf & Wester, 1999: 49–50). Or, as Dahlgren (1988: 289) puts it:
“The meanings the programmes have for the viewers arise in the pro-
gramme/audience interface”. Therefore, reasons for differences in the
typical ‘interaction situation’ are manifold and one can never be complete
in summing them up. As a result, theoretical and empirical explorations
like the present one cannot be complete either, but one may still hope to at
least shed some light on the complex matter of patterns in television news
use.

Different interaction situation, different pattern

of television news use?
Three kinds of differences in interaction situations will be elaborated
upon, assuming that these differences are relevant to the patterns of tele-
vision news use that people develop. First, the subjective definition of
‘home’ as a sphere of leisure or labor is suggested as a possible ground for
preference of different routines in television news use. Second, the subjec-
tive relevancy of watching the news may lead to different patterns. Third,
differences in preference for a specific routine in television news use may
evolve out of people’s time budgets.

Subjective definition of ‘home’ as a sphere of leisure or labor

If ‘home’ is subjectively defined as a sphere of leisure, people may indulge
at will in selective and attentive news watching as a primary activity. How-
ever, if in contrast, ‘home’ is subjectively defined as sphere of labor, some
domestic task is always waiting to be attended to, and selectively and at-
256 Ruben Konig, Karsten Renckstorf and Fred Wester

tentively watching the news may not be experienced as an appropriate

thing to do. In the latter case, people may choose to watch the news while
engaging in simultaneous activities as well. Two reasons for different sub-
jective definitions of ‘home’ will be explored here: a) traditional role-ex-
pectancies about the division of labor between men and women, and b)
people’s daily occupation in or outside the family home.
Traditional role-expectancies about the division of labor between men
and women could be a prominent reason for differences between (subjec-
tive definitions of) interaction situations in which men and women watch
the news. Morley (1986, 1992; cf. Gray, 1996; Meier & Peeters, 1988;
Deem, 1996; Gilroy, 1999) suggests that the traditional role models for
men and women define ‘home’ as a leisure situation for men and a sphere
of labor for women. Traditionally, women are expected to do the domestic
work – whether they have a job outside the family-home or not. Morley
(1986: 150) reports that “… many of the women feel that to just watch
television without doing anything else at the same time would be an inde-
fensible waste of time, given their sense of their domestic obligations, [and
that] men state a clear preference for viewing attentively, in silence, with-
out interruption ‘in order not to miss anything’”4. Studies by Meier and
Frissen (1988) and Hermans and Van Snippenburg (1993, 1996) also sug-
gest that women may prefer a routine of watching the news while engaging
in simultaneous activities, whereas men may prefer a routine of watching
the news selectively and attentively as primary activity.
But differences in people’s television news use patterns need not
necessarily be based on the difference between the traditional role models
for men and women. Whether ‘home’ is defined as a sphere of leisure or
labor, might depend on people’s actual occupation – caused by traditional
role models or not. The difference between people’s television news use
patterns might be based on whether or not their main occupation lies
within the family home. If one goes out in the morning to do a full time
job outside the family home, only to return when the work is done in the
evening, ‘home’ is likely to be perceived as a sphere of leisure. However, if
one’s main occupation lies within the family home this is unlikely. There-
fore housewives may be expected to experience their home as a sphere of
labor, and consequently, they may be expected to prefer to watch the news
while engaging in other activities simultaneously. For people with a full-
time job outside the family home, the opposite may be expected.
This line of reasoning suggests that gender and occupation may be rel-
evant variables to patterns of television news use. Therefore gender and
occupation will be used in our empirical exploration of patterns of televi-
sion news use.
 Patterns in television news use 257

Subjective relevancy of watching the news

As indicated, subjective definition of ‘home’ as a sphere of leisure or a

sphere of labor is not the only factor that may influence the interaction
situation in which people watch television news. One may expect the sub-
jective relevancy ascribed to watching television news programs to be an-
other major influence. People who subjectively feel that the news might
discuss relevant topics can be expected to be more likely to prefer to
watch the news selectively and attentively, than people who do not expect
the news to present relevant topics. If the latter watch the news they are
more likely to simultaneously engage in other activities as well. Three rea-
sons for this expected difference in subjective relevancy of watching the
news will be explored: a) differences in education, b) differences in age,
and c) differences in ‘informed citizen’s values’.
Television news hardly ever brings items that bear immediate relevance
for one’s everyday life (Lewis, 1985; Jensen, 1986). Therefore we expect
that people who live their lives within the narrow bounds of their own so-
cial and cultural communities, without an interest for the broader society
outside their immediate sphere of life, feel less subjective interest for the
items that usually dominate the news, such as politics, economics, and
foreign news. Since previous research shows that people with a lower edu-
cation are, on average, less interested in the broader society outside their
immediate sphere of life (e.g., Warshay, 1962; Kelman & Barclay, 1963;
Gabennesh, 1972; Roof, 1974, 1978; Eisinga, Lammers & Peters, 1991;
Konig, 1997), we expect that the lower educated are inclined to watch the
news – if they watch the news at all – while engaging in simultaneous ac-
tivities as well, whereas the higher educated will probably prefer to watch
the news selectively and attentively. Therefore, we will explore whether
people with different educational levels also display different patterns of
television news use.
Another reason to expect differences in education to lead to differences
in subjective relevancy of watching the news, and thus to different patterns
of television news use, lies in the cognitive capacities of people with
different levels of education. The higher educated are usually better
equipped to understand the news and therefore more likely to find watch-
ing the news gratifying and relevant.
Furthermore, people’s level of education is negatively correlated to age,
which leads us to expect that older people – who tend to have a lower for-
mal education – may also be more inclined to watch the news while en-
gaging in simultaneous activities as well, whereas younger, better educated
people tend to watch the news selectively and attentively. A conflicting hy-
pothesis, however, can be formulated as well, because previous research
258 Ruben Konig, Karsten Renckstorf and Fred Wester

shows that older people are more inclined to watch informative programs
than younger people (Van Snippenburg, 1996). So the relationship be-
tween patterns of television news use and age could be more than just a re-
flection of the relationship between patterns of television news use and
education. Two theoretical reasons may be formulated; one explaining the
relationship as an age effect and one explaining the relationship as a co-
hort effect.
Van Snippenburg (1996) opts for an age effect and suggests that people
acquire ‘cultural capital’ during their lifetime, which makes people better
equipped to process and understand the news as they grow older, and
therefore makes watching the news increasingly satisfying with an advanc-
ing age. Growing older, people may become more interested in the
broader society outside their immediate sphere of life (cf. Warshay, 1962;
Kelman & Barclay, 1963; Konig, 1997) and therefore come to feel more in-
clined to watch television news. That is, during their lives, people learn to
appreciate the news. Therefore chances of people preferring to watch se-
lectively and attentively should increase with one’s age.
Should one focus on a cohort effect, expectations are the same, but for a
radically different reason. Previous research suggests that for most people
watching television news is a daily ritual in their everyday life (Van der
Molen, 1989; Morley, 1992; Hagen, 1994a, 1994b), which suggests that
watching the news has become a habit. Therefore we assume that the rou-
tines in watching television news that were identified by Konig, Renck-
storf and Wester (2001) are relatively stable and may have formed decades
earlier. The older cohorts, having developed their routines in watching the
news in earlier decades than the younger cohorts, could well have devel-
oped a preference for a routine different from that developed by the
younger cohorts. The older cohorts started watching the news in times in
which they could only receive one or two television channels, that were on
the air for only a few hours in the evening, and that featured the news very
prominently as the only daily program on during prime time. Such a situ-
ation is bound to signify that watching the news is very important, which
may have resulted in ascribing a relatively high subjective relevancy to
watching the news by the older cohorts and consequently a preference to
watch the news selectively and attentively.
Therefore, we will not only explore educational differences, but also age
differences as a possible reason for a difference in one’s preference for one
of the two routines in watching television news. However, subjective rel-
evancy of watching the news can also rise from the fact that watching the
news is deemed socially desirable. Van der Molen (1989) and Hagen
(1994a, 1994b) conclude that the subjectively felt need to be informed
about current affairs is often engendered by social pressure. People sub-
 Patterns in television news use 259

jectively feel that they need to know about the issues in the news because
they expect that these issues may come up in their everyday contacts with
other people. There appears to be a social norm that demands from every-
one in Dutch (and Norwegian)5 society to be a ‘well-informed citizen’.
Therefore, ‘well-informed citizen’s values’ should also be explored in re-
lation to patterns of television news use. Furthermore, the social norm to
be an ‘informed citizen’ is likely to influence respondents’ answers in any
research project on television news. Considering Dahlgren’s (1988) dis-
tinction between official versus personal talk, and his finding that as a
researcher he mostly elicits official talk about the news because people
“… apparently feel that they are ‘on stage’ in terms of their citizens role”
(Dahlgren, 1988: 293), the influence of this social norm on respondents’
answers becomes more than obvious. Therefore, in our empirical explo-
ration, we will have to explicitly deal with the possibility that our data also
contain answers that may reflect the pressure of the social desirability to
be a well-informed citizen (see below).
This line of reasoning suggests that education, cohort or age, and well-
informed citizen’s values may be relevant variables as to patterns of televi-
sion news use. Therefore these variables too, will be used in our empirical
exploration of patterns of television news use.

Time budgets
Next to the subjective definition of ‘home’ as a sphere of leisure or labor
and the subjective relevancy of watching the news, subjective time con-
straints may influence the pattern of television news use too. People who
feel they have a lot of time on their hands may be more likely to allocate
time for selectively and attentively watching the news, than people who
feel they have limited time resources. The latter may or may not want to
watch the news, but if they want to watch, they may feel that they cannot
afford to watch the news without simultaneously doing other thing as well.
People’s subjective time budget may be of influence on the interaction
situation in which people watch television news (cf. Huysmans, 2001).
Two reasons to expect different subjective time budgets for watching the
news will be explored; a) whether people’s daily occupation is a full-time
or a part-time occupation and b) whether people have children living in
their household or not. Both a full-time occupation and having children do
increase the amount of domestic and family tasks that need to be attended
to in the evening hours, thus decreasing the amount of time one feels one
can spare for the news. Therefore it can be expected that people with a
part-time occupation and no children prefer to watch the news selectively
and attentively as primary activity, whereas people with a full-time occu-
260 Ruben Konig, Karsten Renckstorf and Fred Wester

pation and children are more likely to have developed a preference for
watching the news while engaging in simultaneous activities. Thus these
variables will also be included in our empirical exploration of patterns of
television news use.

Data and measurement instruments

The data used in this study come from a national survey on Media use in
The Netherlands 1994, and since Hendriks Vettehen et al. (1995) exten-
sively report on these data, a very short description of the data should suf-
fice. The random sample consisted of 969 respondents between 18 and 70
years of age, of which 782 respondents (80.7 %) returned an additional
self-administered questionnaire. Data came partly from this self-adminis-
tered questionnaire. For more information regarding the data, see Hen-
driks Vettehen et al. (1995).
Konig, Renckstorf, and Wester (2001) obtained their results from the
analysis of the same data, using non-linear principal components analysis
(Van de Geer, 1988; Gifi, 1991; De Leeuw, 1984; SPSS, 1990b), a power-
ful technique for exploratory analysis of nominal, ordinal, and interval
data. As a consequence, however, their study did not result in ready-to-
use measurement instruments for the two routines in watching the news
that they identified in their study. In the present study we tried to over-
come this problem by using a reanalysis of the data. First, we redid the
non-linear principal components analysis for the two routines of watching
the news, excluding variables that did not explicitly refer to television
news and only using those eight variables that loaded highest on the two
components referring to the news (see Konig, Renckstorf & Wester 2001:
156). From this analysis we concluded that all relationships between these
variables were linear, or at least monotonous. This means that all variables
can be treated as ordinal variables and that more conventional procedures
could be applied. Consequently, we performed an exploratory factor
analysis (Kim & Mueller, 1978)6. Two variables did not fit in the factor
structure and were subsequently excluded from the final analysis. Results
of the final analysis are reported in Table 15.1. Factor 1 is interpreted as se-
lectively and attentively watching television news, and factor 2 is inter-
preted as watching television news while simultaneously engaging in other
activities7. Finally, we constructed measurement instruments for these two
routines by computing the sums of the scores of the respondents on the
items with high factor loadings on the respective factors8. Relationships of
these constructs with media related variables and individual and social
background characteristics are very similar to the relationships reported
 Patterns in television news use 261

by Konig, Renckstorf & Wester (2001). Therefore we are confident that we

did not diverge too much from the routines of watching the news that they
reported.

Table 15.1. Factor analysis of variables pertaining routines in watching television

Table 15.1. news (n = 741; oblique rotation; explained variance = 42.7 %;
Table 15.1. correlation between factors = –.31)

Factor loadings
Communality
Factor 1 Factor 2
V162 I keep track of time in order .55 .75 .03
not to miss the news on television.
V171 I plan my evening so as not to .35 .61 .06
miss the news on television.
V175 From begin to end I watch .47 .61 –.16
television news very attentively.
V166 While watching television .49 .10 .73
news, I read, for example, a news-
paper, a book or a magazine.
V167 While watching television .41 –.01 .64
news, my thoughts go astray.
V172 While watching television .30 –.13 .49
news, I talk about other things.
V168 If I watch television and – – –
coincidentally come across television
news, I will probably watch.
V184 Watching television news is – – –
a habit for me.

Using these measurement instruments for the two routines in watching

television news, we created a typology for the patterns of television news
use that may have evolved out of preference for one of these routines. As
a consequence of the way we constructed our measurement instruments
(sums of scores), the scores on these instruments range from 3 to 15. We
interpreted scores lower or equal to 6 to indicate that respondents re-
ported that a particular routine did not apply to their own news-watching
behavior, and scores in the range of 7 to 9 to indicate that respondents
reported that a particular routine applied partly to this behavior. Higher
scores are interpreted as indicating that respondents positively evaluated a
particular routine to apply to their own news-watching behavior. Based on
262 Ruben Konig, Karsten Renckstorf and Fred Wester

this interpretation, the two measurement instruments were recoded into

three categories. A cross-tabulation of these collapsed instruments, finally,
formed the basis for the typology in Table 15.2. The respondents in the
three shaded cells below the diagonal reported the routine of selectively
and attentively watching the news to apply more strongly to their own
news-watching behavior than the other routine (58.3 %)9, whereas the re-
spondents in the three shaded cells above the diagonal reported the rou-
tine of watching the news while simultaneously engaging in other activ-
ities, as the dominant routine (10.8 %). The respondents in the cells on the
diagonal did not report one of the two routines to apply more strongly to
their own news-watching behavior than the other (30.9 %). This group en-
compasses respondents who indicated that both routines apply to their
news watching behavior, as well as those respondents who indicated that
neither of the routines applies to their news watching behavior. However,
the largest segment of this group (80.1 %) claimed that both routines partly
apply to its behavior. Because of the skewness of the distribution of a ty-
pology thus constructed and the unreliable results that would be obtained
using such a skewed dependent variable in the analysis, the typology was
reduced to only indicate a preference for watching the news selectively
and attentively (the three shaded cells below the diagonal; 58.3 %) or no
such preference (the other cells lumped together; 41.7 %).

Table 15.2. Cross-tabulation of the routines in watching television news

Watching news while engaging in other

activities simultaneously
does not apply partly applies applies row total
does not 29 35 14 78
Selectively apply (3.9 %) (4.7 %) (1.9 %) (10.5 %)
and
partly 143 185 31 359
attentively
applies (19.3 %) (25.0 %) (4.2 %) (48.4 %)
watching
news 185 104 15 304
applies
(25.0 %) (14.0 %) (2.0 %) (41.0 %)
column 357 324 60 741
total (48.2 %) (43.7 %) (8.1 %) (100 %)

Gender was measured by the interviewers observing the sex of the re-
spondents on face value (50.4 % male and 49.6 % female). As to occu-
pation, we discerned people with a full-time job (40.9 %), people with a
part-time job or no job (i.e., unemployed, pensioned off, retired, students,
etc.; 40.1 %), and homemakers (19.0 %; among whom 3 were male). For-
 Patterns in television news use 263

mal education was measured as the level of the highest completed edu-
cation of the respondent, or the education that the respondent was still re-
ceiving as a pupil or student (41.9 % at most O-levels or lower vocational
school, 58.1 % at least A levels or higher vocational school).
Age or birth cohort was measured by asking the respondents’ year of
birth. The answers were then divided into three categories for the follow-
ing reasons. The Dutch broadcasting system started to change rapidly in
1989 after the introduction of private broadcasting channels (Bardoel,
1996). At that time people who were born before 1965 were at least
25 years old and are assumed to have developed their patterns in watching
the news within the bounds of the ‘traditional’ public broadcasting system
with its prominent place for the news as the only daily program at prime
time. Additionally, people who were born in or after 1965, for the most
part, had to develop their news watching patterns within the bounds of a
continuously expanding and changing broadcasting system with a much
less prominent place for the news. But, the people born before 1965 can
also be divided into two groups. Before 1975, the evening news was
broadcast on the two Dutch television channels simultaneously, a practice
that was abandoned in 1975 (Bardoel, 1996). At that time people who
were born before 1951 were at least 25 years old and may be assumed to
have developed their news watching patterns by then. People, who were
not yet 25 years old in 1975, may have developed their news watching pat-
terns later, in a situation in which the news had become avoidable by
switching channels. This may have suggested to them that watching the
news was not that all-important after all. The resulting categories are: born
in 1965 or later (22.6 %), born before 1965, but after 1950 (36.3 %), and
born in or before 1950 (41.1 %).
Whether or not respondents had children still living at home, was
measured by asking them whether or not they had children, and how
many of these children still lived at home. We found that 45.7 % of our
respondents had one or more children living at home. The variable ‘well-
informed citizen’s values’ was measured using a dichotomous index that
was based on the factor analysis of value systems reported by Konig,
Renckstorf and Wester (2001: Appendix 5). Respondents who defined the
two following statements as important to them, were categorized as hav-
ing ‘well-informed citizen’s values’. The other respondents were categor-
ized as not having ‘well-informed citizen’s values’. The statements were
“to be able to discuss current affairs” and “to know what is happening in
the world”.
264 Ruben Konig, Karsten Renckstorf and Fred Wester

Analysis
To explore whether or not differences in gender, occupation, education,
age or cohort, well-informed citizen’s values, and having children result
in different patterns of preference for one of the two routines in watch-
ing television news, we performed logit analyses (Cramer, 1991; Gil-
bert, 1993; Christensen, 1997), using the SPSS procedure LOGLINEAR
(SPSS, 1990a). That is, we tried to explain the odds of preferring a routine
of watching the news selectively and attentively, rather than not preferring
this routine10. Using this technique we intended to overcome the problem
of possible socially desirable answers, which we hinted at in the introduc-
tion. Logit analysis can be used for that purpose, because in essence one
is interpreting odds ratios and these are independent of the marginal dis-
tributions of the contingency table on which they are based (Reynolds,
1977; Clogg & Shihadeh, 1994). Therefore, assuming that the tendency to
give socially desirable answers is evenly distributed across the population,
odds ratios are independent of influences of social desirability tendencies
in the population as a whole.
Below, separate analyses are conducted for the three kinds of differ-
ences between interaction situations that we theoretically elaborated on
earlier in this contribution. Finally, the results of these explorations will be
combined into an integrated empirical model for the explanation of the
odds of preferring to watch the news selectively and attentively, rather
than not preferring this routine in watching the news11.
Different subjective definitions of ‘home’ as a sphere of leisure or labor
is the first kind of difference between interaction situations that may lead
to different preferences for routines in watching the news, that was ex-
plored empirically. That means that we explored the relationship between
a preference for watching television news selectively and attentively, and
gender and occupation.
To select a model that can parsimoniously predict the observed fre-
quencies in the three-way contingency table of pattern by gender by oc-
cupation, we started by estimating the three main models with deviation
contrasts12. These models are nested in the sense that every model con-
tains the same effects of independent variables on the dependent variable
that the previous model contains, with additional effects. The first main
model assumes no effects of the independent variables on the dependent
variable (independence model in Table 15.3). The second main model as-
sumes mutually unrelated effects of the independent variables, gender and
occupation, on the dependent variable (main-effects model in Table 15.3).
The third main model additionally assumes combined effects of the inde-
pendent variables (interaction model or saturated model in Table 15.3).
 Patterns in television news use 265

The likelihood ratio chi squares (L2) of these models are reported in
Table 15.3, together with the degrees of freedom (df) and the probability
of finding a larger L2 value, that is, a worse fitting model (p).

Table 15.3. Subjective definition of ‘home’ as a sphere of leisure or labor:

Table 15.3. Likelihood ratio chi squares (L2) of logit models (n = 726)

In comparison with In comparison with

Main model empirical observations other main model
[restricted models
at this level] Compared
L2 df p L2 df p with:
Interaction model 0 0 1.000
(saturated)
Main-effects model .02 1 .898 .02 1 .898 Interaction
model
[gender effect] .96 3 .812 .94 2 .621 Main-effects
model
[occupation effect] 6.48 2 .039 6.46 1 .010 Main-effects
model
Independence model 13.45 4 .009 13.44 3 .004 Main-effects
model

Table 3 shows that the independence model does not fit the data at a .05
significance level (p = .009), and that it fits significantly worse than the
main-effects model (p = .004). The main-effects model (p = .898) and the
interaction model (which is saturated) do fit the data, and when we com-
pare those two main models among themselves, the figures in the right
columns of Table 15.3 show that the main effects model does not fit sig-
nificantly worse than the interaction model (p = .898). Therefore – since
we strive for a model that both fits the data and is parsimonious and which
does not fit worse than the other models – the independence model and
the saturated model are discarded as respectively not fitting the data and
not being parsimonious enough. The main-effects model, however, may
not be the optimal model either. A more parsimonious model that does
not include an effect of both independent variables may also fit no worse
than the less parsimonious models. Therefore a backward procedure of
systematically discarding independent variables was used to search for
such a more parsimonious model. The results (indicated in Table 15.3
between square brackets) indicate that the model should only include the
main effect of gender. This model does fit the data (p = .812), and it does
not fit worse than the model including both main effects (p = .621). The
266 Ruben Konig, Karsten Renckstorf and Fred Wester

model that only includes the main effect of occupation does not fit the
data (p = .039) and fits significantly worse than the model including both
main effects (p = .010). That means that occupation has no significant ef-
fect on the odds of having a preference for watching the news selectively
and attentively.
The second kind of difference between interaction situations which may
lead to different patterns of television news use that was empirically ex-
plored was the difference of subjective relevancy of watching the news.
We explored the relationship between a preference for watching television
news selectively and attentively on one hand and education, age or birth
cohort, and well-informed citizen’s values on the other.

Table 15.4. Subjective relevancy of watching the news:

Table 15.4. Likelihood ratio chi squares (L2) of logit models (n = 723)

In comparison with In comparison with other

Main model empirical observations main model
[restricted models
at this level] Compared
L2 df p L2 df p with:
Saturated model 0 0 1.000
Interaction model 2.05 2 .358 2.05 2 .358 Saturated
model
Main-effects model 5.84 7 .558 3.79 5 .579 Interaction
model
[cohort & values 6.24 7 .620 .40 1 .527 Main-effects
effects] model
[education & values 15.08 9 .089 9.24 2 .009 Main-effects
effects] model
[education & cohort 32.41 8 .000 26.58 1 .000 Main-effects
effects] model
[education effect] 42.18 10 .000 36.34 3 .000 Main-effects
model
[cohort effect] 32.46 9 .000 26.62 2 .000 Main-effects
model
[values effect] 17.63 10 .062 11.79 3 .008 Main-effects
model
Independence 43.58 11 .000 37.74 4 .000 Main-effects
model model
 Patterns in television news use 267

To find the most parsimonious model for subjective relevance of watching

the news, that fitted the observed frequencies in the four-way contingency
table of pattern by education by cohort by well-informed citizen’s values,
we started again by estimating the main models with deviation contrasts.
The likelihood ratio chi-squares of these models are reported in Table 15.4.
Again, the main effects model appears to be the optimal main model when
it comes to fit and parsimony. It fits the data (p = .558) and it fits no worse
than the interaction model (p = .579). Discarding the effect of edu-
cation, however, results in a more parsimonious model that fits the data
(p = .620) and does not fit worse than the model with all main effects
(p = .527). That means that education does not have a significant effect on
the odds of having a preference for watching the news selectively and at-
tentively.

Table 15.5. Time budgets: Likelihood ratio chi squares (L2) of logit models (n = 726)

In comparison with In comparison with

empirical observations other main model
Main model
Compared
L2 df p L2 df p with:
Interaction model 0 0 1.000
(saturated)
Main-effects model 1.35 2 .509 1.35 2 .509 Interaction
model
Independence 8.52 5 .130 7.17 3 .065 Main-effects
model model

As to time budgets – the third kind of difference between interaction situ-

ations – we explored the relationship between the preference for watching
television news selectively and attentively, and occupation and having
children living at home. One can see in Table 15.5 that the independence
model is the most parsimonious model that fits the observed frequencies
in the three-way contingency table of pattern by occupation by children
(p = .130). This means that neither the presence of children in the house-
hold, nor a full-time or part-time occupation (either in or outside the
family home) have a significant effect on the odds of preferring to watch
the news selectively and attentively.
268 Ruben Konig, Karsten Renckstorf and Fred Wester

Table 15.6. Integrated model: Likelihood ratio chi squares (L2) of logit models (n = 735)

In comparison with In comparison with other main

Main model empirical obser- model
[restricted mod- vations
els at this level] Compared
L2 df p L2 df p with:
Saturated model 0 0 1.000
Interaction model 3.46 2 .177 3.46 2 .177 Saturated
model
Main-effects model 4.21 7 .755 .75 5 .998 Interaction
model
[gender & cohort 29.11 8 .000 24.90 1 .000 Main-effects
effects] model
[gender & values 14.70 9 .099 10.49 2 .005 Main-effects
effects] model
[cohort & values 16.04 8 .042 11.83 1 .001 Main-effects
effects] model
[cohort effect] 41.37 9 .000 37.16 2 .000 Main-effects
model
[values effect] 28.43 10 .002 24.22 3 .000 Main-effects
model
[gender effect] 38.95 10 .000 34.74 3 .000 Main-effects
model
Independence 53.03 11 .000 48.82 4 .000 Main-effects
model model

The results of the previous analyses indicate that education, occupation,

and having children still living at home, are empirically unrelated to the
odds of preferring to watch television news selectively and attentively;
gender, age or birth cohort, and informed citizen’s values, however, are re-
lated. Subsequently, combining those results, an integrated model explain-
ing differences in patterns of television news use was empirically explored.
Again, the most parsimonious model that fitted the empirical observations
was searched for, this time based on the four-way contingency table of
pattern by gender by birth cohort by well-informed citizen’s values.
Table 15.6 shows that the main effects model is the optimal model (p =
.998) and that none of the three determinants can be discarded from this
model13. Our final empirical model thus consists of three variables in-
fluencing patterns of television news use: gender, age or birth cohort, and
well-informed citizen’s values.
 Patterns in television news use 269

Table 15.7. Final model: Effects of gender, birth-cohort, and well-informed citizen’s
Table 15.7. values on the odds of preference for selectively and attentively watching
Table 15.7. television news (n = 735; L2 = 4.21, df = 7, p = .755; concentration = .065;
Table 15.7. entropy = .049)

Mean 2.89*
Gender Male 1.30*
Female .77*
Birth-cohort 1921–1950 1.37*
1951–1964 1.03*
1965–1976 .71*
Informed citizen’s values no .68*
yes 1.47*

Note: * parameter significant at .05 level.

The effect parameters for this final model are presented in Table 15.7. The
parameters that are presented in this table are not the log-linear par-
ameters explaining the logits (log-odds), but the multiplicative parameters
explaining the odds of preferring the routine of watching television news
selectively and attentively. The first parameter in Table 15.7 indicates that –
independent of gender, birth-cohort, and well-informed citizen’s values –
the number of people who showed a preference for selectively and at-
tentively watching the news was 2.89 times as great as the number of
people who did not show this preference. On top of this overall effect, the
chances of men showing a pattern of watching selectively and attentively
are even greater (1.30 times), whereas the chances of women showing
such a pattern are somewhat less (.77). Also, the chances of people from
the oldest birth-cohort preferring this routine of selectively and attentively
watching the news are greater than average (1.37 times), whereas the
chances of people from the youngest cohort showing this pattern are less
(.71). People born between 1950 and 1965, the middle cohort, are not
more or less inclined to prefer watching the news selectively and atten-
tively than the average. Finally, people with well-informed citizen’s values
prefer to watch the news selectively and attentively more than average
(1.47 times), whereas the opposite holds true for the people without well-
informed citizen’s values (.68). The absence of parameters for occupation,
education, and children in one’s household indicates that whether people’s
main occupation lies inside or outside the family home, whether they
work full-time or part-time, their educational level, and the presence of
children do not matter in regard to the routine in television news use that
they prefer.
270 Ruben Konig, Karsten Renckstorf and Fred Wester

Conclusion and discussion

The explorations in this study show that people are much more likely to
prefer watching television news selectively and attentively than to prefer
watching the news while engaging in other activities simultaneously, or to
show no preference for one of these two routines in watching the news at
all. Moreover, the chances of showing a preference for watching the news
selectively and attentively are even greater for men, older people (born in
or before 1950), and people endorsing well-informed citizen’s values.
They are somewhat smaller for women, younger people (born in or after
1965), and people without well-informed citizen’s values. No evidence of
interaction among these determinants was found.
One explanation for these findings can be found in the possibility that
traditional role-expectancies may still engender a subjective definition of
‘home’ as a sphere of leisure for men and a sphere of labor for women. In
this view, the situation in which men watch the news differs significantly
from the situation in which women do. At home, men may feel that they
can dispose of their time at will, and may thus be prone to allow them-
selves to watch the news selectively and attentively. In contrast, women
may feel that there is always some domestic task waiting to be taken care
of, and they may therefore be inclined to choose not to watch the news se-
lectively and attentively, but to attend to some other task simultaneously.
This difference between men and women cannot be ascribed to differ-
ences in occupation between men and women. Neither the difference
between full-time and part-time employed people, nor the difference be-
tween those who are employed outside the family home and those who
perform their labor within the family home, can explain these different
patterns of television news use of men and women.
Another explanation for these findings may be that different people
subjectively ascribe different levels of relevance to watching the news and
are therefore differently inclined to watch the news selectively and attent-
ively. Older people (born in or before 1950) and people with well-in-
formed citizens values may find watching the news more relevant than
younger people (born in or after 1965) and people without well-informed
citizen’s values. However, they may do so for distinctively different rea-
sons. Older people may prefer to watch the news selectively and attent-
ively because they have learned to appreciate the news in the course of
their lives (age effect), or because the period in which they developed their
routines and preferences in watching the news was characterized by the
news having a prominent place in the broadcasting system, which sug-
gested that watching the news is important (cohort effect). Younger people
may not yet have learned to appreciate the news as much as older people,
 Patterns in television news use 271

and they developed their preference for a routine in watching the news
within the bounds of a broadcasting system in which there is much less
emphasis on the news, suggesting that the news is not as all important as
some may say. Whether or not this difference between older and younger
people is due to people’s age or their birth-cohort, however, cannot be de-
cided on the basis of our data and analyses.
As to the subjective relevance of watching the news for people with
or without well-informed citizen’s values, the results are self-evident. It is
very likely that endorsing these values makes it subjectively relevant to
watch the news and to do so selectively and attentively.
Another explanation for differences between patterns of television news
use that was formulated prior to empirical exploration appeared empiri-
cally irrelevant. Time budgets – at least insofar as daily occupation and the
presence of children in one’s household determine these budgets – seem
to be unrelated to the chances of people having a preference for watching
the news selectively and attentively rather than not having this preference.
Two of our results deserve critical attention. First, we did not find an ef-
fect of one’s level of education. Second, we found that age, or birth cohort
did have an effect on patterns of television news use, but we cannot deter-
mine whether this is an age effect or a cohort effect. Both results will be
elaborated upon.
As to the absence of an effect of level of education, that is highly un-
usual in empirical social research. Because education is associated with
cognitive capacities and with breadth of perspective on social reality – that
is, width of the mental horizon of people in dealing with the world – it
hardly ever fails to have an effect. In fact, for both reasons we expected
such an effect in our analyses. After all, if one is better equipped to under-
stand the news – that is, more likely to be gratified by watching – and one
is more interested in the wider world of society at large, watching the news
selectively and attentively is likely to be subjectively perceived as highly
relevant. Consequently, it is very likely that watching selectively and at-
tentively will be the preferred routine in watching the news of the higher
educated. However, no empirical effect of education was found14. Appar-
ently, the mental capacities and breadth of perspective that we associated
with a higher education do not influence the perceived relevance of watch-
ing the news in such a way that people are inclined to prefer watching the
news selectively and attentively15.
As to the effect of age, or birth-cohort we formulated two opposite ex-
pectations. We can now discard one. Apparently, older people are not less
inclined to watch television news selectively and attentively because they
are less interested in the broader society outside the immediate sphere of
their daily lives or because on average, they have a lower formal education
272 Ruben Konig, Karsten Renckstorf and Fred Wester

than the young have. Had we found this, we would very likely have con-
cluded that we were dealing with a cohort effect that would result in a
growing subjective relevancy of watching the news, within the population
as a whole, in the future. The young, we would conclude, would be grow-
ing old, replacing the older cohorts without loosing their preference for
watching the news selectively and attentively. And new ‘young’ cohorts
would be raised and educated into preferring this routine too. However,
we cannot conclude that.
Our results are diametrically opposed to that hypothetical conclusion –
given the absence of an effect of education, that is not surprising. Older
people are inclined to show a preference for the routine of watching the
news selectively and attentively more strongly, whereas younger people
tend to be inclined not to prefer this routine. Now suppose that this age
difference is due to the ageing process itself, that is, suppose that people
learn to appreciate the news during the course of their lives. In that case,
the age effect we found would have no great implications for the future. If,
however, the cohort interpretation of the found age-effect is valid, the im-
plications for the future may be severe. If young people are less likely to
prefer to watch the news selectively and attentively because the media sys-
tem they grew up with suggested that the news is not a very important
program to watch, then in the future news will be watched less selectively
and attentively16. Watching the news selectively and attentively might
eventually disappear as the preferred mode of watching the news. Assum-
ing that people learn less from the news if they do not watch attentively
(cf. Johnson, Braima & Sothirajah, 2000), the importance of the tradi-
tional television news format as disseminator of politically relevant in-
formation would diminish. Future research might therefore aim to find
out whether we found an age or a cohort effect.
Should future research reveal that we are dealing with a cohort effect
here, our present exploration of patterns of television news use boils down
to people making fairly stable evaluations and choices in their lives, that
influence their pattern of television news use. Men evaluate ‘home’ as a
sphere of leisure and women evaluate ‘home’ as a sphere of labor; not be-
cause they work outside or inside the ‘home’ respectively, but because
they are men and women sensing what traditionally their culture expects
of them. Men are therefore more inclined to prefer to watch the news se-
lectively and attentively. Different cohorts – if indeed we are dealing with a
cohort effect here – grow up with different media systems, that help them
to determine the relevance of watching the news. When people are young
they evaluate the relevance of watching television news and they stick by
that evaluation. At present this means that the younger cohorts are less in-
clined to prefer to watch the news selectively and attentively. People with
 Patterns in television news use 273

well-informed citizen’s values value to know about the things they are tra-
ditionally expected to know as responsible citizens of their democratic so-
ciety. These values too, are supposed to be relatively stable and thus, like
gender and probably cohort, make for a relatively stable pattern of televi-
sion news use.

Notes
1. Previous versions of this chapter were presented at the conference Communica-
tiewetenschap: De groeistuipen voorbij? [Communication science: Beyond the
growing pains?] at the University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands,
March 23–24, 2000, and at the 2nd International EJCR Colloquium Action
Theoretical Approaches in European Communication Research: Theory, Methods &
Findings at the University of Nijmegen, The Netherlands, October 18–20, 2001.
Many thanks to the participants of this conference and this colloquium, and to
other colleagues, who contributed to this paper with their expert comments.
While acknowledging their support we do, of course, remain responsible for all
omissions and errors of fact and interpretation.
2. Thus, ‘to prefer’ is not used here to express various degrees of liking for the two
routines in watching the news. It is solely used to express differences in self-re-
ported behavior concerning the two routines.
3. In Konig, Renckstorf and Wester (1998), which is a previous version of Konig,
Renckstorf and Wester (2001), the words ‘routines’ and ‘patterns’ are used in a
rather confusing way. From the perspective of the present study, wherever in
that article the word ‘patterns’ is used, one should read ‘routines’. In the 2001
version this confusion of patterns and routines is corrected.
4. This wish not to miss anything might be taken as an indication that watching
television is not a leisure activity for men after all. The possible uses of televi-
sion are manifold (McQuail, Blumler & Brown, 1972; Lull, 1980), and some of
these uses may not be for leisure, but that does not cancel the difference be-
tween men and women, described here.
5. Hagen’s (1994a, 1994b) research pertains to Norwegian society.
6. To do justice to the ordinal measurement level, we also performed a factor
analysis, using polychoric correlations (Olsson, 1979; Jöreskog, 1990, 1994).
The results were very similar to the results presented in Table 15.1.
7. Data from the more recent national survey on Media Use in The Netherlands
2000 (n = 825) reveal the same factor structure, which indicates that we are
dealing with a fairly stable factor structure. Unfortunately, these more recent
data could not be used for our analyses, because they do not cover all concepts
that we utilize in this article.
8. The variables were scored 1 = does not apply to me at all, 2 = does not apply to
me, 3 = partly applies to me, 4 = applies to me, and 5 = applies to me entirely.
9. This strikingly high number of respondents with a preference for the routine of
watching the news selectively and attentively may – or may not – be partly the
274 Ruben Konig, Karsten Renckstorf and Fred Wester

result of respondents giving social desirable answers. However, assuming that

all groups in our analyses have the same tendency to give socially desirable
answers, this will not hamper our analyses because we will interpret odds ra-
tios (see below).
10. What we did not try to explain, are the odds of preferring a routine of watching
the news while engaging in simultaneous activities, and the odds of having no
preference for one of the two routines, because that would result in many
empty cells in the contingency table, and consequently, in unreliable results.
11. The choice to explore the three kinds of different interaction situations separ-
ately is based on technical grounds. Introducing all variables in one analysis,
results in too many zero cells and thus renders unreliable results. Larger sur-
veys could overcome this problem.
12. To prevent a lot of empty cells in the contingency table, we excluded the three
male homemakers from the analyses and declared all cells that combine the
categories ‘male’ and ‘homemaker’ structural zeros.
13. Additional analyses show that neither occupation, nor education, nor having
children in one’s household can be added to this model without violating the
principle of parsimony.
14. Post-hoc analysis reveals that the correlation between education and the aver-
age amount of time people are watching the news on regular working days
is slightly, but significantly negative (-.10). Controlling for the average time
people are watching television on regular working days, however, diminishes
this correlation to insignificance. Hence, education not only fails to have an ef-
fect on the patterns of television news use, but also on the time people spent on
the news.
15. That is, on average a higher education does not seem to influence people’s pat-
terns of television news use. However, it is possible that for some people a
higher education does induce a preference for watching the news selectively
and attentively, whereas for others the opposite is true; for example when the
need for news is so high that people spend a lot of time reading the papers
(maybe even while watching the news), resulting in a lesser need to watch the
news selectively and attentively.
16. If watching the news selectively and attentively can be compared to newspaper
reading, our results are in line with the results of Lauf (2001), who found that in
Europe every generation reads less than its predecessor.

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278
 Do well-balanced exemplars in news stories provide food for thought? 279

16 Do well-balanced exemplars in news stories

16 provide food for thought?

Paul Hendriks Vettehen and Leo van Snippenburg

Abstract

Most studies on the use of exemplars in news stories have, to date, exclusively
focused on potentially harmful effects of biased exemplification on news con-
sumers. However, from a social action perspective it can be argued that much
remains to be studied on this subject. To give an example, the present study in-
vestigated whether readers of a fairly balanced exemplified newspaper story
used exemplars to reflect on an issue. Subjects (n=51) were randomly assigned
to one of two experimental groups. Each group was exposed to different ver-
sions of the same newspaper story; a ‘base-rate’ version of the story and an
‘exemplified’ version, in which both viewpoints on the issue at stake were
exemplified. After reading the story, the subjects were asked to give their views
on the issue. Subsequently, their responses were coded according to the level of
cognitive reasoning. Analyses revealed that the story containing exemplifi-
cations of the various viewpoints led to a more differentiated reasoning regard-
ing the issue at stake than the story containing only base-rate information did.
However, only the elder subjects appeared to use the exemplars as ‘food for
thought’.

Keywords: exemplification, news, cognitive complexity

In this chapter, we focus on the journalistic practice of exemplifying news

stories by means of case histories. Today, most news stories are made up
of two types of information. The first type includes general descriptions
on the issue at stake, for instance, general information on causes and con-
sequences, and/or its importance and impact. This type of information is
usually labeled ‘base-rate’ information. The following statement could be
called an example of ‘base-rate’ information; ‘only a minority of the Arab
population agrees with the U.S. attacks on Afghanistan’. The second type
of information includes case histories, mostly concerning individuals who
are to some extent involved with an issue and who often produce some
kind of statement about this issue. These case histories serve as illus-
trations of the more general information and are labeled ‘exemplifying’ in-
formation, or simply ‘exemplars’. Exemplifying information, for instance,
280 Paul Hendriks Vettehen and Leo van Snippenburg

could be an interview on the streets of Damascus with a local shopkeeper,

who emotionally condemns the U.S. attacks on Afghanistan (Zillmann &
Brosius, 2000).
Base-rate information and exemplifying information differ in some
important respects. First, exemplars are generally regarded to be more
concrete and emotionally interesting. They are, therefore, supposed to
capture more attention as opposed to base-rate information. Stated in psy-
chological terms, they may be regarded as both ‘vivid’ and ‘salient’ (cf.
Taylor & Thompson, 1982). These characteristics cause journalists to use
exemplars as a means of giving the public insight into an abstract problem,
as well as keeping the public interested. Second, in contrast to base-rate
information, exemplifying information could be called biased and of a
narrower scope. In most news reports, for instance, various relevant as-
pects of an issue are not exemplified in a well-balanced way. Furthermore,
not more than only a few exemplars of an aspect are given, which makes it
difficult to provide a representative picture (cf. Zillmann & Brosius, 2000).
The studies on exemplification conducted so far have focused almost
exclusively on the potentially harmful effects that biased exemplification
could exert on the perceptions of news consumers. These studies suggest
that news consumers base their perceptions of a news report to a large ex-
tent on exemplifying information, regardless of the base-rate information
supplied. Insofar as the exemplars are biased compared to the base-rate
information, the perceptions based on these exemplars appear to be
biased as well. This especially applies to judgments, for instance on the
importance of an issue, or ideas regarding the public opinion. To a some-
what lesser extent, it also applies to people’s personal opinions (cf. Bro-
sius, 1999; Brosius & Bathelt, 1994; Gibson & Zillmann, 1994; Zillmann
& Brosius, 2000).
Generally, these phenomena are explained in terms of cognitive mech-
anisms, for instance the so-called ‘availability heuristic’, which has been
notably spelled out by Tversky and Kahneman (1974). The ‘availability
heuristic’ states that people often have difficulty in processing general
statements that include probabilities, percentages, and so on. Instead, they
base their estimations of probabilities on the ease with which instances
come to their minds. Compared to base-rate information, the highly vivid
and salient exemplars in news stories are expected to be easily accessible
instances that have a large influence on people’s estimations (Brosius &
Bathelt, 1994; Gibson & Zillmann, 1994). For example, when people are
shown three Arabs condemning the U.S. attacks on Afghanistan and only
one Arab supporting the attacks, they are likely to estimate that the ma-
jority of the Arab population disapproves of the attacks; even regardless
of the general information they were given.
 Do well-balanced exemplars in news stories provide food for thought? 281

Research, however, showed that the influences of biased exemplifi-

cations do not appear to be uniform. This, especially, applied to the in-
fluence on people’s personal opinions. Concepts and models emphasizing
stimulus-observer interactions, for instance the already mentioned ‘sa-
lience’ concept (Brosius & Bathelt, 1994), Petty & Cacioppo’s ‘elaboration
likelihood model’ of persuasion (Perry & Gonzenbach, 1997) and theor-
etical notions derived from Bandura’s ‘learning theory’ (Brosius, 1999)
have been introduced to account for the variances in results.
From a social action perspective (cf. Renckstorf, McQuail & Jan-
kowski, 1996), the following comments could be made regarding the
studies conducted so far. To date, studies have focused exclusively on
biased exemplification. Moreover, they have exclusively focused on po-
tentially harmful effects of biases on news consumers. In doing so, they
have revealed important insights in the subject of news exemplification,
but they have only painted half the picture. Seen from a social action ap-
proach, news texts should be considered objects to which people attach
meaning and upon which they act. This process is likely to have many
more significant outcomes than a score on a variable (e.g., ‘recall’, ‘com-
prehension’, etc.), that is only considered important by news producers or
media researchers (cf., Renckstorf & Wester, 2001).
In short, much remains to be studied on the subject of ‘exemplification’,
apart from the question whether misuses of exemplars on the part of the
journalists will result in misconceptions on the part of news consumers.
For instance, many journalists use the exemplars in a reasonably well-bal-
anced way. In these instances, the following question becomes relevant;
how do people process well-balanced exemplars.
In the present study, we focus on this question. More specifically, we in-
vestigate the level of complexity with which newspaper readers reflect on
an issue raised in a story containing (rather well-balanced) exemplars, as
compared to their reflections on a same story lacking exemplars. Stated in
a more popular sense, the question is whether or not they use the exemp-
lars provided to them as food for thought.
Following Tetlock (1984), Milburn and McGrail (1992: 614–615) define
cognitive complexity as “a combination of differentiation and integration
of elements of a problem. Differentiation refers to the number of aspects
of a problem attended to by a person; the organization of these elements is
referred to as integration”. So, highly complex reasoning features not only
efforts to distinguish several aspects of an issue, but also efforts to inte-
grate these aspects into some kind of argumentation. Most pychologists
applying the concept consider cognitive complexity a relatively stable per-
sonality characteristic, depending on factors such as intelligence and per-
sonal background (cf. Milburn & McGrail, 1992; Schroder, Driver &
282 Paul Hendriks Vettehen and Leo van Snippenburg

Streufert, 1967; Tetlock, 1984). However, especially Milburn and McGrail

(1992: 619) emphasize that other factors may “influence the way in which
people think, not the least of which is the manner in which information is
presented”.

Hypotheses and research questions

Milburn and McGrail (1992) argue that exposure to a highly dramatized
news story may activate so-called ‘emotional schemata’ which may hardly
be related to the issue at stake. As a consequence, more complex thoughts
concerning the issue will be inhibited. Milburn and McGrail tried to find
experimental support for this position. They exposed subjects to either a
tape containing a news broadcast from which every section deemed dra-
matic was edited out, or a tape containing the complete broadcast. The re-
sults confirm their premise that dramatization accounts for the differences
found in complexity of thoughts.
In the Milburn and McGrail design, all sections from the experimental
news broadcast including violence, potentially emotional visuals as well as
exemplars were edited out in order to create the non-dramatic stimulus.
Their results do, therefore, not allow for conclusions concerning the single
role of exemplification or any other of the dramatic devices. However,
the theoretical notions concerning the involvement of emotional schemata
might elucidate the role of exemplification. Based on these notions, we
expect that the dramatic quality of exemplars will activate emotional sche-
mata, which will inhibit complex thought. For instance, people watching
the news might become so much involved with one or some of the
exemplifying visuals or sound-bites that they actually stop reflecting on
the subject. Consequently, if asked for their thoughts on the subject,
they will display less complex reasoning. This leads us to the following hy-
pothesis:

H1: A news story that includes exemplifications of the various viewpoints will
lead to less complex reasoning regarding the issue at stake than a story
that merely contains base-rate information.

However, we could also base our discussion on some striking findings de-
rived from Brosius and Bathelt (1994). These researchers found that news-
readers’ estimation of the public opinion about an issue almost exactly
followed the distribution of the exemplars’ statements about the issue, im-
plying that news consumers actually process all the exemplars. Similar
findings were reported by Zillmann, Gibson, Sundar and Perkins (1996).
 Do well-balanced exemplars in news stories provide food for thought? 283

Starting from the notion that every single exemplar plays a more or less
prominent role in the processing of information, we expect that these
(highly salient) exemplars are easily retrieved from memory, when people
are reflecting on an issue. Moreover, we expect that the exemplars will ac-
tivate relevant schemata, which, in turn, will enter people’s reflections on
the issue. Provided that the issue is exemplified in a well-balanced way, the
exemplars will, therefore, stimulate more complex thinking about (the
various aspects of) an issue than mere base-rate information will. This
leads us to a hypothesis exactly opposite to Hypothesis 1:

H2: A news story that includes exemplifications of the various viewpoints will
lead to more complex reasoning regarding the issue at stake than a story
that merely contains base-rate information.

Another issue concerns the uniformity of these hypothesized effects. The

question is, then, to what extent exemplifying information will affect the
complexity of reasoning amongst all consumers of all news stories in all
media.
Depending on the type of media, exemplifying information can be pro-
duced by different narrative means, for instance, a spoken or written state-
ment from a victim of a disputable governmental decree. It can also be
produced by a visual, for instance, a close-up of a weary victim. Although
there are some indications of both the emotional significance of visual in-
formation (e.g., Detenber & Winch, 2000) and its influence on in-
formation processing (e.g., Brosius, 1993; Gibson & Zillmann, 2000), the
influence of one individual exemplification on cognitive complexity has
not yet been studied. In the present study, we confine ourselves to the
exemplification of an issue in a newspaper story by means of written state-
ments from people involved in the subject that is presented.
The type of the news story, for instance its controversiality, might also
affect the influence of exemplification on cognitive complexity. The same
applies to the impact the distribution of examples among distinct view-
points might have. However, little is known about these questions as yet.
In the present study, we confine ourselves to one single story. The story
describes the dilemma of hunting deer in a specific situation; an issue
which is somewhat controversial in many countries, notably in The Ne-
therlands, but which was not prominent on the media agenda at the time
this study was conducted. Furthermore, in the exemplified condition, we
tried to achieve a balanced exemplification by adding two statements in
favor of hunting and two statements against hunting.
Finally, the susceptibility of the different categories of news consumers
to exemplifying information eventually could vary. For instance, Milburn
284 Paul Hendriks Vettehen and Leo van Snippenburg

and McGrail (1992) reported a substantial, though not significant, interac-

tion effect between sex and dramatization, suggesting that women might
be more susceptible to thought inhibiting effects of dramatization. More-
over, the history of communication research teaches us that uniform
media effects are very seldom to be found. For this reason, exploring the
differential ways in which different categories of newsreaders handle the
exemplifying information seems justified. Consequently, we pose the fol-
lowing research question:

RQ: Does the impact of exemplification vary between different categories of

age, sex and educational level?

Method

Procedure

Subjects were randomly assigned to one of two experimental groups

which were exposed to different versions of a newspaper story. They were
instructed to read the story as they would normally read it. Both stories
described a dilemma the supervisors of a nature reserve were confronted
with; to hunt or not to hunt the population of deer which was growing fast
and which was causing troubles outside the reserve. Arguments in favor of
hunting stressed the problems the deers caused for traffic and agriculture,
arguments against hunting stressed natural values and the desirability of
not killing animals. In the base-rate condition, no point of view concern-
ing the issue was exemplified. In the exemplar condition, both points of
view were exemplified, each by two statements1.
After reading the story, the subjects were interviewed by undergraduate
students about their view on the issue. The interviewer started by asking:
“As you can read in the articles’ headline, the supervisors of the ‘Amster-
damse Waterleidingduinen’ are facing a dilemma caused by the deer. Can
you tell me your thoughts on this dilemma?” Subsequently, the inter-
viewer tried to get as much out of the subject as possible without pressing
the subject or posing suggestive questions. In some instances, the inter-
viewer tape-recorded the interview and subsequently transcribed the con-
versation. In other instances, the interviewer used shorthand notation and
worked the interview out immediately after finishing the interview. After a
quality check, we decided to dispose of some 20 % of the interviews,
mostly because the conversations included suggestive questioning.
 Do well-balanced exemplars in news stories provide food for thought? 285

Subjects
In order to answer our research question, we needed a heterogeneous
sample with respect to the variables ‘age’, ‘sex’ and ‘educational level’. The
interviewers were instructed to separately interview two persons, who
were both at least 21 years old. Furthermore, these persons should not be-
long to the same family. Finally, we ended up with 51 interviews, collected
by 41 interviewers2. The sample can be considered heterogeneous to at
least the variables ‘age’ and ‘sex’, but not genuinely random, as some sub-
jects were acquaintances of the same interviewer.

Measurements
The background variables ‘age’, ‘sex’, and ‘educational level’ could be
measured by some simple questions, to be answered by either interviewer
or subject.
In order to measure the dependent variable ‘level of cognitive complex-
ity’, we originally tried to develop a measuring instrument based on the in-
strument Milburn and McGrail (1992) used for measuring cognitive com-
plexity. This instrument was composed of two subscales, one measuring
the number of possible solutions to the problem the subject mentioned
(e.g., hunting the animals, moving them, sterilizing them, placing fences,
letting nature take its course, etc.) and one indicating whether an argument
in favor or against a solution was provided (e.g., too expensive, in the in-
terest of the farmers / motorists, value of animal life, etc.). However, dur-
ing the coding process it became apparent that the role of the interviewer,
particularly the extent to which the interviewer urged the subjects to
continue talking about the subject, substantially seemed to influence the
number of solutions mentioned, as well as the number of arguments men-
tioned. We, therefore, decided not to use the instrument.
As an alternative we developed another measuring instrument of cog-
nitive complexity which we considered more crude but also less sensitive
to the tenacity of the interviewers. We coded whether a subject’s train of
thought solely took one of the two viewpoints into account (the prob-
lems deers caused or the value of nature and animal life) or whether both
viewpoints were considered simultaneously. The two independent coders
agreed in 80 % of the interviews. The remaining 20 % (n=10) interviews
were coded after brief discussions. We assumed that subjects who took
both view-points into account displayed a more complex level of reason-
ing.
286 Paul Hendriks Vettehen and Leo van Snippenburg

Results
First, we tested the two opposite hypotheses concerning the impact of
exemplification on complexity of thought. The results proved to be quite
clear. Table 16.1 reveals that the subjects who read the base-rate version
displayed less complexity of thought than the subjects who read the
exemplified version. The difference in means (.29 vs .63) even reaches
statistical significance (t=2.51, p<.05, 2-tailed). In short, Hypothesis 1 has
to be rejected, whereas Hypothesis 2 has to be accepted. So, exemplifi-
cation of newspaper articles appears to stimulate complexity of thought.

Table 16.1 Mean scores on cognitive complexity for different conditions

Base-rate Exemplified
Condition Condition
Mean std.dev n mean std.dev N
.29 .46 24 .63 .49 27

In order to answer our research question concerning the impact of the

variables ‘age’, ‘sex’ and ‘educational level’ on the effect of exemplifi-
cation, we performed three separate 2-way analyses of variance.

Table 16.2. Mean scores on cognitive complexity for different conditions and
Table 16.2. different categories of age, sex and educational level

Base-rate Exemplified
Condition Condition
mean std.dev n mean std.dev n
20–39 years .56 .53 9 .54 .52 13
40–73 years .13 .35 15 .71 .47 14
Male .46 .52 13 .64 .50 11
Female .09 .30 11 .63 .50 16
Lower education .00 .00 2 .57 .53 7
Higher education .32 .48 22 .65 .49 20

With respect to age differences, Table 16.2 shows that an effect of exemp-
lification exclusively appears to occur among the elderly. This interaction
effect is the only one reaching statistical significance: F(1,47)=5,13, p<.05.
At first sight, Table 16.2 also seems to indicate that women are some-
what more susceptible to a thought stimulating effect of exemplifying in-
 Do well-balanced exemplars in news stories provide food for thought? 287

formation. However, this interaction effect does not reach statistical signifi-
cance: F(1,47) = 1,81, p=.19. Finally, at first sight Table 16.2 also seems to
indicate that subjects with a relatively low education are more susceptible
to a thought stimulating effect of exemplifying information. However, due
to the very small number of cases in the low education categories, no con-
clusions can be drawn from this result, which does not reach significance.

Discussion
Most existing research concerning exemplifying information in news
stories has focused on the potentially harmful impact unbalanced distribu-
tions of (biased) exemplars have on the processing of information. In the
present study, we investigated what influence reasonably well-balanced
exemplars have on information processing by the newsreaders.
Of course, for a number of obvious reasons the findings of this study
cannot be considered to be more than preliminary. For instance, the find-
ings apply to one single newspaper story, exemplified by written narrative
means. Also, the interviews were conducted by relatively inexperienced
interviewers. Finally, the number of interviews hardly permitted the three
variable analyses.
Despite these limitations, at least some tentative conclusions can be
drawn. First, exemplification of newspaper stories, if balanced, seems to
stimulate complexity of thought. This can be considered positive news for
those journalists who would like their readers to pass a more qualified
judgment on the subjects they report on. However, this is not to say that
exemplification does not entail any thought inhibiting process. All we can
say based on the results of this present design is that the thought stimulat-
ing effect expected in hypothesis 2 surpasses any possible thought in-
hibiting effect as expected in hypothesis 1.
Second, the thought stimulating effect seems to be particularly promi-
nent among the elderly, and, with a lot more reservation, among women.
We can only speculate on the reasons for this result. For instance, we
might suggest that the on average higher educational level of the younger
subjects in our sample and/or the state of contemporary education has
trained the younger respondents in passing qualified judgments. They
may, therefore, not benefit from any further thought stimulating effect.
However, at the moment this is no more than speculation. For this reason,
additional research data are needed, using different stories and different
samples.
From an action theoretical perspective, the analysis indicates that news
readers indeed use exemplars for more than just for making correct or in-
288 Paul Hendriks Vettehen and Leo van Snippenburg

correct judgments. Insofar, the application of the perspective has proved

to be fruitful. On the other hand, this study has painted only part of the
picture, partly caused by the somewhat prestructured interview method
we applied. The application of a less prestructured method of observing
interpretations, for instance ‘protocol analysis’ (Schaap, 2001), will pro-
vide a fuller account of what people do when reading or watching the
news. When applying such methods, the action theoretical approach
might yield surprising results.

Notes

1. The stimulus versions of the stories (in Dutch) are available on request.
2. In all, 56 interviewers (first grade communication science students) com-
pleted 95 valid interviews with subjects who had to read one out of four experi-
mental versions. Only the 51 interviews concerning the base-rate version and
the (balanced) exemplified version were used in this study.

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290
 Between altruism and narcissism 291

17 Between altruism and narcissism:

17 An action theoretical approach of personal
17 homepages devoted to existential meaning
Ellen Hijmans and Martine van Selm

Abstract

This article aims to examine existential meaning constructions from an action

theoretical perspective in a specific Internet environment: the personal home-
page. Personal homepages are on-line multi-media documents addressing the
question ‘Who am I?’ Authors of personal homepages provide information on
both their personal and public identity. These identity constructions sometimes
include reflections on the meaning of life. Answers to questions on the meaning
of life reflect the way in which individuals assign ultimate meanings to human
life, and consist of three key components: orientation (goals and objectives), be-
liefs, and experience. Findings are reported of a qualitative content analysis of
answers to the meaning of life provided in a sample of 42 personal homepages.
We found that most answers to the meaning of life could be interpreted either
as ‘divine/religious’, ‘experience centered’, ‘cosmic’, or ‘social utopian’. The
answers provided on the homepages showed similarities with findings reported
in other studies on existential meaning. In addition, we found that this Internet
environment offers new venues for expressing orientation (goals and objec-
tives), beliefs, and experience reflecting answers to the meaning of life.

Keywords: action theoretical approach in communication research, personal

homepages, identity construction, existential meaning

Existential meaning, Internet and personal homepages

In this article a first exploration is presented which is aimed at character-
izing existential meaning as presented on a selection of personal home-
pages. At first sight the domains of existential meaning and the Internet do
not seem to have much in common. In fact, often the opposite, such as
meaninglessness or alienation, is associated with the consequences of in-
formation and communication technology (Ruffin, 1984; Gergen, 1991).
In this contribution we nevertheless want to consider the possibilities for
292 Ellen Hijmans and Martine van Selm

existential meaning on the Internet, more specifically on personal home-

pages published on the World Wide Web. Besides being a platform for
many different activities, we noticed that the web also offers a space
for users to present questions and exchange ideas on the meaning of life.
The existence of many virtual communities on the Internet encourages
discussion and, sometimes intimate, relations between strangers, which
means that Internet conversations are more than merely ‘cold’ and ‘imper-
sonal’ (Walther, 1996; Parks & Floyd, 1996).
Another, not unimportant aspect is the possibility of the Internet serv-
ing as a platform for processes and phenomena that are difficult to study
under normal conditions. A few examples would be how markets adapt,
how children learn outside classrooms or how organizations communi-
cate (Kiesler, 1997). In certain respects this also holds true for the study of
existential meaning. The process of meaning construction cannot directly
be observed, the researcher thus will have to go to great difficulties to
make it feasible for analysis. Meaning, and especially ‘ultimate’ or existen-
tial meaning, is often considered to refer to the most intimate and personal
inner thoughts of an individual, whose ideas about the meaning of life
are connected to a personal biography and (sometimes) disturbing and
threatening experiences one is not willing to share with everyone. More-
over, meaning of life in modern secular times is thought to be of a subjec-
tive and privatized nature, disconnected of any interpersonal or societal
debate (Luckmann, 1967, 1996; Berger, 1969). In this vein, the meaning of
life and the Internet do not seem to be natural allies. For the Internet is,
because of its accessibility, widely considered to be the most public (and
democratic) medium of today, where exchange of information about al-
most every imaginable topic takes place. Because the Internet contains
several environments where people spontaneously reflect on topics re-
lated to questions about the meaning of life, we suspect that the Internet
could also be a platform for the exchange and ‘bricolage’ of meaning sys-
tems of individual Internet users. For this reason we regard the Internet as
a ‘space’ for the expression of contemporary practices of the construction
of existential meaning.

Existential meaning
Searching for and asking existential meaning questions embarks upon
the ultimate realm of human understanding of life. Scholars of religious
studies traditionally focus on questions and answers on the nature, goal
and origin of life, the world and the place of humankind in it, as well as the
meaning of illness, suffering, death and injustice. From our previous re-
search on contemporary meaning systems (Hijmans, 1994) and personal
 Between altruism and narcissism 293

meaning in the second half of life (Van Selm, 1998; Van Selm & Dittmann-
Kohli, 1998), we learned that meaning consists of three interrelated core-
elements: orientation, belief and experience, sometimes also known as
motivational, cognitive and affective components of meaning.
‘Orientation’ reflects the everyday aspect of meaning. Individuals have
plans and goals, and guidelines or rules they live by. It includes the evalu-
ation of one’s own capacities and the life one has lived so far, in the light of
active realization of plans and goals in the future. The second element, ‘be-
lief’, refers to opinions and ideas about the meaning of (one’s own) life.
Previous research shows that people use religious as well as secular con-
structs in answering existential questions (Hijmans, 1994). Orientation
and belief are both active forms of the construction of meaning. The third
element is ‘experience’, which is known as the passive aspect of meaning.
The experience of meaning can happen at moments when no meaning-
related questions were asked, for instance because there was no doubt, or
at moments when one was ‘opened up’ and receptive. These moments of
happiness or spiritual fulfillment ‘happen’ to people. In this case meaning
is experienced as an affection, a being touched, which keeps life in motion
(Peperzak, 1990; Van der Lans, 1992; Nies & Munnichs, 1989). The ex-
periential element of meaning seems to be less reflexive in nature than the
first two elements, which subsequently process and interpret experiences.
In this way the three elements of meaning are intertwined in an ongoing
process.

The Internet
As mentioned previously, the Internet can serve as a platform for the in-
vestigation of less visible processes, processes that are difficult to study.
For instance, methodological references mention the employment of
anonymous web-based electronic surveys in studies of deviant or covert
behavior, or other sensitive research topics (Coomber, 1997). Our study
on existential meaning on the Internet is focused on the recovery of an-
other notoriously difficult topic, ‘ideas’ and constructs on the meaning of
life, that normally cannot be observed. Besides the content of meaning,
we are also interested in the display of imagery or form of meaning on the
Internet, as one of the typical uses of the Internet as a cultural artifact
(Hine, 2000: 70). The Internet is commonly used as library, magazine
rack, yellow pages and a forum for publication (Wallace, 1999). Individ-
uals, organizations and companies construct web sites containing in-
formation about themselves or other matters relevant to their audiences.
Especially personal homepages often display features such as, ‘in-
formation about me’, ‘a poem’, ‘links to my favorite photography sites’
294 Ellen Hijmans and Martine van Selm

and ‘links to homepages of my friends’ (Wallace, 1999: 33). Because of the

textual character of most web sites, forcing the authors to construct a ‘cog-
nitive product’ we expect to encounter an emphasis on the belief compo-
nent of meaning.

Personal homepages
Personal homepages are online multi-media documents dealing with the
question: ‘Who am I?’. Homepages are personal and public at the same
time, for they provide an insight into the personal lives of the authors
(Chandler, 1998). Wynn and Katz (1997) actually found that personal
homepages combine aspects of public life (education, profession) with pri-
vate life (faith, beliefs, family, hobby, biography). Because the audience is
unknown in advance, people aim at an integrated and holistic self-presen-
tation. The thought that one’s homepage could be visited by a worldwide
audience is, according to Wallace, together with a somewhat narcissistic
drive to self-expression, reason enough to spend a lot of time on the con-
struction and maintenance of a homepage. The actual number of visitors
seems to be of less importance, and is usually not kept up to date (Wallace,
1999). According to Chandler (1998) the creation of a homepage is a con-
stituent part of the construction of identity, resulting in a self-presentation
of the homepage’s author, that often will be ‘under construction’.
As to the relation between the typical Internet phenomena of the per-
sonal homepage, as a consciously selected self-presentation and the cul-
tural practice of meaning construction, a remark made by Wynn and Katz
(1997) is important, and must be taken into consideration. They consider
the making of a personal homepage as an expression of the integration of
identity. The author reflects on his or her life as a whole and presents it as
an ordered sequence of events. This description is closely related to the
general function that Luckmann (1967) attributes to integrative meaning
systems, which are supposedly present in all human beings. Individuals
see and present their lives as a unity in which past, present and future are
brought on one line. An all-encompassing meaning system provides the
frame and the means with which to introduce this symbolic ordering, to
see and present one’s life to others as a morally relevant biography (Luck-
mann, 1967: 48). This means that one feels and can be held accountable to
others for one’s life. This is exactly what can be seen on personal home-
pages. And this is why personal homepages seem to be a promising place
to conduct the present study into existential meaning on the Internet. As a
typical Internet phenomenon, personal homepages offer the opportunity
to explore individual meaning systems, and the specific nature of existen-
tial meaning in this medium.
 Between altruism and narcissism 295

Meaning on personal homepages from an action theoretical

perspective
The construction of meaning is the focal point of any study that draws
upon action theory. This perspective, notably the sociology of knowledge
(Berger & Luckmann, 1967) and symbolic interactionism (Blumer, 1969;
Mead, 1934), provides a natural basis for our exploration of existential
meaning in personal homepages. Generally speaking, objectivated every-
day knowledge has its roots both in personal biography and culturally
shared, internalized meanings. This knowledge is displayed on personal
homepages, and is a witness of processes of world construction and world
maintenance. The construction and continuous restructuring of home-
pages can be thought of as externalizations of human action.
More specifically, human interaction and communication as core-el-
ements of symbolic interactionism are only indirectly visible on personal
homepages. But homepages are designed as a medium to communicate to
others whatever seems to be of interest to make public to an unknown
audience, and as a medium they are part of a meaning-producing environ-
ment. It is not the interaction itself we will examine but the means by
which a communicator, who has a history as a recipient of other media
and other homepages in searching for answers to questions of the mean-
ing of life, intends to convey his/her views to others. As said, personal
homepages show accounts of one’s life to oneself and to others, and as
such represent a form of active goal directed media-use. A as form of so-
cial action, we could expect that they take into account and are oriented
by the behavior of others.
In connection with the action theoretical frame of reference formulated
by Renckstorf (1994) and Renckstorf, McQuail and Jankowski (1996)
for media use and applied to, for instance, the use of television news
(Renckstorf & Wester, 1999), we will discuss in more detail how the study
of symbolic content of personal homepages can be understood in action
theoretical terms. As we mentioned earlier, homepages are the result of
external action. As a communicator, the author of the homepage produces
and selects information. The content of homepages consists of carefully
constructed subjective meaning and is the result of internal processes. The
internal action of defining the situation is vital for the construction of
homepages. From a theoretical point of view the homepages in our re-
search sample contain the provisional solution of the problem of the
meaning of life, therefore we consider them as one of the phases in the on-
going process of solving the ultimate problem of existential meaning.
In short, media use in our contribution comes down to the active de-
ployment of the Internet as a medium, and its multi-medial technical
296 Ellen Hijmans and Martine van Selm

possibilities, as an extension of the person, both as an individual and a

member of society. The construction of existential meaning can ad-
equately be grasped in terms of action theory.
Our study will focus on three questions: 1) Which elements of existen-
tial meaning arise in the practice of meaning construction on the Internet,
and more specifically on personal homepages?; 2) In what way can this
existential meaning be characterized?; 3) What is the meaning of the re-
sults in reference to the action theoretical perspective?

Methods
Two popular search engines1 were used in order to identify web sites de-
voted to existential meaning. Two searches with the search term ‘meaning
of life’ resulted in 63390 and 28622 979 ‘hits’ respectively. We derived our
research material from this pool of web sites, following the principle of
theoretical sampling, in the following way. The first 210 web sites of each
search were printed on paper, resulting in a list containing 420 web sites.
A number of these web sites were categorized as personal homepages.
The personal home pages were stored, by means of a hyperlink, on the
site of a groupware product, to which only the authors had access. In this
way we could retrieve the sites easily during the phase of analysis. The
employment of the English search term ‘meaning of life’ has far reaching
consequences for which web sites are incorporated in our research ma-
terial. Web sites published in another language are excluded, as well as
sites which include a discussion on existential meaning, but not explicitly
labeled as such; that is, in a way conceivable to search engines.

Analysis
The analysis was undertaken in two steps. The first step aimed at mapping
the field of web sites indexed of the search term ‘meaning of life’. A global
system of categories was developed, based on the types of web sites pres-
ent in our material (N=420). Both authors worked independently at first
and later collectively, in order to develop suitable descriptions for the cat-
egories of web sites. By comparing and discussing the categories we were
able to create an intersubjective categorization, which is presented in
Table 17.1. As this table shows, not all the websites found were personal
homepages.
 Between altruism and narcissism 297

Table 17.1 Categorization of web sites

Category
Personal homepages 88
Advertisements (regarding books, CD’s, video tapes) 69
Traditional religious organizations: churches, groups, cults 49
New age organizations, meeting place for exchange of ideas,
documents, quotations 23
Contributions to discussion groups 21
Related to Monty Python 19
Jokes, humor, parody 14
Academic centers, universities, course information 13
Spontaneous collections of idea’s on existential meaning 13
Instructional sites, search engines regarding specific topics 13
Art (film, paintings, play) 12
(Horror) stories 5
Spiritual professionals and experts (no church) 4

Websites (other than homepages) not categorized

Not related to search term 31
Not available on server anymore 31
Rest categories (including doubles) 23
Total 420

The personal homepages formed the largest category. In our study, per-
sonal homepages were conceived as those sites that typically resemble a
homepage (web sites containing pages about ‘my CV’, a guest book, in-
formation on friends and family, hobbies). In addition, web sites that were
labeled as such by the author and sites devoted to the author’s personal
story or vision, were also categorized as personal homepages.
Table 17.1 shows that, in addition to personal homepages, commercial
web sites concerned with the selling of books, CDs and videotapes also
devoted space to existential meaning. The same is true for web sites of re-
ligious organizations, New Age organizations, and of professionals work-
ing in the field of spirituality. In addition, we found web sites of univer-
sities, discussion groups and other virtual meeting places devoted to the
topic of the meaning of life. Less serious web sites were also found, such
as web sites devoted to Monty Python’s movie, or to jokes and fantasy
stories about the meaning of life. Finally, we found a number of web sites
on which existential meaning was interpreted in an artistic way.
298 Ellen Hijmans and Martine van Selm

The second step of analysis aimed at describing and typifying the way in
which existential meaning was seen or explained on personal homepages.
This second step was conducted for only for those websites which could
be considered personal homepages, as our research question focused on
this type of web sites. In total we thus analyzed 88 websites. We tried to
find answers to a number of questions, both descriptive and interpretive in
nature, that were addressed at each personal homepage (unit of analysis).
The observation scheme was developed in the course of re-reading the
empirical material. Hence, the questions link up with the empirical ma-
terial, and were intended to contribute to a typology that reaches beyond a
mere description of existential meaning on personal homepages.
Of those web sites that were considered personal homepages in the first
‘rough categorization’ (see Table 17.1), 42 web sites were found suitable for
study. These homepages were still available on the server, they qualified
for the criterion ‘personal’, and an indication of the search term ‘meaning
of life’ could easily be identified.
The ongoing reduction of research material described above is a way of
theoretical sampling and implies that, finally, only a selective pool of home-
pages was examined. Our conclusion only bears on this selection of sites. An-
other limitation of this study is that it involves an analysis of already existing
material, namely electronically published textual and visual materials some-
times furnished with audio- and video elements. The author’s expression of
existential meaning is examined as a document, on which we did not exercise
any influence. Hence, the examination is best described as a qualitative con-
tent analysis, and more specifically as interpretive analysis (Hijmans, 1996).

Description of personal homepages

The personal homepages examined differed in size. Half of them con-
sisted of 10 to 20 web pages, while 11 sites contained 20 to about 100 web
pages (in one case even up to 400), and another 11 contained less than
10 web pages.

Table 17.2. Number of web pages constituting personal homepages

Size (in number of web pages)

20+ 11
10–20 20
Less than 10 11
Total 42
 Between altruism and narcissism 299

The design of the personal homepages examined was quite divers. Even
though the textual information on the web sites was the main focus of our
examination, some attention was paid to design characteristics, such as
background pattern, color, font, illustrations, pictures, audio and video.
We expected these characteristics to disclose aspects of the experiential
component of existential meaning, as this component might be expressed
in an aesthetic, instead of a textual way. A general examination of design
shows that three quarters of the web sites are designed using color, back-
ground patterns, pictures or other illustrations. In some cases this resulted
in a stylistic composition, in other cases in an arbitrary collection of el-
ements. Ten homepages were furnished with multi-media tools such as
banners, moving objects or movie-clips, music or a voice. The musical el-
ements used were in all cases instrumental, quiet or joyful, and meant to
provide a background sound while reading texts reflecting ‘deep thoughts’
on existential meaning. On nine sites, very little use is made of the possi-
bilities of Internet technology; these sites are mainly textual in nature.
Later, we will describe a possible correlation between types of existential
meaning and design aspects of the personal homepages.

Table 17.3. Design of homepages examine

Design
Text only 9
Composition2 23
Composition including video 4
Composition including audio 5
Composition including video and audio 1
Total 42

Table 17.4. Gender of authors of homepages

Gender
Male 33
Female 7
Co-production 1
Unknown 1
Total 42
300 Ellen Hijmans and Martine van Selm

Regarding the backgrounds of the authors of the personal homepages in

our sample the following came to the fore. The authors were mainly men
(Table 17.4), between the ages of 21 to 40 years old (Table 17.5), and resid-
ing in the US (Table 17.6), thus resembling the average Internet user (e.g.,
Van Dijk, 2000). Young (white, well-educated) men from the wealthiest
part of the Western world are over-represented amongst the users of the
Internet, and (hence) also in our sample of web sites. This implies another
limitation of our study, as the existential meaning of only this specific
group of authors is examined.

Table 17.5. Age of authors of homepages

Age
10–20 4
21–30 11
31–40 10
41–50 6
51+ 4
Age unknown 7
Total 42

Table 17.6. Residence of authors of homepages

Residence
US 33
Canada 2
Norway 2
Australia 1
UK 1
Unknown 3
Total 42

The prominence of existential meaning varied across the personal home-

pages examined (Table 17.7). Whereas on some sites existential meaning
was the central theme (17 sites), on other sites the topic was treated as one
of many subjects present (16 sites).
 Between altruism and narcissism 301

Table 17.7. Prominence of existential meaning on the homepages examined

Prominence
Central theme 17
One of many subjects 16
Single question 6
Joke 2
Not recognizable 1
Total 42

The re-reading of our research material resulted in the identification

of various guidelines on how to construct or discover life’s meaning, or,
more generally, how to deal with life (on 29 of 42 homepages). In Table 17.8
these guidelines are summarized.

Table 17.8. Inventory of practical guidelines for a meaningful life

Practical guidelines
Believe in God, live according to gospel, read bible, pray, be baptized 9
Search for meaning within yourself:
x through everyday activities (a.o. giving and seeking support, reading

poems, enjoying nature 5

x by your own philosophy of life, wisdom 2
x by thinking rationally, scientifically 3
x by techniques for mental improvement (intense observation, fast

reading, better reasoning) 3

x by studying Tao and using insights for a new way of living 1
x by setting a goal 1
x without further explanation 2
Orientation on the future of world/humanity; transcendence of direct
life world 2
Study the origin of life (by scientific references) 1
Carry out developmental tasks for life improvement 1
No guidelines 13
Total 42

The internal search for meaning is the most important guideline (16 sites).
Visitors are advised to grasp the meaning of life by ‘working on their inner
selves’. By creating meaning in life, meaning of life can be experienced.
302 Ellen Hijmans and Martine van Selm

This ‘working on the inner self’ can take several directions; e.g., to live life
from a personal philosophy of life or to set goals in life. Others advise to
raise one’s consciousness, for instance by reflecting on the value of every-
day experiences, or the working of the human psyche to improve mental
abilities. The idea is that by an intense way of thinking, the meaning of life
eventually will become clear.
The display of activities within the Christian tradition is a second cat-
egory of guidelines. This category contains the advice to serve God, or to
live in accord with the gospel of Jesus Christ, but also more practical ad-
vice such as to read the bible, or to get yourself baptized. The rest of the
guidelines relate to ideas of putting your life in service of a collective goal,
or trying to discover an encompassing plan of life. On one of the sites this
was substantiated with understandings from the evolution theory; on an-
other one with the idea of a ‘standard sequence of life’, distinguished by
inevitable developmental tasks that have to be fulfilled. The three compo-
nents of meaning, orientation, belief and experience, are combined. Ex-
periential elements and daily actions are presented to others as con-
clusions based on beliefs and reflection.
A more general finding concerns the use of quotes on homepages. The
authors of personal homepages sometimes indicate that words and
thoughts of others (ranging from long deceased classical philosophers
to modern pop stars) were helpful in answering questions of existential
meaning.

“Someone close to me once said, and I’m paraphrasing here, “Don’t read
me a quote, I want to hear you talk.” That meant a lot to me and I’ll never
forget it. However I can’t talk to everyone and maybe you don’t want to
listen to me. Quotes are wonderful. The meaning can be changing and
sometimes a timely quote can be wonderfully uplifting.
I like to collect quotes cause they represent thoughts and emotions that
my experiences have not yet provided to me. I have roughly organized
them. For each sub page the newest are always at the top, so you can
easily tell if the page has changed” (http://www.meaningoflife.com/
quotes.htm consulted 25–01–01).

There are more ways of referring to existing ideas, literature and tradi-
tions. We came across more or less frequent use of hyperlinks, in more
than three quarters of the homepages hyperlinks were found, as the next
table shows.
 Between altruism and narcissism 303

Table 17.9. Number of hyperlinks to external sites

Number of hyperlinks
15 or more 11
5 to 14 18
1 to 4 4
None 9
Total 42

Hyperlinks establish a connection with sources elsewhere on the World

Wide Web. We were interested in finding out the different types of sources
the homepages in our sample related to. We made an inventory of the fol-
lowing sources of wisdom that were used in answers to questions of the
meaning of life (Table 17.10).

Table 17.10. Inventory of sources and traditions3

Sources and traditions

Christianity, quotes from the bible, Jewish tradition 13
(Anti-religious) humanism, spiritual ecology (e.g.,Greenpeace), social
movements (feminism, civil rights) 5
References to existentialism, (moral) philosophy (e.g., Epicurus, Plato)
philosophy of science, reason. Other thinkers and writers: Freud, Russell,
Cervantes, Epictetus, Ellis 7
Evolution theory, Darwinism, evolution psychology, Dawkins, (social)
scientific concepts 8
Concepts and quotes from new spiritual awareness (Yin/Yang, tai chi,
Tao, karma, pagan religion, hypnosis, holism, Paranormality, agnosticism)
‘new Jews’: combination of religions 9
Literature (Herman Hesse, Huxley), music, lyrics, quotes 4
Total 42

The bible, symbols and concepts of Christian faith turned out to be an im-
portant source (13 sites). Other sources were humanism (5 sites), and con-
cepts from new spiritual awareness groups (9 sites). Philosophy, for in-
stance existentialism, was found on 7 sites. Several sites (8) used scientific
concepts from social sciences or evolution theory. One last category re-
ferred to literature and lyrics (4 sites).
A final question that puzzled us was the reason why the authors de-
cided to publish their life stories, personal views and advice to others. Our
304 Ellen Hijmans and Martine van Selm

observation scheme included a question about the typification of the site

in general, including motives or goals. Some authors were clear about
their motives, while others were quite inconclusive. Although this aspect
obviously needs further elaboration, for instance by online interviewing,
we found that clear goals were formulated by converted Christians, and
other authors who sometimes eloquently drew from ideological traditions.
Though not impersonal, the personal element remains in the background,
and was sometimes difficult to recover. For instance the author of a
‘Christian resources page’4 is decisive on the uselessness of personal in-
formation. He considers his goal to be communication with the masses,
and not just to save himself but also others. At the same time he makes
several ironic remarks on his ambition to be seen on the web, as he wel-
comes any awards coming his way.
Authors that are less convinced of their beliefs tend to be more per-
sonal. They give testimony of their soul searching and personal growth.
The support they found in thoughts, books or music is made public,
sometimes in the form of an online diary. Motives for the production of
these kinds of ego documents are not always clear. Some authors state
their intentions to make themselves known in all important facets in tes-
timonials of mere personal biographies5. Additionally, we found that au-
thors try to elicit and welcome reactions from others, which suggests that
the possibility of one’s homepage being visited by unknown others is a re-
ward in itself. This is even more clear when counters keep a check of the
exact number of visitors, as we actually found in several cases. It seems
that this form of self-expression discloses a somewhat self-centered,
though very human motive of affirmation of one’s existence by others.
Summarizing our results so far, we could say that in our sample the
presentation of existential meaning forms a constituent part of self-pres-
entation in personal homepages. Three quarters of the homepages can be
called extensive and in many cases the authors have made creative and ar-
tistic efforts. The homepages seem to be constructed by individuals who
wanted to use the potential of the medium for (self) expression, and in
doing so in one way or the other turned to the theme of existential mean-
ing. Our basic assumption that meaning is connected to everyday life
seems to be justified, as can be seen in the number of guidelines we found
(16). Meaning takes on an aspect of orientation and belief at the same time,
while the guidelines partly concern experiences. Motives of authors are
(a combination of) altruistic and narcissistic intentions.
 Between altruism and narcissism 305

A typology of existential meaning on homepages

The above description of sites depicts a global view of their owners and
the ways in which existential meaning is represented on personal home-
pages. In this section we will characterize the symbolic content and the
different directions existential meaning takes on in these homepages.
Initially we created a broad dichotomy. On the one hand, questions of
existential meaning were put in an encompassing perspective of a tran-
scending nature and non-human origin. Examples are Christian faith or
the cycle of nature and its cosmic powers. On the other hand, meaning of
life was associated with human experience; meaning of life can be experi-
enced by searching for meaning in life. The experiential component of
meaning is stressed, as was already visible in Table 17.8. The tips and
guidelines presented there show the different directions of this distinction.
We compared the whole of every homepage in respect to the specific di-
rections of the meaning of life, be it questions or answers, ideas, visions,
stories, guidelines etc. In the following Table 17.11 the two directions were
labeled as superhuman (17 sites) and human (18 sites).
Table 17.11 is an ideal typical construction, not an empirical typology.
Ideal types are specific cultural meaning systems, acquired by one-sided
overstressing of one or more points of view (Lemmen, 1977: 57). Ideal
types in the Weberian sense serve theoretical goals directed at understand-
ing phenomena under study, by focusing attention on one or several char-
acteristics. This means that theoretical types of a typology will be hard to
find in their pure form in empirical data because this tends to be less clear.
In our case, this means that most sites combine several elements. We as-
signed a type of orientation to each homepage, on the basis of the prevail-
ing direction of existential meaning and of the internal coherence of el-
ements.
The homepages are qualified by the dimensions natural – supernatural
and human – superhuman. Besides the already mentioned distinction
human/superhuman, we also discovered a distinction we labeled; natu-
ral/ supernatural. Taken together, the supernatural and superhuman re-
mind us of the ‘otherworldly’ orientation of religious meaning, whereas
the natural/human combination reminds us of the ‘innerworldly’ orien-
tation. We believe this well-known distinction can be further qualified by
the addition of the supernatural/natural distinction, which opens up the
possibility of a supernatural ultimate goal of life of human origin (Hij-
mans, 1994: 204). The supernatural is not known to the laws of nature, but
in the context of existential meaning this does not necessarily imply a
sacred or divine character (Berger, 1969: 27). Especially in modern times,
human projections of social scientific and utopian ideals enable man to
306 Ellen Hijmans and Martine van Selm

transcend his individual nature to encompass the whole of mankind. In-

dividual existence is subordinated to these ideals, which grant it an ulti-
mate ground. These ideals are, as the ways of God, unnatural and have to
be ‘invented’. As such they are not fully known, and can only be ap-
proached by social and psychological theories that legitimate human exist-
ence. As in the religious interpretation of life there is an external interfer-
ence in nature that lends meaning and orientation to human life.
Opposite this orientation we find the natural approach in which human
interference is unthinkable. Individual life in itself is quite a meaningless
fraction of human existence in the universe. Life takes its natural (evol-
utionary) course and the forces man has to face are indifferent, ‘blind’ pro-
cesses that unfold in spite of human presence. These blind natural laws
(dis)organize human life and grant it its existential meaning. This is a
superhuman, but natural form of existential meaning in which humans are
part of a natural arrangement.
Finally, there is the human variation of the natural orientation. We al-
ready mentioned the emphasis on human experience. There is mention of
authenticity and quality of life experiences, that enable the experience and
subsequent interpretation of existential meaning of life. We called this the
‘anthropocentric’ experience, in which individuals try to transcend their
ego by opening up to essential life experiences that in themselves lack
metaphysical legitimacy. Experience of the fullness of life grants meaning.
This leads to the following results.

Table 17.11. Typology of orientation of meaning in personal homepages

Supernatural Creator/ Natural experience/

goal Blind process
Superhuman Divine, religious 14 Cosmic, natural
powers 3 17
Human Social utopian 5 Anthropocentric
experience 15 20
Total 19 18 37

The table shows that 37 sites could be classified, 5 sites could not be in-
terpreted because meaning was too inclusive, diverse or without clear di-
rection.
A total of 14 homepages were classified as the superhuman-supernatu-
ral type labeled as divine/religious. Christianity dominates this type; twelve
pages refer explicitly to the bible as main inspiration to find meaning.
Existential meaning is already ‘out there’, and in need of discovery. The
 Between altruism and narcissism 307

meaning of life is part of an encompassing plan of God or a nameless cre-

ator. Remarkable are the testimonials of the converted (‘I believe and
I stand for it’)6, they carry the message with great personal fervor and con-
viction and intend to persuade the audience of their homepages to find sal-
vation, ‘Be, pray, know’7. Many present Christian guidelines for life8 or
examples of what healing faith has brought, for instance in dealing with
personal catastrophes such as suicide9. The styling of almost all sites is
quite skillful, with color, photos and, in some cases, music. In terms of the
three core elements of existential meaning (orientation, belief and experi-
ence), the belief element is stressed mostly.
In the anthropocentric type of meaning the most important elements are
experience and orientation. This category is diametrically opposed to the
former religious type, because it combines human and the natural dimen-
sions. We placed 15 homepages in this ideal type, which advocates the
idea that meaning of life can be found within; i.e., in inner experience.
Existential meaning, therefore, has many different manifestations. Some
pages stress the full employment of mental capacities and the full (scien-
tific) understanding of human nature and experience, sometimes it is said
that there is no real (cognitive) answer to questions of the meaning of life,
but that the silence after posing the question contains the answer. Life
itself is the meaning of life, including an open mind for the everyday
beauty of life10, and the enjoyment of little things and encounters with
others. The ‘here and now’ and ‘happiness’ are frequently used concepts
that illustrate the immediate experience and the receptiveness to meaning
in the context of everyday life. The human element can be seen in the re-
sponsibility for one’s own happiness, as said meaning lies within the life
performance:
“Meaning in life comes from what we do with it. Meaning of life
comes from the act of living.” (http//www.users.uniserve-ca/%7erfrisen/
meanlife.html, consulted 25–1–01)
The styling varies among the pages. Some are purely text based, but
others display professional designs. The authors of three sites commem-
orate Internet technology as a means to publish and discuss ideas on the
meaning of life11.
The other two types are combinations of former ones. The social-uto-
pian type is supernatural in orientation but human at the same time, while
the cosmic type assumes natural ‘blind’ processes from a superhuman
nature. In our research sample we found that 5 sites fitted within the so-
cial-utopian type. Goals are mentioned such as ‘doing something good in
the world’, to ‘look beyond your own possessions and family12, or ‘think
about the future on a world scale’,13 ‘take responsibility for society’14. As
308 Ellen Hijmans and Martine van Selm

in the other human type, responsibility is stressed. Here is not the indi-
vidual but an encompassing whole such as mankind or society at stake.
Individuals have to overcome their natural drives for the benefit of the
collective. The style of these sites is calm, somewhat dull and without fan-
tasy. They contain mainly text and make hardly any use of multimedia
technology. Of the core-elements of meaning mainly orientation, in com-
bination with belief, is stressed; ideological goals are the guidelines for
everyday action.
Finally the cosmic type was encountered only three times. The main
theme here is that life has no intrinsic meaning because it is part of a natu-
ral order. This stresses mainly the belief element of meaning, there is no
connection to the orientation or experience element. One of the sites sug-
gests that life is part of the evolution15. Another claims that life is in per-
petual motion, that will always exist with the preservation of energy16. In
this category, the (natural) sciences are a main source of inspiration. The
style of the sites differs from exclusively textual to professionally styled
with moving texts.
In short, the characterization of the symbolic content of personal home-
pages with respect to existential meaning resulted in four ideal typical
orientations. Two dimensions are typical: the human/superhuman and the
natural/supernatural. By crossing the dimensions four ideal types emerge,
that two by two share common characteristics. In the two human types,
ideals and experiences are important, in the two superhuman types an en-
compassing transcendent order superimposes itself on man. The two
supernatural types share a common belief in an external goal that directs
life, and the two natural types share that goals have to be internal, and de-
rived from individual experience, or from a very distant order in universe
in which a single human life is practically insignificant. We see further
similarities and differences in orientation between the superhuman and
human orientations. The human orientations share in their ideals and ex-
periences an orientation to the future, while the superhuman look back to
the past and the cause and origin of man.
We found that there are 19 cases in the supernatural column and 18 in
the natural, while there are 17 cases in the superhuman row and 20 in the
human row. No sub-dimension seems to dominate. But when we take a
closer look, we see that two combinations of dimensions and opposite
types certainly have dominant traits: the superhuman/supernatural or di-
vine-religious case (14) and the human/natural or anthropocentric case (15),
whereas the utopian and cosmic orientations lag behind with 5 and 3 cases.
This does not mean that they are unimportant, they merely represent a
corrective to the view of a simplistic distinction between religious and hu-
manistic worldviews, the dichotomy we started with in our interpretation,
 Between altruism and narcissism 309

which is also known as ‘otherworldly’ and ‘innerworldly’ orientations to

the meaning of life. There are more possibilities for the supernatural than
the divine and there is more to the natural than human life itself.

Conclusion
In this paper we presented an exploratory study aimed at characterizing
existential meaning on a sample of personal homepages. In regard to our
research questions we examined structural characteristics, as well as an in-
terpretation of content. The instrumental aspects of these homepages will
follow in the concluding remarks.
Although the domains of existential meaning and the Internet do not
seem to have much in common, our examination showed that ‘the mean-
ing of life’ featured either as a main, or a secondary topic on 42 personal
homepages, which were derived from a initial sample of 420 web sites. We
found that the most of the authors of the personal homepages examined
were male, between 20 and 40 years old, and residing in the US. With re-
gard to other structural characteristics we discussed styling, number of
web pages belonging to each web site, and number of hyperlinks to exter-
nal sites.
The content concerned with existential meaning encountered on the
personal homepages, could be interpreted as a typology of ideal types
constituted by the dimensions human-superhuman, and natural-super-
natural. We formulated the following four ideal types: a divine-religious,
a cosmic, a social-utopian, and a anthropocentric orientation of existential
meaning.
Several conclusions could be drawn from this result. First, our examin-
ation showed that the belief component (emphasized in the divine-religious
type) as well as the orientation and experiential components (emphasized
in the anthropocentric type) of meaning come to the fore on personal
homepages. Hence, in spite of the textual character of most web sites that
forces the construction of a cognitive product reflecting authors’ thoughts,
the medium also appeared to invite the expression of the orientation and
experiential components of meaning.
Second, the ideal types show that the personal homepages provide
traditional answers in that a relationship is conceived between human
existence and an encompassing supernatural, divine plan. Hence, the
authors of the personal homepages examined are not, per definition, secu-
larists, and technological innovations are not hostile to tradition. In addi-
tion to these traditional answers, we found answers that reflect existential
meaning in which individuals also transcend themselves and the level of
310 Ellen Hijmans and Martine van Selm

everyday experiences, but, instead, emphasize authentic life experiences

that are used in order to become a better and wiser person. The types di-
vine-religious and anthropocentric were most clearly represented in our re-
search material, whereas the utopian and cosmic orientations represent a
corrective to a dualistic view of meaning as either religious or secular.
Third, in the light of an action theoretical approach, three results are im-
portant: the three components of meaning, the featuring of guidelines and
hyperlinks on personal homepages, and the intentions of authors to pub-
lish their personal views. To begin with a small but insightful observation;
the three components of meaning we distinguished in advance and found
useful for our analysis relate to the classical action theoretical concept of
structures of relevancy. Belief and experience coincide with the cognitive
and affective aspects of knowledge Schutz distinguished in his conceptual-
ization of structures of relevancy, while orientation stands for the defini-
tion of the situation. In our opinion, research on the question of meaning
of life could gain by further elaboration of this relation.
Hyperlinks offer authors of homepages an opportunity to link ideas
and visions to those of others. Wynn and Katz (1997) emphasize this
functionality of hyperlinks; “The links allow in-depth views of particular
themes, thus providing for more dimensionality than anything that can be
achieved on a page” (318). Hyperlinks are a means to express and mediate
existential meaning to others, as they allow for the relationship between
individuals’ ideas and those of others to become visible and retrievable.
The network structure of personal homepages represents multiple sources
of existential meaning. In our opinion, these sources have become end-
less, inasmuch as Internet technology facilitates access to an innumerous
variety of sources. The World Wide Web offers space for all sorts of beliefs
and orientations, and our research material somewhat unexpectedly
showed that institutional answers to questions regarding existential mean-
ing co-exist with more or less idiosyncratic visions. Not only via hyper-
links, but also by means of guest books or e-mail responses, relationships
with others are initiated and maintained.
From a general action theoretical perspective the use of hyperlinks and
the presentation of guidelines indicate relations with the broad societal
context and exposure to mediated messages of others on the web. On the
one hand personal homepages represent the actors’ perspective on life as
it crystallizes in styling and symbolic content. As a product of internal and
external action, the unique content of every homepage refers to the per-
sonal stock of knowledge, and the subjective hierarchical system of rel-
evancies that show a typical personal pattern of meaning. On the other
hand, however, as said, interpretation is never entirely individual. As
Blumer stated (1969: 5), meaning is a social product, it constitutes part of
 Between altruism and narcissism 311

the identity of the individual as a participant in society. As such the social

stock of knowledge provides help for the construction of personal home-
pages, as can be seen in numerous hyperlinks and traditions that the au-
thors refer to. The presentation of guidelines reveals, as do the hyperlinks,
a thoroughly social action, taking into account the response of invisible
others. This mechanism of role taking refers to symbolic self-interaction,
that anticipates an imagined reaction of invisible others, and reflects past
experiences with others at the same time.
The intermingling of personal and societal factors is also visible in an-
other concept, related to the internal action of defining the situation,
namely intentionality. On personal homepages intentionality of authors
to publish their personal views is mostly implicit. But we found that
intentions could be (partly) reconstructed, they could become apparent
through the guidelines and rules, or through offering advice or inspira-
tional thoughts presented for the benefit of others. More self-centered mo-
tives such as to attract as many visitors as possible, to gain an award, or at
least responses from others could also be reconstructed from the content
of a website. In fact, we found that authors displayed multiple signs of
orientation to others, and that intentions to publish their views repre-
sented an extension of this orientation and a combination of selfless as
well as self-centered motives. Hence the title of our contribution, for the
intentionality of authors of homepages covers a broad range between al-
truism and narcissism.
From an action theoretical standpoint we have thus achieved an insight
on the widespread idea that existential meaning nowadays is individua-
listic, subjective, privatized and invisible. As mentioned earlier, the net-
work structure makes visible both an ideological and social ‘anchoring’ of
existential meaning into traditions and movements on the one hand, and a
network of like-minded persons on the other hand. Although the medium,
and more specifically the personal homepage, offers an outlet for the ex-
pression of rather individualistic forms of ultimate meaning, it is at the
same time a space in which these forms are immediately linked up with
vested traditions, collective ideologies, and social networks. We think that
the practice examined here, including the employment of hyperlinks, can
be labeled as an informal way of constructing answers to questions regard-
ing existential meaning taking place in the virtual public arena of the In-
ternet.
Therefore, neither the construction of existential meaning nor the use of
the Internet are to be considered as isolated or alienated. Furthermore,
existential meaning in personal homepages is not found to be exclusively
cognitive-reflexive in nature, life experience is an additional source of ul-
timate meaning, as are traditions of multiple origins. In sum, the specific
312 Ellen Hijmans and Martine van Selm

nature of existential meaning on personal homepages on the Internet

resides in: a) the network structure of the Internet enabling hyperlinks to
multiple sources, thus adding depth or multiple dimensions to personal
documents; b) the opportunity for ‘bricolage’ of existential meaning sys-
tems from sources widely differentiated with respect to content; c) the sty-
ling and design of symbolic content; and d) traditions and life experiences
as elements of existential meaning
Finally, we will end with a few closing remarks on some difficulties on
Internet research. As stated, in this study the conclusions are based upon
an examination of a selection of web documents reflecting authors’
thoughts on existential meaning. It took us a great deal of effort to separate
‘the wheat from the chaff’. Only half of the sample of homepages con-
tained sufficient information to conduct our comparative analysis. The
homepages we considered as insufficient for analysis hardly elaborated on
the topic. We think that the chaotic, unordered and unannotated way in-
formation is present on the World Wide Web is an important ground for
the necessity of ongoing reduction of research material. This means that
the analysis of (parts of) the content is a job requiring much effort, even
before the actual analysis can start. Interviewing the authors of homepages
could overcome some of the difficulties we encountered. In this study,
no attention was paid to the internal processes on behalf of the authors
preceding the construction of personal homepages. In further study
(e-mail) interviews will be conducted in order to examine motivations for
the construction of personal homepages containing expressions of exist-
ential meaning. In this way, not only more of the actor perspective and the
internal actions will be reconstructed, also more insight could be gained in
the role of exposure to other homepages, and other media and the ac-
counts of authors regarding style and design of their homepages.

Notes
1. We used the search engines Alta Vista and Infoseek.
2. ‘Composition’ is due in case a personal homepage is furnished with color,
a background patterns, pictures and/or illustrations.
3. Because one site referred to more than one tradition, the total exceeds 42.
4. http://www.geocities.com/area51/5963/meaningoflife.html
5. http://www.stjarna.com/
6. http://www.gurlpages.com/bisquick/christian.html
7. http://www.geocities.com.area51/5963/meaningoflife.html
8. http://www.thebigquestion.com/index.html
9. http://www.jaredstory.com/meaning_of_life.html
10. http://www.awaken.org/trans/970124.html
 Between altruism and narcissism 313

11. e.g., http://www.users.uniserve-ca/%7erfrisen/meanlife.html

12. http://www.stud.ntnu.no/%esverreno
13. http://www.progressivehumanism.com/meaning.html
14. http://www.jimn.org/write.meaning.text
15. http://www.iup.edu/%7ergendron/links.htmlx
16. http://www.telusplanet.net/public/bwholmes/reapir.htm

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 The role of the ethno-cultural position 315

18 Ownership and use of ‘old’ and ‘new’ media

18 among ethnic minority youth in The Netherlands.
18 The role of the ethno-cultural position
Leen d’Haenens, Cindy van Summeren,
Madelon Kokhuis and Johannes W. J. Beentjes

Abstract

The starting point of the present study is to investigate which environmental

factors play a role in the media behavior of ethnic minority youth. To what ex-
tent do socio-demographic characteristics (gender, age, education, SES and
country of origin) influence ownership and use of the media? We also address
the role of religion, the cultural origin and the cultural distance between ethnic
minority youth and indigenous Dutch youth. Three numerically important
groups of ethnic minority youth are discussed: Turks, Moroccans (as examples
of a group with greater cultural distance from indigenous Dutch youth) and
Surinamese (with less cultural distance from indigenous Dutch youth). In a
survey conducted among Turkish, Moroccan and Surinamese youth aged be-
tween 12 and 19, residing in The Netherlands, we investigated which environ-
mental factors play a role in the media behavior of ethnic minority youth. A
control group of indigenous Dutch youth was established and likewise exposed
to the variables under study.

Keywords: ethnic minority youth, The Netherlands, new media, media owner-
ship and use, ethno-cultural position, religion

Introduction
The action theoretical reference model for communication research de-
veloped by Renckstorf (1994: 134) is a recipient-centered model. How
people deal with media and media messages for specific purposes is cen-
tral to recipient-centered approaches; media use is not self-evident and
does not happen without reason but can be construed as well-considered,
planned social action. On the basis of thematization and interpretation of
experiences from everyday life and interactions with others, a situation is
defined by the acting individual. Viewers, listeners and readers are acting,
316 L. d’Haenens, C. van Summeren, M. Kokhuis and J. W. J. Beentjes

active persons who – against the background of their own objectives, per-
ceived values and plans – interpret mass media messages and then care-
fully construct their action. This is not a purely individualistic matter; the
individual comes to an interpretation by himself, but at the same time,
however, generally takes account of the social context and personal and
social characteristics (cf. Renckstorf, 1994).
When ethnic groups are involved, the socio-cultural orientation forms
an important part of these personal and social characteristics (Klatter-
Folmer, 1997). The first generations of ethnic minorities in The Nether-
lands are often confronted by many changes, for example in respect to
their family, work, and education. In many cases this has led to feelings of
social ambivalence, alienation or identity problems. A study by Van Heel-
sum (1997) describes the ethno-cultural position of the second-generation
Surinamese.
On the one hand, we find that existing Dutch studies on media owner-
ship and use among ethnic minorities residing in the Netherlands focus
almost exclusively on socio-demographic characteristics such as gender,
age, education and income as possible determinants for media owner-
ship and use. Ethno-cultural origin is not included in these studies as a
possible influencer or predictor (cf., van Dijk & de Haan, 1998; van Dijk,
de Haan, Rijken, Verweij & Ganzeboom, 2000). On the other hand,
studies on media behavior of ethnic minorities devote very little attention
to the ownership and use of ICTs. Brants, Crone and Leurdijk (1998) in-
ventoried the relatively small amount of research with respect to media
and immigrants in The Netherlands. Until recently, the only large-scale
research in The Netherlands into access to and use of the media by ethnic
minorities was performed by the market research agency Veldkamp
Marktonderzoek (1999, 1998, 1996). In a very recent study (de Haan,
Huysmans & Steyaert, 2002), 1213 pupils filled in a questionnaire about
their computer skills and the role of ICTs at school. Non-native pupils
were also part of the sample. Within the ethnic groups, pupils of Moroc-
can and Turkish background appeared to have the largest disadvantage
compared to indigenous pupils; they most often use computers in public
libraries in order to compensate the lack of Internet access at home, and
belong to the lead group when it comes to searching for information on
school computers. The study examined to what extent the observed dif-
ferences could be attributed to the influence of education and the home
environment. The social background (i.e., characteristics of the parents,
presence of one or more PCs) offered the best explanation for the varying
digital skills.
Other research generally consists of limited ad hoc random samples,
case studies and unpublished material, the scientific nature of which, in
 The role of the ethno-cultural position 317

most cases, leaves something to be desired. Attention for new, interactive

media among ethnic minority youth is – in the Veldkamp studies too – ex-
tremely limited; even when data are available on this subject, the results
go no further than a numerical description of media ownership (number
of sets) and media use (in minutes per day).
In contrast to the studies which are limited to a discussion of the stan-
dard socio-demographic characteristics with regard to media ownership
and use, in this study, in analogy to Klatter-Folmer (1997) and Van Heel-
sum (1997), we emphasize the importance of socio-cultural orientation as
a research variable. We evaluate the newly developed variable ethno-cul-
tural position, which we introduce in this study, in relation to the generally
accepted socio-demographic characteristics with respect to their predic-
tive character for media ownership and use. Apart from the socio-demo-
graphic characteristics of gender, age, education and SES, we also expect
religion and the ethno-cultural position of the Turkish, Moroccan and
Surinamese youth in The Netherlands to have an influence, on the one
hand, on media ownership and, on the other hand, on the use of both ‘old’
and ‘new’ media.
Finally, in the present study we attempt to construct a bridge between
the ownership and use of both ‘old’ and ‘new’ media, and the standard
socio-demographic characteristics of gender, age, education and SES, as
well as religion and the newly developed variable, introduced in this study,
namely the ethno-cultural position of Turkish, Moroccan and Surinamese
youth in The Netherlands. Summing up then, in the present study we ad-
dress the following research question:
To what extent are culture-specific characteristics, alongside other socio-
demographic characteristics, determinants for the ownership and use of both
‘old’ and ‘new’ media among ethnic minority youth (in comparison with in-
digenous youth)?

Method
Participants
In the present study, we conducted a survey among both ethnic minority
(Turkish, Moroccan and Surinamese) and indigenous Dutch students
receiving secondary education (preparation for technical and vocational
education, senior general secondary education/pre-university education)
and intermediate vocational education. In analogy to Harmsen and Van
der Heijdt (1993), for the purposes of this study the term ‘ethnic minor-
ities’ is defined as persons with at least one parent of Turkish, Moroccan
318 L. d’Haenens, C. van Summeren, M. Kokhuis and J. W. J. Beentjes

or Surinamese origin, or who themselves were born in one of these three

countries. In this study, students whose father and mother were both born
and raised in The Netherlands are regarded as indigenous. To arrive at our
operational population, we opted for random sampling from all the
schools providing secondary and intermediate vocational education in the
whole of The Netherlands. We approached the schools in question by
means of letters and fax and e-mail messages in the spring of 2001 (be-
tween January and April). The final operational population consists of
eight schools for secondary education and five for intermediate vocational
studies.

Socio-demographic characteristics
In the selected schools, 368 ethnic minority students between the ages
of 12 and 19 filled out a written questionnaire. When examining the dis-
tribution between boys and girls, we find that there is a fairly proportion-
ate distribution between the two genders in the three ethnic minority
groups. The group of Turkish students studied is by far the largest with a
total of 207 students, consisting of 108 boys (52 %) and 99 girls (48 %).
The group of Moroccan students consists of 115 respondents, of which 50
are boys (44 %) and 65 are girls (57 %). Lastly, the group of Surinamese
students interviewed, a total of 44, comprised of 20 boys (46 %) and
24 girls (55 %), is the smallest. Since the Surinamese living in The Nether-
lands are concentrated in the western part of the country – and we were
unable to find many schools there that were prepared to take part in our
study – our group of Surinamese participants is small.
The majority of the respondents (52 %) are currently receiving prepara-
tory intermediate vocational education (preparation for technical and
vocational education), 29 percent of the Turkish, Moroccan and Surina-
mese participants are receiving education in intermediate vocational
schools (intermediate vocational education) and one fifth of the ethnic mi-
nority respondents are taking a senior general secondary/pre-university
course of study.
Taking account of the gender, age and educational level of all the ethnic
minority participants, described above, we selected 98 indigenous Dutch
students to serve as a control group (comparable in terms of gender, age
and educational level) and asked them to complete a similar question-
naire.
By combining the highest education received by both parents with the
profession of both parents, we arrive at a tri-partition in the socio-econ-
omic status of the group studied: low, medium and high SES. Table 18.1
gives an overview of the SES by ethnic origin.
 The role of the ethno-cultural position 319

Table 18.1. Socio-economic status (SES) by ethnic origin – in rounded percentages

Turks Moroccans Surinamese Dutch Total

N=145 N=83 N=28 N=64 N=320
Low 61 65 14 17 49
Middle 35 34 75 50 41
High 3 1 11 33 9

Owing to the low educational and occupational level of a majority of the

Turkish and Moroccan parents (see Table 18.1), these groups present us
with a very homogeneous research group in respect of the socio-demo-
graphic characteristic SES. Among the Surinamese and indigenous Dutch
parents, we see a greater spread in both the educational and occupational
level, as a result these groups are less homogeneous. The fact that only
320 of the total of 464 respondents answered at least one of the four ques-
tions concerning the socio-economic status indicates that a considerable
number of the participants have difficulty in answering these questions.

Religion
Practically all the Turkish and Moroccan students interviewed indicate
that they belong to the Islamic faith. Almost four out of ten Surinamese
participants say they are Hindustan. More than one fifth of the latter group
of respondents say they are non-religious. Of the participating indigenous
Dutch students, more than two thirds say they profess no religion. Thus,
religion plays a more important role among the Turkish and Moroccan re-
spondents than is the case for the Surinamese and indigenous Dutch par-
ticipants. The question whether the respondents find that they practice
their religion actively and regularly was used by us as a measure for re-
ligion. We reduced the original four answer categories (not at all regularly,
not so regularly, regularly and very regularly) to the following two options,
viz.: (1) not very active religiously and (2) very active religiously. Of the re-
spondents who practice religion, relatively more Moroccans (57 %) and
Turks (51 %) than Surinamese (33 %) and indigenous Dutch respondents
(17 %) indicate that they do this (very) regularly. Of the indigenous Dutch
respondents who indicate that they are religious, the vast majority indicate
that they are not very active religiously. Turks and Moroccans moreover
indicate that they visit a mosque, church or another place of prayer more
often than the other participants.
320 L. d’Haenens, C. van Summeren, M. Kokhuis and J. W. J. Beentjes

Instrument

In analogy to Van Heelsum (1997: 24), we regard ethno-cultural position

as “the extent to which members of a particular group regard themselves
primarily as members of a specific group and/or behaviors (position ac-
quisition) and the extent to which they are regarded and/or treated pri-
marily by the (majority of) society as representatives of a specific group
(position allocation)”. According to Van Heelsum (1997), position acquisi-
tion and position allocation are the two theoretical dimensions of the
ethno-cultural position.

Position acquisition is subdivided into three components, the first of which

is related to the question whether ethnic groups are differentiated (group
differentiation). This subsection of position acquisition is subdivided into
the following three observation terms: (1) the attitude towards Turks/Mo-
roccans/Surinamese; (2) the attitude towards the (indigenous) Dutch; and
(3) the extent to which the participants perceive differences between
Turks/Moroccans/Surinamese and the indigenous Dutch population. It is
the intention that these three categories together load on a dimension
from ‘not very strongly oriented’ or ‘not at all oriented towards the Tur-
kish, Moroccan or Surinamese group’ to ‘strong orientation towards the
Turkish/Moroccan/Surinamese group’.
The second component of the position acquisition dimension can be
described as ethnic self-definition. In analogy to the study of Van Heelsum
(1997: 58), we regard “the extent to which someone defines himself as a
member of a specific ethnic group” as ethnic self-definition. To be able to
determine this second component of position acquisition, we have in-
cluded, like Van Heelsum, on the one hand, a number of statements re-
lated to the affective side of ethnic self-definition, such as ‘I feel strong ties
to the Turkish/Moroccan/Surinamese community’. On the other hand,
propositions are used that emphasize the cognitive side of ethnic self-defi-
nition, for example, ‘Do you usually think of yourself as a …?’.
The third component comprises, among other things, questions de-
signed to establish the orientation towards contacts with persons in Tur-
key/Morocco/Surinam. Van Heelsum (1997: 66) defines this as “the ex-
tent to which one prefers or enjoys associating with people who are
particularly strongly oriented towards Turks/Moroccans/Surinamese”.
The three above-mentioned components – group differentiation, ethnic
self-definition and orientation towards contacts with persons in Turkey/
Morocco/Surinam – together form the dimension ethno-cultural position
acquisition. If a respondent scores high on these three components, he/
she may be regarded as someone who sees himself/herself to a high de-
 The role of the ethno-cultural position 321

gree as a Turkish/Moroccan/Surinamese. A low score, on the other hand,

indicates respondents who are not in any way involved with their country
of origin, or only to a slight extent, and perceive no differences or only
minor differences between their own ethnic group and the indigenous
Dutch population. Consequently, they do not regard themselves as a
Turkish/Moroccan/Surinamese, or only to a slight extent, and will in all
probability identify themselves more with the indigenous Dutch popu-
lation.

Position allocation is defined by Van Heelsum (1997: 66) as “the extent to

which one is regarded by society as a member of a specific group (experi-
ence aspect) and the extent to which one is treated in a specific manner
(behavior aspect)”. Van Heelsum (1997) moreover notes that there may
be negative (discrimination) as well as positive treatment in the behavior
aspect.
To arrive at a final measure for ethno-cultural position, we have not in-
cluded all the propositions of Van Heelsum (1997) in this project, but have
limited ourselves to the propositions deemed most relevant for this study.
Finally, we have tried to create a measure for the ethno-cultural position of
the respondents by means of 28 propositions. All the propositions are
(re-)coded in such a manner that a high score corresponds to a high de-
gree of involvement with their country of origin and the perception of
major differences between, on the one hand, the own ethnic group and, on
the other hand, the indigenous Dutch population. Conversely, a low score
indicates less strong ties to the country of origin. Thus, we assume that
someone who completely agrees with the proposition ‘I feel strong ties to
the Turkish/Moroccan/Surinamese community’ feels strongly involved
on this item with the country of origin. To investigate whether all items ac-
tually measure the same dimension, we performed a homogeneity test.
We removed the following three propositions because their correlation
with the other propositions was conspicuously poor and it was therefore
the question whether they really measured what had been envisaged:
1. I am very different from my parents because I was born in The Nether-
lands.
2. Turks/Moroccans/Surinamese are generally positive about the Dutch.
3. I find it important to be able to speak the Dutch language.
The other 25 items count for scoring each respondent on his/her ethno-
cultural position in Dutch society with a Cronbachs alpha of .82. We have
ranked the total score of each respondent on this variable in low, moder-
ate or high degree of involvement towards one’s ‘own’ ethnic group. From
this it emerged that within the Turkish, Moroccan and Surinamese
322 L. d’Haenens, C. van Summeren, M. Kokhuis and J. W. J. Beentjes

groups, all respondents feel moderately or strongly involved with their

country of origin. Among the Moroccan respondents in our study, how-
ever, this involvement is most strongly present and least strongly among
the Surinamese (see table 18.2).

Table 18.2. Measure of involvement in ethnic group by ethnic origin –

Table 18.2. in rounded percentages

Turks Moroccans Surinamese Total

N=162 N=101 N=37 N=300
Moderate 63 43 78 58
High 37 57 22 42

Questionnaire
The questionnaire used in the study is a standardized questionnaire; i.e.,
both the formulation of the questions and their sequence are fixed. The
questionnaire chiefly contains questions about access to (e.g., ‘is there a
computer you can use at home?’), use of (e.g., ‘how many days a week do
you use the home computer?’), time spent on (e.g., ‘on the days that you
use the home computer, how long do you do that on average per day?’)
and functions of (e.g., ‘If I’m bored, I …’) the ‘old’ and ‘new’ media
studied. Questions were also asked about personal matters that could be
related to media use. In addition, we submitted propositions to the re-
spondents concerning their ethno-cultural position.
Before compiling the definitive questionnaire, we first performed a pre-
test. We administered a questionnaire to five ethnic minority students
from each of the three groups studied to see whether there were any prob-
lems with reading and understanding the questions. In addition, we asked
these students for their opinion of the questionnaire contents. On the basis
of this pre-test, several changes were made in the formulation of a number
of questions.

Results1
Social context
Before proceeding to the discussion of media ownership and use of the
Turkish, Moroccan, Surinamese and indigenous Dutch youth participat-
ing in this study, we will first outline the social context in which these
youths live, viz.: the orientation towards the country in which the majority
 The role of the ethno-cultural position 323

of the respondents were born and bred (The Netherlands) and the orien-
tation towards the country of origin (Turkey, Morocco or Surinam). To
devote attention only to the position of the interviewed ethnic minority
youth in Dutch society would be to ignore something they see as an es-
sential part of their existence (cf. Strijp, 1997).

Orientation towards The Netherlands. In regard to the extent to which the

Turkish, Moroccan and Surinamese participants are oriented towards the
Netherlands, we may conclude that the stronger the ethnic minority re-
spondents feel involved with their country of origin, the less proud they
are of residing in The Netherlands (= –.299; p= .000).
The majority of the ethnic minority respondents try to keep abreast of
events in The Netherlands. To this end, practically all the ethnic minority
respondents employ a Dutch medium.
Moreover, we have established that significantly more Turkish boys
than Turkish girls occasionally pay a visit to Dutch friends. The Moroccan
youth whom less actively practice religion visit Dutch friends more fre-
quently than the Moroccan participants who are very actively engaged in
religion (= –.204; p= .029). The Moroccans in this study who have a
moderate orientation towards their country of origin visit Dutch friends
relatively more often (= –.244; p= .014) and are also visited by a Dutch
friend more often than the participants who are strongly oriented towards
Morocco (= –.224; p= .025).

Orientation towards the country of origin. To investigate the extent to which

the ethnic minority respondents are oriented towards their country of ori-
gin, they were asked a number of questions related to their plans for the
future and keeping up with events in, and garnering information on, their
country of origin.
A clear majority of the respondents think that they will carry on working
in The Netherlands in the future. This outcome is in line with expectations
since the majority of the ethnic minority youth interviewed were born and
raised in The Netherlands and have gained a place in Dutch society.
We may also conclude that, in comparison with the Surinamese respon-
dents, the Turkish and Moroccan participants attach significantly more
importance to marrying or cohabiting with someone of the same ethnic
origin (V= .162; p= .000). Within the Turkish group of respondents, girls
find it more important than boys to marry someone from their country of
origin. Surinamese respondents who regularly practice religion likewise
find it more important to cohabit with or marry someone from their
country of origin than Surinamese participants who are not very active
religiously (V= .564; p= .017).
324 L. d’Haenens, C. van Summeren, M. Kokhuis and J. W. J. Beentjes

We also established that a majority of the interviewed ethnic minority

youth tries to keep up with what is happening in their country of origin.
The variable ethno-cultural position among the Turkish (=.287;
p= .000) and Moroccan (= .304; p= .002) participants is an important
explanatory factor; i.e., those who are strongly oriented towards their
country of origin indicate much more frequently that they want to be kept
informed of events in Turkey or Morocco, as the case may be, than those
who are less strongly oriented towards their country of origin. The par-
ticipants who are strongly oriented towards Turkey and Morocco mainly
keep in touch with events in Turkey and Morocco via television programs
from their country of origin; the Surinamese respondents are more in-
clined to use a television program in the Dutch language for this purpose.
Where the garnering of information on their country of origin is con-
cerned, we may conclude that more than three quarters of the ethnic mi-
nority respondents like to have information on music from their country of
origin. In regard to political affairs, the ethnic minority groups are more
divided among themselves; slightly more than half of the Moroccans like
to be informed about political issues; this likewise applies to four out of
ten Surinamese and a quarter of the Turks. Gender plays an explanatory
role in wanting to have information on music from their country of origin;
girls like to have information on this more than boys do. Furthermore,
Turkish, Moroccan and Surinamese students in the older age categories,
as opposed to the younger participating ethnic minorities, prefer to re-
ceive information on music (= .204; p= .029) and political affairs in their
country of origin. In regard to the latter subject, the ethno-cultural posi-
tion likewise plays an explanatory role; the respondents with stronger ties
to their country of origin are more inclined to search for information on
political issues in their country of origin than those who are less strongly
oriented towards their country of origin (= .214; p= .002).
In regard to the ties that the respondents from the three different ethnic
minority groups have with their country of origin, contact with people
from these countries is of great importance. Turkish and Moroccan par-
ticipants with a high score on the newly developed variable ethno-cultural
position have more frequent contact with family/friends in their country
of origin than, on the one hand, the Turkish and Moroccan students who
are less strongly oriented towards Turkey or Morocco and, on the other
hand, the Surinamese respondents (= .184; p= .010).

Media ownership
Before addressing the use of various ‘old’ and ‘new’ media, we will first
briefly outline both the personal media ownership (in their own bedroom)
 The role of the ethno-cultural position 325

and the access to media elsewhere in the house of the Turkish, Moroccan,
Surinamese and indigenous Dutch participants. In this article, our atten-
tion focuses primarily on the ownership of ‘new’ media. In contrast to
media use, we will not discuss media ownership separately per medium.
Media ownership serves to establish the context for addressing the most
important part of the study; media use. Media ownership is merely a
necessary but not sufficient condition for media use. The ownership of
media can therefore be a predictive factor for media use but it does not
constitute a guarantee for media use.

Personal media ownership. The most common media in the bedroom of the
Turkish, Moroccan, Surinamese and indigenous Dutch participants are
books and audio equipment, such as a radio and/or a stereo system. A
video recorder, a telephone and a (cable) modem, on the other hand, are
the least frequently found media in their own bedroom. Of particular note
is that within every group investigated in this study, the girls indicated
significantly more often than boys that they had books in their own
(bed)room. We may further conclude that all boys (both ethnic minorities
and indigenous Dutch participants) have a game computer in their own
bedroom significantly more often than girls. The boys’ bedrooms in all
four research groups is furnished with more high-tech products than the
girls’ bedrooms; boys more often have new media equipment. The owner-
ship rate of a cell phone increases with age of the participating youth in
all research groups. Respondents from the lowest socio-economic milieu
more often have a game computer in their own room than students from
the higher socio-economic groups.
Within the groups studied, it is of particular note that Turkish boys gen-
erally have a television with or without teletext, a video recorder, game
computer, PC and (cable) modem in their own bedroom significantly
more frequently than Turkish girls do. Among the Turkish respondents,
religion is of significant influence on individual media ownership; i.e., the
Turks who are not very active religiously personally own a computer less
often than the Turkish respondents who very actively practice a religion
(= .142; p= .046).
Of particular note among the participating Moroccan boys is that they
own a video recorder, game computer and/or CD-ROM more frequently
than Moroccan girls. The younger the Moroccan respondents, the more
often they personally own a CD-ROM. The Moroccan respondents from
a higher socio-economic milieu more often have a cable modem in their
own room than the Moroccan respondents from the lower socio-econ-
omic milieus.
Of particular note is that none of the Surinamese girls who participated
326 L. d’Haenens, C. van Summeren, M. Kokhuis and J. W. J. Beentjes

in this study have the possibility of surfing the Internet from their own
bedroom. Surinamese boys, however, significantly more often have a
(cable) modem in their own bedroom. Furthermore, the youngest Surina-
mese respondents have a game computer in their room significantly more
often than the older Surinamese youth.
In comparison with the indigenous Dutch girls, the indigenous Dutch
boys more often have a CD-ROM in their own bedroom. Furthermore,
within the indigenous Dutch group, students at preparatory schools for
technical and vocational education most frequently own a game computer
in comparison with the other educational levels.

Media access elsewhere in the house. In regard to media access elsewhere in

the house, i.e., besides the participants’ own bedroom, we can conclude
that the older media, such as a telephone, radio, stereo, television (with or
without teletext) and video are present in virtually every household in-
cluded in this study. The new media have become commonplace in more
than half of the families. However, in this regard it should be noted
that statistically significant differences exist between the various research
groups; the participants from the indigenous Dutch families have, for
example, a PC, CD-ROM and/or Internet connection considerably more
often than the respondents from the ethnic minority families. No less than
71 % of the indigenous Dutch participants have an Internet connection at
home. About half of the Turkish respondents can get on the digital high-
way from home; 44 % of the participating Moroccans and Surinamese
have an Internet connection available to them at home. In comparison
with the indigenous group, the ethnic minorities therefore score substan-
tially lower where Internet access from the home is concerned. We have
also established that families with a higher socio-economic background
have these new media at their disposal more often than households from a
lower class; this relates primarily to the indigenous Dutch participants
since only a few ethnic minority participants belong to the highest SES
group. The older media, stereo and video, are likewise found in our study
to be present more often in an indigenous Dutch family than in an ethnic
minority family, although these differences are less marked than with the
new media mentioned above. Nearly all the Turkish and Moroccan
families have a satellite dish at home, which allows them to receive satel-
lite transmissions from their country of origin. In this study, more than
nine out of ten Turkish and Moroccan families have a dish aerial, and
about one in four of the Surinamese families. With a score of 17 %, the in-
digenous Dutch households are by far the lowest. According to Staring
and Zorlu (1996), this high percentage of satellite dishes contributes to the
orientation towards the country of origin; the fact is that ownership of a
 The role of the ethno-cultural position 327

satellite receiver allows the Turkish and Moroccan community in The Ne-
therlands to receive satellite transmissions from Turkey and Morocco.
According to Staring and Zorlu, there is a need for this here (1) due to the
fact that immigrants are hardly ever seen on Dutch television and even
then only within the negative context of criminality or unemployment;
(2) because of the language used and the cultural familiarity and recogniz-
ability of the topics, Turkish and Moroccan immigrants find it difficult to
identify with Dutch TV; (3) the fact that satellite reception colors their lives
and offers a remedy, as it were, against their relatively isolated existence;
and (4) the need for certain information that the Turkish/Moroccan televi-
sion does offer and Dutch television does not. The higher the participants’
socio-economic class, the fewer the number that own a satellite dish.
The Turkish participants who actively practice their religion are signifi-
cantly more likely to have access to a home computer than the less relig-
ious Turks in this study (= .217; p= .002).
The educational level significantly determines PC ownership among
the indigenous Dutch participants; senior general secondary education stu-
dents, pre-university education students and intermediate vocational edu-
cation students have a PC and a (cable) modem at their disposal more often
than students at preparatory technical and vocational education schools.

Media use and reasons for media use

Both ‘old’ and ‘new’ media use by ethnic minority and indigenous Dutch
youth of age 12 to 19, will be elaborated on in the following section. Atten-
tion will also be devoted to the motives for media use. We will first indicate,
per medium, those aspects that apply to all respondents collectively. After
that, we will examine to what extent the media use between the different re-
search groups corresponds or differs, and lastly, we will devote attention to
the similarities and differences within the four separate groups studied.
Television is still the pre-eminent medium in the everyday life of Tur-
kish, Moroccan, Surinamese and indigenous Dutch youth in The Nether-
lands. We conclude this from, among other things, the fact that television,
regardless of the frame of mind (interest, feeling of loneliness, boredom,
relaxation or excitement), is the most widely used medium during leisure
time. Use of the electronic highway in various situations is likewise experi-
enced as extremely enjoyable by the participating Turkish, Moroccan,
Surinamese and indigenous Dutch youth. Listening to music is a leisure-
time activity that the Surinamese use more often than the Turkish, Mo-
roccan and indigenous Dutch participants to experience something excit-
ing, to relax or to dispel boredom. Music plays an important role in the life
of this research group. We will now address in more detail the use of each
328 L. d’Haenens, C. van Summeren, M. Kokhuis and J. W. J. Beentjes

medium individually. To this end we will, on the one hand, consider the
time budget pattern in minutes per day and, on the other hand, we will de-
vote attention to the different reasons for media use.

Table 18.3. Use of ‘old’ and ‘new’ media – (rounded) percentages of users /
Table 18.3. mean of average number of minutes per day spent by users

Turks Moroccans Surinamese Dutch

% Min. % Min. % Min. % Min.
Radio N= 206 N= 115 N= 44 N= 98
75 41 73 41 80 60 93 79
Television N= 206 N= 114 N= 44 N= 98
98 156 100 164 100 149 99 123
PC-in class N= 206 N= 113 N= 44 N= 98
79 61 70 53 71 54 71 56
PC-outside
N= 205 N= 114 N= 44 N= 97
the class
63 40 64 33 57 33 36 48
PC-at home N= 207 N= 115 N= 44 N= 98
80 51 76 49 75 58 94 52
Internet N= 205 N= 114 N= 44 N= 98
77 44 82 45 84 52 84 37
E-mail N= 203 N= 115 N= 44 N= 98
50 22 50 16 50 24 70 13
T/M/S
N= 154 N= 84 N= 34
radio
53 18 38 7 29 7 N.A N.A
T/M/S
N= 203 N= 114 N= 44
television
88 87 68 31 39 20 N.A N.A

Note 1: PC-in class = PC use during class hours; PC-outside the class = PC use at school out-
side the class; T/M/S radio/television = radio/television stations broadcasting in Turkish/
Moroccan Arabic/Sranan Tongo.

Radio. Radio use is significantly influenced by the age variable; listening to

the radio increases – regardless of the ethnic origin – with respondents’ in-
creasing age. In regard to listening to the radio, we also see that the factor
‘type of education’ also has an explanatory influence; expressed in min-
utes per day, students at preparatory technical and vocational schools,
when compared with senior general secondary education/pre-university
 The role of the ethno-cultural position 329

education and intermediate vocational education students, listen to the

radio the longest.
Ethnic minorities listen substantially less regularly to the radio than
their indigenous Dutch peers; Turkish and Moroccan participants spend
more than 40 minutes per day listening to the radio, Surinamese one hour
and the Dutch respondents more than 79 minutes per day.
Of the participating ethnic minority youth, the Turkish respondents
listen most frequently and, expressed in minutes per day, also spend the
most time listening to radio programs especially made for them. In their
inventory of research in The Netherlands regarding media and immi-
grants, Brants, Crone and Leurdijk (1998) postulate that the high listening
frequency of Turks and Moroccans to programs which are specially made
for and by them can be explained by arguments such as cultural identity,
isolation and a need for specific information. According to Dragt (2000),
the range of satellite radio programs that can be received via a satellite
dish, primarily for Turks living in The Netherlands, is extremely wide.
Religion and the extent of the ethno-cultural position, which determine
the cultural identity of the respondents, have an influence on listening to
radio programs in one’s ‘own’ language. The Moroccan participants who
devote considerable time to religion listen to radio programs in Moroccan
Arabic more often than the Moroccans who are less active religiously
(= .280; p= .010). With respect to the Surinamese respondents, those
that are strongly oriented towards their country of origin listen to Surina-
mese radio programs more regularly than the Surinamese who are sub-
stantially less oriented towards their country of origin (= .380; p= .037).
Regarding to the reasons for listening to radio stations in Turkish, Mo-
roccan or Sranan Tongo, it may be concluded that the presence of high-
quality programs for the older Turkish participants (between the ages of
15–19) is a more important reason than for the participating Turks from
the youngest age group. The educational level of the Moroccan respon-
dents is likewise found to have an influence; senior general secondary
education students and pre-university education students listen to Moroc-
can radio stations on account of the Moroccan culture these stations dis-
seminate, substantially more often than students at preparatory technical
and vocational education schools and intermediate vocational education
schools. The extent to which the Turkish participants practice religion is
likewise a factor in explaining the reasons for listening to Turkish radio
stations; the Turkish participants who actively practice religion listen to
Turkish radio stations because the programs are transmitted in the Tur-
kish language (V= .448; p= .001) and for the sake of the Turkish culture
(V= .355; p= .018) more often than the Turkish respondents who say they
are not very active religiously.
330 L. d’Haenens, C. van Summeren, M. Kokhuis and J. W. J. Beentjes

In regard to the question whether the respondents listen more to Dutch

radio programs or, quite the contrary, listen more to programs from their
country of origin, a clearly significant difference is perceptible between the
three different nationalities (V= .308; p= .000). Turkish participants in this
study listen mostly to Turkish radio programs, while the Moroccan par-
ticipants listen mostly to Dutch radio. Surinamese respondents divide
their attention the most; they indicate that they listen mostly to both Suri-
namese and Dutch radio programs.
Between the groups of ethnic minority respondents studied, we can
subsequently discover a significant difference in regard to the favorite
radio stations. Here too, the Turkish participants indicate that they have a
greater preference for Turkish radio programs than the Moroccan and
Surinamese respondents have in regard to Moroccan and Surinamese
radio programs (V= .342; p= .000). Specifically, Turkish respondents re-
gard Shik FM and Kral FM as their favorite radio stations from their
country of origin.

Television. Despite the advent of new media, television continues to domi-

nate the leisure time of both ethnic minority and indigenous Dutch youth
in The Netherlands. The ethnic minority participants, especially the Mo-
roccans, display a more intensive viewing behavior than the indigenous
Dutch respondents.
Gender was found to be the only factor to have a significant influence
among both the ethnic minority and the indigenous Dutch respondents on
the average number of minutes per day that are spent watching television.
Girls spend on average more time watching television than boys.
The ethno-cultural position of the ethnic minority respondents is an ex-
planatory factor in respect to watching television programs in one’s ‘own’
language; i.e., the participants who are strongly oriented towards their
country of origin watch television programs in their ‘native tongue’ sub-
stantially more often than those who have less strong ties with their native
country.
In comparison with their Surinamese peers, Turkish and Moroccan youth
indicate that they more often watch a television program in their ‘own’ lan-
guage (V= .381; p= .000). On average, more than three quarters of an hour
per day is spent on this. However, the Turkish participants spend about one
and a half hours per day watching Turkish television stations. The average
time spent by the Moroccan participants watching television programs in
Moroccan Arabic is about half an hour per day; the Surinamese respon-
dents watch Surinamese television on average 20 minutes per day.
We particularly noticed that the higher the socio-economic milieu of the
Turkish respondents, the more significant the decrease in watching televi-
 The role of the ethno-cultural position 331

sion programs in Turkish. The Arabic television channels are, moreover,

more popular among Moroccan girls than boys; a finding which corrob-
orates an earlier finding in a Veldkamp study (1996). Dragt (2000) points
out that Turks in The Netherlands can receive the most television stations
from their native country. Moroccans can only receive one Moroccan
station; the Surinamese can also receive only a small number of television
programs from Surinam. Dragt (2000) postulates that this limited range of
Surinamese television programs for Surinamese residing in The Nether-
lands results in them being more inclined to switch to the Dutch TV chan-
nels. In this regard, the better command of the Dutch language among the
Surinamese, especially when compared to the Turks and Moroccans, also
plays an important role. For that matter, frequently watching Dutch televi-
sion does not mean to say that these groups per definition have no need of
media from their native country. In fact, a study by d’Haenens, Beentjes
and Bink (2000) shows that there is indeed a need among Surinamese for
a television station from Surinam.
Generally speaking, the Turkish, Moroccan and Surinamese partici-
pants watch television stations in the language of their country of origin on
account of the programs, which are perceived as good, the Turkish/Mo-
roccan/Surinamese culture, or because programs are centered around
subjects that are important to them.
The Turkish participants who are very actively engaged in religion are
more inclined to watch a Turkish station on account of the programs,
which are regarded as good (V= .279; p= .004), and because of the Tur-
kish culture, than the Turks who say they are not very active religiously.
The extent to which the Turkish participants are oriented towards Tur-
key also plays an important role in the choice to watch Turkish television
stations; a strong orientation towards the country of origin leads to more
frequent viewing of a Turkish station and programs in the Turkish lan-
guage (V= .317; p= .003).
The age of the Moroccan respondents also plays a significant role in the
choice to watch television stations in Moroccan Arabic. Thus, the oldest
Moroccans indicate that they watch such television stations significantly
more often than the 12–16 year olds because they watch together with the
family. By comparison with the older age group, the 12–14 year old Mo-
roccan participants are the least interested in subjects which are important
to Moroccans residing in The Netherlands. Furthermore, the educational
level of the Moroccan participants plays a role in this; when compared to
Moroccan students at senior general secondary education/pre-university
education and intermediate vocational education level, students at pre-
paratory technical and vocational schools indicate least frequently that
they watch Moroccan television stations because they watch together with
332 L. d’Haenens, C. van Summeren, M. Kokhuis and J. W. J. Beentjes

other members of the family and/or because programs are screened by

these stations on subjects that are important for Moroccan people. Of the
Moroccans who answered the question as to the reason why they watch
Moroccan television stations, all those from the highest social group are
found to do this on account of the programs that are broadcast in Moroc-
can Arabic.
The education of the respondents likewise has a significant influence
among the Surinamese participants; of the Surinamese who answered the
relevant question, each intermediate vocational education student says
that he/she watches Surinamese television stations on account of the good
programs. Of the senior general secondary education and pre-university
education students, two thirds give this answer, while the students at pre-
paratory technical and vocational schools score the lowest with 44 %.
In regard to the question whether more Dutch or ‘own’ television pro-
grams are watched, a significant difference is perceptible between the
three groups of ethnic minority youth studied, as was also the case with
the medium radio. Here too, a substantially higher percentage of the Tur-
kish respondents indicate that they watch television programs from their
country of origin than is the case among the Moroccan and Surinamese
participant. Nevertheless, the majority in all groups indicate that Dutch
television programs are appreciated most.
It is only within the Turkish group that we see boys indicating more
often than girls that they watch Dutch television stations; girls watch Tur-
kish stations more often or divide their viewing time more between both
types of programs.
When we subsequently investigate which television stations are the
most popular, we find that, generally speaking, the Dutch stations are
most appreciated by all three groups studied. Nonetheless clear differ-
ences can be discovered. The music channels TMF, MTV and The Box, as
well as the commercial (youth) broadcasting stations Yorin and SBS6, are
watched the most. Of all the young people interviewed, the percentage
that indicates the most appreciation for stations from their country of ori-
gin is highest within the Turkish group. Within the Surinamese and Mo-
roccan group, these percentages are substantially lower. Turkish stations
with high viewing levels are ATV, STAR TV, SHOW TV and KANAL D.
Within the Turkish group, youths that regard Dutch stations as their favo-
rite stations are chiefly those with a moderate affinity with their country of
origin, (= .182; p= .035). Moroccan youths indicate that they chiefly
watch MBC, while one or two Surinamese respondents say that they re-
gard the Surinamese station ZeeTV as their favorite.
 The role of the ethno-cultural position 333

Home computer use. Of particular note is that the time spent both by ethnic
minority and indigenous boys on home computer use (73 minutes per
day) is significantly longer than the time spent on this by girls (45 min-
utes). Youths who are involved with their religion to a high extent also
spend more time on home computer use than those who are less active re-
ligiously (= .202; p= .003).
The indigenous Dutch participants make the most use of computers at
home, followed by the Surinamese respondents. Of the actual computer
users in the home context, the Surinamese participants are the ones that –
expressed in minutes per day – spend the most time on this (58), followed
by the indigenous Dutch respondents (52) and the Turkish participants
(51). The Moroccan participants spend the least time on home computer
use (49). On average, the respondents interviewed spend about 53 minutes
using the home computer. We further note that Dutch parents themselves
make more use of the home computer than ethnic minority parents.

Home computer applications. In the home situation, the respondents in this

study use the computer mainly for doing homework or playing games (see
table 18.4). The least used computer application in the home situation is
drawing/designing. Boys make more use of the home computer to surf the
Internet and to play games than girls. The older the respondents, the more
they use the home computer for e-mailing. Playing games on the com-
puter is an application that is particularly used by the younger respon-
dents.
Of all the groups studied, the indigenous Dutch respondents make the
most use of e-mail at home, followed by the Surinamese participants. In
respect to e-mail use at home, the Moroccan youth lag behind.
Within the Turkish group, the boys also use the Internet substantially
more than the girls and they also play games on the computer more often.
The latter application is likewise more often used by boys than by girls
within the Moroccan group and the Dutch group. Of all the types of edu-
cation, Turkish students attending intermediate vocational education
schools make the most use of the home computer to do homework,
closely followed by senior general secondary education/pre-university
education students. Students at preparatory technical and vocational
schools make much less use of this.
The ethno-cultural position of the ethnic minority respondents only has
an influence on computer game playing within the Moroccan group of
participants; those who are moderately oriented towards Morocco more
often play games on the home computer than the Moroccan partici-
pants who feel strongly involved with their country of origin (= –.238;
p= .036).
334 L. d’Haenens, C. van Summeren, M. Kokhuis and J. W. J. Beentjes

The younger the respondents within the Surinamese and indigenous

Dutch research groups, the more the home computer is used for creat-
ing texts. The extent to which the Surinamese respondents practice re-
ligion is of an explanatory nature for home computer use for creating
texts (=.459; p=.022) and searching for information (= –.500;
p=.012). Surinamese participants who are very active religiously use
these applications more often than the participants who display little af-
finity with religion.
Indigenous Dutch boys also use the home computer more for drawing
or designing. Furthermore, we can conclude that the higher the socio-
economic background of the indigenous Dutch respondents, the more the
home computer is used for e-mailing, surfing the Internet and searching
for information. In addition, within the indigenous Dutch group the inter-
mediate vocational education students make more use of the home com-
puter for e-mailing than senior general secondary education students, pre-
university education students and students at preparatory technical and
vocational education schools.

Computer use during class. In this study, we have focused on computer use
in the two most important use contexts for young people: at home and at
school. The school context has specifically been included to see whether
any differences in access to and use of computers at home can be com-
pensated at school.
The type of education is found to be the only factor to have a significant
influence on the average computer use during class. The respondents who
are receiving intermediate vocational education make – expressed in min-
utes per day – the most frequent use of the computer at school during
class. The senior general secondary education/pre-university education
students in this study make the least frequent use of the computer at
school during class time.
The average number of minutes per day that the computer is used dur-
ing class is the same for all users at approximately 56 minutes. When we
then compare the four research groups with one another, it is of particular
note that the Turkish respondents, with more than 61 minutes per day,
have an above-average score. With 56 minutes, the Dutch users have an
average score. Lastly, we see that the Moroccans and Surinamese are situ-
ated under this mean by several minutes, at approximately 53 and 54 min-
utes, respectively.

Computer use at school outside school hours. The ethnic minority partici-
pants make more use of the possibility to use the computer at school out-
side school hours than the indigenous Dutch youth. However, when the
 The role of the ethno-cultural position 335

Dutch youth do make use of the computer at school outside school hours
then, with 48 minutes per day, they spend the most time on this. The Tur-
kish students who make use of the computer at school outside school
hours do this on average 40 minutes per day. The Moroccan and Surina-
mese respondents indicate that they avail themselves of this possibility
about 33 minutes per day.
Computer use at school outside class increases among the Turkish and
Moroccan students with age. The educational level of the Turkish and
Moroccan participants also plays an important role in respect to the use or
non-use of a computer in the school context outside school hours; Tur-
kish and Moroccan students receiving intermediate vocational education
make by far the most use of this possibility.

Computer applications at school. The computer is mainly used at school for

surfing the Internet, searching for information and doing homework (see
Table 18.4). Just as at home, the computer at school is used least for draw-
ing or designing. Girls use the computer at school more often for e-mail-
ing and searching for information than boys. Boys, on the other hand, use
the computer at school more often for playing games. The older the re-
spondents, the more the computer at school is used for applications such
as e-mailing, doing homework, surfing the Internet, creating texts and
searching for information. Younger students, on the other hand, are more
likely to play games on the school computer. Intermediate vocational edu-
cation students use the computer at school for homework, creating texts
and searching for information. In comparison with the other types of edu-
cation, they moreover make the most use of e-mail at school.
Dutch youth are found to have a greater preference for playing games
on the school computer than the participants from the ethnic minority
groups. Within the Turkish group, the age of the respondents has a signifi-
cant influence on doing homework, surfing the Internet and playing
games on the school computers. For the first two applications, the notion
that the older the students are, the more they generally use these appli-
cations at school is also proven to be correct. In comparison with the
12–16 year olds, the oldest Turkish students (17–19) use the computer at
school by far the least for games. Then again, the oldest Moroccan youth
(17–19) more often use the computer at school for e-mailing, surfing the
Internet and searching for information than the younger Moroccan par-
ticipants (12–16). The older Dutch youth more often use the school com-
puter for doing homework than the younger age group. Furthermore, the
indigenous Dutch youth from a low or medium socio-economic milieu
more often use the school computer for playing games than the youth
from more affluent families.
336 L. d’Haenens, C. van Summeren, M. Kokhuis and J. W. J. Beentjes

Lastly, religion and ethno-cultural position are found to have no signifi-

cant influence on the use of computer applications at school.

Table 18.4. PC-applications at home and at school – in rounded percentages

Home School
T M S N T M S N
165 88 33 92 205 110 44 98
N:

E-mail 42 28 52 58 30 21 25 29
Homework 72 77 73 66 52 54 48 41
Internet 58 50 55 72 67 58 68 69
Games 78 56 70 79 25 19 14 35
Drawing/designing 21 16 24 23 12 7 16 15
Word processing 53 63 70 55 28 35 23 38
Information searching 46 43 64 59 57 57 61 51

In italics: p < .05; Bold: p < .001

Internet applications. The Internet is a much-used medium among all par-

ticipants. The ethnic minority youth in this study have fewer possibilities
for computer use at home, with or without an Internet connection, than
the Dutch youth. Consequently, the latter have the highest level of Inter-
net use at home. The ethnic minority youth, on the other hand, use the In-
ternet more at school or in the library. The ethnic minorities that use the
Internet generally spend more time per day on this than the Dutch Inter-
net users (see Table 18.3). The older the Turkish and indigenous Dutch
students, the more often they use the Internet. Chatting and e-mailing are
the most widely used Internet applications among both ethnic minority
and indigenous Dutch youth in The Netherlands (see Table 18.5). The
older they are, the more they use the Internet for surfing and e-mailing.
However, playing games via the Internet decreases with increasing age.
This trend applies particularly to the Turkish and Moroccan groups. The
type of education is also found to have an influence on the Internet beha-
vior; i.e., surfing and e-mailing are primarily applications which are used
by senior general secondary education students, pre-university education
students and intermediate vocational education students. Playing games
on the Internet occurs more often among students at preparatory tech-
nical and vocational education schools. Indigenous Dutch youth e-mail
more and also download files more often than the ethnic minority youth.
Turkish boys more often use the Internet to play games, to download files
 The role of the ethno-cultural position 337

and to offer products than Turkish girls. Moroccan boys likewise use the
Internet more often to play games and to download files than Moroccan
girls. On the other hand, in regard to the Surinamese girls we may con-
clude that they chat more often than the Surinamese boys.

Table 18.5. Internet applications – in rounded percentages

Turks Moroccans Surinamese Dutch Total

N=156 N=92 N=36 N=82 N=366
Surfing 49 60 67 65 57
E-mail 68 65 67 87 71
Games 53 57 44 54 53
Chatting 84 88 78 78 83
Newsgroup 12 16 6 6 11
Downloading 61 55 66 83 65
Music 74 61 66 66 68
Ordering products 12 10 9 18 13
Paying products 7 4 – 2 5
Offering products 8 8 – 5 6

In italics: p < .05; Underlined: p < .005; Bold: p < .001

The most important purpose of Internet use by young people is searching

for information in regard to their studies, followed by searching for in-
formation on hobbies. The older they are, the more the Internet is used
for purposes such as searching for information with regard to their studies
and for keeping abreast of news both in The Netherlands and the country
of origin.
The indigenous Dutch youth make by far the most use of the Internet to
search for information on hobbies. The Moroccan respondents use the
Internet mainly to search for information on religion, for garnering in-
formation on news in their country of origin and/or for keeping in touch
with Moroccans in The Netherlands.
Moreover, there is a manifest link between religion and the use of the
Internet to search for information regarding this subject; i.e., the greater
the affinity with religion, the more often information on this subject is
searched for via the Internet. Within the Turkish group of participants, in
particular, there is a clearly perceptible difference in this respect (= .204;
p= .012).
The ethno-cultural position also has an influence on the different pur-
poses for which the Internet is used. The stronger the orientation towards
338 L. d’Haenens, C. van Summeren, M. Kokhuis and J. W. J. Beentjes

their country of origin, the more often the ethnic minority participants use
the Internet to (1) search for information on religion (= .278; p= .000);
(2) to keep abreast of news in their country of origin (= .214; p= .001);
and (3) to keep in touch with people in their country of origin (= .228;
p= .001). Within the Turkish group, those who display a high affinity with
Turkey also have more frequent contacts with Turkish people in The Ne-
therlands than young people who feel less strongly involved with Turkey
(= .182; p= .049).

E-mail. E-mail use generally increases with increasing age. More than
seven in ten – both ethnic minority and indigenous Dutch respondents –
currently use e-mail now and again. Nevertheless there is a large differ-
ence between the two groups; in all three ethnic minority groups, half of
the participants occasionally use e-mail, whereas this is already the case
for about three quarters of the Dutch respondents. It should be no-
ted, however, that the ethnic minority e-mail users do this longer – ex-
pressed in minutes per day – than the indigenous Dutch e-mail users (see
Table 18.3). Of the ethnic minority e-mail users, approximately half occa-
sionally send a message to family/friends in their country of origin. Con-
tact with family and friends in those countries has in fact increased among
more than seven in ten through the use of e-mail. The socio-economic
background is the only factor that is found to have a significant influence
on this; the higher the socio-economic background, the more contact one
has with family/friends in the country of origin has increased through the
use of e-mail. A majority of all e-mail users have contact via e-mail with
family or friends in The Netherlands on one or two days per week. The
Moroccan youth with a moderate orientation towards Morocco more
often have contact via electronic mail with family and/or friends residing
in The Netherlands than the youth who are strongly oriented towards Mo-
rocco. According to all respondents, contact with Dutch family/friends
has also increased through e-mailing with one another.

Media use within the social network

As media use is not an entirely isolated phenomenon, it is important to
know how the media use of Turkish, Moroccan, Surinamese and indigen-
ous Dutch youth is influenced by family or friends.

The role of the parents in media use. In regard to the role of the parents in
respect of media use, we have established that the mothers of both the eth-
nic minority and indigenous Dutch youth of age 12 to 19, are the persons
that predominantly exercise control on the use of television and the tele-
 The role of the ethno-cultural position 339

phone. However, they regard time spent reading books and newspapers as
time well spent. Dutch mothers, however, are more lenient in comparison
with ethnic minority mothers with respect to watching television or videos
and listening to the radio or music. With regard to computer use, however,
the reverse is true and they are stricter towards their children. In all prob-
ability, this has to do with the fact that more Dutch families than ethnic
minority households in this study have a computer in the home.
When we examine the extent to which gender has an influence on the
role of the mother with regard to the media use of their children, we may
conclude that Turkish, Surinamese and indigenous Dutch mothers more
often remonstrate with their sons rather than their daughters about ex-
cessive playing of computer games. Computer use is likewise a point of
discussion between Turkish and Dutch mothers and their sons. Turkish
and Surinamese girls are more often spoken to by their mother about their
excessive telephone use rather than Turkish and Surinamese boys. In ad-
dition, the Turkish mothers are also stricter towards their daughters than
towards their sons in regard to listening to music on the radio or the
stereo.
The younger children and students at preparatory schools for technical
and vocational education are the groups which are occasionally lectured
for spending too much leisure time on computer games. Turkish and
Moroccan mothers, on the other hand, are stricter towards their older
children rather than their younger children with respect to telephone use;
and so it is the older youth that are found to telephone substantially more.
The Turkish mothers who indicate that they are not very active relig-
iously tell their children more frequently that they use the telephone too
much by comparison with Turkish participants’ mothers who devote a lot
of time to their religion (= –.203; p= .004).
The ethno-cultural position of the Turks also has an influence on the
control of the mother on Internet use; those who are strongly oriented to-
wards Turkey are more frequently told by their mother that they use the
Internet too much than those Turkish respondents who have less strong
ties to their country of origin (= .180; p= .024).
The fathers generally exercise less strict control on their children than
the mothers. The ethnic minority fathers seem to interfere less with the
upbringing of their children, which in all probability has to do, among
other things, with the fact that the fathers have in many cases missed part
of the upbringing of their children since, in the first instance, they moved
to The Netherlands alone (without their family) as an immigrant worker. If
they do say anything, just like the mothers, this will be related to excessive
television viewing and use of the telephone. They almost never comment
on excessive reading of books and newspapers, which is understandable
340 L. d’Haenens, C. van Summeren, M. Kokhuis and J. W. J. Beentjes

since, generally speaking, little use is made of print media such as books
and newspapers. In comparison with the ethnic minority fathers, the
Dutch fathers are even less strict towards their children in respect to
watching television or videos and listening to music.
The younger sons rather than daughters are more inclined to be remon-
strated with by their father on the excessive use of computer games and
video games. The Turkish fathers display the same pattern for computer
use and Surinamese fathers also tell their sons more often than their
daughters that they use the video recorder too much. On the other hand,
Moroccan and Dutch fathers are stricter towards their daughters in regard
to listening to music.
The control of the Turkish fathers with regard to the use of the tele-
phone is strictest towards the eldest children. Age also has a significant in-
fluence among the Dutch participants in respect to the father’s control on
watching videotapes; in comparison with the older youth, the youngest
Dutch participants are subjected to stricter control by their fathers with re-
spect to watching videotapes.
Among the indigenous Dutch group, the educational level has a signifi-
cant influence on the father’s control regarding listening to the radio, play-
ing computer games and/or using the telephone. With regard to listening
to the radio and playing computer games, indigenous Dutch students at
intermediate vocational education level never hear anything from their
father, unlike students at preparatory technical and vocational education
schools, senior general secondary education students and pre-university
education students. However, intermediate vocational education students
are subjected to control by their fathers with respect to telephone use sig-
nificantly more often than students at preparatory technical and voca-
tional education schools, senior general secondary education students and
pre-university education students. The Turkish intermediate vocational
education students also indicate significantly more often than the Turkish
students at preparatory technical and vocational education schools, senior
general secondary education students and pre-university education stu-
dents that their father occasionally remonstrates with them for listening to
music too much. The higher the socio-economic milieu of the Surinamese
respondents, the more the control of the Surinamese fathers increases
with respect to the computer use of their children.
Moreover, it was found that the ethno-cultural position of the Surina-
mese is an explanatory factor with regard to watching television and lis-
tening to the radio; those who have strong ties with Surinam are more in-
clined to be remonstrated with by their fathers on the excessive use
thereof than those who display less affection for Surinam.
 The role of the ethno-cultural position 341

Media use: Individualized versus collective. From the present study, it has
emerged that both ethnic minority youth and the indigenous Dutch youth
prefer to watch television in the company of someone else. Moreover, eth-
nic minority girls prefer to do this more than the boys. In comparison with
the Turkish, Surinamese and indigenous Dutch participants, the Moroc-
can youth watch television least frequently together with their parents or
friend and most frequently together with brothers and/or sisters. The Tur-
kish, Surinamese and indigenous Dutch respondents, on the other hand,
watch television in most cases together with their parents.
Girls are significantly more inclined than boys to watch television with a
sister; this is found to be the case among both the Turkish and the Mo-
roccan research groups. More Moroccan boys than girls regularly watch
television together with a brother. Among the indigenous Dutch respon-
dents, gender also plays a significant role when they are asked with whom
they usually watch television; Dutch girls watch television with their father
more often than the Dutch boys.
The type of education of the Dutch research group also has a significant
influence on the choice concerning who usually serves as television
partner. Thus, the Dutch intermediate vocational education students
watch television together with a friend or with someone else significantly
more often than students at preparatory technical and vocational edu-
cation schools and senior general secondary education/pre-university
education students.

Conclusion
In response to the research question, ‘To what extent are culture-specific
characteristics (religion and the extent of ethno-cultural position) determi-
nants, besides other socio-demographic characteristics, for the ownership
and use of both ‘old’ and ‘new’ media among ethnic minority youth?’, we
can give the following answers; the religion of the respondents is indeed
important in one or two cases when we examine the ownership of ‘old’
and ‘new’ media. Thus, the Turkish participants who are less active relig-
iously own a personal computer less often than the Turkish respondents
who practice a religion very actively. However, the newly developed vari-
able ethno-cultural position has no influence whatsoever on media owner-
ship.
The ethno-cultural position of the ethnic minority participants does,
however, influence the use of different media. The cultural identity of the
ethnic minority respondents plays a significant role, for example, in re-
spect to media use (radio and television) originating from their country of
342 L. d’Haenens, C. van Summeren, M. Kokhuis and J. W. J. Beentjes

origin. In this study, the ethno-cultural position in itself does play a role in
respect to media use, but in relation to the standard socio-demographic
characteristics the latter variables are the most influential ones.
Prior to the present study, we were under the impression that the ethno-
cultural position, besides the standard socio-demographic characteristics,
would have an influence on the media ownership and use by Turkish, Mo-
roccan, Surinamese and indigenous Dutch youth in The Netherlands.
However, the variable ethno-cultural position has a less influential role on
the media ownership and use of ethnic minority youth in The Netherlands
than we initially thought. Thus, the non-availability in previous studies of
our newly developed variable, ethno-cultural position, is found to be less
serious than we originally expected.
This result, namely that the variable ethno-cultural position has a less
influential role on the media ownership and use of ethnic minority youth
in The Netherlands, could indicate that the range of media offered in The
Netherlands is so large and diverse that everybody, both the ethnic minor-
ity population and the indigenous Dutch population, can find something
to his/her liking. With regard to the new media, this study arrived at a
similar result as the school survey administered in 2001 by de Haan et al.
(2002); after controlling for the differences in the home and school situ-
ation, no significant differences remain between ethnic groups (Turkish/
Moroccan versus Surinamese/Antillean youth). The modest but signifi-
cant shortfall in PC skills on the part of non-Western immigrants proves to
be attributable to their relative disadvantage in terms of the presence of
computer infrastructure at home. Another similar result shows significant
differences between boys and girls, these can be attributed only partly to
divergent home circumstances. In our survey as well as in the one admin-
istered by de Haan et al. (2002), assessment of computer skills by the
youngsters themselves was questioned. It may very well be that boys are
more likely than girls to say that they master a particular skill, whereas in
reality there is hardly any difference. A lower affinity towards ICTs among
girls could affect their appreciation and use of ICTs.
We recommend qualitative research into the motives for the use of new
media in the leisure-time context of ethnic minority groups in The Nether-
lands, whereby different Internet applications, such as e-mail and chatting,
are addressed and attention is also devoted to topics that concern ethnic
minorities residing in The Netherlands.
 The role of the ethno-cultural position 343

Notes
1. All reported differences in, for example, media ownership and use proved to be
statistically significant. Nevertheless, in order not to overload the reader with
too many correlation measures and significance levels, we only indicated those
correlations and significances referring to the newly created variable ethno-cul-
tural position, and its related component religion.

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 The stereotypical portrayal of Germans and its 18 effects on a Dutch audience 345

19 The stereotypical portrayal of Germans and its

18 effects on a Dutch audience

Henk Westerik

Abstract

The media are often blamed for being a source of stereotypes by portraying
foreigners in a stereotypical manner. This study focuses on the effect of such
stereotypical portrayal of foreign people on the attitudes towards them. More
specifically, I investigated whether pictures of foreigners that were behaving
stereotypically were enough to trigger prejudice and whether verbal labeling of
foreigners as foreigners was critical in this process.
It was hypothesized that if asked about their opinions about Germans, sub-
jects would indicate that Germans are perceived less favorably than Dutch
people. On the basis of past research on categorization, it was further hypothes-
ized that stereotypes about Germans become activated if subjects are con-
fronted with photographs of German nationals that were behaving in a way the
Dutch perceive as ‘typically German’.
Hypotheses were tested by means of a questionnaire and an experiment ad-
ministered to a probability sample of Dutch adults (N=492). Results indicate
that although the response to the verbal label ‘Germans’ is less favorable than
to the verbal label ‘Dutch’, there is no difference in response to pictures of sub-
jects labeled either German or Dutch. Hence, findings clearly suggest that
stereotypes did not influence the perception of the photographed persons.

Keywords: portrayal of minorities, media effects, stereotypes, prejudice, Ger-

many, Germans

Introduction
Since the second half of the 1980s, there has been an increased awareness
of globalization among social scientists (Westerik, 2000). Globalization
can be described as a process of intensification of international economic,
social and cultural ties (Kearney, 1995). According to some theorists, a
consequence of this development is that subglobal identities have become
less important. Other theorists, however, assume that the intensification of
international contacts has led to an increased awareness of economic, so-
346 Henk Westerik

cial and cultural differences and has therefore strengthened subglobal

identities (Giddens, 1990; Hannerz, 1990; 1992; Tomlinson, 1994; Van El-
teren, 1995).
Over the past fifty years Europe has, apart from the worldwide trends
towards more international contacts, witnessed a trend towards more
political and economic cooperation through the development of European
Union. As is the case with globalization, it is unclear what the consequences
of this development will be. It could lead to increased understanding be-
tween inhabitants of different European countries, but it might also gener-
ate new frictions. At the individual level, this means that European unity
may lead to either a softening or a hardening of nationalistic stereotypes.
It is very likely that if these developments occur, they will particularly
affect populations of smaller countries in Europe. Because of their size,
these countries are more susceptible to foreign influence than the larger
ones. This asymmetric relationship between smaller and bigger countries
can be exemplified using statistical data regarding a large European
country, Germany, and a small one, The Netherlands.
In 2001, Germany had 5,2 times as many inhabitants as The Nether-
lands (83,000,000 vs. 16,000,000; see CIA, 2001). This difference ac-
counts for many asymmetric relations, e.g., in the domains of tourism and
trade. In 1999, 22.7 % of the Dutch foreign trade involved Germany,
whereas the trade with The Netherlands only made up 7.3.% of Germany’s
foreign trade. So, the German economy was much more important for the
Dutch economy than the Dutch economy was for the German. A similar
asymmetry was visible in the tourism sector. Of all the nights spent in
Dutch hotels, boarding houses, and youth accommodations during 1999,
9.9 % were spent by people residing in Germany. In the same year, of all
the nights spent in a German ‘Beherbergungstätten’ (the German equival-
ent), 1.7 % were spent by people residing in The Netherlands. This means
that for the average German hotelier it is not of particular importance to
take the wishes of Dutch guests into account, whereas for the average
Dutch hotelier it is vital to reckon with the wishes of his German guests.
So, the Dutch are more dependent on the Germans than the other way
around. Furthermore, this dependency will continue to grow due to Eu-
rope’s increasing unification. Among the Dutch, this may lead to feelings
of being outnumbered, of belonging to a culture that is threatened, of hav-
ing an identity that is under siege. And because stereotypes appear to
bolster self-esteem of subjects who feel threatened (Hogg & Abrams,
1988; Macrae & Bodenhausen, 2001), it is likely that stereotypes of Ger-
mans will become more widespread in Dutch society. Because the media
tend to reflect broader societal trends, it is further likely that stereotypical
portrayals of Germans will become more prevalent in the Dutch media.
 The stereotypical portrayal of Germans and its 18 effects on a Dutch audience 347

This may activate prejudice towards them (cf. Kilbourne, 1990), though
this idea can be perceived as controversial (Renckstorf, 1989).
This controversy is at the heart of this current study. I will try to deter-
mine the extent to which an increasingly stereotypical portrayal of Ger-
mans will trigger prejudice towards them. The reason for this does not
only concern the Dutch-German relationship, but also implies a much
wider range of consequences. Today, using content analyses to study the
subject of the stereotypical portrayal of out-groups or minorities is com-
mon practice. If stereotypical portrayal of out-groups or minorities tends
to enhance prejudice, content analyses documenting such portrayal may
be highly relevant for media professionals and policy makers. But if
stereotypical portrayals of out-groups or minorities do not produce or en-
hance prejudice in the population, these studies are mere portrayals of just
some aspect of the media, not a valid instrument in the hands of those
who call for more regulations, censorship or self-censorship.

Theory
Basic concepts
In this study I use a social action perspective to analyze the stereotyping of
Germans by the Dutch. According to this perspective, human action is
guided by knowledge. This knowledge is obtained in the solution of prob-
lems of everyday life and as a result of socialization (cf. Bosman et al.,
1989). An important aspect of this knowledge is made up by what sociol-
ogists have called ‘typifications’, i.e. “schemes in terms of which others are
apprehended and ‘dealt with’” (Berger & Luckmann, 1991: 45).
In social psychology, typifications are often studied under the heading
of ‘categorization’. When applied to people, it is called ‘social categoriz-
ation’ (Tajfel, 1981). Result of this process are stereotypes, to be defined as
beliefs “that all members of a social category have one or more specific
characteristics” (Konig, 2001: 248; cf. Allport, 1979; Tajfel, 1981; Fiske &
Taylor, 1984). Stereotypes do not necessarily have an affective meaning.
But often they do, and then they can be referred to as ‘prejudice’.
Social categorizations (and thus stereotypes) are to be seen as an inevi-
table part of everyday life. Individual human minds have a limited capac-
ity for processing information, and therefore often rely on simplified
schemes. Categorical thinking is cognitively economical (Macrae & Bo-
denhausen, 2001). But it comes at a price, some theorists say. “In everyday
situations, in which people do not consciously monitor their own thoughts
and actions critically, they therefore cannot prevent their stereotypes from
348 Henk Westerik

influencing these thoughts and actions” (Konig, 2001: 252). However, so-
cial action theory also postulates that individual behavior is not always
governed by routinely applying knowledge that is already there as a result
of socialization or previous experience. “Naturally, in defining the situ-
ation and in interpreting action and objects (…) a certain degree of help is
provided by the social stock of knowledge (…) that is created in each cul-
ture and is transferred through learning processes. But given that these
patterns are applicably only within a particular cultural range and are
relatively situation specific, they are, taken on their own, necessarily too
general to really guide actions in the sense of making action problem free
for the actor” (Renckstorf, 1996: 27).

Automatic activation of stereotypes

Among social psychologists it is nowadays commonplace to assume that
the activation of stereotypes is a routine process, one that does not de-
mand much attention or an act of will. “Just as night follows day, catego-
rization (hence stereotyping) is believed to follow the registration of a trig-
gering stimulus, be it a verbal label or the member of a potentially
stereotyped group” (Macrae & Bodenhausen, 2001: 243). The assumption
that stereotypes are triggered in a more or less automatic manner has be-
come more credible through several experimental studies (Macrae & Bo-
denhausen, 2001). For instance, if one subliminally presents a priming
stimulus, this stimulus appears to trigger the stereotype as well. Even
people who oppose stereotypic knowledge use stereotypes. “Indeed fairly
automatic stereotypic reactions to race categories are equally character-
istic or high and low prejudiced people (perhaps by virtue of both living
with the culture’s stereotypes); what differs is that, under normal circum-
stances that allow controlled processing, low-prejudiced people may ac-
tively reject the automatic stereotypic responses and replace them with
equality-oriented thoughts” (Devine, 1989: 122).

Prototypes and category activation

Little is known about what exactly triggers the activation of a stereotype
(Bargh, 1999; Fiske, 1989; Macrae & Bodenhausen, 2001). In their search
for an explanation, researchers appear to have focused on characteristics
of individuals (Fiske & Taylor, 1984), not on characteristics of the trigger-
ing stimuli. In experimental settings, stereotypes are usually triggered by
semantic priming and rarely by visual cues (Macrae & Bodenhausen,
2001). Some evidence about which stimuli are effective in activating
stereotypes can be found in categorization research. This research pro-
 The stereotypical portrayal of Germans and its 18 effects on a Dutch audience 349

vides evidence that people distinguish between categories of objects on

the basis of the ‘family resemblance’ criterion. This means that individual
phenomena that are perceived to belong to a single category, share some
characteristics, but not on a single dimension. However, some of these in-
dividual phenomena are more prototypic than others. To give an example,
a robin and a penguin can both be categorized as birds. But because a
robin is able to fly (a characteristic that most birds share), a robin is seen
as a better example of the category bird than a penguin, and is, therefore,
considered to be more prototypical. Therefore, if a subject is confronted
with the word ‘robin’ this more effectively triggers the category label ‘bird’
than the word ‘penguin’ does. Consequently, one might expect that stereo-
typical portrayals of out-group members are more effective in triggering
stereotypes and prejudice than non-stereotypical portrayals.

Hypotheses
On the basis of past research (Dekker, Aspeslagh & Winkel, 1997; Dekker
& Olde Dubbelink, 1995; Du Bois-Reymond, 1997; Jansen, 1993) it is
clear that many Dutch have stereotypical ideas of Germans. According to
the Dutch, typical German behaviors are drinking beer from glasses that
are too large, eating sausages, driving an oversized Mercedes-Benz, and
digging holes on the beach. Based on past research it is, however, unclear
what the consequences are of the portrayal of Germans as people who dis-
play such behaviors.
The aims of this study are two-fold. First, I will try to replicate previous
research that showed that the Dutch have more positive attitudes towards
their compatriots than towards the Germans (H1). And second, I will try
to establish whether stereotypical portrayal has a bearing on the percep-
tion of Germans (H2).
Following insights derived from categorization research I more specifi-
cally hypothesized that pictures of persons performing ‘German beha-
viors’ were perceived less favorable than pictures of persons performing
‘Dutch behaviors’ (H2.1); that pictures of people of whom was suggested
they were German, were perceived as less favorable than pictures of per-
sons of whom was suggested they were Dutch (H2.2). Finally, to test the
idea that stereotypical portrayal produces prejudice, I tested for the pres-
ence of a interaction between suggested nationality and the presented be-
havioral style (H2.3).
350 Henk Westerik

Methods
Sample. 825 Dutch adults were interviewed during the first three months
of the year 2000 as part of a national representative sample.
Analysis. To test hypotheses 1, all subjects were asked to what extent they
agreed with statements about eight personality traits of the Dutch and the
Germans (being sociable, easy-going, friendly, noisy, arrogant, domi-
nant, aggressive and having a sense of humor). Only data of 704 adults
with no missing scores were analyzed. Of these 704, 298 were first con-
fronted with questions about Germans, and 406 with questions about
Dutch people. Weights were applied so that both groups consisted of 298
subjects.
In order to test hypothesis 2, 596 subjects were shown one of twelve
photographs. These photographs varied on three dimensions: a) behavioral
style (stereotypic German or stereotypic Dutch); b) suggested nationality
(German or Dutch); c) behavioral setting (in the bar, on the beach, driving a
car). Of these 596 subjects 59 were excluded from analysis because of miss-
ing scores. Weights were applied so that all twelve photo-groups consisted
of 41 subjects (weights varied form .73 to 1.02), so the total N was 492.
Both hypotheses were tested using multivariate analysis of variance
(Manova). To test hypothesis 1, there was only one between subject factor
and eight dependent variables. The eight dependent variables were the
scores of respondents on eight personality traits of either the Dutch or the
Germans.
Items referring to Germans were only used if subjects were first asked
about German personality traits. Afterwards, these subjects were also in-
terviewed about Dutch personality traits, but these data were not used in
testing hypothesis 1, because it can be argued that these scores are biased
(Bosman, 2000). For the same reason, items referring to the Dutch were
only used if subjects were first asked about Dutch personality traits.
To test hypothesis 2, there were two between subject factors (behavioral
style and suggested nationality) and their interaction.

Results
The hypothesis that Dutch respondents have a more positive attitude to-
wards their compatriots than towards the Germans receives considerable
support. First, the multivariate test on the equality of means of the char-
acter-items is highly significant (Hotellings T2 = .17919; F=13.14793; df =
8;587; p<,001). As a consequence, it seems wise to inspect differences at
the item-level (Table 19.1).
 The stereotypical portrayal of Germans and its 18 effects on a Dutch audience 351

Table 19.1. Attitudes towards the Dutch and the Germans

(1=totally disagree; 5=totally agree)

Dutch German p
Sociable 3,47 3,31 0,0034
Easy-going 3,36 3,13 0,0002
Friendly 3,49 3,45 0,5461
Sense of humor 3,42 2,93 0,0000
Noisy 3,35 3,40 0,4845
Arrogant 2,78 3,00 0,0015
Dominating 2,99 3,26 0,0002
Aggressive 2,70 2,50 0,0008
N 298 298

So, Germans were perceived as less sociable, less easy-going, more arro-
gant, more dominating and lacking a sense of humor. However, the Dutch
were more often perceived as being aggressive. So the overall picture is
that hypothesis 1 receives support.
According to hypothesis 2.1, it was expected that pictures of people who
behaved in a way that in The Netherlands is perceived as German (e.g.,
drinking beer in a pub, driving in a Mercedes-Benz) would be perceived
as less favorable. The data tend toward the expected direction, but fail to
reach significance (see Table 19.2; p = ,0540).
Based on hypothesis 2.2, it was expected that if pictures or captions im-
plied that those portrayed were German, they would be perceived as less
favorable. The data, however, do not support this hypothesis (p = ,7877).
For instance, pictures of people driving in a car with Dutch license plates
triggered similar responses towards these people as pictures of people
driving in a car with German license plates. Referring to a photographed
person as Jan (a Dutch name) instead of Karl (a German name) did not
alter responses either. So hypothesis 2.2. can clearly be rejected.
According to hypothesis 2.3, it was expected that pictures of people
whose suggested nationality was German and who were performing a
stereotypical behavior would meet a particularly hostile response. How-
ever, the effect of interaction term style x nationality was not significant
(p = 0,6149). So, the data do not support this hypothesis.
352 Henk Westerik

Table 19.2. Multivariate test of significance of the effects of behavioral style,

suggested nationality and style × nationality on perceived personality
traits of photographed individuals

Pillais F df
Main effect behavioral style 0,03107 1,92791 (8; 481) 0,0540
Main effect suggested 0,00969 0,58836 (8; 481) 0,7877
nationality
Style × Nationality 0,01291 0,78637 (8; 481) 0,6149
N=492

So, there is no evidence supporting hypothesis 2. Neither behavioral style,

nor suggested nationality, nor style x nationality interaction appears to
have an effect on the perception of the photographed individuals. The
Dutch, when confronted with an image of a German or of German beha-
vior did not respond in the discriminating manner that their verbal re-
sponses would suggest. Apparently, the stereotypical portrayal of Ger-
mans is not sufficient to elicit a hostile and prejudiced response.

Discussion
The main finding of this study is that a discrepancy exists between what
the Dutch say about Germans in general and how they perceive (pictures
of) particular German individuals. ‘Germans’ are perceived less favorable
than the Dutch, but pictures of individuals labeled German were per-
ceived just as favorably as photographed individuals labeled Dutch. The
visual presentation of German individuals did not trigger the already exist-
ing prejudice, even if they were portrayed in a very stereotypical manner.
How can this be explained? Perhaps this is due to methodological rea-
sons. All individuals that were photographed were Dutch, even if they
were driving a Mercedes-Benz with a German number plate, drinking lots
of beer, digging holes on the beach, and even if they were referred to using
German names. Perhaps this was not enough to trigger the stereotype of
Germans.
An alternative explanation might be that stereotypes of Germans were
triggered, but then handled in a meaningful way. The pictures that subjects
were confronted with did not show people engaging in some socially un-
acceptable activity. No apparent justification for attributing negative char-
acteristics to any subjects existed, and therefore even German subjects
were rated positively. Perhaps the explicit attribution of negative charac-
 The stereotypical portrayal of Germans and its 18 effects on a Dutch audience 353

teristics to specific people only occurs if people are perceived as per-

forming behaviors that provide some justification for negative attributions.
In terms of communication research, the most surprising conclusion is
that a stereotypical presentation of Germans failed to trigger prejudice.
This casts some doubt on the social relevance of studies documenting
stereotypical portrayal of minorities and out-groups in the media. It could
well be that this stereotypical portrayal of minorities has no or no substan-
tial effect on societal prejudice towards these groups. In addition, this
study questions the idea that journalists can contribute to the containment
of prejudice by carefully avoiding stereotypes.

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 Occupational practices of Dutch journalists in a television newsroom 355

20 Occupational practices of Dutch journalists

20 in a television newsroom

Liesbeth Hermans

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to gain a better understanding of the process that
takes place when individuals act in their occupational role as journalist. Aspects
which play a role in a journalist’s professional practices are studied in the con-
text of the daily practice of the production of news. This process involves value-
judgments made by journalists, through which events are given a specific
meaning. However, news making is not an individual affair. Journalists work
for an audience, they are members of an occupational group with professional
values, and they work within the constraints of a news organization.
In this study, an action theoretical framework was used to study the journal-
ist. According to the action theory journalists perceive and interpret in-
formation within a professional stock of knowledge and relevance structure.
The global research question was, which shared meaning schemes and reality
constructs underlie the occupational practices of television news journalists?
Data were gathered by observations made in the newsroom of the Dutch public
channels’ news program, the NOS-journaal, and through interviews conducted
with people working in this newsroom. Results show that journalists work in a
news organization that has a strong hierarchical structure. Depending on the
difference in responsibility and in the specific position journalists occupy in the
news organization, journalists interpret en define situations differently. This
process of construction of meaning seems to be rooted in different, but shared
perspectives that journalists use to make their daily decisions.

Keywords: journalist, audience, observation, news organization, role, occupa-

tional practices

Introduction
Television news is considered to be important to almost everyone. In large
sections of the population it is the only source of information about cur-
rent affairs. By watching the news, people see the latest developments in
the world on the television screen, experiencing these events as real and
356 Liesbeth Hermans

nearby. Because real-world events are transformed into publicly discuss-

ible issues, news imparts public character to occurrences. Therefore,
television news should be regarded as a social institution with diverse so-
cial and political functions for people in their roles as citizens and con-
sumers of news. Consequently, as producers of news messages, journalists
have a social responsibility in the way they inform the public. Studies of
news organizations and reporters provide a necessary source of insights
into the dynamics of the production of news and the practices of journal-
ists. The production process of news involves value-judgments made by
journalists, through which events are given a specific meaning.
The purpose of this study is to gain a better understanding of the pro-
cess that takes place when individuals act in their occupational role as
journalists.
To investigate the occupational practices of television news journalists,
an action theoretical framework (Renckstorf, 1994) is used as a premise.
According to the action theory, journalists perceive and interpret in-
formation using a specific stock of knowledge and within a certain rel-
evance structure. Against this background they define and redefine situ-
ations and through their occupational practices journalists give meaning
to the events considered newsworthy.

Journalists as newsmakers
As noticed by many researchers of the production process of news, the
main paradigm of communicator research can no longer be defined in
terms of gatekeeping and selection of news, but should be conceptualized
in terms of reality construction and production of news (Ericson, Baranek
& Chan, 1987; Hermans, Renckstorf & van Snippenburg, 1994; Tuch-
man, 1978; Weischenberg, 1992). Thus, journalists are no longer seen as
gatekeepers, or transmitters of information, whose main occupational ac-
tivity is to make a selection in the continuous flow of information. Re-
searchers in the latter paradigm focus their attention on the complexly
structured production process of news. As a consequence of this assump-
tion, news is not seen as a representation of an objective reality, but as a
presentation of a constructed reality (cf. Gans, 1980; Tuchman, 1978). In
their daily occupational practices journalists are constantly making deci-
sions, which define the news. This news making process is complex and
specified by many aspects and circumstances in and outside the news-
room (Breed, 1955; Fishman, 1980; Gieber, 1964).
 Occupational practices of Dutch journalists in a television newsroom 357

An action theoretical approach to study journalists practices

In order to develop a better understanding of journalists practices I have
conceptualized the occupational practices in an action theoretical frame of
reference (Hermans, 2000; Renckstorf, 1994). According to this research
perspective journalists perceive and interpret information about occur-
rences within their stock of knowledge and relevance structure (see
Figure 20.1). How journalists act, depends largely upon the way they in-
terpret and give meaning to specific situations (Berger & Luckmann, 1991;
Bosman et al., 1989).

Figure 20.1. Adapted version of the reference model used for studying the occupational
Figure 20.1. practice of journalists in the daily practice (Hermans, 2000)

Through the processes of socialization, such as education and work ex-

periences, journalists develop a specific occupational knowledge. This oc-
cupational knowledge provides the individual journalist with all kinds of
clues about how to understand work situations and what the boundaries
are for his or her action in new situations.
To understand the actions of individuals in different situations, it is often
necessary to identify the audience for which they are performing. In the
sense making process, journalists have to find people who are represen-
tative for their audience, whom they can use to assess their ideas about an
item or event. Even if journalists do not actually keep an audience in
mind, all news is ultimately addressed to some audience, for it can also be
the reporter’s own conscience, or image of what the audience ought to be.
The meaning journalists attribute and the values they ascribe to a given
situation cannot be entirely understood in terms of individual character-
istics. In the ‘meaning making’ processes, meanings are also a socially
shared product. The occupational group of journalists is defined as a com-
358 Liesbeth Hermans

munity with shared interest. Thus journalists have to take the fact that they
work within the constrains of an (news) organization, are a member of an
occupational group with professional norms and values, and work for an
audience into consideration when interpreting an event.
Because the individuals investigated in this study are all members of
the same occupational group I assumed that they use shared meaning
schemes and reality constructs in their practices as journalists. Meaning
schemes are abstract and ordered typifications of separate experiences.
Reality constructs can be conceptualized as shared frameworks for inter-
pretation.
The central research question for this study is; which shared meaning
schemes and reality structures underlie the occupational practices of television
news journalists?
Because former research on news production indicate that the daily set-
ting is an important situational context which shapes the practices of jour-
nalists, the daily practice is explicitly included in the research frame work.
Therefore another research question is added; how is the daily production
process of television news organized in which the journalists act?
Because the latter question is important in order to understand the re-
sults of the first question I will start with the description of the results en-
gendered by the second question.

Research method
In order to understand the occupational practices of journalists in the
newsroom, an interpretative research strategy was used. Because of the
lack of previous research in this specific area in The Netherlands, and be-
cause of its complicated nature, it was difficult to determine beforehand
precisely which aspects would be important. Therefore, further adjust-
ments and specifications of relevant concepts were made during the ana-
lyses1.
In previous paragraphs I described why it is important to include the
situational context in the study of journalists’ practices. Therefore the
study is concentrated on one organizational setting. Data were gathered
in the newsroom of the news program produced by the Dutch public
stations, the NOS-journaal. This news organization is responsible for the
daily news reporting on public television. At the time of the study (1994)
they broadcast about ten bulletins every day. During a period of twelve
weeks (Spring 1994), I was granted access was to the newsroom at any
time and without restrictions. News workers were superficially informed
about the reason of my presence.
 Occupational practices of Dutch journalists in a television newsroom 359

The data gathering began with an observation period. In order to de-

velop some sense of what is seminal or salient in the news production pro-
cess, the early stages of the observation were not structured. Because of
the complexity of the organization an insider’s view was very important in
order to understand the field. Additionally, in the first period of the obser-
vation it was important that the people working in the newsroom and
the researcher get used to each other, in order to create an easy ambience.
The observation notes were mainly concerned with descriptions of the
environment and the organizational structure of the newsroom. The
background knowledge about the context of news production acquired
through this observation period allowed for a better understanding of data
collected later on, such as formal interviews. After two weeks of obser-
vation I, in combination with further observation, began to interview jour-
nalists. As the study progressed, the observation notes were more focused
on specific situations and practices of journalists. This information was
then used in the interviews and informal conversations to ask journalists
about concrete situations.
Through literature study, discussions with experts, and the observa-
tions, a topic list was developed containing subjects considered relevant.
These topics were then discussed during the interviews, which consisted
of open questions and lasted between 40 and 90 minutes. The interviews
can be considered a conversation with a purpose, namely to put the inter-
personal and organizational aspects of news production into a larger con-
text. Observations and interviews built an understanding of the social con-
text in an interactive way. Therefore in the analysis these sources of data
can not be treated as independent, but must be used to support each other.
By using multiple research methods and divergent data sources, the re-
liability and validity of the empirical material were confirmed.

Respondents
For the interviews, respondents were at first chosen in terms of their abil-
ity to supply new constructions to understand the news production pro-
cess. Later in the process, respondents were also chosen for their per-
ceived ability to explicate constructions that had already been discovered.
Characteristics which were taken into consideration were: position in the
newsroom (high, middle and low), gender, and age. As the study prog-
ressed, it appeared that news workers at the top of the hierarchy in the
newsroom had a large influence on the decisions made in the newsroom,
therefore journalists working in the high and middle level were over-rep-
resented in the interviews. Furthermore different functions, such as news
gatherers, news editors, reporters, and newsreaders, were represented.
360 Liesbeth Hermans

Analysis procedure
The interviews were recorded and subsequently transcribed. These tran-
scriptions and the observation notes served as source material for the in-
terpretative analysis. It contained more than 1000 pages of text. As a tool
to structure the material and to render the transcripts accessible for analy-
sis the computer program Kwalitan was used. This program helped to or-
ganize the laborious analysis process. Interpreting and comparing inter-
view fragments and observation notes were used to construct answers to
the research questions. The results are processed through a reflection pro-
cess. This means that on the one hand the conceptual framework can be
filled in based on the findings, while on the other hand reflection on the
material and the results of the interpretation can lead to new questions for
further research (Peters, 1994).

Results
The newsroom of the NOS Journaal has a well-organized hierarchical
structure. The organization works with a top-down approach.
Based on the findings it was possible to make a distinction between
three different levels in this hierarchical pyramid. The ‘high level’ the
‘middle level’ and the ‘low level’. The distinction between these levels is
based on several aspects (see Table 20.1).

Table 20.1. Hierarchical structure of the newsroom

Level Number Nature occupational Responsibilities

practices
High 4% Managing Define news
Middle 16 % Consulting Input/output
Low 80 % Production News item

First, there is a difference in the number of journalists working in the three

levels. Most, about 80 % (reporters, bureau editors, copy-editors), journal-
ists have a position that can be categorized into the low level. About 16 %
of the journalist belong to the middle level (editor-in-chief, co-ordinators,
newsreaders) and finally only 4 % of the journalists belong to the high level
(chief-newsroom, chief-news organization).
Secondly, and more interesting is the distinction between the nature of
the occupational practices journalists engage in, in the different levels. The
occupational practices of journalists in the two upper levels (high and
 Occupational practices of Dutch journalists in a television newsroom 361

middle) concern decisions about the selection of events which are news-
worthy enough to become part of the news-agenda on a specific day. This
newsworthiness of events is not defined only by content. When journalists
decide to take an event into the daily production process, they take several
aspects, besides content, into consideration. In my study (Hermans, 2000)
I have called this the ‘news threshold’. It concerns aspects such as the daily
information supply, news factors, footage, diversity of the items (so-called
‘sandwich formula’), image of the public, and facilities (Hermans, 2000).
The concept news threshold depends on daily circumstances and is con-
tinuously changing. For example, after the plane crashes in the US on
the September 11 2001, the news broadcast, for more than two weeks,
spent most of their time on this item. This means that news that would
have been broadcast under normal circumstances ‘disappeared’. As op-
posed to daily newspapers which can vary in the amount of space allotted
to a specific item, because they can vary the number of pages every day,
the television news program is only allowed to deviate from the normal
length of a broadcast (20 minutes) in extreme circumstances.
For journalists working in the low level, their daily occupational prac-
tices concerns how an event is presented on the news. Their occupational
practices are practical in the sense of making the concrete news items.
They receive an assignment from the journalists in the upper level and
their task is to put the item together in a responsible journalistic way,
within the space and time they have. When constructing an item, they
consider factors such as accessibility for a broad public, aesthetic formats
in footage, and journalistic rules like balance, neutrality and factuality.
The third aspect that journalists in the three levels differ on is the re-
sponsibility they have in their job. Journalists operating at the high level are
responsible for guarding the interest of the organization. They are respon-
sible for policy to be made and implemented in the newsroom. The ‘chief-
newsroom’ is, besides the implementation of the policy, also responsible
for the continuity of the course of the daily production process. He makes
the final decision about what events are going to be worked out in the
news production process and he divides the work assignments for in-
formation gathering and producing to the journalists in the low level.
In the middle level I have distinguished two different functions with spe-
cific responsibilities. First, the coordinators are in charge of the different
editorials: economy, politic, newsgathering (domestic news) and news
producing (foreign news). They act as an intermediate between the chief-
newsroom and the producing journalists in the low level. Coordinators are
responsible for the practices that are related to the ‘input’. This is the pro-
cess of gathering all kind of information on the events that are admitted to
the day-agenda. The day-agenda contains all events which are added to the
362 Liesbeth Hermans

news production process of that specific day. Thus coordinators make im-
portant decisions in the regulation of the large news supply. Secondly,
every important news broadcast (the news broadcast in the morning, at
6pm, 8pm and at 10pm) has its own editor-in-chief. They are responsible
for the ‘output’, namely the realization of the specific program. They de-
termine, consulting the chief-newsroom, which subjects are broadcast and
how much time is spent on an item. Editors-in-chief need to take care of
the quality of the newscast concerning content, form and style.
Finally, in the low-level, journalists have different functions all of which
are concerned with making practical decisions concerning the content of a
news item. Bureau-editors gather background information to put an item
together. Copy-editors create items inside the newsroom, using the in-
formation received mostly from international news agencies. Reporters
construct news items outside the newsroom with information they receive
from the bureau-editors. In short, in the low level the journalists produce
the news items and are responsible for the content of the specific items. It
can thus be concluded that the journalists working in the low level have a
great amount of autonomy in their daily practices. There seems to be no
supervision by the journalists in the high or middle level on the quality of
the content of news items produced by the journalists in the lower level,
before the news is broadcast. The only aspect of an item that is carefully
controlled is its length, because the editor-in-chief (middle level) has to
take care that all the items fit into the 20 minutes of the broadcast. The day
after the broadcast the previous day’s broadcasts are evaluated, but be-
cause the program has already been broadcast, only very large mistakes
will be discussed in such a meeting.
In terms of the construction of reality theory it seems that depending on
the positions journalists fulfill, they contribute in different ways to the pro-
cess of making the news. Journalists working in positions in the high and
middle level define the news in terms of which subjects are important,
which subjects are included in the production process, which subjects are
finally broadcast and how important a subject is; that is, the time and place
an item gets in the news program. Journalists who work in the low level
define the news in terms of placing the event in a context and constructing
meaning by presenting the event in a specific way.

Self image and professionalism

Journalists see themselves as different from other people because as jour-
nalists they belong to a special occupational group who act as profes-
sionals. Despite the shared concept about the professionalism of the oc-
cupation, journalists can not define measurable standards, which could be
 Occupational practices of Dutch journalists in a television newsroom 363

used to control the quality of the output. The journalists even seem to
think it is not necessary to have followed a specific journalistic training in
order to become a ‘good’ journalist. Journalists believe that work experi-
ence (even for television news journalists the press is considered the im-
portant place to learn the job) is very important in order to learn how to
become a journalist. Of course they admit it is easy to have journalistic
skills before one enters the newsroom. However, according to the journal-
ists, in order to become a good journalist, one also requires personal char-
acteristics such as involvement, commitment, curiosity, personality and so
forth.

Occupational role perceptions

This study shows that journalists think that they are responsible to society
to make information accessible to people. A carefully constructed in-
formation system is seen as necessary for citizens to operate in a demo-
cratic society. This central social duty can be specified by different tasks,
which can be categorized in three occupational role perceptions.
In the first place there is an informer role. This implies that it is not only
a matter of making news public but it is the journalists’ professional re-
sponsibility to do this in an understandable and comprehensible way. This
implicates journalists that take their audience seriously, because they take
them into consideration when deciding how information should be con-
verted into understandable news messages. However, the journalists think
the public itself is responsible for whether or not it uses the news mes-
sages. Journalists do not feel they are responsible for the way viewers use
television news.
Secondly, journalists distinguish a controller role. It is their duty to ac-
tively check the information offered, and to look at any government deci-
sion in a critical manner. Important in this role is that journalists place
the events presented in the news in a context, whereby it is easier to
understand for the audience. In this role perception, journalists need a
critical attitude because they have the duty critically asses the official in-
stitutions and protect citizens.
Finally, there is a third role, which I decided to call the hunter role. Jour-
nalists also consider it their duty to actively search for new items and
new information. Journalists must search for all kinds of important in-
formation in order to turn an ignorant audience into active citizens. An-
other important task is to spot wrongdoing by all kinds of organizations, in
other words, to be a watchdog. This hunting task implies an active attitude
towards the search for information; that is, it requires that the journalist
takes the initiative in this search. Although journalists mention this task as
364 Liesbeth Hermans

important, only a few consider it a problem that there is no time to fulfill

this task within their present job.
The three roles I have distinguished are not new but can be related
to occupational role definitions in former research (Donsbach, 1981, 1982;
Köcher, 1986; Weaver & Wilhoit, 1996; Weischenberg, 1995).
However, next to my theoretical considerations the role perceptions
should not be analyzed as specific occupational role definitions that jour-
nalists act on. These role perceptions do not define the assumptions that
journalists use in their daily work situation. They merely describe the
ideological assumptions journalists want to take into consideration when
making decisions in their work. Of course there is a relationship between
what journalists want and what they do. Therefore an observation of the
work situation in combination with the role definitions can provide a
better understanding of the action relevance of journalists.

Perception of the audience

Within these occupational roles all journalists referred to the fact that
they work to inform an audience. I will look further into the meaning this
concept of ‘the audience’ has for the journalists (cf. Donsbach, 1983;
McQuail, 1997; Kaiser & Wermuth, 1989).
Journalists’ perception of the audience is specified by the thoughts, con-
ceptions and interpretations journalists have of the people for whom they
produce their news messages. In this study it appears that journalists give
various meanings to the concept ‘audience’. On the one hand, journalists
refer to the actual viewers of their television news program. On the other
hand, they look at the potential target group; that is, people for whom the
television news program is produced. The results show three different cir-
cumstances which shape the knowledge journalists have of the actual
viewers. First, there are the monthly viewing ratings, which give journalists
some information about social background and other characteristics of their
audience. Because television news is watched by many different people this
information is very generic. Secondly, journalists receive information about
their viewers from viewers themselves who occasionally give feedback by
calling the news organization concerning particular items. However, jour-
nalists do not take this kind of response too seriously because they think it
mostly concerns individual interests. Furthermore the results show that
some journalists use their own domestic situation in which they act as televi-
sion news viewer to shape their perception of other news viewers.
Besides the actual viewers, journalists’ perception of their audience also
consists of their perception of the potential target group, which I will call
the public. For the NOS news organization this formally consist of the en-
 Occupational practices of Dutch journalists in a television newsroom 365

tire Dutch population. Knowledge about the public is based on an imagin-

ary concept, and when thinking about the public, journalists refer to a
common view about society as a communication partner, and have a posi-
tive image about this public. Journalists feel they have to take the public
seriously because otherwise journalists cannot take their own work seri-
ously. The journalists believe their first assignment as journalists is to
make information accessible to the public.
Because of the diversity of the audience, journalists have only a vague
perception of their audience. They do not consider this lack of in-
formation as problematic for the quality of their occupational work. For
them it is an insuperable consequence of their work as journalists. It is no
problem, because journalists are trained to make well-thought out choices
in the complex news production process. This ability distinguishes jour-
nalists from common people. How journalists use the audience perception
in their occupational will be described in the next section.

Occupational practices in the daily work situation

I will relate the two aspects described above; the perceptions of the occu-
pational role and the audience, to the journalistic practices in the daily
practice.
Journalists recognize that their audience is large and divers. Despite this
common image, they use their own individual perception of the audience
in their daily work situation. As described earlier, the practices of the vari-
ous journalists differ among the discriminated levels in the newsroom. This
entails that there is a difference between journalists of different levels in
how they use their perception of the audience in their daily work situation.
Journalists in the middle and high level use their idea about the audi-
ence to make decisions about what events are broadcast in the news. The
assumption that people cannot concentrate on serious information for
more than 20 minutes have led them to decide to alternate serious in-
formation items (such as politics and economics) with soft information
items (like human interest). This so called ‘sandwich formula’ was strictly
introduced with the audience in mind, for there is no journalistic reason to
use the ‘sandwich formula’. The news organization simply wanted to re-
tain high viewing rates and wanted to keep the viewers with the program.
Furthermore, journalists in the upper levels (high and middle) use
information obtained from viewing rates about social characteristics
in order to get an indication about how the viewers from the three main
news bulletins (broadcast at 6pm, 8pm, 10pm) differentiate. They use
this knowledge to make decisions about how to construct the program.
For example, the items in the 6pm news are more geared to the specific
366 Liesbeth Hermans

viewers group of women and youngsters, who make up the majority of the
viewers of this broadcast.
Journalists in the low level use the audience perception as background
information when they produce news stories using the incoming in-
formation material. Because an important task is to make news compre-
hensive and accessible, they keep an average news viewer in mind and
transform the information into an understandable level.
Despite the fact that journalists sometimes use their audience percep-
tion in their occupational practices, this does not mean that they think
the audience should be involved in and influence the journalistic work.
According to the journalists it is impossible to let people interfere with
decisions concerning which events are important enough to be defined as
news. The journalists interviewed in this study think there is an important
difference between the subjects the audience are interested in and would
select to be a part of the news process and the subjects journalists select as
a result of their occupational experience. Journalists do not think the audi-
ence can make decisions about what is important to present in the news.
They assume that most people are mainly interested in their daily environ-
ment. Because of their professionalism, journalists feel that they are ca-
pable of making decisions in the public interest.
As I described above, journalists distinguish three occupational roles
which describe what journalists think is important in their work. Whether
or not it is possible for the journalists to act according to these roles in
their daily work situation is described in the following paragraphs.
The news production process is strictly scheduled in time and space. A
timetable structures the daily meetings and decision moments (Hermans,
2000). Although the daily journalistic practice seems to be embedded in all
kinds of organizational and practical constraints journalists almost never
mention these constraints when asked about their daily practices. Results
show that the daily production process is highly routinely structured. A
problem with studying routines is that they are often taken for granted.
The rules used in routines seem to be hidden and not formally described
in the news organizations. In practice journalists take the occupational
routines so much for granted, that it is difficult for them to express these
routines explicitly.
When asked what they take into consideration during their daily prac-
tices, journalists refer to commonly shared journalistic and organizational
rules. The routinely unofficial occupational rules seem difficult to define.
Journalist share habits that are so much taken for granted that journalists
know what is expected of them. Therefore, in the news organization the
daily practices usually proceed smoothly and in an unproblematic way.
There is not much open discussion in the newsroom about decisions that
 Occupational practices of Dutch journalists in a television newsroom 367

are made. This does not mean that everybody agrees with what is decided,
but because of the well organized top-down structure journalists (have to)
accept the decisions made in various situations.
This study had an exploratory character, in which one news organiz-
ation has been studied. In essence, findings can only refer to this specific
television news organization and the journalists working there. Further re-
search could consolidate and elaborate the results of this study.

Conclusions and discussion

Studying journalists as professionals generates an ambitious orientation
towards the production of journalistic work. Despite the fact that journal-
ists do share occupational role perceptions, much of the work of journal-
ists is embedded in practical circumstances. Practical aspects such organ-
izational constraints are rarely mentioned by the journalists, because they
do not fit into a professional attitude. This discrepancy between what jour-
nalists want and what they do is an important restriction to take into ac-
count when trying to understand journalistic practices. A new framework
is thus needed to explain journalism by focusing on how journalists shape
meaning about themselves, their work, and their audience. As Zelizer
(1993) has argued, journalists should be studied as an interpretative com-
munity, united through its shared discourse and collective interpretations
of key public events.
Journalists in this view, come together by creating stories about their
past that they routinely and informally circulate to each other stories
that contain certain constructions of reality, certain kinds of narratives,
and certain definitions of appropriate practice (Zelizer, 1993: 223).
By examining journalists as an interpretative community united by its
shared interpretation of reality, journalists’ practices can be studied in all
their complexity.
The action theoretical framework mentioned in the beginning provides
a good reference point to study practices of individuals in their occupa-
tional role. Findings show that the situational context is very important in
understanding the definition and interpretation processes that lead to con-
crete journalistic action. The situational context is defined by the course of
the production process. Decisions in the news production process are
made and structured by the production scheme and decision stages. Jour-
nalists, as individuals of an occupational group, do not act on standard
professional codes (learned by and function as rigid indicators of train-
ing or education (Zelizer, 1993)), but act on shared meaning schemes
368 Liesbeth Hermans

and reality constructs. This reveals itself in journalistic and organizational

rules, the use of information sources, and social responsibility, occupa-
tional role perceptions and audience perception (see Figure 20.2).

Figure 20.2. Adapted research model for studying the occupational practices of
Figure 20.2. journalists adjusted with research findings

Understanding the practices of journalist means one has to take the differ-
ent aspects of the practices into consideration. When journalists deliberate
about action alternatives (internal action) before they decide what to do in
specific situation (external action) they use all kinds off reflections. I typ-
ified those reflections in four perspectives journalists use to define a situ-
ation. A perspective can be defined as an organized view of one’s world,
which is taken for granted (Shibutani, 1962).
 Occupational practices of Dutch journalists in a television newsroom 369

Journalists use one or more perspectives as frames to give meaning to

specific situations and circumstances. Despite the fact there are some
commonly shared meaning schemes and reality constructs, journalists al-
ways have to make decisions based upon individual choices. As already
mentioned there is, for example, no such thing as one occupational action.
In the newsroom journalists do different things and have different respon-
sibilities. Depending on these differences, specific situations can have dif-
ferent meaning for the individual journalist.
I distinguished four perspectives, which are important in defining and
interpreting a situation and lead to journalists’ practices. First, an ideologi-
cal perspective, this is based on the ideological ideas about one’s occu-
pation. It implies the assumptions journalists have about what they think
is important in their work and what they want to take into consideration.
Secondly, an organizational perspective, this is based on the organizational
interest of the news organization and the fact that journalists are em-
ployees. In the newsroom journalists work in positions which have spe-
cific assignments. In the decisions they make they have to take their duties
into consideration. Third, a practical perspective based on the idea that
every action is embedded in and restricted by time, space, facilities etc.
These practical circumstances are important in structuring action. Fourth,
an individual perspective, based on the diverse personal circumstances the
journalists take into consideration when fulfilling their occupation.
Because these perspectives were not originally included in the research
questions, but elaborated from the data, they need to be further specified
with new research. They give some further insight why journalists should
be studied as a community with shared interpretation frameworks and
meaning systems.

Notes
1. The interpretative research strategy can be typified as a cyclic process. This
means that steps in the research process are constantly repeated. Research find-
ings alternate with theoretical considerations and the other way around in a cyc-
lical process. However in order to render this paper more comprehensive, a de-
scription of the repetition of the various cycles has been excluded.

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 Contributors 371

Contributors

Johannes W. J. Beentjes is Professor at the Department of Communi-

cation, University of Nijmegen, P.O. Box 9104, 6500 HE Nijmegen, The
Netherlands, E-mail: H. [email protected]

Michael Charlton is Professor at the Department of Clinical and Develop-

mental Psychology, University of Freiburg, Belfortstrasse 18, 79085 Frei-
burg, Germany, E-mail: [email protected]

Leen d’Haenens is Senior Associate Professor at the Department of Com-

munication, University of Nijmegen, P.O. Box 9104, 6500 HE Nijmegen,
The Netherlands, E-mail: [email protected]

Paul Hendriks Vettehen is Associate Professor at the Department of Com-

munication, University of Nijmegen, P.O. Box 9104, 6500 HE Nijmegen,
The Netherlands, E-mail: [email protected]

Liesbeth Hermans is Associate Professor at the Department of Communi-

cation, University of Nijmegen, P.O. Box 9104, 6500 HE Nijmegen, The
Netherlands, E-mail: [email protected]

Ellen Hijmans is Associate Professor at the Department of Communi-

cation, University of Nijmegen, P.O. Box 9104, 6500 HE Nijmegen, The
Netherlands, E-mail: [email protected]

Frank Huysmans is Researcher at the Department Time, Media and Cul-

ture, Social and Cultural Planning Office, P.O. Box 16164, 2500 BD The
Hague, The Netherlands, E-mail: [email protected]

Angela Keppler is Professor at the Department of Communication, Uni-

versity of Mannheim, 68131 Mannheim, Germany, E-mail: Kepp-
[email protected]

Madelon Kokhuis is advisor at the Center for Work and Income, P.O.
Box 3433, 7500 DK Enschede, The Netherlands, E-mail: madelon.kok-
[email protected]

Ruben Konig is Associate Professor at the Department of Communication,

University of Nijmegen, P.O. Box 9104, 6500 HE Nijmegen, The Nether-
lands, E-mail: [email protected]
372 Contributors

Denis McQuail is Emeritus Professor at the Department of Communi-

cation, University of Amsterdam, Oude Hoogstraat 24, 1012 CE Amster-
dam, The Netherlands, E-mail: [email protected]

Paul Nelissen is Associate Professor at the Department of Communi-

cation, University of Nijmegen, P.O. Box 9104, 6500 HE Nijmegen, The
Netherlands, E-mail: [email protected]

Karsten Renckstorf is Professor and Chair at the Department of Com-

munication, University of Nijmegen, P.O. Box 9104, 6500 HE Nijmegen,
The Netherlands, E-mail: [email protected]

Keith Roe is Professor and Chair at the Department of Communication

Science, University of Leuven, Van Evenstraat 2A, 3000 Leuven, Bel-
gium, E-mail: [email protected]

Judith E. Rosenbaum is Doctoral Candidate at the Department of Com-

munication, University of Nijmegen, P.O. Box 9104, 6500 HE Nijmegen,
The Netherlands, E-mail: [email protected]

Gabi Schaap is Doctoral Candidate at the Department of Communication,

University of Nijmegen, P.O. Box 9104, 6500 HE Nijmegen, The Nether-
lands, E-mail: [email protected]

Erwin K. Scheuch (†) was Emeritus Professor, University of Cologne

and President of the German Association of Communication Research,
c/o Zentralarchiv für Empirische Sozialsforschung, P.O. Box 4109960,
D-50869 Köln, Germany

Martine van Selm is Senior Associate Professor at the Department of Social

Science Research Methodology, University of Nijmegen, P.O. Box 9104,
6500 HE Nijmegen, The Netherlands, E-mail: [email protected]

Leo van Snippenburg is Emeritus Professor at the Department of Com-

munication, University of Nijmegen, P.O. Box 9104, 6500 HE Nijmegen,
The Netherlands

Cindy van Summeren is Doctoral Candidate at the Department of Com-

munication, University of Nijmegen, P.O. Box 9104, 6500 HE Nijmegen,
The Netherlands, E-mail: [email protected]
 Contributors 373

Heidi Vandebosch is Postdoctoral Fellow of the Fund for Scientific

Research – Flanders at the Department of Communication Science, Uni-
versity of Leuven, Van Evenstraat 2A, 3000 Leuven, Belgium, E-mail:
[email protected]

Jan van den Bulck is Associate Professor at the Department of Communi-

cation Science, University of Leuven, Van Evenstraat 2A, 3000 Leuven,
Belgium, E-mail: [email protected]

Margot van der Goot is Doctoral Candidate at the Department of Com-

munication, University of Nijmegen, P.O. Box 9104, 6500 HE Nijmegen,
The Netherlands, E-mail: [email protected]

Veerle van Rompaey is Researcher at the Department of Communication

Science, University of Leuven, Van Evenstraat 2A, 3000 Leuven, Bel-
gium, E-mail: [email protected]

Fred Wester is Professor at the Department of Communication, University

of Nijmegen, P.O. Box 9104, 6500 HE Nijmegen, The Netherlands, E-mail:
[email protected]

Henk Westerik is Postdoctoral Fellow at the Department of Communi-

cation, University of Nijmegen, P.O. Box 9104, 6500 HE Nijmegen, The
Netherlands, E-mail: [email protected]
374
 375

Index

Action theory, 13–33, 85–99, – reception, 103–114, 177–186

– action theory and communication – ‘old’ and ‘new’ media, 315–344
research, 1–10, 51–83, 291–314 Media use, 35–50, 51–83, 163–176,
Audience, 35–50, 355–370, 199–216,
– research, 1–10 – Media Use as Social Action, 51–83
– studies, 51–83 – in prison, 199–216
Age and media use, 163–176, 253–277 – research, 35–50
Behavior, 35–50 Methodology,
Cognition, – case study, 51–83
– cognitive complexity, 279–289 – interpretive methodology, 51–83
Communication, 85–99, – method development, 115–140
– individual, 177–186 – observation, 51–83, 355–370
– interpersonal, 177–186 – protocol analysis, 115–140
– organizational, 187–195 – Sense-Making methodology,
– research, 1–10, 51–83, 187–195
– technologies, 231–251 – Thinking Aloud method, 115–140
Consciousness, 85–99 – Thought-Listing technique,
Effects, 345–355, 115–140
– media effects, 345–355 Minorities and media use, 315–344
– strong effects, 13–33 New media, 231–251, 291–314,
– weak effects, 13–33 315–344
Ethnicity and media use, 315–344 News, 115–140, 279–289,
Exemplification, 279–289 – news organization, 355–370
Experience, 217–230 – television news use, 51–83,
Gender role and media use, 253–277 253–277
(Non)Gratifications, 199–216 Ownership and media use, 315–344
Homepages, 291–313 Para-social interaction, 177–186
Identity constructions, 291–313 Prejudice, 345–354
Information participation, 187–195 Reception,
Journalist role, 355–370 – mass media reception, 103–114,
Knowledge sharing, 187–195 177–186
Meaning, 103–114, – Reception Research, 115–140
– existential meaning, 291–313 Relevance,
– personal meaning, 163–176 – subjective relevance, 253–277
Media, – structure of relevances, 51–83
– appliances, 231–251 Religion and media use, 315–344
– communication, 103–114 Sense-Making,
– distribution, 177–186 – Sense-Making methodology,
– in the family, 231–251 187–195
– effects, 344–355 Social action, 1–10, 85–99, 163–176,
– literacy, 141–161 – theory, 51–83, 141–161
– production, 103–114 Social constructivism, 141–161
376 Index

Social interaction, 103–114, 177–186 Television,

Sociology, – news, 115–140
– interpretive sociology and media, – news research, 253–277
13–33 – news room, 355–370
– macro vs. micro sociology, 13–33 – news use, 253–277
Stereotypes, 345–354 – effects, 217–230
Symbolic Interactionism, 51–83 Uses and Gratifications, 35–50
Systems Theory, 85–99
374
374