In most early societies, information and knowledge first circulated slowly through oral traditions passed on by poets, teachers, and tribal storytellers. As alphabets and the written word emerged, however, a manuscript, or written, culture began to develop and eventually overshadowed oral communication. Documented and transcribed by philosophers, monks, and stenographers, the manuscript culture served the ruling classes. Working people were generally illiterate, and the economic and educational gap between rulers and the ruled was vast. These eras of oral and written communication developed slowly over many centuries. Although exact time frames are disputed, historians generally consider these eras as part of Western civilization’s premodern period, spanning the epoch from roughly 1000 B.C.E. to the mid-fifteenth century. Early tensions between oral and written communication played out among ancient Greek philosophers and writers. Socrates (470–399 B.C.E.), for instance, made his arguments through public conversations and debates. Known as the Socratic method, this […]
Praise for Media & Culture
Media & Culture is a solid, thorough, and interesting text. I will be a stronger mass communication instructor for having and Culture read this text. MYLEEA D. HILL, ARKANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY Media & Culture is the best survey text of the current crop. The writing is well constructed and does not talk down to the students. STEVE MILLER, RUTGERS UNIVERSITY Media & Culture’s critical approach to the history, theory, economy, technology, and regulation of the various mass media helps students become critical users of the media. SHIO NAM, UNIVERSITY OF NORTH FLORIDA Media & Culture is media literacy meets mass communication— it really connects the two, something we should all be focusing on. WENDY NELSON, PALOMAR COLLEGE I think the Campbell text is outstanding. It is a long-overdue media text that is grounded in pressing questions about American culture and its connection to the techniques and institutions of […]
Society and Social Structure
Society–Social Structure Without society we could not survive. But what exactly is a society? Several conditions must be met before people can be said to be living in one society. First, they must occupy a common territory. Second, they must not only share that territory but most also interact with one another. Third, they must, to some extent, have a common culture and a shared sense of membership in and commitment to the same group. We may say, then, that a society is a group of interacting individuals sharing the same territory and participating in a common culture. A society is not necessarily the same as a nation -state, although in the modern world the two are often identical. The survival of non-human societies depends primarily on unlearned “instinctive” pattern of behaviour. But human societies are totally different. The organization and characteristics of each human society are not based on the […]
Group in Sociology
Definition of Group or What are groups in Sociology? Group In its sociological sense, a group is a collection of people interacting together in an orderly way on the basis of shared expectations about each other’s behaviour. As a result of this interaction the members of a group feel a common sense of “belonging.” They distinguish members from nonmembers and expect certain kinds of behaviour from one another that they would not necessarily expect from non-members. The essence of a group is that its members interact with one another. As a result of this interaction, a group develops an internal structure. People form groups for the purpose that cannot be achieved through individual efforts. The fact that groups share common goals means that Primary and Secondary Groups Groups are divided into two major types , viz primary & secondary groups. A primary group consists of a small number of people […]
Sociology as a Science
Sociology as a Science A science may be defined in at least two ways: (i) A science is a body of organized, verified knowledge which has been secured through scientific investigation (ii) A science is a method of study whereby a body of organized, verified knowledge is discovered. Actually, these are the two ways of saying much the same thing. If the first definition is accepted, then sociology is a science to the extent that it has developed a body of organized, verified knowledge which is based on scientific investigation. To the extent that sociology forsakes myth, folklore, and wishful thinking and has based its conclusions on scientific evidence, it is a science. If science is defined as a method of study, then sociology is a science to the extent that it uses scientific methods of study. All natural phenomena can be studied scientifically, if one is willing to use […]
EMERGENCE OF MEANING-MAKING PERSPECTIVES ON MEDIA
EMERGENCE OF MEANING-MAKING PERSPECTIVES ON MEDIA Limited-effects notions have undergone important transformations, partially because of pressures from cultural studies, but also because of the emergence of new communication technologies that have forced a rethinking of traditional assumptions about how people use (and are used by) media. We are in the early stages, then, of what may well become the fourth era of mass communication theory. These new perspectives are transforming how we think about media effects. For example, framing theory and the media literacy movement offer compelling and cogent arguments concerning the way mass communication influences individuals and plays an important role in the social world. We are again living in an era when we are challenged by the rise of powerful new media that clearly are altering how most of us live our lives and relate to others. And we have developed new research strategies and methods that provide […]