Four Theoretical Perspectives

The four major theoretical perspective that were discussed in class were: era of Mass Society and Mass Culture, Limited Effects era, Critical and Cultural Studies, and Meaning-Making Perspectives. All four era 's have happened over the years as media changed a new era would began. Each era includes many different theories to study mass media and have it affects the world. As years passed new ones were developed, old ones were rediscovered or improved. Either way these four major theoretical perspectives helped create an understanding in media and the society. The era of Mass Society and Mass Culture began in the 1800 's during the industrial revolution in England. The printing press was created which allowed mass copies of books and

Finally, the fourth and latest era is the meaning-making perspectives in a social world. There are a couple theories in this era but not as many as the last. It takes everything from the last era and makes in into one modern theory, which is culture-centered and meaning-making. Culture-centered studies how the media role plays a part in our society. Meaning-making is the way media helps us make sense of the world around us. There are two big studies part of this era is the study of symbols both verbal and non verbal is one of them. There are three types of symbols; personal for smaller groups like family, social is something in common with a society, and archtypal are symbols that can be used in different countries but mean the same thing. Additionally, in 1966 Peter Berger and Thomas Luckmann published a book titled, The Social Construction of Reality. In this book they described that humans co created shared meaning in cultural settings. These meanings are learned over time in three categories of socialization. Primary, occurs during the early part of childhood. Secondary is during the adolescent stage and you have your own beliefs. Reality Maintenance happens everyday with the act of communication for the rest of your life. Overall, the third era, Critical and Cultural theories is the best choice out of the four because it fits my research interest. This era has many theories to choose from that are focused on studying how media affects culture. Cultivation theory focused on heavy television viewers to see if their beliefs or attitudes would change towards the real world. My research will focus on the woman 's part in science fiction horror movies to see if their roles have changed. I am curious to see if heavy viewers of science fiction horror films see these changes and what their