Television Studies: An Overview (Discussion)
Empirical methods vs. critical methods
To understand the difference between empirical and critical methods, we need to look at their basic principles and presumptions. The class will be divided into empiricists and critical-study theorists for this first exercise.
Empircists | Critical-Studies Theorists |
Group 2 Group 1 |
Group 4 Group 3 |
Criteria for evaluating critical work
All groups will discuss Vande Berg, Wenner and Gronbeck's criteria for evaluating critical work--looking at one specific criterion.
Group 3
- Explain what Vande Berg, Wenner and Gronbeck mean by internal consistency.
Group 2
- Explain what Vande Berg, Wenner and Gronbeck mean by evidence.
Group 4
- Explain what Vande Berg, Wenner and Gronbeck mean by cultural, critical, theoretical and practical significance.
Group 1
- Explain what Vande Berg, Wenner and Gronbeck mean by reasonableness for a critical interpretation.
Bibliography
- Butler, Jeremy G. Television: Critical Methods and Applications. Mahweh, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2007.
- Robert C. Allen, Channels of Discourse, Reassembled, second edition (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1992).