Television Studies: An Overview (Discussion)

Mass-comm methods vs. television-studies 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.

Mass Comm Research	Television Studies
Group 2 Explain presumptions 1-3 of the MC method. Provide examples to illustrate your points. Group 1 Explain presumptions 4-6 of the MC method. Provide examples to illustrate your points.	Group 4 Explain point-by-point how the TS method differs from presumptions 1-3 of the MC method. Provide examples to illustrate your points. Group 3 Explain point-by-point how the TS method differs from presumptions 4-6 of the MC method. Provide examples to illustrate your points.

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

1. Explain what Vande Berg, Wenner and Gronbeck mean by internal consistency.

Group 2

1. Explain what Vande Berg, Wenner and Gronbeck mean by evidence.

Group 4

1. Explain what Vande Berg, Wenner and Gronbeck mean by cultural, critical, theoretical and practical significance.

Group 1

1. Explain what Vande Berg, Wenner and Gronbeck mean by reasonableness for a critical interpretation.

Bibliography

1. Butler, Jeremy G. Television: Critical Methods and Applications. Mahweh, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2007.
2. Robert C. Allen, Channels of Discourse, Reassembled, second edition (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1992).

External links

• Chapter 13 illustrations