sociology of mass communications

sociology of mass communications

the subfield of sociology concerned with the study of the MASS MEDIA OF COMMUNICATIONS. In practice it has involved people from a variety of disciplines, bringing a multiplicity of theoretical perspectives. The central theoretical problem is the conceptualization of the relationship between the mass media and society and this has been undertaken through research into mass communication and power and influence, and the study of the mass media as institutions, the occupational cultures and practices of media workers, the audiences for mass communications, and the role of the mass media in the overall reproduction of culture. Three general perspectives have guided study: the first has been informed especially by SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, and has focused on the processes and effects of mass communications (e.g. see ADVERTISING); the second, has focused on mass communications institutions as ORGANIZATIONS and their broad social context; the third has been influenced by the structuralist perspective developed in the 1960s in which the focus is upon analysis of the messages, images and meanings conveyed by the mass media (see SEMIOLOGY).