大众传播效果研究的历史考察

【作者】 周葆华；

【导师】 张国良；

【作者基本信息】 复旦大学 ， 传播学， 2005， 博士

【摘要】 本研究是关于大众传播效果研究的历史考察。本文定义的“大众传播效果研究”是大众传播研究中一个具有独特取向的领域,其特征是:着重考察受众,试图确认各种影响,力图将这些影响追溯到大众媒介的某个相面,并采取实证科学的方法和语言,以检验理论的假设。效果研究目前在国际传播学界居于“核心”地位,体现出“主流范式”应有的繁荣;但同时它也面临着来自内部的危机和外部的挑战,这使得对效果研究历史的考察深具现实的迫切性。 有关大众传播效果研究历史的“强—弱—强”模式从效果呈现的强度上对之进行了疏理,并具有广泛的影响力,但这一线索的弱点是表面化,且不完全符合效果研究的历史事实。在比较的基础上,本研究选择对“受众”的理解和认识作为大众传播效果研究历史书写的线索,这不仅因为这一视角可以解释效果之强弱,而且从本质上讲,效果研究处理的正是社会中的“人”与作为社会建制的大众媒介之间的互动关系。 按照这样的思路,本文在阅读一手文献的基础上,将效果研究大体按照五个阶段来叙述:第一个阶段从芝加哥学派关于传播和大众媒介的思想讲起,叙说如何从其“传播为人类关系之本质”的思想过渡到了第一个大众传播效果研究——佩恩基金会研究,这一研究开始将受众作为孤立的个体看待,考察媒介对其认知、态度、行为等各方面的影响;第二个阶段的效果研究聚焦受众的态度与行为,考察劝服信息试图改变受众的目的是否实现,并认识到受众所具有的个人差异,以及因“预存立场”形成的选择性接触、理解与记忆;第三个阶段是哥伦比亚学派的学者们引入了人际关系和社会结构的因素,考察受众所受的人际影响和结构性制约如何与媒介效果发生互动;第四个阶段强调受众所具有的主动选择信息、使用信息、处理信息和讨论信息等积极行为对大众传播效果的影响;第五个阶段着重考察受众的认知效果,这一阶段就认知的序列、图景和差异产生了一系列重要理论(假设),成为当前效果研究的热点所在,但对这些理论的反复检验和发展遮蔽了对于受众认识视角的进一步推进。需要指出的是,这五个阶段不存在彼此替代的关系,每一阶段积累的对于受众的理解和认识实际上都融入了后来的效果研究之中。 大众传播在“宏大理论”层面上受着带有批判色彩的结构功能主义思想的指导,并遵循着建构“中层理论”的研究模式。大众传播效果研究虽然不对效果进行直接的价值判断,但效果研究者应当秉持对于民主观念的基本承诺,这也是效果研究的基本价值取向和制约情境。 最后,本文还对效果研究的未来发展、中国效果研究的开展、及建立对于受众/人的理解认识基础之上的更为宽广的效果思潮史等问题提出了自己的思考与建议。更多还原

【Abstract】 This study is focused on the intellectual history of the research of effects of mass communication. "Research of effects of mass communication", as defined in this paper, is a unique approach in the field of communication studies. It holds major common characteristics including primary focus on audiences, specification of influence, attribution of the source of influence or effect to a particular aspect, and a tendency to formulate propositions about effects in ways accessible to empirical testing. It is now called "dominant paradigm" in the field of mass communication, while it is criticized by critical studies and cultural studies.There is a received history about media effects research, which is known as the model of "powerful-limited-powerful" effects. This well-known model is easy to understand, while it does not reflect the actual development of effects research in deed. In this study, we will supply a "new" intellectual history with the "new" aspect about how the researchers understand and perceive "audiences" during their studies.On the basis of first-hand literatures, we divide the history of mass communication effects research into five stages: the first stage refers to the first mass communication effects research—Pane Fund Studies, which treat the "audience" as "isolated" and examine how movies influence knowledge, attitude and behavior of young people; communication studies in the second stage are focused on the media effects on the audiences’ attitude and behavior, which mean to examine whether the persuasive goal from the communicator will be achieved, then researchers find important variables including personal differences, and selective exposure, perception and retention as results of "predisposition"; in the third stage, scholars from Columbia School introduce the variables of personal influence and social structure into media effects research and look for their interaction with media effects; the "audience activity" such as "information selection", "information utilization", "information processing" and "discussing" are the key variables in the fourth stage; and in the last and recent stage, researchers focus on cognitive effects of mass communication. They propose a series of theories or hypotheses on issues significance (e.g. agenda-setting), image of the world outside (e.g. cultivation; framing) and knowledge gap, which are the most cited theories in recent effects studies. We do not mean that the ideas on "audiences" in every stage replace its former. On the contrary, all ideas on "audiences" will be integrated into the recent effects research of mass communication.Effects of mass communication approach sees "structural functionalism" as its "grand theory" and follows Merton’s suggestion about building "middle-range theories". It makes commitment to democracy as foundational value behind empirical studies.Finally, we discuss the issues of the future of media effects research, effects research in China and the study on the intellectual history of media effects thoughts, which means not limited in the field of empirical media effects research.更多还原