Category: Theories

Leon Festinger

Barney Glaser Anselm Strauss

Everett Rogers

Hypodermic Needle / Magic Bullet Theory Propaganda Theory

Strengths Focuses attention on the environment in which effects can and can’t occur Stresses importance of opinion leaders in formation of public opinion Is based on inductive rather than deductive reasoning Effectively challenges simplistic notions of direct effects Weaknesses Is limited to its time (1940s) and media environment (no television) Uses reported behavior (voting) as only test of media effects Downplays reinforcement as an important media effect Uses survey methods that underestimate media impact Later research demonstrates a multistep flow of influence Mass Communication Theory: Foundations, Ferment, and Future, Sixth Edition Stanley J. Baran and Dennis K. Davis Paul Lazarsfeld Elihu Katz Opinion Leader

Reception Theory Framing Theory Uses and Gratification Information Processing Theory Postmodernist Theory