Media | OCR A-Level Sociology (H580)
Media
- 52 questions
- 5 subtopics
- Component 01: Socialisation, culture and identity
- Component 01
Media is examined on component 01 of OCR Sociology, Socialisation, culture and identity.
It is one of the three Section B options on that paper, of which a student sits one. 52 recall questions across 5 subtopics.
Sample questions from Media
Answer each one closed book first, then open the answer.
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Representations of ethnicity and nationality, symbolic annihilation and the male gaze
How far are representations of minority ethnic groups said to be changing?
Show the answer
Minority ethnic actors and presenters now appear far more often in mainstream drama, soaps and news, but critics argue casting is frequently tokenistic and that crime and terrorism still dominate factual coverage. -
Representations of ethnicity and nationality, symbolic annihilation and the male gaze
How does press coverage of newer immigrant groups differ from coverage of long-established minority ethnic communities?
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Newer arrivals such as recent European migrants and asylum seekers are covered mainly as a question of numbers, borders and welfare cost, while established communities appear more often in ordinary domestic, comic and entertainment roles. -
Representations of gender, social class and young people
Describe the way the media typically represent the upper class.
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Sympathetically, as dignified, glamorous and naturally suited to leadership, through costume drama, society reporting and admiring coverage of royalty and inherited wealth. -
Representations of gender, social class and young people
How is the underclass presented in media coverage of welfare?
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It is shown as a workshy, criminally inclined group living on benefits with values different from mainstream society, echoing Murray's New Right claim that welfare itself has created such a group. -
Representations of older people and theories of media representation
How does the neo-Marxist explanation of representations differ from the traditional Marxist one?
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Neo-Marxists reject the idea that owners dictate content and argue instead that journalists' shared middle-class background and routine news practices reproduce dominant ideology unintentionally, winning consent through what Gramsci called hegemony. -
Representations of older people and theories of media representation
What do postmodernists mean by hyperreality in relation to media representation?
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Baudrillard argued that media images have become more vivid and compelling than the reality they supposedly depict, so representations no longer refer to any real group but circulate as signs in their own right. -
Direct and indirect media effects models
What is catharsis, and why does it undermine the direct-effects argument?
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Catharsis is the idea that watching violence allows aggressive feelings to be released harmlessly, which suggests media violence could reduce real aggression rather than cause it. -
Direct and indirect media effects models
What does the cultural effects model claim about how the media influence audiences?
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It argues influence is a slow drip-drip process in which repeated exposure to the same underlying assumptions gradually shapes what audiences take to be normal, natural and reasonable.
The 5 subtopics
One subtopic is one session. Work down the list.
| Subtopic | What it covers | Questions |
|---|---|---|
| Representations of ethnicity and nationality, symbolic annihilation and the male gaze | Recall questions on media representations of ethnicity, including van Dijk's news analysis and Hall's stereotypes of black people, changing representations of minority ethnic groups, Irish, Scottish, Welsh and English identity and newer immigrant groups, and Tuchman's symbolic annihilation and Mulvey's male gaze. | 8 |
| Representations of gender, social class and young people | Recall questions on changing media representations of femininity and masculinity, hegemonic masculinity, representations of the upper, middle and working class, Jones on the demonising of the working class, the underclass in welfare coverage and Marxist views of benefits television, and the two dominant representations of young people. | 9 |
| Representations of older people and theories of media representation | Recall questions on stereotypes of older people in the media and why they are changing, and Marxist, neo-Marxist, pluralist, liberal and radical feminist and postmodern explanations of media representations, including Baudrillard's hyperreality and consensus and conflict views of representations and social order. | 9 |
| Direct and indirect media effects models | Recall questions on direct-effects theories, the hypodermic syringe model and Bandura's Bobo doll experiment, desensitisation and catharsis, indirect effects and Katz and Lazarsfeld's two-step flow model, the neo-Marxist cultural effects model, Hall's three readings of a media text, and Gerbner's cultivation theory and mean world syndrome. | 13 |
| Active audience models, deviance amplification and moral panics | Recall questions on the active audience, Blumler and McQuail's uses and gratifications model, Klapper's selective filtering, deviance amplification, Cohen's moral panics and folk devils in his study of the Mods and Rockers, moral panics as self-fulfilling prophecies, Hall on the mugging panic, and McRobbie and Thornton's critique. | 13 |
How the guide is worked
Answering a question from memory stores it far better than reading the answer again. The guide runs that as a fixed procedure on one subtopic at a time, about twenty minutes a session.
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Step 1 · Closed book
Cover the answers. Work through one subtopic and write down what you can. Leave blanks where you have nothing.
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Step 2 · Open book
Go back to the top. Read each printed answer and write it out in full, including the ones you had right.
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Step 3 · Closed book again
Same questions, same order, from memory. The gap between pass one and pass three is the session result.
Read the full method, the return schedule and the research behind it.
Nearby topics
OCR A-Level Sociology Active Recall Guide
Every topic, not just this one. 859 questions with their answers.