ANT 002 UCDAVIS Media and Culture Discussion I want you to review my writing and make some conclusion and help me write the fieldwork results 1 YIFU ZHANG

ANT 002 UCDAVIS Media and Culture Discussion I want you to review my writing and make some conclusion and help me write the fieldwork results 1
YIFU ZHANG
915305515
ANT002 WQ2020
Thiago Braga
Media: How one’s culture or one’s cultural background shapes people’s
experience, understanding, and perception of Media
Media has become a major factor that influences life. According to Appadurai
(2000), globalization has made everyone at some point of life interacts with the media
either directly or indirectly. Media conveys information to the public, shaping the way
people perceive issues around their environment. The influence of the media is largely
affected by the culture and cultural background of its audience. The culture and cultural
background of a person affects the way an individual would perceive the media and
information that was conveyed through it. Almost all societies are exposed to some form
of media whether free media or regulated media. As a result, it becomes important to
establish the connection between the cultural background of people and the way it
affects the way they perceive the media. A deeper understanding of one’s cultural
background and its connection with the perception of the media is an important aspect
that drives the way the media engages a community. The media has a focus on making
a difference to the target audience. However, this impact is largely dependent on the
way the media would craft its messages and information to fit with the culture and
cultural background of the target community. It is in this regard that culture remains to
be a stronger force that influences the way the media engages with its audience. The
focus here would be to analyze how culture and one’s cultural background has a
significant impact on the perception they develop towards the media and media
communications.
Media and Culture
Two things that I find interesting about this topic on media and culture is how
media influences both the people who follow the media source and those who don’t,
and how media confidence and culture affect human decisions. First, I find it interesting
to learn about how media targeting a particular audience affects people who follow the
media source and those who don’t. It is interesting to learn about how powerful media is
in the context that its influence is not limited to the people who follow it. Learning about
how the media as a communication tool advances certain agenda that catches up with
people of a particular culture is quite interesting. For instance, a fashion magazine for
black women targeting to show the latest hair designs may get to influence the
consumers who purchase the magazine. Those who purchase the magazine and read it
would be influenced to take on the design that looks good and may embrace it in the
way they fashion their hair. Whereas this is a direct influence, the media would have an
indirect influence on the other women who would look at the design and embrace it as
well. The latter case reveals that media has a significant impact not only on those who
follow but also for the many people who would copy some of the items that have been
shared by the source (Robben and Sluka, 2012). In essence, the media source become
a major influence on the decisions that are made by many of the people beyond their
target population.
Secondly, I find it interesting to learn about the changing role of the media in
liberal societies. In liberal American societies, people have reservations on particular
media sources as compared to others. A good example is a case in the US, where
certain media sources have been profiled by the republicans or democrats as fake. The
confidence of the audience on the different media sources has affected the way they
interpret the messages that are communicated. I have had a keen interest to know why
a particular media source would attract higher confidence of a particular audience in a
cultural setting as compared to another group of people in the same setting. The
perceptions developed on media and media communications would affect the way an
audience would act on the message that communicated. It is interesting to learn how
the development of a culture of hate towards a particular agenda such as the war
against gay, could influence the perception that people would have on the media
source. In this regard, media sources championing agenda s that are perceived as antigay may face negative perception among the liberals who may feel that the media
source is discriminative. In a culture where cultural biases influence the types of media
sources we approve as legit, different media sources attract different levels of
confidence and influence among different communities.
Interesting Items
The items that interest me is the agenda-setting model of the media. I find it
interesting to learn about how the media is said to develop and champion their issues of
concern as opposed to public views. I found it interesting to learn about how the media
issues tend to become the items that the public debates, talk about, analyze, and
demands action on. It is interesting to learn about the way the media has become a tool
that shapes issues discussed in the public domain as opposed to the society being the
one feeds into the media. The recent past has seen an increased role of the media in
influencing the major issues that are discussed in the public domain. Today, most of the
issues that are debated, analyzed, discussed and shared in the public space are
influenced by the media. The media has become a source of information that feeds its
agenda into the public space. Most of the heated items that demand action often are
drawn from the media. It is interesting to learn that the media is a powerful tool that
shapes the items that become a priority in the wider society. In the normal case, one
would expect that it would be the society that would influence the media discourse.
However, the evolution of the media has increasingly brought into public limelight the
increasing influence of the media in championing its agenda. The media has become a
powerful tool that is determining issues and stories that the public would give priority. As
a result, the failure of the media to cover particular items could lead the issue to be
marginalized.
It is on this background that people living in liberal culture often would critique
particular media sources claiming that some sources champion particular agenda over
others. It is interesting to learn about the discourse of the items such as smoking in the
American culture. Smoking for a long time in the USA has been considered as a
personal health issue where one had the liberty to choose to smoke or avoid smoking.
The media avoided taking on the anti-smoking stance as a result of the view that it was
a personal health issue to be addressed by the decisions of the smoker. This trend has
changed in the recent past in American culture, which has increasingly championed
against smoking. The modern media in the American culture has increasingly adopted
the anti-smoking stance as compared to the period before the mass media began to
champion the anti-smoking agenda (Sobo, 2009). Smoking today is no longer a
personal health issue as it were. Instead, it is a public health issue as a result of the
intense campaign against it in modern American culture. The modern culture is
characterized by increased attention to public health and safety. Americans today know
more about secondary smoking and other environmental factors that influence their
health. The latter happened as a result of the efforts of the media to champion change
in the understanding of health and wellness.
How I could investigate the answers in #1 and #2 with anthropological methods
I could investigate the responses in #1 and #2 using either (i) participant
observation or (ii) in-depth interview anthropological methods. The first option that I
could employ is that of participant observation. It is critical to note that Participant
observation is the ideal fieldwork method in anthropology by the fact that the information
collected is weighty. Through selecting the participants and ways to make observations,
it becomes possible to collect accurate data that could be backed up (McKenzie R. &
Mohsini, 2010). Through taking on the participant observation method, it becomes
possible for the researcher to interact with the participants leading to the collection of
true, verifiable and valid research outcomes. Taking on the participant observation
method allows the researcher to collect firsthand information that could be verifiable.
Besides, it allows the researcher to deeply understand the culture and cultural setting of
the people (Bernard, 2011). The outcome would be the collection of strong evidence
that could support the conclusions that are made.
The Most appropriate ethnographic method for this paper
The other technique that I could employ is the use of an in-depth interview
method. The use of in-depth interviews allows for the participants to engage in a
structured form of research where participants would answer the questions of the
interviewer. Indeed, this is the most appropriate ethnographic method for this paper
because the topic could be easily addressed by crafting the appropriate questions to be
included in the interview (Skinner, 2012). The interview method is also appropriate for it
guides on the specific questions that would need to be addressed (Crabtree & Miller,
2010). Also, this method keeps the research process objective. Through a qualitative
approach that uses face-to-face interviews, detailed information addressing the
research problem would be effectively collected. Research objectivity is a critical
component to the effectiveness of research projects. I would take on the interview
technique for collection of data from the respondents as a way to ensure that the
information collected is relevant and useful in the process of making the project a
success. The interview method will also involve collecting data through following the
outlined question format guide, which would be used to regulate the process of
collecting the data. The latter would allow for the interview questions and process to
keep within the scope of the research. Ultimately, this approach would allow the
research process to collect relevant information that would lead to the realization of the
research objectives.
How I use Interview Method to do the fieldwork
The chosen ethnographic method for this paper is the interview. The interview
method would be used to collect data on the way the liberal American culture has
affected the perceptions that many Americans have on the media. In a liberal culture,
people often drift from conventions. For instance, Linton (1937) writes that even foods
are linked to culture. For instance, the American culture of breakfast is coffee; orange is
a fruit appreciated in the Mediterranean region, or grape, so common among people
Asia Minor. For this study, I selected five young Americans below the age of 20 years
living in San Francisco for the interview. Through the random selection of the people
who are liberal, it would be possible to collect the data on their thoughts about the
media and the influence that it has on them and the wider society. These participants
would also help greatly in providing information with regard to the way the media has
continued to expedite its agenda on the people. These people will address the following
questions:
Q1. Which types of media sources do you have confidence in as true and reputable?
Q2. How have these media sources influenced your perceptions of economics and
politics?
Q3. How has your cultural background as a liberal American influenced your perception
of your favorite media sources?
References
Appadurai, A. (2000). Cultural Dimensions of Globalization, public Worlds, 1 (2), pp. 2747.
Bernard, R. (2011). Research methods in anthropology: qualitative and quantitative
approaches. 5th ed.Lanham, MD: Altamira Press.
Crabtree B. & Miller W. (2010). Doing qualitative research. NewYork: Thousand Oaks,
CA: SAGE.
Kuper A. (2008). Critically appraising qualitative research. BMJ 337 (2), pp. 687–9.
Linton, R. (1937). “One Hundred Per-Cent American,” American Mercury 40 (1), pp.
427-29.
McKenzie R. & Mohsini M. (2010). Rethinking research methods, Anthropology Matters
Journal, 12(1), pp. 34-67.
Robben, M. and Sluka, J. (2012). Ethnographic Fieldwork: An Anthropological Reader,
Second Edition. Oxford: John Wiley & Sons.
Sobo EJ. (2009). Culture and meaning in health services research: a practical field
guide. Walnut Creek, CA: Left Coast Press.
Skinner, J. (2012). The Interview: An Ethnographic Approach. London: Berg

Purchase answer to see full
attachment