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Main Points
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  • Functional analysis holds that something is best understood by examining how it is used.

  • At the macro level of analysis, mass media perform five functions for society: surveillance, interpretation, linkage, transmission of values, and diversion. Dysfunctions are harmful or negative consequences of these functions.

  • At the micro level of analysis, the functional approach is called uses-and-gratifications analysis.

  • The media perform the following functions for the individual: cognition, diversion, social utility, affiliation, expression, and withdrawal.

  • The critical/cultural approach has its roots in Marxist philosophy, which emphasized class differences as a cause of conflict in a society.

  • The critical/cultural approach suggests that media content helps perpetuate a system that keeps the dominant class in power. It also notes that people can find different meanings in the same message.

  • The key concepts in the critical approach are text, meaning, ideology, and hegemony.

  • Although they are different approaches, both functional and critical/cultural studies can be valuable tools for the analysis of the mass communication process.








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