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The Social Perspective in the Study of Mass Media Audience
Mohamed Abdul Hamid Ahmed
Assistant Professor, Department of Mass Communication, Faculty of Arts and Humanities,
King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah.
ABSTRACT
The present research discusses the social perspective in the study of mass media audience as one of the basic and major approaches to the study of that audience and exploring its social traits, its motives and needs.
The research falls into three chapters. Chapter I deals with the impor- tance of studying the social traits of the mass media audience; such traits which have been created by the contemporary conditions of mass communi- cation starting with the change of concepts until it finally ends with the reali- zation of the research objectives in revealing and exploring that audience for the purposes of planning and evaluation.Italso deals with the effects as well as the various ways used by the researcher in studying these traits in order to realize the research objectives.
Chapter II discusses the most important social traits related to designing the mass communication message and the choice of its symbols which the researcher studies in detail as it constitutes a correct entry towards persua- sion and realization of effect and consequently the scientific explanation of the nature of the relation that reveals the tendencies of preference as well as satisfaction and gratification.
ChapterIIIconcentrates on the most important motives and needs of the audience members when exposed to mass media and their content. The realization of such motives and needs is considered a measure of the audi- ence's satisfaction with the mass media and the items or subjects they offer.
In conclusion the researcher recommends and emphasises the need for making use of the social perspective in the study of the audience in an integ- ral framework with the study of the general or the demographic traits of the audience in order to precisely determine and recognize the mass media au-
dience which will eventually constitute a correct and scientific approachto the planning, evaluation and scientific explanation of the communicative behaviour toward the mass media.
