Media Effects Research: A Basic Overview

Sparks (2009) on media is an excellent author to recount what has been said in New Media. Sparks just published a book that I just got. I am 100% thumbed through and am almost 50% read word by word. Sparks established in his text the foundation of any science (prediction, explanation, understanding, control) as a necessary background to study the effects of media; then Sparks spent the bulk of the text on explaining the scientifically studied effects (e.g., violence, sexual, emotions, persuasion). He indicated that his effort is dedicated to being scientific and still Sparks has to make room for McLuhan who was too correct to be ignored, regardless of being just a thinker and not a scientist. Sparks's text Media Effects Research: A Basic Overview was divided into * 10% scientific approach * 80% science about media (methods, history, topics) * 10% McLuhan as a guru and ideas that we cannot afford to ignore Sparks (2009) is the missing piece of my puzzle, because he puts the entire media scene in perspective from the research point of view. Additionally, this text has recent references on every single topic pointing to the research or the academic groups behind the research.

This is a good book on media effects. It is easy to read and gives a good general background on the subject. It is appropriate as an undergraduate text.