Tutorial Week 3

Question 1:

List the 4 non-scientific sources of knowledge as introduced in Lecture 1, giving 2 examples for each of these methods of knowing.

1) Agreement reality- Brushing your teeth before going to bed, Stealing is a bad thing to do.

2) Experiential reality- Hunger when breakfast is not eaten, Pain when you fall down from the stairs.

3) Tradition- Chopsticks must not be stuck into rice in a bowl, Cannot wear black during Chinese new year.

4) Authority- Diet coke mixed with Mentos mint would cause a small explosion from scientist, A ping pong ball will return to its original state if put in hot water from a science teacher.

Question 2:

One of the foundation of social science inquiry states that social science researchers are interested in groups, aggregates or collections, but not in individuals. What kind of groups can you think of that mass media researchers would be interested in when conducting their research? What kind of topics do you think mass media researchers would be interested to research on with these groups?

The first group that mass media researchers would be interested in when conducting their research is teenagers. Teenagers are the main users of mass media, therefore this group is highly considered while conducting research. Mass media is a medium that easily influences teenagers and their way of thinking because of the high exposure of content in their daily lives.

Teenagers love following the trends. The first topic that is the most important is fashion. Many teenagers idolize their favourite celebrities to the extent where they would dress and style themselves to look like them. Teenagers are also into small businesses nowadays. Many young teens have the ability to get suppliers and sell various items, such as clothes, accessories, and sometimes even electronic devices. Many of them use social media platforms like Instagram and blogs to set up their stores.

The second group would be the ethnic groups of Malaysia, which are Malays, Chinese and Indians. The mass nowadays are aiming towards a solidarity country. This is why we can see many advertisements and commercials based on the unity concept. The mass media aims to build a harmonious bond between races and religion of different kinds. The mass loves to research on special occasions, such as Hari Raya, Chinese New Year, Deepavali and so on. This is because the media plans to encourage the citizens to be more thoughtful and respectful towards the different cultures in Malaysia.

The third group that we could think of is the gender aspects. Mass media researchers would be interested in this particular group because they are considered a dominant in the social world, whereas the female species are considered innocent. The topic they would be interested to research on is whether it is true that the male species gravitate more towards jobs like medicine, engineering rather than pursuing social science career. Other than that, the next topic would be the gender of the criminals causing crime. Many believe that males are the mastermind behind crimes, but in reality, more and more women are causing crimes as well. So are females still considered pure and innocent as opposed to the days before?

Question 3:
Define variables and their attributes.

Give four (4) possible attributes for each of the following variables:
i. Racial group
ii. Education level
iii. Number of magazines a teenager buy in a month
iv. Agreement/Attitude towards violence on TV
v. Types of Smartphones in the market today



Variables
- Things of concept and idea
- Logical groupings of attributes

Variable: Racial group
Attributes: Chinese, Malay, Indian, Kadazan

Variable: Education level
Attributes: primary, secondary, kindergarten, University

Variables: Number of magazines a teenager buy in a month
Attributes: 10, A dozen, 1, 5
Variables: Agreement/Attitude towards violence on TV
Attributes: Strongly agree, disagree, support, do not support

Variables: Type of Smartphone in the market today
Attributes: wireless charging, slim design, touchscreen, speed charging