Lesson 4.2.7.6

4.2.7.6 The media, their content and audiences Quiz: AQA Sociology, Unit 2

20 questions

Written by Revision Ninja · Last reviewed 11 October 2026

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Lesson 4.2.7.6, The media, their content and audiences: 20 multiple choice questions for the AQA Sociology (7192), Unit 2: Topics in Sociology, written with Revision Ninja.

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The 20 questions

  1. In Stuart Hall's encoding/decoding model, what happens during a dominant reading?

    • Adapting the meaning
    • Accepting preferred meaning
    • Rejecting the message
    • Ignoring the content

  2. Which reading in Stuart Hall's model involves accepting the overall message but adapting specific elements?

    • Negotiated reading
    • Oppositional reading
    • Aberrant reading
    • Dominant reading

  3. David Morley's classic 1980 reception study analysed audience decodings of which television programme?

    • Newsnight
    • Panorama
    • Coronation Street
    • Nationwide

  4. What key assumption does the uses and gratifications model make about media audiences?

    • They are active
    • They are homogeneous
    • They are passive
    • They are manipulated

  5. Which model assumes media messages are directly injected into a passive audience with immediate effect?

    • Cultural effects model
    • Hypodermic syringe model
    • Reception analysis model
    • Two-step flow model

  6. Which famous experiment by Albert Bandura is cited in debates about media violence and imitation?

    • Stanford prison experiment
    • Milgram shock experiment
    • Bobo doll experiment
    • Robbers cave experiment

  7. Which approach, developed by George Gerbner, measures how heavy television viewing shapes perceptions of reality?

    • Semiotics
    • Cultivation analysis
    • Discourse analysis
    • Content analysis

  8. Which concept describes active media audiences creating their own content and fan communities?

    • Media imperialism
    • Participatory culture
    • Hyperreality
    • Cultural hegemony

  9. Which method involves systematically categorising and counting specific features within media texts?

    • Textual deconstruction
    • Semi-structured interview
    • Content analysis
    • Focus group discussion

  10. What is the primary focus of the effects debate in media sociology?

    • Broadcasting licence costs
    • Media ownership concentration
    • Audience behavioural impact
    • Press freedom regulation

  11. According to reception studies, what primarily shapes how an audience member decodes media content?

    • Television screen size
    • Commercial sponsorship
    • Social background
    • Broadcasting time slot

  12. What is the main methodological strength of using focus groups to study media audiences?

    • Guaranteeing complete objectivity
    • Observing participant interactions
    • Eliminating researcher bias
    • Ensuring statistical representativeness

  13. Which term describes creating media content tailored specifically to a particular demographic segment?

    • Media concentration
    • Vertical integration
    • Digital convergence
    • Audience targeting

  14. What term describes a large, diverse group receiving identical media messages at similar times?

    • Subculture
    • Niche audience
    • Mass audience
    • Target audience

  15. Which argument challenges the claim that media violence directly causes real-world anti-social behaviour?

    • Zero media influence
    • Inability to imitate
    • Catharsis effect only
    • Multiple social causes

  16. What is the main advantage of using a longitudinal study in media research?

    • High cost effectiveness
    • Eliminating researcher bias
    • Instant generalisability
    • Tracking long-term change

  17. What term describes audience members who both consume and produce media content?

    • Prosumers
    • Passive receivers
    • Opinion leaders
    • Cultural elites

  18. Which term describes media audiences splitting into smaller, distinct interest groups?

    • Hyper-reality
    • Audience fragmentation
    • Cultural imperialism
    • Agenda setting

  19. What is a key limitation of using audience self-reports in media research?

    • Social desirability bias
    • Hawthorne effect
    • High financial cost
    • Sampling frame error

  20. According to the two-step flow model, who directly influences media audiences?

    • Opinion leaders
    • Passive consumers
    • Hegemonic elites
    • Media moguls

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