| Budget Amount *help |
¥3,700,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,700,000)
Fiscal Year 2001: ¥600,000 (Direct Cost: ¥600,000)
Fiscal Year 2000: ¥3,100,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,100,000)
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| Research Abstract |
Purpose of the study. Our study aims to explore the question of how mass media interact with public opinions in terms of the framing effect hypothesis stating that the way the news media frame a public issue influences the way the audience members understand the same issue. Based on the problematic situation scheme advocated by communication researchers, A. Edelstein, Y. Ito, and H. M. Kepplinger, we constructed the frame model that is composed of seven problematic situation (PS) categories and is applicable across many issues and situations.
Methods. The main theme of the study was the "troubled economy" in Japan. We conducted the survey of proportionally selected Tokyo residents with ages ranging from 20 to 69 in May 2001, and examined the extent to which the respondents regard each of the PS frames as important when they consider the troubled economy. We also ran the content analysis of economic news stories appearing in the front pages of two major national dailies, the Asahi and the Yomiuri, for one-year period prior to the survey.
Results. The content analysis revealed that the institutional breakdown frame was the most frequently used context in which Japanese economic problems were depicted in the press. On the other hand, we found in the survey that the more attention the respondents pay to economic coverage in the press, the more they tend to consider the breakdown frame as important, even after controlling for gender, age, and party support. These findings lend support to the media framing hypothesis. We also discussed the relationship between framing effects and attribute agenda setting effects -- a closely related concept of framing -- and presented some findings in support of the latter hypothesis as well.
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