Communication Content and Knowledge Content Matters: Integrating Manipulation and Observation in Studying News and Discussion Learning Effects

Abstract

The present study reviews problems in the political learning literature, including ambiguous causality and a lack of specificity in linking communication content to learning outcomes. As a partial solution, our study of media and discussion influence incorporates both manipulated and observed aspects of mass and interpersonal communication. Results indicate that beyond (and often more important than) experimental manipulations, selection processes in news use and variations in the content of political discussions within exposure conditions matter for political knowledge. However, findings vary in predictable ways depending on the form of knowledge-overall factual knowledge, issue-specific knowledge, or knowledge structure density. These results suggest that the process of political learning via communication is more complex than it is often treated empirically.Keywords: Political Conversation, Deliberation, Political Knowledge, Structural Knowledge, News Use, Diversity, Talk. doi:10.1111/jcom.12138 Given that individuals' direct experience with major political events and policy debates are rather limited, researchers have assumed that news media use is a primary source of political information. Therefore, political communication scholars have devoted substantial research to confirm a positive relationship between news exposure and political knowledge. And very early in the history of research on political communication, studies demonstrated that personal interactions may also be relevant channels of political information. Reviews of the research suggest that news use and political discussion are important predictors of political knowledgeCorresponding author: William P. Eveland; e-mail: eveland.6@osu.edu (see Eveland & Garrett, 2014;Schmitt-Beck & Lup, 2013), and that they should be considered to work in tandem in many cases (Southwell & Yzer, 2007).Despite the valuable insights provided by prior scholarship on the effects of news use and political discussion on political knowledge, much of the research suffers from multiple limitations related to design and measurement (see Slater, 2004;Southwell & Yzer, 2007). We begin by reviewing the evidence on communication's relationship with political knowledge, paying particular attention to the methodological limitations of typical political knowledge studies. We then introduce this study, whose design addresses some of the problems with prior research by employing experimental manipulations of news exposure and public affairs discussion in small group settings in which some members have, and some have not, had exposure to relevant news prior to discussion. Just as importantly, the study goes beyond standard experimental and survey procedures by incorporating detailed observational data-content analysis of face-to-face conversation transcripts and computer tracking of online news use-to provide a more precise understanding of the specific aspects of news use and discussion that produce both content and structural aspects of public affairs knowledge. Thus, as advoca...

News Media, Knowledge, and Political Interest: Evidence of a Dual Role From a Field Experiment

“…Such an indirect “pathway to political participation” through internal political efficacy may thus also be extrapolated from our study when looking at knowledge, where knowledge both drives media selection and is positively affected by this choice, thus increasing the likelihood of, and motivation for, future selection of information‐rich sources (see also Elenbaas et al, ). This also corroborates findings by Eveland and Schmitt (), who show the positive effects of substantive news exposure on knowledge gain.…”

Learning From News on Different Media Platforms: An Eye-Tracking Experiment

“…However, importantly, we revealed that it does so only for specific articles that citizens seem to be interested in. This is in line with Eveland and Schmitt (2015), who argue that "it is not just simply reading the news, but how many stories one reads and in what topic domains that make a difference for learning" (p. 13). By using eye-movement data, we confirm their findings, and we find that selective reading leads to selective learning.…”

“…Similarly, reading printed newspapers leads to an increase in awareness of public events and issues (Schoenbach, De Waal, & Lauf, 2005). This is simply based on the idea that people learn more from news when they read many different stories (Eveland & Schmitt, 2015). In other words, if citizens are more selective in their news exposure, they will also be selective in what they learn about politically and societally important issues (Iyengar, 1990).…”

“…We argue that, to extrapolate the true impact of a modality difference between printed and website news consumption, irrespective of differences in content, it is important that research focuses on providing a more in-depth look into the psychological processes that enable (or disable) learning from different platforms in the first place (Eveland, 2001;Eveland & Schmitt, 2015). For instance, studies have shown that news websites lead to rapid and shallow reading, while printed newspapers encourage effortful learning (Ackerman & Goldsmith, 2011;Mangen, Walgermo, & Brønnick, 2013).…”

“…It merely leads to more specific knowledge, while less selective attention contributes to more general knowledge about societal and political issues. In addition, using eye-movement data, we could objectively measure selective attention processes and link this to specific knowledge questions, making the analyses and results much more powerful (as suggested by Eveland & Schmitt, 2015).…”