Professor David Gauntlett -- Answers to typical student questions

Hello student!

I get a few emails from students every day - students outside my own university, I mean - asking for resources, responses to questions, or "please send me all the information you have about [something]".

Because it is unfortunately not possible to respond to these emails and to keep up with my other work and duties, I have put together this webpage to point you in the direction of resources that I provide online which should, hopefully, be helpful to you.

Quite a few students want to have direct email interviews, but if I point you towards the material I have already written about a subject, that is surely better. In an email interview I would only be able to bash out quick replies; referring you to published (offline or online) material is surely better, because I am able to make an argument carefully and in more detail.

Here are the areas I am most often asked about…

Media effects; violence in the media

My main arguments about the 'media effects' studies (in particular the ones which claim to have identified a connection between screen violence and subsequent real-life behaviour) are summarised in the article Ten things wrong with the media 'effects' model.

The studies themselves are discussed in the book Moving Experiences: Understanding Television's Influences and Effects (1995), and its second edition Moving Experiences: Media Effects and Beyond (2005). The second edition also discusses new kinds of studies which go beyond the old 'effects' model.

Construction of (gender) identity in relation to the media (including men's magazines and women's magazines)

This is discussed in full in the book Media, Gender and Identity: An Introduction (2002) and if you look at the book's website there are several extra features including articles and interviews. Other material about this appears at Theory.org.uk resources, in particular in the role models and identity sections.

Gender representations in the media; women's and men's magazines

I don't believe that 'experts' can have the final word about representations, since representations are only meaningful when processed in the minds of individual audience members. However I've written about a range of gender representations, and those in men's and women's magazines in particular, in Media, Gender and Identity: An Introduction. See also the extra features on the website and the material at Theory.org.uk resources.

New creative research methods

As an interesting way of exploring media influences, I suggest the new creative methods discussed at the ArtLab website.

Other info

See David Gauntlett main page for a range of resources; and Theory.org.uk. Also the Wikipedia entry on DG contains some useful links.

Links to information produced by others

See the Theory.org.uk directory - but sorry if some of the links don't work, that's what happens on the internet. As you will know, Google is excellent for searching for information; but you should also see the excellent Wikipedia.