Communication and Public Opinion
Code: 104797 ECTS Credits: 6| Degree | Type | Year |
|---|---|---|
| 2503868 Communication in Organisations | OT | 4 |
Contact
- Name:
- Mercedes Diez Jimenez
- Email:
- merce.diez@uab.cat
Teaching groups languages
You can view this information at the end of this document.
Prerequisites
Students are required to be aware of current political and social issues. A proactive, participatory attitude, an interest in the geopolitical context and a sensitivity to local social conflicts are also indispensable conditions.
Objectives and Contextualisation
- Identify political actors (in a broad sense of the concept) and civil society, and establish their relationships with the media.
- Analyze the contribution and influence of the media to democracy.
- Analyze the processes of public opinion creation.
Competences
- Apply specific research methodologies to formulate hypotheses, validate and verify ideas and concepts and interpret data on communication in organisations.
- Differentiate the principal theories on communication in organisations, which underpin knowledge of the discipline and its different branches.
- Students must be capable of communicating information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialised and non-specialised audiences.
Learning Outcomes
- Analyse the media's influence on public opinion.
- Apply research methods appropriate to the field of communication when doing coursework.
- Present a summary of the studies made, orally and in writing.
- Present the objectives of the course to all kinds of audiences.
Content
- Introduction.
- The 'demos', the state and the culture of solidarity as democratic conditions.
- Economic prosperity and the geopolitical context as facilitators.
- Electoral communication in campaigns.
- From totalitarian propaganda to coercive persuasion.
- New trends: parties as service organizations. Marketing, advertising and propaganda.
- Collective mobilization, from its origins to the Internet and Web 2.0.
- Critical studies 2.0, algorithms, big data and future perspectives.
The calendar will be available on the first day of class. Students will find all information on the Virtual Campus: the description of the activities, teaching materials, and any necessary information for the proper follow-up of the subject.
The gender perspective will be incorporated as an integrated part of the program.
Activities and Methodology
| Title | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type: Directed | |||
| Theory and classroom activities | 30 | 1.2 | 1, 3 |
| Type: Supervised | |||
| Seminars | 14 | 0.56 | 1, 3, 4 |
| Type: Autonomous | |||
| Personal study | 54 | 2.16 | 1, 2 |
The teaching will use a combination of teaching methods to promote student learning:
Directed activities
a) Lectures: in these sessions the lecturer will cover the basic concepts and notions of the subject and will allow students to discuss and reflect on the main content through active participation.
b) Seminar: work sessions focused on readings, oral activities or group presentations, individual work.
Supervised activities
a) Tutorial meetings: students will have acces to lecturer in the subject at certain times which may help to clear up any doubts that they may have about the subject
b) Evaluation sessions.
Autonomous activities
a) Self-organized work: reading texts and the search for information, writing individual work.
Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.
Assessment
Continous Assessment Activities
| Title | Weighting | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Individual written work | 30 % in the final grade | 26 | 1.04 | 1, 2, 4 |
| Participation in the classroom | 10% on the final grade | 8 | 0.32 | 2, 3 |
| Seminar | 20 % in the final grade | 14 | 0.56 | 1, 2, 3 |
| Synthesis exam | 40% on the final grade | 4 | 0.16 | 1, 3 |
To be able to pass the subject, it is necessary to obtain a minimun grade of 5 in synthesis exam.
The student will be entitled to the revaluation of the subject if he or she has been evaluated of the set of activities the weight of which equals a minimun of 2/3 of the total grade of the subject. To have acces to revaluation, the previous grades should equal or superior to 3.5. The activities that are excluded from the revaluation process are the individual written work, the classroom participation activities and the seminar.
Students of second enrolment: final evaluation
In the case of a second enrolment, students can do a single synthesis exam at the end of semester. The grading of the subject will correspond to the grade of the synthesis exam.
Unique assessment
The subject's unique assessment system is based on the following percentages:
- 40% Theory test. It must be approved (5 or more) to pass the subject (essential condition).
- 40% Individual oral presentation of three readings listed in seminar classes, to be determined by the teaching staff.
- 20% Delivery of an academic essay, under the same requirements as regular students.
A (40%) + B (40%) + C (20%) = 100% FINAL GRADE OF THE SUBJECT
Recovery: single assessment
- According to regulations, in order to participate in the recovery process, students must have previously been assessed for at least 2/3 of the subject's total assessable activities.
- The theoretical test can only be recovered if the student has obtained a grade lower than 4.9. It will consist of a written test to assess theoretical knowledge.
- Both the research essay and the oral presentation are not recoverable and the grade achieved on each paper (whether passed or not) will form part of the weighted average of the final grade.
Plagiarism
In the event that the studentperforms any irregularity that may lead to a significant variation of an evaluation act, this evaluation act will be graded with 0, regardless of the disciplinary process that could be instructed. In the event, that several irregularities occur in the evaluation acts of the same subject, the final grade for this subject will be 0.
Bibliography
Canel, María José. 2006. Comunicación política: Una guía para su estudio y práctica. Madrid: Tecnos.
Chadwick, Andrew. 2017. The Hybrid Media System: Politics and Power. 2nd ed. New York: Oxford University Press.
Curran, James. 2011. Media and Democracy. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge.
Donsbach, Wolfgang & Michael W. Traugott, eds. 2008. The Sage Handbook of Public Opinion Research. London-Thousand Oaks: Sage.
Esser, Frank & Jesper Strömbäck, eds. 2014. Meditatization of Politics: Understanding the Transformation of Western Democracies. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Gerbaudo, Paolo. 2019. The digital party: Political organisation and online democracy. Londres: Pluto Press.
Kriesi, Hanspeter; Lavenex, Sandra; Esser, Frank; Matthes, Jörg; Bühlmann, Marc & Bochsler, Daniel. 2013. Democracy in the Age of Globalization and Mediatization. Palgrave Macmillan.
Ortega, Felix. 2011. La política mediatizada. Madrid: Alianza Editorial.
Semetko, Holli & Margaret Scammell, eds. 2012. The SAGE Handbook of Political Communication. Londres: Sage Publications.
Street, John. 2001. Mass media, politics and democracy. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Software
Not required.
Language list
| Name | Group | Language | Semester | Turn |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (SEM) Seminars | 71 | English | second semester | afternoon |
| (TE) Theory | 7 | English | second semester | afternoon |