Paul Lazarsfeld
Biography
Paul Felix Lazarsfeld (1901-1976) was one of the major figures in twentieth century American sociology. Lazarsfeld was born in Vienna Austria, where he attended school, eventually receiving a doctorate in mathematics (his doctoral dissertation dealt with mathematical aspects of Einstein's gravitational theory). In the 1920s, he moved in the same circles as the Vienna Circle of philosophers, including Otto Neurath and Rudolf Carnap. He came to sociology through his expertise in mathematics and quantitative methods, participating in several early quantitative studies, including what was possibly the first scientific survey of radio listeners, in 1930-1931.
Lazarsfeld immigrated to America shortly thereafter, securing an appointment at the University of Newark. While at Newark, Lazarsfeld was appointed head of the mass media communication project in 1940. In 1941, he was appointed professor in the department of sociology at Columbia where, together with Robert K. Merton, he founded the famed Bureau for Applied Social Research. He stayed there till his death in 1976.
Lazarsfeld’s impact on applied social sciences
Study of media influence on people
This projected originated in 1940, commissioned by Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s staff when he decided to run for a third presidential term. Paul Lazarsfeld headed a group of researchers trying to find out just how much influence the mass media exerted during presidential elections.
They examined the media's role in the election between the Democratic incumbent, Roosevelt, and Republican challenger, Wendell Willkie. To gather their data, they set up an extensive study in Erie County, Ohio.
The study yielded startling results indicating that neither radio nor print had as much influence on voters as had been suspected. The researchers found that most of the people questioned relied more on other people for the information they used to make their voting decisions (Lazarsfeld et al. 1968, p.148). These “other people”, individuals who were relied on for information, were called by Lazarsfeld "opinion leaders" (ibid. 151).
Further analysis revealed that the opinion leaders were better informed than the average person and that, in general, they tended to read more newspapers and magazines, and listened to more radio news and commentary than average. As a result of his findings, Lazarsfeld developed the "two-step flow theory" of communication.
Theory of the two-step flow and its detractors
In general, Lazarsfeld's theory, published in Personal Influence in 1955, stated that the process of communication from mass media is received in the first place by opinion leaders, the people who directly receive the message, and then these people transmit the message in an interpersonal way to less active members of the society. In other words: (1) the mass media influences certain individuals and (2) these individuals personally influence others.
Because every person in a random sample can only speak for himself, opinion leaders in the 1940 voting study had to be located by self designation, that is, on the basis of their own answers. In effect, respondents were asked whether or not they were opinion leaders.
Beyond the inherent problem of validity, it was almost impossible to ascertain a meaningful result with this subjective approach. Any answer to the question "do you consider yourself a leader?" contains a role-status conflict.
This systematic error was an important factor in the quality of the theory, and was a constant feature even in the studies that were developed after the two-step theory. Incongruence in the definition of opinion leader and its specific role notwithstanding, Katz and Lazarsfeld's study is still in use, albeit using improved techniques.
The informants' rating method
Instead of using a random sample from the universe of the this system uses key members of the group previously identified in order to have their point of view about who in the community is more influential in terms of opinion leadership. Even though this method is highly accurate and economic, it has the inconvenience that it is necessary to design a previous database in order to choose the "key informants". Therefore, it is only suitable for relatively small groups.
The Self designating method
This kind of study is based on the original dichotomy-style method used by Lazarsfeld in which the respondent has to classify himself as an opinion leader or a follower. The two questions used by Lazarsfeld in his study were:
”... Have you recently tried to convince anyone of your political ideas?..." and
"...Has anyone recently asked you for your advice on a political question?...”
Black-and-white alternatives
The dichotomy epitomizes Lazarsfeld's claim that
".…the presentation of simple alternatives is one of the chief functions of the crusade….…Public issues must be defined in simple alternatives, in terms of black and white…" he claims, "….to permit organized public action.…." ( Lazarsfeld 1975, p. 563 ).
It worked well during the WWI and WWII presumably because in case of real war, it is: "us" or "them" ( and the second alternative is virtually unthinkable ).
The Cold War ( Korea, Vietnam ) was different. Nobody in the America saw the real "battlefield" , nor can actually comprehend what is at stake ( with, perhaps, the exception of the Soviet missiles being shipped to Cuba in 1962 ). The behavioralists kept producing categorically specialized ( and thus necessarily conflicting ) “expert axioms” about the “enemy” presumed thinking, ideals, and expectations, without any actual information, let alone research.
That’s where the government got into the muddled waters and a lot of grey ( apart from black and white) noise appeared even in the official sources.
In the post-terrorist era — i. e. after the World Trade Twin-Towers annihilation — as is the case of both Iraq conflicts, the ( American ) public and academe learned the first-hand lesson and mostly returned to the two "Lazarsfeld black-and-white alternatives", to wit: support the administration and its policies — geared to the American internal security which, in the polarized North-South socio-political and ideological conflict, the administration decided to counter by military force — or be considered a traitor.
Which has been the case with every single country ( and its "administration vs. society" discussion ) under the similar circumstances throughout the world history .
Lazarsfeld's notion of the "narcotizing dysfunction
This dysfunction consists of the public's increasing apathy or inertia as they are bombarded with more and more information. (ibid. p. 565).
Unlike the media "crusade," Lazarsfeld suggests that the "narcotizing dysfunction" is not exploited intentionally by those in power. Rather, he suggests that it is an "unplanned mechanism."
"...It is termed dysfunctional rather than functional....," he explains, "....on the assumption that it is not in the interest of modern complex society to have large masses of the population politically apathetic and inert...." ( ibid. p. 565).
While public apathy is certainly not desirable in terms of the public interest, it is rather naïve to suggest that those in power would not exploit such a mechanism out of respect for such philosophical principles. For example, the presence of an "All-Iraq Newscast" which "narcotizes" its viewers is clearly in the interest of the administration.
Legacy
The founder of Columbia University's Bureau for Applied Social Research, Paul Lazarsfeld was regarded as one of the most influential sociologists of the 20th century, a pioneer in the field of mass communications research and in market research. He exerted a tremendous influence over the techniques and the organization of research.
"……It is not so much that he was an American sociologist….." one colleague said of him after his death, "……as it was that he determined what American sociology would be……."( Columbia U. Press Encyclopaedia ).
Bibliography
- Fürstenberg, Friedrich, "Knowledge and Action: Lazarsfeld´s foundation of social research"; in: Paul Lazarsfeld (1901-1976), La sociologie de Vienne à New York (eds. Jacques Lautman & Bernard-Pierre Lécuyer); Paris-Montréal (Qc.): Ed. L´ Harmattan, 423-432; online-Version: [1]
- Lazarsfeld, Paul. 1955. Personal Influence.
- Lazarsfeld, Paul. "An Episode in the History of Social Research: A Memoir." In: The Intellectual Migration: Europe and America, 1930-1960, ed. Donald Fleming and Bernard Bailyn , Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA 1969
- Lazarsfeld, P., B. Berelson, and H. Gaudet, The People's Choice , Columbia University Press, New York 1968
- Schramm, Wilbur, The Beginnings of Communication Study in America: A Personal Memoir, ed. Steven H. Chaffee and Everett M. Rogers, Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, CA 1997
- Lazarsfeld, Paul, Robert K. Merton, "Mass Communication, Popular Taste, and Organized Social Action." In W. Schramm and O. Roberts, eds., The Process and Effects of Mass Communication, revised ed., Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press 1975
- Zeisel, Hans, "The Vienna Years," in: Qualitative and Quantitative Social Research: Papers in honor of Paul F. Lazarsfeld, ed. Merton, Robert K. ,James S. Coleman and Peter H. Rossi, Free Press, New York 1979
- Columbia University Press Encyclopeadia [2]
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