"Media, Audiences, Effects teaches students how to evaluate media effects research and better understand the role media play in our everyday lives. This text introduces readers to more than 300 contemporary research studies focusing on twelve important topic areas, including television violence, gender and ethnicity, sexuality and pornography, and advertising bans. It provides a framework for understanding how researchers study media effects and what mass communication theory and research tell us about the relationship between media and society." (Publisher) Each chapter concludes with "Notes," "Activities," "Questions," "Additional Reading," and "Summary."