Dictionary of Media and Communication Studies, 8th edition

Semantic code

Semantics A major branch of linguistics in which

the meaning of language is analysed. Th e study

of the origins of the form and meaning of words

is Etymology, a branch of Semantics. Th e crucial

point about the study of Semantics is that it is

an exploration of change – how the context of

usage, historical, social, cultural, etc. – alters the

meanings of words and expressions used. When

King James II observed that the new St Paul’s

Cathedral was ‘amusing, awful and artifi cial’ he

did not intend to be derogatory about Sir Chris-

topher Wren’s masterpiece; rather he meant

that it was ‘pleasing, awe-inspiring, and skilfully

achieved’.

Th e diff erences are, of course, far from merely

evolutionary. What, for example, is the meaning

of the word ‘equality’? Its defi nition is modifi ed

by the perceptions and values of all those who

use it, and the situation in which it is used. As

Simeon Potter points out in Our Language

(Penguin, 1950), ‘Men frequently fi nd themselves

at cross-purposes with one another because

they persist in using words in diff erent senses.

Th eir long arguments emit more heat than light

because their conceptions of the point at issue,

whether Marxism, democracy, capitalism, the

good life, western civilization, culture, art, inter-

nationalism, freedom of the individual, equality

of opportunity, redistribution of wealth, social

security, progress, or what not, are by no means

identical. From heedless sloth, or sheer lack of

conditions under which any public television
should be provided’. Th e Report recommended
that the BBC be made the initiating body, and
that the cost of TV broadcasting be borne from
the revenue derived from the existing 10 shil-
ling radio licence fee. See topic guide under
commissions, committees, legislation.
Semantic code See codes of narrative.
Semantic diff erential Th e analysis of semantic
diff erential is one of three traditional empirical
methods of measuring audience response to
the media, the others being content analysis
and the investigation of uses and gratifi cations
(see uses and gratifications theory). In
exploring semantic – or meaning – diff eren-
tials, analysts concentrate on people’s attitudes,
feelings and emotions towards certain concepts
and values as actuated by media performance.
The values under scrutiny are presented in
preliminary form by words or statements.
Th ese are then selected and expressed as bina-
rily opposed concepts (Off ensive-Not Off ensive,
for example) on a five- or seven-point scale.
Binary opposition is the most extreme form of
signifi cant diff erence possible. A sample audi-
ence, or selected group, is tested on the scale
or scales, and the results averaged. Th e method
was given currency by Charles Osgood in Th e
Measurement of Meaning (University of Illinois
Press, 1967). See topic guide under research
methods.

Self-to-Self model of interpersonal communication, 2007

AWA

RENESS

IM

A

G

E

CONCEPT

B

E

LI

E

F

SELF

AWA

RENESS

B

EL

IE

F

CONCEPT

MI

A

G

E

SELF

Events

Environment

Culture

Contextual Influences

encode

decode

Competence

Awareness of other

Variables

Age Sex Gender Education

Class Ethnicity Attraction

Relationship etc

MOTIVATION