It is high time that I explained what I am doing for my master’s thesis. I wrote in this post that after a series of unforeseen events, I had settled on a project about wildlife television. I will try to be more specific without sounding too boring.
The Gist
I am doing a comparative frames analysis between two very different wildlife television programs: Planet Earth II and Wild SafariLIVE. In short, I am dissecting a sample of episodes from each series and identifying the media frames within them.
What is a Frame?
Framing theory is an extensively-researched paradigm within the social sciences and humanities. This popularity comes with a price. It has produced competing understandings of what frames are, what they do, and how to study them.
Frames as Nouns
The meaning of the word “frame” changes depending on whether it is used as a noun or a verb.
As a noun, “a frame” typically refers to a network of associated meanings, words, feelings, values, and more. According to George Lakoff (2010, 2012), one of the most prominent framing authors, these networks are physically linked in the brain.
This makes frames quite similar to the concept of schemas from cognitive psychology. The main difference between the two is that schemas are specific to one individual, whereas frames are more widely shared amongst members of a culture. However, schemas and frames can overlap with and influence one another (Van Gorp, 2007).
Frames as Verbs
The verb “to frame” has a slightly different meaning than “a frame.” Framing is the process of highlighting a few aspects of a subject at the expense of others; helping to encourage particular interpretations of that object or issue (Entman, 2007). Framing sometimes happens unconsciously (Entman, 1993).
Entman (1993, 2007)
Idiosyncrasies abound within the general concepts of frames and framing that I have described above. And, as things tend to go in academia, if your understanding of a concept is not identical to mine, then you are wrong and your work is garbage.
To minimize the trashiness of my thesis, I am borrowing Entman’s (1993, 2007) widely-cited definition of media frames. Entman (1993, 2007) operationalizes frames based on the four functions they perform: problem definition, causal analysis, moral judgement, and remedy promotion.
But since very little of Entman’s (1993, 2007) work focuses on wildlife television, I am expanding his functions slightly. I have turned problem definition into “problem or issue definition,” and remedy promotion into “remedy promotion or action directive.” So, my work is still garbage.
What I am Doing
To locate specific media frames within Wild SafariLIVE and Planet Earth II, I am watching three episodes from each series repeatedly. While doing so, I am singling out elements of each episode that perform the following functions:
- Identify and define a specific problem or issue (problem/issue definition);
- Say how a problem or issue came to be or why it is the way it is (causal analysis);
- Tell viewers how they are supposed to feel about a problem or issue (moral judgement);
- Explain what to do in response to a problem or issue (remedy promotion/action directive); and,
- Contain tell-tale keywords, phrases, or visuals.
This last point is especially important, because Entman (1993) writes that media frames, “are manifested by the presence or absence of certain keywords, stock phrases, stereotyped images, sources of information, and sentences that provide thematically reinforcing clusters of facts or judgements” (p. 52).
Finally, I am trying to go beyond just dialogue and consider how multiple aspects of each episode contribute to the frames within it. This includes individual shots or sequences of shots, sound effects, music, dialogue, and the presenters’ actions or tones of voice.
Where I Am
I have finished the research portion of my thesis, and have begun writing it. The goal is to be done by mid-November.
I will also be presenting a work-in-progress poster at The Wildlife Society’s Annual Conference in Cleveland. At this prestigious gathering of scientists who have performed rigorous, quantitative (mathematical) research on pressing issues, there will be one weird guy talking about television. It should be good.
The Jaguar 
Wow thank you for sharing…i learned a lot here
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No problem!
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It is so nice dear Josh, I always admired what you are doing and also what you are sharing with us. Good Luck, I am sure it will make great touches there. Thank you, Love, nia
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Thank you so much, Nia! I appreciate your support.
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Loved “…as things tend to go in academia, if your understanding of a concept is not identical to mine, then you are wrong and your work is garbage.”
Very exciting thesis. And in my opinion, it should be refreshing to have a guy talking about television amongst all the quantitative math stuff. And I’ve never thought of framing in that way before – very interesting.
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I’m glad there’s someone here who gets my jokes :)
I’m hoping my station at the conference will be one of the more light-hearted ones, since practically everyone else will be talking about the end of the world.
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Eesh, would love to be a fly on the wall for that. Though I probably would, in fact, comprehend about the same amount as a literal fly on the wall. I am not so much with the sciences…
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Then you’d be the perfect training for all the attendees who want to get better at explaining science to ‘normal’ people – as if there were such a thing. Although tbh, I feel like you’d be smart enough to comprehend most of what people would be talking about.
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Thank you! I don’t know why I find that concept so funny – the desire for attendees in the sciences to relate to “normal” people. I just feel like it’s a sit-com set-up ready to happen.
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Haha, well, what’s the point of generating knowledge if you can’t share it with the masses? Or am I just being an evil socialist again?
It might indeed be funny to see scientists trying to explain their mathematical equations to us peasants, though.
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Fantastic mate. Good to see your efforts finally coming to shape and all the best for your master’s thesis.
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Thank you!
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That’s a very very interesting take on frames,
I bet you, your presentation is going to be a breath of fresh air… no offence to the scientists though.
Good luck and all the best on your master’s thesis.
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Thank you! I’m hoping that my station will serve as a break for everyone from having to think about all of the other hard topics.
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Your welcome, I’m sure it will 🙂
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Are BOTH espressos yours? Your thesis sounds awesome, I could see you shortening the final paper into a novel for readers of all levels. I would certainly want to read it! This reminds me of a problem we did in biophysics where our professor made us calculate how much a T-rex would have to eat depending on a number of factors like body temp, air temp, metabolism etc. The funniest part was when someone asked if we needed to calculate how many calories the T-rex burned from sleeping. NO SLEEPING the professor said. Dinosaurs never sleep in Hollywood, that wouldn’t be exciting. Makes me think- we always see animals being super active on the nature channel but in reality, how much of the time do they spend sleeping? Or just chilling? Great post though :)
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Haha, neither of those espressos were mine. But there were days when I had 4+ shots, and I probably consumed close to 100 double espressos in total this summer; if I wasn’t so heartless I’d probably have heart murmurs by now.
I happen to think my thesis is one of the more interesting ones out there, although it probably doesn’t have as much academic merit as some of the more boring ones (funny how that works). In a few weeks it should be officially done, and hopefully then I’ll be able to share it here.
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