Specialists in international communications almost unanimously assert that the broadcasting in developing nations of television programs produced by industrialized countries amounts to cultural imperialism: the phenomenon of one culture’s productions overwhelming another’s, to the detriment of the flourishing of the latter. This assertion assumes the automatic dominance of the imported productions and with personal tastes, and most of them tend to prefer domestically produced television over imported television.
The role of television in developing nations is far removed from what the specialists assert. An anthropological study of one community that deals in part with residents’ viewing habits where imported programs are available cites the popularity of domestically produced serial dramas and points out that, because viewers enjoy following the dramas often use at public gatherings as a daily journal of events of interest.
An empirical approach not unlike that of anthropologists is needed if communications specialists are to understand the impact of external cultural influences on the lives of people in a society. The first question they must investigate is: Given the evidence suggesting that the primary relationship of imported cultural productions to domestic ones the use of themes, situations, or character types that are relevant and interesting to both cultures.
Communications researchers will also need to consider how to assess the position of the individual viewer in their model of cultural relationships. This model must emphasize the diversity of human responses, and will require engaging with the actual experiences of viewers, taking into account the variable contexts manner in which individuals ascribe meanings to those productions.
What this question is testing
Anticipate
This is a Primary Purpose question. Step back and ask: what is the author actually arguing for across the whole passage?
The author is criticizing communications specialists for making a polemical claim without evidence and is calling for them to do empirical research instead — explicitly modeled on anthropology. The whole second half of the passage (P3 and P4) describes what that methodology should look like. So the author isn't deciding between two hypotheses or just criticizing evidence — they're recommending a methodology shift.
Goal
Look for an answer that says: argue a discipline should adopt a particular methodology. Common traps:
Answers about deciding between two hypotheses — the author proposes possibilities but doesn't pick
Answers about discrediting specific evidence — the critique is methodological, not evidentiary
Answers that put anthropology and communications on equal footing as competitors — anthropology is a methodological exemplar, not a rival view
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