Human Sources
Dr. Elaine Hsieh
(405) 325-3254
Dr. Pat Meirick
(405) 325-1574
Pat Meirick, a communications professor at OU, talks about the political misperceptions about changes during George W. Bush's term. PHOTO: Ajinur Setiwaldi
A communications
professor presented his research analysis on political misperceptions
Friday, 17 about health care death panels and the Bush era before a group of University of Oklahoma colleagues and students.
According to the
analysis, partisanship, political knowledge and exposure to different
types of media are major indicators of political perception or
misperception.
Pat Meirick
specializes in political and mass communications in the communication
department at OU. His research typically examines media effects
focusing on cognition and motivation, according to his profile on the
Department of Communication website.
“Political
misperception is the difference between not knowing a political fact
and believing in a falsehood,” Meirick said.
Meirick presented
his misperceptions analysis previously to the Association for
Education in Journalism and Mass Communication and the Midwest
Political Science Association in 2011.
According to a
study published in Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly in
2008, people with more political knowledge and education are less
susceptible to misperceptions.
Meirick analyzed
two studies, one about death panels and the other about change in
conditions under George W. Bush. Partisanship and exposure to certain
kinds of media play a major role in belief in myths like death
panels, Meirick said.
“The myth of
death panels was widely repeated and believed by 30 percent of
Americans,” Meirick said. His analysis of death panel
misperceptions are based on a 2009 study by the Pew research Center
for the People and the Press.
Biased news media
like Fox can contribute to political misperceptions, Meirick said.
“Fox news is an
equal opportunity miss-informer across the parties,” he said.
Television emerged
as the most influential medium of predictor for political perceptions
and misperceptions, said Meierick.
Elaine Hsieh, also
a professor in the department of communication, organized the
research forum. Events like this is an opportunity for students to
get to know their professors and their work better, Hsieh said.
“A lot of
students don't know their faculty members outside of the classroom,”
Hsieh said.
These research
forums also allow professors to communicate their ides with
colleagues and students, Hsieh said. Professors get to showcase their
personal research, why they are reputable, and their scholarship, she
said.
The department will
be hosting two more research forums this semester. Claude Miller and
Jill Edy, both professors within the department will present their
research analysis in March and April.
