Photographic Framing in the Stem Cell Debate: Integrating Eye-Tracking Data for a New Dimension of Media Effects Research

A growing body of research examines media framing of key scientific issues of our time, specifically, those issues that include political and moral components, such as global climate change and stem cell research. In regard to the mass media, framing refers to the process by which the media organize and make sense of the news, which has an effect on how audiences perceive that news. The majority of framing research examines textual news. Little examines the content and effects of photographic news. This study uses a pretest-posttest experimental design to test for effects of photographic framing in the stem cell research debate. In addition, the study combines a traditional framing effects study with eye-tracking data to provide for a new dimension of framing effects research. Results did not show significant effects between experimental condition and participant perception of the predominant issues in the stem cell research debate or participant perception of the message. However, on the basis of eye-tracking data, photographic framing did have a significant effect on participants’ visual attention to the given photograph. Study findings suggest that eye-tracking methodology can be an important tool to further our understanding of media effects beyond that provided by traditional methods.