The Promise of Sociology of Television: Investigating the Potential of Phenomenological Approaches

Abstract

Mills (1959) saw the true potential of sociology in exploring the link between micro-level human experience and macro-level societal trends and structures. And yet, sociological inquiry has largely overlooked micro-level approaches to a common quotidian American experience: watching television. Overemphasis on “top-down” approaches to studying television leads to three main misconceptions about television-watching and any micro-level approach to studying it: that the practice of watching television is too individualistic, too mundane, and too difficult to study. In fact, television-watching is social in myriad ways and, although mundane in its quotidian nature, is not devoid of complex power dynamics for sociological investigation. Research by scholars in other fields indicates that studying television at the micro-level is sometimes challenging, but possible. A truly effective and comprehensive sociology of television cannot exist until sociologists use phenomenological approaches to investigate people’s experience of structure in their lives, engaging micro- alongside macro-level perspectives. The promise of sociology of television, then, can only be realized by tapping the potential of phenomenological approaches to create a more complete understanding of television—one that must reconcile the power of institutions with agency, context, and experience in daily life.