Department of Informatics and Media
Master’s Programme in Social Sciences,
Digital Media and Society specialization
Two-year Master’s Thesis
The dominant media discourse of Swedish newspapers
about Romanian beggars in Sweden and their
perceived effects
Abstract
Table of Contents
Abstract
...
1
1. Introduction
...
6
Marginalised EU Citizens’ Immigration to Sweden ...9
2. Background
...
12
The Roma- a Minority Group with a Long History of Discrimination ...12
The Right to Free Movement within the E.U. ...15
Immigration to Sweden from Romania and Bulgaria ...17
Roma Beggars in Sweden ...18
3. Literature Review
...
21
4. Theoretical Framework
...
27
Visibility, Visible and the Invisible ...27
Visibility as a form of social life ...28
Models of visibility ...31
The model of visibility as “recognition” ...31
The model of visibility as “control” ...33
The model of visibility as “the spectacular” ...34
Visibility and power ...35
Visibility and the role of communication media ...36
Media, visibility and publicness ...38
Social Representations ...39
Effects of Mediated Visibility ...41
Agenda Setting and Framing in Mediating Visibility ...42
Agenda Setting Theory ...43
Second-level Agenda Setting ...45
Framing Theory ...47
A Mediated Visibility Model for Roma Beggars ...50
Identification of the concept ...50
Dimensions of the model ...51
5. Methodology
...
57
Research Design ...57
Content Analysis of Media Frames ...58
Visual Ethnography ...61
Data Gathering Process ...63
Quantitative data gathering ...63
Computer generated analysis -extraction of patterns of frame (“topics’) ...65
Computer generated analysis – negative vs positive word usage ...66
Computer generated emotions triggered in the analysed sample ...66
Qualitative data gathering ...67
In-field interviews ...68
The Interview Participants ...68
Processing and Transcribing Data ...69
6. Ethics
...
70
Ethical Considerations ...70
Personal Motivation ...71
Reflections on the In-field Interviews ...72
7. Presentation and Interpretation of the Results
...
74
Results of the Content Analysis ...74
Presentation of the results of content analysis ...75
Interpretation of the results of content analysis ...84
Interview Results ...86
Presentation and interpretation of results regarding level of awareness among the group of Romanian beggars ...87
Low level of awareness ...88
Presentation and interpretation of results regarding the perceived effects ...89
Perceived negative effects ...90
Misrepresentation and Distortion of Reality ...92
Neutral effects- Repercussions in the legal and political domains ...93
8. Conclusion: Discussion, Limitations and Recommendations
...
95
Limitations of the Study ...100
Suggestions for Future Research ...100
Final Remarks ...101
Bibliography
...
103
Appendix 1. Phrases
...
111
Frequency of Phrases ...111
Appendix 2. Topics
...
117
Table of Figures
Figure 1: Articles/ media channel searched for keywords...7
Figure 2: The relationship between social life, the visible, visibility and mediated visibility...30
Figure 3: Representation of the bi-dimensional theoretical model...50
Figure 4: Representation of the first dimension of the theoretical model...52
Figure 5: Representation of second dimension of the theoretical model...54
Figure 6: Articles in four publications - search based on specific words...61
Figure 7: Romanian beggars in Swedish Media WordGraph - Frequency of Phrases...73
Figure 8: Romanian beggars in Swedish Media. WordGraph – Frequency Patterns...76
Figure 9: Romanian beggars in Swedish media - dominant tone of voice...80
Figure 10: Romanian beggars in Swedish media – emotional reactions ...80
List of Tables Table 1: WordStat Sentiment Dictionary-Categories of Emotions ...64
Table 2: Romanian beggars in Swedish media – frequency of phrases...74
Table 3: Romanian beggars in Swedish media – content analysis clustering...78
Table 4: Frequency of phrases...107
1. Introduction
The free movement, of persons and labour, is one of the four freedoms of the EU, although little, if any, regulation exists that addresses the free movement of poverty. Nevertheless, this lack of regulation, combined with various other factors, has obliged the affluent and egalitarian Scandinavian, welfare-society to face specific social challenges, and to deal with difficult political dilemmas. One of these is the so-called “migration of poverty” (Djuve 2015). Some representatives of this migration – (migrant) Romanian beggars in Sweden – have created a new state of affairs in Swedish cities, by prompting a wave of social challenges for the local authorities, governments and other European Institutions (Hansson and Mitchell 2018).Without even realizing their impact on Nordic society, this group has gained a lot of attention and has found themselves at the centre of public opinion.
Figure 1: Articles/ media channel searched for keywords
The study has important academic relevance as it is the first to focus on the issue of the media visibility of a group of Romanian beggars, either living in Sweden or who have travelled to Sweden to gain better life opportunities. No study thus far has explored this social phenomenon, both from the viewpoint of the Romanian beggar sitting on the street and the media, which acts as the creator of the beggars’ media representation. The provision of empirical data concerning this social issue, of which many citizens are aware, could make an important contribution to the field of media studies into minority groups.
and portrayal of Romanian beggars in Swedish media could make an important contribution to the field. Furthermore, focusing on gathering information and opinions about their media representation, directly from the Romanian beggars themselves, could lead to a better understanding of this social phenomenon. It might also provide empirical data that lays the groundwork for further research into it, thus making a unique contribution to the field of media and communication studies. Therefore, the study has two dimensions. The first looks at the construction of the media’s representation of Romanian beggars (from the viewpoint of the printed media). The second examines a group of Romanian beggars’ sense-making of their media representation (the Romanian beggars’ angle). Overall the study explores the relationship between the media visibility of Romanian beggars and the perceived effects of this on a group of beggars (the potential consequences of, of implications for, them).
Marginalised EU Citizens’ Immigration to Sweden
Many beggars migrated to the Nordic countries, fleeing Western countries that have banned and restricted begging, in order to find better life opportunities and to settle down in what has been labelled ‘a safe-haven for begging’.
One report, about immigration in Sweden, states that before the EU expanded, in 2004, there was a discussion in Sweden and other countries about whether new immigrants would be greatly over-represented in income transfer programs and among those looking for the social benefits. The study revealed that this was not the case for Sweden and that the so-called ‘social tourists’ had not yet arrived (Gerdes and Wadensjö 2019). Although there are no exact figures for or estimates of the population of marginalised EU citizens, begging in Sweden, an SVT study (Olsson and Axelsdotter Olsson 2015) stated that, in 2015, the number of beggars increased from around 800–2000 to around 3700–4100. Other research claims there were officially 4–5000 vulnerable EU migrants in Sweden, most of who probably arrived under the provisions of the law (Hansson and Mitchell 2018). In Stockholm, only 14 percent of beggars identified themselves as ethnic Romanians, or non-Roma as they will be called throughout this report, whereas an overwhelming majority identified themselves either as ‘Roma’ or ‘Romanianised Roma” (Djuve 2015).
outlets, both in Sweden and Romania. Numerous news outlets, interviews, articles, reports, shows, debates and other forms of media have paid a lot of attention to the vulnerability of this group of beggars from Romania. By allowing some issues to be covered, while ignoring or not seeing others, the media becomes a site of visibility and thus has the power to paint some issues as more relevant than others. Hence, mass media is the site of a political contest that mirrors the resonance of the political discourse within the public’s consciousness; media enhances the political actor’s shaping of the public’s view (Bleich, Bloemraad, and Graauw 2015). With the help of media representation, this migrant group of beggars has become a visible and important debate topic for Swedish society and authorities, which now face new social challenges, with important implications on the society and lives of Romanian beggars and Swedish taxpayers. Potentially the main challenge is to offer them better life opportunities and to undertake the right correct measure to do this, given begging is not forbidden by law in Sweden and their right to stay in Sweden is granted unequivocally as they are European citizens. All of these factors have lead to a great deal of social and public debate within Swedish media and society.
Considering these two dimensions, we propose the following research questions:
1. What is the dominant media discourse in the Swedish Newspapers about the group of beggars from Romania?
2. Are the beggars from Romania living in Sweden aware of their media representation by
the Swedish Newspapers?
3. What are the perceived effects of visibility by the group of Romanian beggars and their
current affairs?
2. Background
This chapter presents the background and context of the studied issue. The problem of the Roma, a minority group in Europe, has its roots far back in history. In the following section we will make a more detailed presentation of their situation. This chapter is structured into four 4 parts; the history of the Roma people with a European context, the right of free movement within the EU, immigration to Sweden from Romania and Bulgaria and the current situation for Roma beggars in Sweden
The Roma- a Minority Group with a Long History of Discrimination
In the year 1481, the Council of Bern passed a series of edicts expelling “non-citizens”, in effect gypsies, pilgrims, the wandering poor, and French-speaking beggars. By 1527, the Council required all local inhabitants, with a right to be in the city, to wear badges that functioned as the credentials of their residency and origin. The city kept a master-list of badges in order to prevent fraud and to protect the badge-holders. It is worth noting that this occurred five hundred years ago (Hansson and Mitchell 2018).
issue for the local politics of the target regions. This did not mean that the Roma’s status was legal, before their country’s accession in 2007 (Nacu, 2011).
The fact that the citizens of the two countries no longer needed visas, in order to travel to other European destinations, meant that the migration of poor Roma became a crucial issue for the population in both countries: the home country and country of destination. It raised issues of identity for the home-country population, such as not being assimilated and being perceived as “deviant”.
The ethnic composition of Roma is more complex than their simply being identified as Romanian or Bulgarian Roma (Nacu, 2011). Romania and Bulgaria are still the poorest members of the European Union (Bulgaria’s per capita GDP just under 30% of the EU average and Romania’s is just under 40%). At least 90% of the Roma in Romania live in poverty and at least 25% lack the registration documents that are required to access to education, healthcare, and social insurance. Therefore main reason for the migration of poor Roma becomes obvious: to seek monetary resources and better life opportunities (Hansson and Mitchell 2018).
acknowledged as having no real effect on the plight of the Roma. Conversely, they have lead to increased competition between the Roma and other vulnerable groups from the candidate countries. The manner in which the issue of Roma discrimination was addressed and debated, in terms of migration, created a dichotomy in how Roma and non-Roma migrants were portrayed. Roma were seen as an important problem element of Romanian and Bulgarian migrants and constantly portrayed as offenders or beggars, whereas the non-Roma migrants were considered to be themselves, hard workers (Nacu, 2011).
The wave of migrant Roma beggars to Sweden has similar features to the previous waves of migration of poor Roma to other European countries. Many migrants used privately owned vans, which offered them more flexibility and mobility. This was greatly accentuated by the technological arsenal of globalisation, such as mobile phones and money transfers. Furthermore, these migrations involved family members or close neighbours. Similar to other migrant groups, they were organised into networks, where a few pioneers migrated to new places in order to explore, and then others followed. Because they had little money or other resources left, by the time they arrived in the destination country, they created specific forms of habitat, such as slums, and other shelter alternatives. This novel situation, of growing “shanty towns”, “tent cities”, and “camps”, shocked and outraged locals and sparked a lot of debate in Sweden as it did earlier, in most other European countries (Nacu, 2011; Hansson and Mitchell, 2018).
occupied another’s land illegally. Thus, there is an overlap in the legal system, between the crime of violating legal property and the violation of legal protections and rights of vulnerable people. Nevertheless, the migrants were frequently harassed, evicted and driven off. Moreover, some migrants, who lived in these conditions, were also threatened and abused by night visitors who disturbed and damaged the settlements. Furthermore, the evictions themselves are often of dubious legality, and the police seem not to offer proper protection to the abused or threatened migrants (Hansson and Mitchell 2018).
As the regulations change, the Roma have continued to migrate from their home towns or villages to the Parisian suburbs, learning by trial and error how to exploit the niches in the juridical and administrative regulations. They have somehow taken advantage of the border porosity – just a flight away from home country – and do not have to cross several borders.
Over the past few years, the subject of European citizens, who travel to other countries within the EU in order to beg (Adriaenssen, 2011), has been part of the political agendas of most European countries. Roma migrations have become increasingly politicized, at local, regional and international levels. The Roma face protests and are becoming the subjects of electoral campaigns or other forms of politicisation (Nacu, 2011).
The Right to Free Movement within the E.U.
Lisbon Treaty in regards the general provisions in the Area of Freedom, Security, and Justice (“Free Movement of Persons | Fact Sheets on the European Union | European Parliament” n.d.).
However, the concept of the free movement of persons has changed in meaning, since its inception, in 1957. The Treaty of Maastricht introduced the notion of EU citizenship, which underpins the right of persons to move and reside freely within the territory of the Member States. For stays of under three months, EU citizens’ only requirement is that they possess a valid identity document or passport. The host Member State may require the concerned persons to register their presence in the country. Additionally, EU citizens and their family members – if not working – must have sufficient resources and health insurance to ensure that they do not become a burden on the social services of the host Member State during their stay. EU citizens do not need residence permits, although the Member States may require them to register with the authorities. Family members of EU citizens, who are not nationals of a Member State, must apply for a residence permit, which is valid either for the duration of their stay or a five-year period (“Free Movement of Persons | Fact Sheets on the European Union | European Parliament” n.d.). Notwithstanding this, the French labor market did not open for the newcomers. In addition, a government regulation was issued stating that Romanian and Bulgarian migrants would receive notification to leave the country (Obligation de Quitter le Territoire Français – OQTF) in circumstances where they become an unreasonable burden on the French social assistance system; furthermore there was somewhat unclear notion that Roma were liable to be fined if they were caught begging in the streets (Nacu, 2011).
both compared with total migration to Sweden and with the migration flows from those countries to some other EU countries (Gerdes and Wadensjö 2019). For instance, according to Médecin du Monde, the total number of Roma beggars in Sweden was similar to those living in the Paris Region (Nacu, 2011). Most of them were Roma from Romania and Bulgaria, but there were also a small group of non-Roma. This group principally earned their living from begging or other activities reminiscent of hunting and gathering (Nacu, 2011).
Immigration to Sweden from Romania and Bulgaria
Roma Beggars in Sweden
In an academic paper that examined the state of Roma beggars in Sweden, Hansson and Mitchell (2018) tried to better understand how poverty, and in the situation of Roma beggars in Sweden, were governed in an era of free European movement. The authors claimed that Sweden had created what could be called a state of exception for this migrant group. In this case, state of exception was not defined as a fixed time period but rather as a relationship that existed between the sovereign and its subject(s). When the sovereign places people in a state of exception it feels forced to make an exception from the principal stance concerning the equality of all human beings: “worthless life is being separated from political life” (Hansson and Mitchell, 2018). Consequently, it is in the interest of democratic (and totalitarian) states to continually “cleanse” their population, establishing spaces of exception wherein those deemed to deviate from the order can be concentrated ,so as to be gradually eliminated. (Hansson and Mitchell, 2018)
The authors examined two cases of Roma beggars in Sweden, critically; matters which had strong implications on the welfare society. First was the moment when the municipality of Eskilstuna required all beggars to seek a permit from the Police, including the leader of the regional government’s allegation that “it was time and place to make an exception concerning the equality of all human beings”. The second case concerned the Valfridsson Report (Hansson and Mitchell, 2018) .
if Roma beggars were granted the use of municipal or private land, this would ultimately lead to the restoration of the slum communities that Swedish society has frenetically worked to counteract. Furthermore, another guideline was to deny the children of Roma beggars access to school, since their parents did not have a job in Sweden and, thus, the children were not entitled Swedish schooling (Sveriges Radio n.d.).
relegated to being outside the protection of the law and society, and turned into so-called “rightless people”. (Hansson and Mitchell, 2018) They were stripped down to what is being called a “bare life”, i.e. a life reduced to a sheer biological existence, devoid of rights and fully at the mercy of sovereign violence.(Hansson and Mitchell 2018)
They became an issue of local politics, among local authorities, rival political parties, NGOs, local support groups, local inhabitants – who were often hostile to their presence – and the police. Thus municipalities found themselves in a double-bind; caught between maintaining local order and tolerance towards the Roma migrants, and supporting them.
The status of the Roma, traveling to other European countries, made legal working papers an almost impossible option, therefore the local actors needed to reach compromise deals, which often implied rehousing a small minority or total eviction (Nacu, 2011).
Poverty was simultaneously the root cause of their being in Sweden and the reason why they lacked real rights – their economic situation in Romania and their long history of discrimination. Essentially, structural racism and discrimination turned them into today’s equivalent of Bern’s French-speaking beggars. They became a minority that, like the Jews, were seen as endemic to Europe, and they were denied access to decent housing, or even sanitary living conditions.
3. Literature Review
This chapter presents the existing studies in the field. The purpose of this chapter is to offer an overview of what research has been done so far to address similar research topics. Therefore, this chapter will map out some of the existing studies related to ethnic, racial or sexual minority groups and their media visibility.
The body of research that addresses issues of visibility is quite robust. The majority of academic endeavours and existing studies related to visibility span a wide range of fields; from business studies to mass-media and communication studies; from gender studies to social and political fields. We identified several specific studies identified and present a review of them and their results below.
The work of Djuve (2015) comprises an extensive qualitative study of the population of migrants from Romania. The study looked more closely into the social and economic aspects, in order to gain a better picture of their living conditions in their home country, the economic and social organisation of migration for begging and street work, how they were treated by their host countries’ populations and institutions, and what were the other consequences of leaving their original communities.
Psychology, studied the social constructions of Roma migrants in the Norwegian media. This was the first study in this topic conducted in Norway.
Previous research into migrants and minorities, in general, has rarely used a systematic media analysis to understand the consequences of, and the underlying factors that shape media coverage of migrants and minorities. Questions, such as what are the effects and impact on public attitudes, policy outcomes or social relations have been poorly addressed and/or answered.
Other researchers who have studied negative media portrayals have viewed them as a reflection of broader societal representations and a possible catalyst force that influences people, group relations and institutions (Mortensen 2018). Moreover, the media can potentially represent a realm of participation for these groups; one where they can make themselves heard and visible, and can build their identities (Bleich, Bloemraad, and Graauw, 2015).
One anthropology study claimed that Danish people usually held strong opinions about the presence of ethnic minorities in the country, despite the fact that few Danes interacted with them on a regular basis. This study implied that this was the result of media coverage and its representations of this minority group (Hervik and Nævnet for Etnisk Ligestilling 2002)
a social, criminal or economic-threat frame, they may present this group– as in the case of terrorist groups – as deeply problematic for society as a whole (Bleich, Bloemraad, and Graauw, 2015).
One study, into the effects of the media exposure of diverse sexual minorities and more liberal attitudes among young people from western societies, revealed that the media’s representation of LGBT visuals and imagery was likely to lead to more positive perceptions of sexual minorities amongst the younger population. The clear shift in the portrayal of gay people in the popular media provided a platform with which to isolate this effect methodologically. The researchers posited that the greater the level of media pervasiveness within a country, the more likely it would be that a young individual would display a greater tolerance towards homosexuality and other minority groups. Moreover, the freer a society was in terms of its freedom of speech and the press, the more tolerant its people would be towards the LGBT community. This could be due to the fact that media images and portrayals of LGBT actors may function as role models, not only enacting social debate but also enhancing other LGBT people to ‘come out of the closet’ to family members and loved ones. Thus, they concluded that the media’s representation of gay people – in conjunction with increased personal contact and familiarity with LGBT depictions and models – led to greater tolerance and positive attitudes towards sexual minorities, even when the media portrayals did not necessarily shed a positive light on the LGBT community. What media did was to ignite debate and put new frames of reference on homosexuality, within multiple domestic contexts (Ayoub and Garretson, 2017).
lists where minority groups see themselves represented in the media, thus reinforcing their sense of affirmation in a positive way. It is a sure way of showing approval of their identity and self-worth; hence visibility can boost self-confidence and self-worth. The same report states that when people see something represented in the media, they essentially become better acquainted with who those people are and a sense of closeness to and a better understanding of them. Conversely, the manner of their portrayal, especially in larger media formats is double-sided, as a so-called “burden of representations” emerges, which can lead to a reinforcement of the undesired traits of the specific groups (“Where We Are on TV Report - 2018” 2018).
media stereotypes played an important role in the construction of the Danish nationality and of ethnic Danes’ self-perceptions. By presenting visible minorities in contrast to Danes and Danish ethnics, a binary opposition emerged of ‘us vs them’. The news media characterised the ethnically Danish population as a homogenous group that was constructed in the media with more positive behaviour. According to the image created through the media representations a close examination of Danish society would show “a racially-divided society in which ethnic Danes and visible minorities belonged to different social classes and had no interaction in neighbourhoods or at workplaces” (Andreassen 2005).
Several linguistic strategies enhanced ‘us vs them’ dichotomy. Visible minorities were frequently labelled as ‘ethnic’, ‘Muslim’, ‘Arabs’, ‘foreigners’ and ‘immigrants’, whereas the Danes were not labelled in any way – as they represented the norm. Groups of people, who function as the norm, do not generally need further description in orders to make readers and viewers understand who or what they are. Moreover, visible minorities were often positioned as objects in the news media, placed in the position of being ‘spoken about’ and not ‘spoken with’ (Andreassen 2005).
4. Theoretical Framework
This chapter presents the theoretical concepts of visibility, framing and agenda-setting and examines their uses and implications. The chapter is divided into three parts. The first introduces the concept of visibility and its components; from definitions and models that relate to power, the role of communication media in the field of visibility, media representations and the effects of mediated visibility. The second part looks closely into the process of the construction of media and focuses on the theories of second level agenda setting and framing. The final of the chapter explains the developed theoretical model of visibility, to be employed to meet the aims of the research. This analytical model represents an attempt to conceptualise and adapt all of the aforementioned theoretical concepts to align with the research questions and the purpose of the study.
Visibility, Visible and the Invisible
Something cannot be seen and unseen at the same time, because the ‘seen” and the ‘unseen’ entirely occupy the domain of the visible. The invisible continually contributes to is visible and vice versa. Because of this, visibility itself can only be understood as a notion of virtuality and not actuality (Brighenti 2008). In order to define visibility, it is first important to shift the focus from visibility to the visible, in order to understand the differences better.
what can be said is laid out. In the field of visibility, the visible and the articulable are co-present, hence the difference between the two meanings is not one of nature, but of degree. Therefore, visibility encompasses two distinct meanings that are often confused: a more literal meaning, pertaining to the immediate sensory sphere (salience); and a metaphorical or symbolic one, pertaining to the set of symbolic meanings that are attached to a particular phenomena and communicated via the media (pregnances) ( Brighenti 2008; Wildgen, 2010; Mateus, 2017)
The sensory dimension and the symbolic one intermix implying two distinct modes of viewing the world. This leads to the idea that visibility is more of a social process rather than simply an appearance or image (Brighenti 2008, 2012, 2017; Mateus, 2017). Moreover, as Mateus (2017) claims “Visibility could be seen as a special arrangement of visible and invisible movements encompassing disclosure and cloaking operations through which one moves in social interplay” (Mateus, 2017).
Visibility as a form of social life
Drawing on Goffman’s idea that social life comes in the form of presentation, there is a continuum between presentation and perception. If perception exists, then it follows that there is something to be perceived or something that is deliberately presented to the eye: what Brighenti calls the percipiendum (Brighenti, 2017).
that “…something perceived, enounced, remembered has outstanding properties, which catch attention, make it relevant, important in a specific situation…” (Wildgen, 2010). Perception is related to the principles of the natural science (“saliences”), but the seeing eye – the “tool” we use to perceive – is not only a biological entity, it is also a virtual gaze, whose function is to link the social animal to a relationship. Therefore, what we know is that there is another dimension of life – an anorganic one that is different from the material, biological one (Brighenti 2017; Wildgen, 2010).
natural products. A fully controllable image would implicitly mean fully controlling nature, which is, so far, unrealistic and impossible.
Both affective and psychic lives are associated with images. It is due to images that psychic life contains a social dimension (Brighenti, 2017). Social processes, such as power relations, morality, charisma etc. can never be resolved into forms of pure salience, but are taken as a force that is propagated throughout a space such as air bathes the globe (Brighenti, 2017).
Figure 2: The relationship between social life, the visible, visibility and mediated visibility Models of visibility
Brighenti (2007, 2008, 2017) and Mateus (2017) argue that visibility is more than a visual representation, rather it is a complex concept defined at the intersection of aesthetics (relations to perception) and politics (relations of power), and it is where the connection is made to the symbolic. There is an asymmetrical relation between the “watcher” and the “watched” that rarely finds itself in a perfect equilibrium (Brighenti, 2007). Through the configurations of visibility, relationships are stabilised and power effects – which are not always absolute – are determined Brighenti proposes three different models of visibility: as recognition, as control, and as spectacle (Brighenti, 2008). These are examined in more depth below.
The model of visibility as “recognition”
1. Categorical recognition is urban recognition par excellence, because it is exchanged among strangers. It stems from the simple everyday typification of people ( Brighenti, 2008). 2. The second type is usually performed by the state, in relation to the population. It is the
individual recognition or the process of identification that is exercised by authorities or other figures of the sovereign, through the means of identity cards, fingerprints or registries. All of these instruments of classification and control are accompanied by the so-called ‘gaze of the state’, a way of seeing that directs a way of intervention and action (Brighenti, 2008). Brighenti (2008) claims that “the centralist gaze filters the multiciplity of social life, and reduces the plurality of lived experiences to fit into certain limits, in order to improve legibility in the management of phenomena concerning the population.” 3. The third type of recognition is rooted in Goffman’s conceptualisation of personal
knowledge. Thus, personal recognition gives entitlement to initiate contact or to foster a direct relationship with another person. In more simple terms, speaking to someone you know (Brighenti, 2008).
4. Spectacular recognition is the last form of recognition and is at the intersection of two worlds, the ordinary and extraordinary. ”Celebrities, heroes, and media figures are technically strangers to their audience, even as those audience members feel they know the celebrity personally and react accordingly” (Brighenti, 2008)
All the aforementioned forms of recognition intertwine but do not perfectly overlap. Where they do overlap, interesting sociological cases emerge such as:
• Personal recognition without individual recognition (people with whom we occasionally speak, but whose names we do not know)
• The conflict between categorical and personal recognition (social types from which we expect a certain behavior, which is not forthcoming)
The model of visibility as “control”
The second model is based on Foucault’s work of the formation of a disciplinary society. This model presents an antithetical scenario of visibility, by counteracting the dynamics of recognition. It is more of a form of subjugation; the imposition of behavior and a means of control rather than recognition (Brighenti, 2008).
In modern society, which is considered as a disciplinary society, visibility means deprivation of power.
“Disciplinary power imposes on those whom it subjects a principle of compulsory visibility. In discipline, it is in the subjects who have to be seen. Their visibility assures the hold of the power that is exercised over them. It is the fact of being constantly seen, of being always able to be seen, that maintains the disciplined individual in his subjection” (Brighenti, 2008)
The simple fact of being aware of one’s visibility status – and not the fact of being effectively under control – efficaciously influences behavior. Research into the surveillance processes is founded upon Foucault’s analysis, but it has somewhat transformed its point of departure. Once one accepts that surveillance can be interpreted as the specific management of the relative (Brighenti, 2008) visibilities of people, one notes that surveillance has become methodical and automatized in contemporary society. The vision – by definition non-reciprocal – that is inherent in surveillance also gives rise to a qualitatively different way of seeing (Brighenti, 2008).
dehumanisation of the observed, and indirectly of the observer, is inherent to unidirectional gaze (Brighenti, 2008).
The model of visibility as “the spectacular”
The ambivalence of visibility is best evidenced by the third described form: spectacular visibility. What characterises the spectacle is that it exists in a regime that is separate from everyday life. For the critical theorists, the spectacle is a set of images, detached from life but simultaneously proposed as an illusory (ideological) form of unity: “The spectacle is not a collection of images, it is a social relationship between people that is mediated by images” (Brighenti, 2008).
Relationships are stabilised and power effects are determined, via the configurations of visibility, but these effects are not always univocal. An opposition, between recognition and control, highlights that visibility is a two-edged sword: it can confer power, but it can also take it away; it can be a source of both empowerment and disempowerment (Brighenti, 2008). Additionally, stigma is an interactional visibility device in this sense; a negative oral characteristic can be associated with any physical sign, but in order for this to work, it needs to be perceivable.
2008). Spectacular visibility is predominantly present in the fields of marketing and mass-media and communication. Both fields share a common feature of the “struggle of being displayed”. This feature is even more predominant in media, and is seen as a form of mass voyeurism and passivity. This is because the media renders social life, by selecting, cutting and editing social events in order to fit a certain format, similar to theatre pieces, performances, and exhibitions (Brighenti, 2010). Moreover, the spectacular is ambiguously located near individual and personal recognition; because of the fact the viewers have become addicted to the possibility of watching other people closely, through electronic mass media, especially TV. Thus, for celebrities or other super-visible individuals, the struggle for visibility becomes a struggle for individuality.
Visibility and power
Recognition and visibility are not linked in a straight-forward way. Whereas the model of visibility as recognition is rooted in the idea that visibility confers power, the second model starts from s diametrically opposite premise, that invisibility strengthens power. The third model is in between the two of them, since it highlights very well the ambivalence of visibility, as being more of a social relationship between people mediated by images. Nevertheless, for all three models, the secret lies at the core of power (Brighenti, 2008; 2007).
2007, 2008). These sites of visibility represent the space where tensions and disputes over the visible occur, in order to define new normative conditions. In turn the new norms are nothing more than the sum of interdependent and ambivalent effects of each visibility regime, which are a repeated, agreed upon, and more or less settled pattern of interaction (Brighenti, 2008, 2012, 2017; Mateus, 2017).
Thus, it is difficult to outline a clear differentiation between visuality and visibility. Instead, the differences between these forms come from the specific configurations assumed by the field of visibility, and the different regimes of visibility, where media are only structures that configure the asymmetry of visibilities (Brighenti, 2008).
Here, we are talking about a field of visibility as the object, whose main feature lies in the ability to displace social positions strategically, through selectivity, regulations, and the stratification of individuals and social happenings (Mateus, 2017). Moreover, Thompson (2005) and Mateus (2010) argue that making something visible is no longer something that is done unintentionally; rather it is an explicit strategy of individuals, who know very well that mediated visibility can be a weapon in their daily struggles. This is where communication media comes into play; we cannot understand the changing relationship between power and visibility in our societies by neglecting the role of communication media.
Visibility and the role of communication media
essential in understanding visibility, because mediated visibility has become the instrument through which social and political battles are waged (Mateus, 2017). Thus, mediated visibility is the vehicle through which these social and political battles draw attention to certain situations or individuals; so, it acts as symbolic capital (Thompson 2005). Mediated visibility positions itself at the core of understanding the political and social struggles (Mortensen, 2018), because it takes the form of a supply and demand market, where the question cam easily emerge: what is worth being seen and at what price (Brighenti, 2007).
In addition, media are key objects of visibility because of their ability to capitalise attention through modulating visibility (Mateus, 2017). The modulation occurs as a result of the ambiguity of the two dimensions of visibility, the literal and the metaphorical. Since the two dimensions are difficult to separate – as the boundaries are unclear between – media has the power to turn something visible and perceptible (a sensory experience) into something that is collectively recognisable and notorious (a symbolic dimension) (Mateus, 2017). Mateus posits that because of this, visibility is no longer just a matter of “showing something out there, but mostly about making something “showable”. In other words, media is acts as an agent over visibility, which needs to be worked upon in order to be able to be visualised (Mateus, 2017).
notorious), authenticity (emotions become notorious), immediacy (the disappearance of the medium becomes conspicuous), and transparency (arcanum imperii is constantly exposed)”.
This, media are great tools to diffuse attention and one of the most effective means to tilt and adjust and regulate the public’s gaze and collective attention. Today’s media is the main delivery mechanism of visibility relationships, because the media is not only an instrument or a weapon, but rather an arena of public attention in which public attention itself is distributed and drawn, on various competing issues according to a number of variables of visibilities Mateus, 2017; Brighenti, 2010).
Media, visibility and publicness
In media and communication studies, media plays an important role in the channelling of the public synchrony of attention, therefore a vital component of visibility is publicness. Since media appear as arenas that contain and circulate public topics of discussion, publicness represents an aesthetic and symbolic synchrony of attention, where it is essential to attain full visibility (Mateus, 2017; Brighenti, 2010).
Therefore, publicness and media are interdependent, because publicness yields the synchronisation of collective attention: visibility (Mateus, 2017).
Social Representations
Since visibility is a field of production of subjects, media plays the role of the creator of public awareness by channelling maximum attention and full awareness towards certain topics or people such as celebrities, actors, deviants or even ordinary people (Mateus, 2017).
By creating and sustaining visibility, media is able to influence the social recognition of people or other events. Thus, social representations are a key component in the process of creating and maintaining visibility (Mateus, 2017; Brighenti, 2010). Put simply, social representations are “bundles of consistently packaged information” and can be verbal, discursive and visible (more than visual) imagistic representations. An analogy can be made with the tourist guides where the information about the most important attractions worthy of tourists’ attention is usually pre-packaged; it is presented in a quick, sketchy and stereotypical fashion (Mateus, 2017).
The positioning of a subject below or above the thresholds of correct visibility relates to the problem of managing one’s social image (Brighenti 2007, 2008). Conversely, media’s representation of immigration, today, is super-visible and has become ubiquitously constant in social imaginary. This super visibility reinforces emotional reactions, such as tremor and surprise, despair and suffering. Super visibility can also be a risk if it increases the banality of images (Brighenti, 2008, 2012, 2017; Mateus, 2017). For example, racial and sexual minorities that are not granted recognition become invisible; hence, they are deprived, because there are certain thresholds of what is called “fair visibility”, with lower and upper limits. Below the lower threshold, one is socially excluded, whereas reaching the upper limit and above leads to supra visibility, where “everything you do becomes gigantic to the point that it paralyzes you. Media representations of migrants as criminals are supra visible as are many forms of moral panic selectively focused onto actors deemed to be representative of moral minorities” (Brighenti, 2008, 2012, 2017; Mateus, 2017). Images are extremely powerful for directing and misdirecting attention, essentially because they are seductive. Images that constantly move us may also have the paradoxical effect of freezing us, so we become passive spectators. “Super visibility banalizes everything.”(Mateus, 2017)
Effects of Mediated Visibility
A further consequence is that a new site of visibility emerges, the so-called ‘politics of recognition’ where all the struggles for recognition take place and where the lack of recognition or misrecognition is nothing more than the effects of all these struggles. Therefore, claims for visibility by minority groups or other leaders are double-sided, as they can lead to denial or an enactment of recognition. “Distortions in visibility lead to distortions in social representations, distortions through visibility” (Brighenti, 2007, 2008, 2017).
The underlying thing is that visibility is curdled into representations that sediment in time mostly (not exclusively) due to the ways media set up empirical visibilities and influence visibility’s contingent compositions, re-compositions, and inter-compositions (Brighenti, 2007). It may thus have a rippling effect on society and lead to distortions in the representation of minority groups (media discourse analysis), but also distortions in the visibility of minority groups (sexual, racial, and ethnic) which could lead to important misrepresentations. For these reasons it is crucial to tackle hypervisibility as an extreme effect of an intense modulation perpetrated by communication technologies (Mateus, 2017; Brighenti, 2010).
This is especially so in the case of ethnic, racial, and sexual minority groups; just as invisibility leads to lack of recognition, hypervisibility reveals how social representations lean towards and are always dangerously close to stereotyping. Therefore, minorities who benefit from hypervisibility can easily become misrepresented, distorted, disempowered and may feel inferior (Brighenti, 2008, 2012, 2017; Mateus, 2017).
In another example, women who claim the right to become visible and who aspire to more recognition, are quickly categorised as incorrigible, whereas when it comes to gay people, benefiting from visibility runs the risk of imposing a pre-conceived “correct” way of how “to be gay” (Mateus, 2017).
Media visibility is modulated with the help of media representations and media coverage of suffering of various kinds may promote different types of moral attitudes towards those who suffer, as well potentially creating moral anaesthesia or even convivence. The ambivalence of media visibilities can potentially lead to contradictory outcomes (Mateus, 2017). On one hand, the hypervisibility of news messages produces repercussions and distortions in other social fields; such as, the political and the legal domains (for example, reforms, changes of law etc.) (Mateus, 2017). On the other hand, a more optimistic view claims that global visibility of suffering inevitably brings with it the potential truly to care about estranged and suffering people (Mateus, 2017).
Agenda Setting and Framing in Mediating Visibility
effects of media technologies which would otherwise be hidden by the communicated messages (Brighenti, 2008, 2010). However, because – as we have observed above – affections through visibility take place within certain rhythmic thresholds, rhythms that are pushed too much can also turn affections into reactive anaesthesia (Brighenti, 2010).
Seeing invites believing, and the truth is nothing more visible than an opinion. Brighenti (2010) claims that: “several of our problems come from the fact that in most cases the truth is markedly less visible than the sum of the opinions circulating. The issue with media visibilities concerns not simply opinions as cognitive positions, but also the elicitation of position-taking. Because of the presence of a media frame, there is no neutral stance in this type of visibility.” (Brighenti, 2010)
Both agenda-setting theory and framing theory have emerged as a prolongation of the analytical theory of visibility, because from the beginning there was an attempt to distinguish the “what” from the ‘how’ analytically, and the mere visibility of a news story from the type of framing in which it is presented. They are complementary and make for a better understanding of how media creates and maintains visibility through media representations (Mateus, 2017; Brighenti, 2010). Therefore, we must consider how the visible (the “message”) is presented and how it reaches the viewers. These two aspects of informing the content and reaching the recipient correspond to the acts of framing and affecting (Brighenti, 2010).
Agenda Setting Theory
out it on the public agenda. Agenda-setting is an effective tool for understanding how certain topics that are covered by the media raise the public’s awareness towards the emphasized subject. Despite that fact, the media is not necessarily such a powerful and decisive a factor in shaping public opinion, but at least it has the power to tell/show the public what to think about. Nevertheless, scholars who examined agenda setting argued that, for governments or political leaders, public relations officers, communicators, the media could represent a tool to promote and shape the public agenda (McCombs and Shaw 1993). Thus, media acts as a gatekeeper and has the power to determine what is relevant. It holds agenda-setting powers through its selection of which information to report.
According to McCombs, Shaw, and Weaver (2014) stated that during its fifty years of existence, agenda setting has evolved into a broader theory, with several distinct areas, as follows:
• Basic agenda setting, whose core concept has remained the same (the salience of subjects that make it onto the public agenda). This is considered the first level of agenda-setting theory.
• Attribute agenda setting or the second level, which deals with the salience of the attributes of objects.
• Network agenda setting, a third level of the theory with a focus on the media’s networking of and its impact on the public agenda.
• Consequences of agenda setting on the public’s attitudes, opinions, and behaviours. • Agenda-building: the factors that influence the building of the agenda (cultural or
• Agenda-melding: how we meld our personal views and experiences with the civic agendas of the media in order to make sense of what is happening to us.
With such a wide spectrum of areas, there are several operational definitions circulating within the field of agenda-setting research. Nevertheless, two distinct definitions seem to dominate: the agenda issues of the news and of the public. Moreover, with new forms of communication, such as social media, today’s scholars of agenda-setting can apply the theory §to a wider spectrum of channels and content – that extend beyond the traditional state of affairs. It has become what is called a “world of agendas”. One of the areas worth exploring by contemporary research endeavours is the psychology of agenda-setting (McCombs, Shaw, and Weaver 2014).
Second-level Agenda Setting
Whereas the first level of agenda-setting is focused on the amount of coverage of an issue, second-level agenda setting examines the relative salience of the attributes of issues; i.e. how the issue is defined or represented (Weaver, 2007). However, research into the second level of agenda setting has overlooked an important component of the affect: the feelings, and emotions that are triggered in the public. Whereas character traits, framing issues or valence are important components of affects, they are considered to be more of a cognitive conceptualisation. Emotions and feelings also play a crucial psychologically conceptualised role in second-level agenda-setting (Coleman and Wu, 2010).
media portrayals of some political candidates. Their study tested whether the viewers emotional responses were are correlated with the media's emotional-affective agenda and they compared the two dimensions, affect and cognitive assessments of traits, as well exploring the positive-negative valence. Even though numerous other studies investigated affective agenda-setting, the authors claimed that none had succeeded in capturing the affect as conceptualized in psychology. Hence, They defined affect operationally, as the intensity of a certain felt emotion such as anger, fear, sadness, happiness, pride, etc.. Furthermore, the researchers argued that these emotional models were the most appropriate for understanding the persuasive nature of media influence (Coleman and Wu, 2010).
Framing Theory
The concept of framing is related to the agenda-setting tradition, but expands the research by focusing on the essence of the issues at hand rather than on any particular topic. The basis of framing theory is that the media focuses attention on certain events and then places them within a field of meaning.
Frames influence the audience’s perception of the news; in this way it could be construed as a form of second-level agenda setting – they not only tell the audience what to think about (agenda-setting theory), but also how to think about that issue (second-level agenda-setting, framing theory) (Mccombs , 2011). Mccombs (1997) defines framing as “the selection of a restricted number of thematically related attributes for inclusion on the media agenda when a particular object is discussed”. Another definition posits that “framing incorporates a wider range of factors than priming and agenda-setting, which are both cognitive concepts” and “that frames are tied in with culture as a macrosocial structure” (Weaver and Choi, 2014).
Weaver (2007) compared second-level agenda-setting with framing and posited that both focus on how issues or other objects are depicted in the media, rather than on the amount of coverage; hence, they are similar in this regard, or identical. However, even if both theories deal with ways of thinking rather than the actual objects of the thinking, framing does not seem to include a broader range of cognitive responses. Second-level agenda setting, on the other hand, does seem to address this question and looks further, tackling moral evaluation, causal reasoning, appeals to principles and recommendations for treatment of problems.
human-more thoughts framed in terms of economic consequences (Valkenburg, Semetko, and De Vreese, 1999). In terms of the reader’s ability to recall the information, for the crime story, the framing condition significantly affected the readers’ ability to recall information. These results suggest the more emotionally compelling the nature of the story negatively affected the readers’ retrieval of information. They did not remember the core information as well as the others who were exposed to other framing condition (Valkenburg, Semetko, and De Vreese 1999).
A further study investigated the effects of a journalistic story frame on the audience’s thoughts and feelings. It showed that news frames clearly evoked distinctive patterns in the activation of thoughts. Participants reported that the news frames they saw influenced the substantive focus of their thoughts. Even though the study did not seek to make any particular evaluation of the effects, the cognitive response data revealed frame-induced differences in the affective tone of response; hence, framing can have evaluative effects and can directly influence what enters the minds of audience members (Price, Tewksbury, and Powers 1997). Over the past decades, the popularity of the framing theory has increased and theorists argue that this is the result of its versatility and comprehensive nature; it can be employed in various forms to study different aspects of messages. Moreover, it is even suitable for systematic content analysis. But whether framing is more or less similar to second-level agenda setting, depends very much on how it is defined (Weaver, 2007).
definition, causal interpretation, moral evaluation and/or treatment recommendation for the item described” (Entman, 1993).
A Mediated Visibility Model for Roma Beggars
Visibility is a relatively new category of social theory. It appears to be a relational one, which means that the positions and properties of the objects in the field of visibility are meaningful, only in relation to other objects (Brighenti, 2008). For this study’s analysis, visibility was preferred in favor of a theory of the invisible, as the latter is not able to give indications that could be useful for ethnographic research and the study of social interactions.
Considering all these factors and the aim of the research, we developed an analytical model of media visibility for the Roma beggars. our model draws on the theoretical concepts discussed earlier, which were selected, summarised and conceptualised in accordance with the purpose of the study.
Identification of the concept
The current model embraces the idea of visibility in the form of a spectacle. Spectacular visibility is considered to be more appropriate as it entails the other two other forms of visibility as conceptualized by the literature: control, and recognition. Furthermore, spectacular visibility is more characteristic of media and communication studies; hence, representative for this study.
the Romanian beggars visible (Mateus, 2017). The power effects could be more easily explored through visibility’s configuration of Romanian beggars in the media. Since effects are not always univocal, visibility is a two-edged sword (it confers power or takes it away). The form of spectacular visibility can also be valuable in better revealing the perceived effects among the group of Romanian beggars (Brighenti, 2008).
Dimensions of the model
The model proposes the idea that Romanian beggars are in the subject position within the field of media visibility. Here, the media discourse (political and normative dimension of the visible or social representation) is the result of tensions between WHAT CAN and SHOULD/ NOT be seen and WHO and CAN/CANNOT see others (Mateus, 2017; Brighenti, 2010). The spectacle entails that the viewer is able to watch other people closely, because media renders life by selecting, cutting and editing social events in order to fit a certain format – similar to a theatre play (Brighenti, 2010) where the ‘actors’ are Romanian beggars, the ‘audience’ the readers and the Swedish Press the ‘director’.
Given the aim of our research, our model encompasses two dimensions. One looks into these configurations of visibility, through the construction of representation:
4. What is the dominant media discourse in the Swedish Newspapers about the group of beggars from Romania?
The other looks at the subject position, more specifically, the ambivalence of the perceived effects of media visibility (either positive or negative) by Romanian beggars:
5. Are the beggars from Romania living in Sweden aware of their media representation by
6. What are the perceived effects of visibility by the group of Romanian beggars and their current affairs?
Figure 3: Representation of the bi-dimensional theoretical model.This framework is used to address the
research purpose of the study and help explore the relationship between media visibility of the Romanian beggars in the Swedish Press and the perceived effects of it by the group of Romanian beggars.. The first dimension corresponds to the first research questions (R1), whereas the second dimension corresponds to the other two research questions (R2 and R3)
Conceptualisation of dominant media discourse of Romanian beggars
an opinion (Brighenti, 2010). Brighenti (2010) claimed that “several of our problems come from the fact that in many cases truth is markedly less visible than the sum of the opinions circulating” (Brighenti, 2010). Therefore the issue of the media visibility of Romanian beggars concerns not only opinions as cognitive positions but also the elicitation of position taking (moral evaluation). Due to the media frame, there is no neutral stance in this type of visibility.
The dominant media discourse is conceptualised in the model, hereby as social representation with two components: patterns of interaction (a synonym for ‘topics’) and frame of reference (‘media frame’). The theoretical framework of second-level agenda setting and framing are used to analyse the media discourse. These theoretical frameworks help shed some light on how the Swedish press selects, cuts and edits the issue of Romanian beggars, in order to fit a certain format(frame) and how to think about it Brighenti, 2010). Second-level agenda setting complements framing’s theoretical concept, as defined by Entman, by further tackling the elements of the frame: it promotes a certain problem definition, a moral evaluation and causal reasoning; it appeals to principles and makes recommendation concerning the issue of Romanian beggars. Second-level agenda setting examines the relative salience of the attributes of issues. Put simply, how the issue is defined and represented (Weaver, 2007). Furthermore, it takes a step forward and looks into the component of the affect: the feelings and emotions that are triggered in the public.
more emotionally compelling the nature of the story, the more this negatively the readers’ retrieval of information (Valkenburg, Semetko, and De Vreese 1999).
Considering all of these factors, super visibility takes place within certain thresholds; rhythms that push and when pushed too much can reinforce emotional reactions such as tremor and surprise, despair or suffering and can contribute to the banality of images and moral anaesthesia (Brighenti, 2010; Mateus, 2017).
Figure 4: Representation of the first dimension of the theoretical model.This dimension
addresses the dominant media discourse and looks at how the Swedish press is creating and maintaining visibility of the Romanian beggars through social representation embedded in a media frame. The social representation of beggars is created by the media discourse with the help of Media Frame as defined by Entman, as well as of the Tone of Voice and Emotional responses triggered.
Conceptualisation of ‘perceived’” media effects
perceived or something is deliberately presented to the eye, the so-called ‘percipiendum’ (Brighenti, 2017). We posit that this percipiendum encompasses more than the public eye; in our case, it also encompasses the Romanian beggars’ eye. Therefore, the perceived effects of media are conceptualised as the gaze of the Romanian beggars concerning media visibility effects: what they look at from their stance and how they perceive the media visibility effect (Brighenti, 2017). If media visibility is a matter of not only showing something out there, but making something showable, then the Romanian beggars should perceive something.
Media visibility effects relate to the subject’s positioning within thresholds of visibility, with a lower limit (invisibility) and an upper limit (hyper visibility). Thus far, the theory of visibility has not been able to indicate any reliable measurements to determine the boundaries of invisibility, visibility or hypervisibility. Nevertheless, from the beginning, this research assumed that the group of Romanian beggars was hypervisible in the media; therefore, our model does not directly tackle invisibility (lack of recognition) and its potential effects (social exclusion). Consequently, the proposed analytical model of visibility will focus on type of effects related to hypervisibility. The proponents and theoreticians of visibility have claimed that for ethnic, sexual or minority groups, media visibility has the following effects; categorised as:
• Negative effects: misrepresentation, distortion of reality, disempowerment, inferiorization, moral anaesthesia and convivance.
• Neutral effects: Repercussions in the legal and political domain
Figure 5: Representation of second dimension of the theoretical model. The second dimension addresses
the perceived effects of the mediated visibility from subject position, more specifically the Romanian’s beggar perspective.
Due to the fact that at least 90% of the Roma in Romania live in poverty and at least 25% lack the registration documents required to gain access to education, this study embraces the idea that they are less likely to be able to read Swedish or English at least; hence their awareness of their media representation in the Swedish press is limited. Nonetheless, because of their hypervisibility, at least some of effects should be perceived by them.
5. Methodology
This chapter explains the methods and the methodological literature that we examined and which motivated the choices made in the data gathering process; and discusses these. It lays out in detail: the rationale for choosing a mixed-methods research type, the scope of the selected methods, a presentation of content analysis and visual ethnography, the sampling process for the quantitative part of the design and the procedures and steps followed throughout the data gathering process. The chapter begins with the research design and then presents the methods of content analysis and visual ethnography, followed by the procedures followed in gathering of both types of data: quantitative and qualitative.
Research Design
The study seeks to explore and elicit empirical data about the relationship between the media visibility of a minority group – Romanian beggars – and their perceived effects of this. It is more of a ‘what’ and ‘how’ type of scientific inquiry than a ‘why’ type. Therefore, we developed a bi-dimensional theoretical framework of visibility in order to facilitate the analysis of the aforementioned relationship.
