The media piece chosen for the analysis is an article, “Socioeconomic status and the growth of intelligence from infancy through adolescence.” The article is used to explore the portrayal of the economic status, sociological framework suitable in explaining the media piece, message of the media, possible effects of the article, and how it might affect the individuals in the united economy and labor force.
The portrayal of the economic status: The article portrays that the children of those in the high socioeconomic status (SES) enjoy at the expense of the children of those at the low socioeconomic status. The article tests the intelligence quotient (IQ) of children from low and high SES (Von Stumm & Plomin, 2015). The findings show the children high from low SES families recorded 6 IQ points less than their counterparts from high SES families at age 2 (Von Stumm & Plomin, 2015). The gap almost tripled at age adolescent stage, age 16 (Von Stumm & Plomin, 2015). IQ and achievements in education go hand in hand. The widening of the gap with age will translate to variation in education achievement and ultimately economic gap.
Sociological framework suitable in explaining the media piece: Conflict theory
The theory that suits best the understanding of the SES depicted in the article is conflict theory/perspective. Conflict perspective focuses on the competition and conflict as the ground for understanding the society; there are winners and losers (Brinkerhoff, Ortega, & Weitz, 2013). According to Brinkerhoff, Ortega, & Weitz (2013), the critical question the theory asks is “Who wins from a given pattern or social arrangement and at whose expense?” in answering the question, the subordinate and dominant groups and their practices are identified. There are three assumptions on which this theory is founded: competition, structural inequality, and social change (Brinkerhoff, Ortega, & Weitz, 2013). Thus, the theory explores the social structures.
The conflict theory can be applied in this article by identifying the high SES as the dominant group and the low SES as the subordinate group. The factors that contribute to the wide gap of IQ between children from the high and low backgrounds are differences in resources, support, and learning opportunities (Von Stumm & Plomin, 2015). The high SES families control these resources. This causes the social inequality, and the children from low SES backgrounds are disadvantaged.
The message portrayed in the media piece: the article conveys the message of the relationship between IQ growth in children from childhood to adolescent, and how the IQ growth is associated with socioeconomic factors. At infancy, the gap in IQ between them is 6 points, and at adolescence, the IQ gap almost tipples (Von Stumm & Plomin, 2015). The media conveyed the message in an unbiased manner because the information presented is a firsthand research work, and also supported by relevant sources. There may be limitations of the research such as the change of the SES in the course of the research, but this does not make it biased. The issues are also presented objectively since the article is mainly informative and sensationalizes no issue.
Possible public perception’s on SES: one of the possible perceptions the public may have drawn from the media piece is the social structures of the society is biased because it does not give equal opportunity to everybody. As Von Stumm & Plomin (2015) state, the environmental variance is the major cause of the difference in IQ growth in different SES families. For this reason, the paper discourages discrimination, stereotyping, and stereotyping.
How can this article affect the media economy and labor force?
The ideals of the United States are known for providing equal opportunities to everyone regardless of the race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status among other aspects of diversity. However, from the perspective of this article, the children from low SES are advantaged from the beginning. Therefore, their educational achievements will be considerably low, hence giving the weak competition and less opportunity than their counterparts from high SES. If nothing is done, the economy will continue to be dominated by the people from the high SES; maintaining status quo. The labor market will be in a manner that the top positions are mainly held by people from high SES, and lower positions by people from the low SES. From the perspective of conflict theory, the conflict may arise and make the government offer learning opportunities and other necessary resources to the children from the low SES; hence bringing change in social structure.
References
Brinkerhoff, D. B., Ortega, S. T., & Weitz, R. (2013). Essentials of sociology. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Cengage Learning.
Von Stumm, S., & Plomin, R. (2015). Socioeconomic status and the growth of intelligence from infancy through adolescence. Intelligence, 48, p.30-36. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160289614001433
