Sandra J. Ball-Rokeach (born 1941) is an American sociologist and communications scholar. She is professor emerita at the

USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism The USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism is a part of the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. It has 2,300 undergraduate and graduate students. Willow Bay is the dean. Prof. Hector Amaya is the Director of the Sc ...

, and the department of sociology at the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

(USC). Ball-Rokeach is best known for developing

media system dependency theory Media system dependency theory (MSD), or simply media dependency, was developed by Sandra Ball-Rokeach and Melvin Defleur in 1976. The theory is grounded in classical sociological literature positing that media and their audiences should be studi ...

with Melvin Defleur.

Life

Sandra Jean Ball was born in

Ottawa, Canada Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core of the Ottawa–Gatineau ...

in 1941. She gained a BA in sociology from the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

in 1963, and her PhD in sociology there in 1968. In 1967 Ball became an assistant professor at the

University of Alberta The University of Alberta (also known as U of A or UAlberta, ) is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the first premier of Alberta, and Henry Marshall Tory, t ...

. In 1968-69 she was co-director of a National Mass Media and Violence Task Force. In 1969 she married the social psychologist

Milton Rokeach Milton Rokeach (born in Hrubieszów as Mendel Rokicz, December 27, 1918 – October 25, 1988) was a Polish-born American social psychologist. He taught at Michigan State University, the University of Western Ontario, Washington State University, an ...

. In 1970 Ball-Rokeach moved to

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...

, and in 1972 to

Washington State University Washington State University (WSU, or colloquially Wazzu) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Pullman, Washington, United States. Founded in 1890, WSU is also one of the oldest Land-grant uni ...

(WSU). She started the first

gender studies Gender studies is an interdisciplinary academic field devoted to analysing gender identity and gendered representation. Gender studies originated in the field of women's studies, concerning women, feminism, gender, and politics. The field n ...

program at WSU. In 1986 she moved to the

, where she stayed until retirement. She is a Fellow of the

International Communication Association The International Communication Association (ICA) is an academic association for scholars interested in the study, teaching and application of all aspects of human and mediated communication. ICA communicates within the association and with oth ...

(ICA), and has served as Chair of the ICA. She is on the editorial board of several

communication studies Communication studies (or communication science) is an academic discipline that deals with processes of human communication and behavior, patterns of communication in interpersonal relationships, social interactions and communication in differ ...

journals, including the ''

Journal of Communication The ''Journal of Communication'' is a bimonthly peer-reviewed academic journal that publishes articles and book reviews on a broad range of issues in communication theory and research. It was established in 1951 and the current editor-in-chief is ...

'', ''

Communication Studies Communication studies (or communication science) is an academic discipline that deals with processes of human communication and behavior, patterns of communication in interpersonal relationships, social interactions and communication in differ ...

'' and ''

International Journal of Communication The ''International Journal of Communication'' is an open access peer-reviewed academic journal covering studies on communication. The founding editor-in-chief was Larry Gross (USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism) and it is publi ...

''.

Works

Books

* (with Robert K. Baker) ''Mass media and violence; a report to the National Commission on the Causes and Prevention of Violence''. U.S. Government Printing Office, 1969. * (with

& Joel W. Grube) ''The Great American Values Test: Influencing Belief and Behavior through Television''. Free Press, 1984. * (ed. with Muriel Cantor) ''Media, Audience and Social Structure''. SAGE, 1986. * (with Melvin Defleur) ''Theories of Mass Communication''. Pearson, 1989. * (ed.) ''Paradoxes of Youth and Sport''. SUNY, 2002. * (ed. with

Marita Sturken Marita Sturken (born 1957) is an American scholar, author, professor, and critic. Life and work Marita Sturken is Professor and former Chair of the Department of Media, Culture, and Communication at New York University's Steinhardt School of Cul ...

and

Douglas Thomas Douglas Thomas may refer to: * Douglas Thomas (academic) (born 1966), American scholar, researcher, and journalist * Douglas Thomas (Maine politician), member of the Maine Senate * Douglas Thomas (New Hampshire politician), member of the New Ham ...

) ''Technological Visions: The Hopes and Fears that Shape New Technologies''. Temple University Press, 2004. * (with Matthew D. Matsaganis and Vikki S. Katz) ''Understanding Ethnic Media: Producers, Consumers, and Societies''. SAGE, 2010.

Selected articles

* (with Melvin Defleur) 'A Dependency Model of Mass-Media Effects'. ''Communication Research'', 3 (1), 3. 1976. doi: 10.1177/009365027600300101 * (with Gerald J. Power, K. Kendall Guthrie and H. Ross Waring) 'Value-framing abortion in the United States: an application of media system dependency theory. ''

International Journal of Public Opinion Research The ''International Journal of Public Opinion Research'' (''IJPOR'') is a quarterly social science journal sponsored by the World Association for Public Opinion Research (WAPOR) and published by Oxford University Press. Since 1994, WAPOR bestows ...

, 3'', 249-273. 1990. * 'A theory of media power and a theory of media use: Different stories, questions, and ways of thinking'. ''Mass Communication & Society'', 1(1), 5-40. 1998. * 'Media System Dependency Theory'. In Wolfgang Donsbach, ed., ''The Blackwell International Encyclopedia of Communication''. Oxford, UK: Blackwell Publishing, 2008.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rokeach-Ball, Sandra 1941 births Living people American sociologists American mass media scholars Washington State University faculty University of Southern California faculty