Factor Analysis and its Use in Media Research

Abstract

Many media researchers consider the study of human behaviour to be the main problem of social psychology. Human behaviour is essential in our lives and plays a major role in directing the individual's social behaviour in society and the environment. Because the interaction of several factors determines behaviour, essential factors include psychological, social, and cultural factors, meaning that an individual’s behaviour is affected by their personal characteristics and traits, in addition to evidence, the social and cultural environment in which the individual lives. Since media activities, in one aspect, are part of social behaviour. Studying this individual social behaviour represents great importance for media research and studies because it represents a means of expressing perceptions of social and cultural influences, even though the field of media and information technology and the emergence of new means of communication are different from those means, traditionalism and the diversity of roles and tasks in the media made it necessary to search for methodological and scientific tools that are compatible with these changes. Instead, they have become, There is an urgent need for researchers in the media field to achieve a high level of analysis, form fundamental hypotheses, and make judgments. Measuring the behaviour of the audience or those in charge of the communication process is possible in media studies and research after the emergence of factor analysis (Sieberman). It has become one of the most common multivariate statistical methods in research, media studies, and the humanities. In general, this statistical method assists media researchers in studying various variables to attribute them to the most critical factors affecting them. It is known that any media phenomenon usually results from several factors, so it is considered the final result. This is why our research explored factor analysis in media research and studies to obtain significant analysis reasons—reaching results compatible with the apparent constituent factors or media problem to be researched or studied and issuing scientific judgments and solutions. And the process of that phenomenon or problem. To achieve this, we identified the mechanisms and steps we followed in studying economic television programs and their role in promoting financial inclusion using the factor analysis method