/ 1968
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CONTEMPORARY APPROACHES TO THE AFFECTIVE EXAMINATION OF WELL-BEING

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In this paper, the issues of examining affective well-being in contemporary social research are presented. Affective well-being maybe defined as a balance between experienced positive and negative affects. In the first part of the paper, findings on the nature of affects,their mutual association and some cognitive biases related to self assessment of affective experience are presented. Then, the most commonly used measurement methods are chronologically presented and the advantages and disadvantages of each are highlighted. These include measurement instruments containing only one or more items,instruments for measuring the intensity as well as the frequency and the duration of affective experience, instruments based on self-assessments as well as assessments of other people, and subjective as well as some objective measuring instruments. Also, some cases are presented of extensive international researches involving affective well-being measurements on nationally representative samples. In the final part,some recommendations for further research as well as concluding considerations are derived.

/ 1968
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SAMPLE ERRORS IN SOCIAL SCIENCES RESEARCH

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The paper points out errors that can occur during the planning and selection of samples in the study of social phenomena, causes behind such errors and ways to overcome them. First, sample errors are classified in the paper according to several criteria: according to the sample type, i.e. whether it occurs in the probability or in the non probability sampling methods, and then with respect to the phase in which they occur. After that, the possibilities of overcoming different types of errors are pointed out. The relationship between sample size and possible errors is also analysed. In addition, attention is paid to the sample errors that can occur during fieldwork by the interviewer, which should be distinguished from interviewer-related errors that occur in the process of data collection.

/ 1968
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CASE STUDY RESEARCH – CONCEPT AND PRACTICE

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This paper deals with case study research as a qualitative method that has not been much written about in the Serbian sociology. In the first part, the authors discuss the very concept of case study research, its main forms, features and limits. Case study research is especially convenient for researches on a sociologically “unknown” terrain, and one of its main features is the use of numerous qualitative and quantitative data gathering techniques. In the second part of the paper, a methodological analysis of the research the authors conducted using case study method is presented. Differently from some other methods, case study research usually offers a closer contact with the real and live social world.

/ 1968
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CHARACTERISTICS OF THE CASE STUDY AND POSSIBILITIES OF APPLICATION IN MARGINAL GROUP RESEARCH

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Although often used to investigate a variety of scientific issues,case study as a research strategy still provokes open debate about it sepistemological reach and method of application. Through analysis of basic features of case study, as well as the complex research tasks it can solve, and through reference to course of implementation of such a research, the scope and limitations of its application in researching problems and topics pertaining to marginalized individuals and groups are outlined. Familiarity of researchers with the complexity of one of the most demanding research approaches in social science methodology,such as design of the case study, is a key condition for its successful application. It is therefore an intention of the authors of this paper to assist researchers, especially those without experience. We consider it necessary to distinguish its meaningful use from attempts at research that often defy its true meaning, reducing it solely to illustrative examples of life trajectories of individuals and groups from the borders of a particular community, without clearly explaining the underlying methodological procedures.

/ 1968
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VISUAL RESEARCH – THE MAIN METHODOLOGICAL ISSUES

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The last few years have seen a rapid increase in the use of visual research in a growing number of academic disciplines. In addition to its well-established applications in anthropology, ethnology, psychology,sociology and geography, the approach has been gaining popularity in applied research in a range of fields such as healthcare, culture, urban studies, educational research, social politics and social work. The key advantage of using visual materials, according to existing research is,that it can provide valuable insights into various areas of social life and reveal the often invisible everyday experiences of social stakeholders and important social processes. The application of a visual approach yields rich datasets which can be analysed from multiple perspectives,while the original records can be preserved for future reference. This paper aims to introduce the visual approach to researchers interested in applying visual research in practice. After a brief overview of the emergence and development of the approach, we provide an outline of the main methodological issues in application of visual materials in the era of digital data. The virtually ubiquitous use of different ICT products in visual research has brought about fundamental changes in all stages of the research process: from visual data collection to the way in which visual data are stored, searched, coded, analysed and interpreted.

/ 1968
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FROM GLOBAL TO REALITY TV SHOWS IN SERBIA

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In Serbia, reality television programmes came to life with “Big Brother“, an invention of Dutchman “John“ de Mol, initiated as a kind of experiment that was inspired by contemporary artists’ research into how police and security services use video cameras. This resulted in creation of a space in which everyone comes to be seen and to see others. In the meantime, many circumstances have changed, both globally and in Serbia, so after “Big Brother”, the reality television programmes in our country have evolved considerably and have taken forms that fall outside the reality, adopting a wide range of mostly negative influences from different spheres of society. To what extenth as television, with its displaying of various forms of non-culture and kitsch through television broadcasts and shows, exerted its influence that such a stunning transformation of this form of reality TV has occurred? And does it mean that an unfortunate bare picture of the overall social situation in the country and the far-reaching goals of certain structures underlie these negative enough influences? By bringing small states into an economically dependent position, the great powers not only considerably shape their economic policy but also indirectly influence the formation of other segments of society that emerge or that are in some way connected with their emerging economies. One of these segments is culture, and its spread is achieved through cultural globalization which breaks down cultural barriers.However, at the same time, it distorts and shapes the cultural identity of a particular society according to its own needs. Although the well known Latin maxim of “bread and games” (panem et circenses) can be applied to reality television programmes, their negative effects extend much deeper and can affect different segments of society. This danger has become real with the development of the society itself, but also with the unpredictable and elusive movements of globalization, the consequences of which can be felt at national level, even on a smaller sample of reality television programmes. The hierarchy, which was vertical in the “global” reality (directed by the global towards the national leaders), becomes horizontal within a nation, thanks to the reality television programmes (leaders are drowning and concealing their roles behind the screened absurdity, and the reality itself becomes a means to certain ends). If we exclude psychotherapeutic effect, which in some sense cannot be denied, the reality TV sends a not at all naïve message, with potentially harmful effects on its viewers.

/ 1968
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REALITY SHOWS IN A GLOBAL SOCIETY

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This paper deals with presence and topicality of reality shows in the world of global media and with popularity of micro-stars as “newly composed cultural models” whose provocative and aggressive behaviour spills over from reality into everyday life. A question is raised whether reality programmes represent just another in a series of harmless pastimes of the global audiences, or whether they are a danger to the post-modern society, a kind of manipulation, a media opiate?The market orientation of the global society has led to a pursuit of light entertainment products. Commercialization of the news programmes is entertaining according to the infotainment; emergence of a new genre of advertainment combines advertising and entertainment in various media content. Although television is not omnipotent in the global society, it still has a strong impact on the audiences obsessed with technology and screen images that have endangered other types of expressing people’s thoughts and feelings. Rapid technological development has opened the door to a new way of gaining fame and popularity, leading to the so-called celebritization of ordinary people. Numerous public controversies regarding broadcasting of such content range from those who perceive reality shows as distorted real-life events by portraying them as plays rather than real events, to those exploring the educational level of the media content or portraying everything as a fun contest. Is it the matter of the viewers’ voyeurism and exhibitionism of the programme participants? What is the level of interaction between the two categories? Are the viewers really enchanted by such media content to the point that they can easily and quickly identify themselves with the participants of a reality show? Do these programmes adversely affect people’s behaviour or do they represent an escape from the harsh everyday life and social injustice? Although the critical public points to the suppression of the freedom of thought, to the inhumane treatment  of the participants, toying with their emotions and manipulation with contestants’ profiles, most viewers still refer to this television genre a sharmless entertainment. That a part of the public in Serbia perceives them as a flood of ignorance, immorality and aggression is evidenced by the collected citizens’ signatures in support of the proposal of the Lawon restriction of reality programmes, because they promote violence,hate speech and pornography

/ 1968
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MIRRORS OF DEATH – IS IT POSSIBLE TO DEFEND REALITY FROM REALITY

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Reality shows are mirrors of spiritual metamorphosis of our civilization.The text summarizes historical conditions, ideas and ideologies which have, more or less indirectly, shaped the contemporary mass culture and reality programmes as its specific segment. It also raises the question of responsibility of intellectuals in such course of events and particularly their responsibility in the process of erasing clear lines that separate elite and popular culture. Defining culture as human activity in general, without valuing it, has significantly contributed to creating an illusion of its democratic nature. This paper particularly emphasizes the character of contemporary civilization as a civilization of/without death, thus interpreting, along the same lines, the symbolic level of reality programmes.