Method	Unit of Analysis	Key Concepts	View of Audience	Major Theorists	Key Assumptions
Ideological Criticism	Social forces, economic relationships	Hegemony, Determinism, legitimation	Dupes and pawns	Marx, Gramsci, Althusser	False consciousness is supported by the media. The media offer an arena for contested ideology.
Gender Criticism	Roles, relationships,	Positioning, Patriarchy, Feminism	Susceptible to influence	Modleski, Vande Berg, Dow	Television is an extension of a culture that socializes men and women into preconceived roles.
Textual Criticism	Signs, codes, and signifiers	Semiotics, synchronic and diachronic	Active readers of text	Propp, Berger, Fisk and Hartley	Television programs are complex texts with overlapping and often contradictory layers of meaning.
Audience-Centered Criticism	Actual audience member responses	Focus groups, active audience, uses and grats	Empowered choice makers	Radway, Ang, Jenkins, Fish	Television means what an audience says it means; the approach privileges the audience not the critic.
Auteur Criticism	The creative force behind the show	Mis en scene, thematic motifs	Appreciative of artistic choices	Davis, Feuer, Thompson	Television programming can be read as the output of a particular creative genius (or team)
Cultural Criticism	Roles and norms, socialization forces	Critique, liberation	At the mercy of various forces	Hall, Fiske, British Cultural Studies	TV is one of many powerful forces affecting society. One must keep a clear perspective on its influence.
Institutional Criticism	Power roles, economic relationships	Imperialism, Political economy, tensions	Unaware of all but the obvious programs	Turow, Bagdikian, Barnouw	Television is the quintessential result of institutional artistic effort. Understanding this unlocks significant insights for the critic.