FRAMING

IN THE
OFFICE

Rebecca Gwin, Morgan Sangster, Erin Brodersen, Emily Blackwood

MSCM 3306
 Gwin, Sangster, Brodersen, Blackwood 2

Introduction

Americanization of British shows is a popular phenomenon. Some of the more well-

known remakes include Shameless, Doctor Who, and The Office. A common theme for all of

these Americanized remakes is that something significant in the original version has been altered

to make the show more appealing to American audiences (Andrews, 2001). The Office was first

aired on BBC two in 2001, utilizing a documentary style approach to follow the lives of the

employees of the paper company Wernham Hogg. The show only lasted two six-episode series

along with a 90 minute Christmas special. The show drew a small fan base at the start of its run,

but by the end of the series, the show was drawing over five million viewers. The show has won

British Comedy Awards, British Academy of Film and Television Arts Awards, Golden Globe

Awards, and a Peabody Award, and it has been aired in 80 different countries worldwide

(Hernandez 2010).

France, Germany, Brazil, Canada, Chile and Russia created their own adaptations of the

popular show along with the United States version that aired in 2005 on NBC. The pilot episode,

which was almost a shot for shot replica of the pilot for the British version, drew an audience of

11 million. The shows popularity and ratings rose substantially over the shows 9 season run as it

became a completely different show rather than a copy (Hernandez 2010).

David Brent became Michael Scott, Wernham Hogg became Dunder Mifflin, and Slough

became Scranton. Some of the humor and plot changed as the producers adapted the show to fit

American audiences, but the show still focused on the daily lives of paper salesmen.

By using media framing theory, this study will examine the Americanization of The

Office by using a content analysis to examine how American and British culture portray race and

sex in the workplace as well as how the employees treat each other in the different cultures. This
 Gwin, Sangster, Brodersen, Blackwood 3

study will examine 12 episodes of the British Office as well as 16 episodes from the American

Office. Through examining these two versions of the same show, this study hopes to understand

how popular culture can impact different nations.

Literature Review

Section I: Framing: Definition or definitions, use original studies

It is well known that humans use media as a way to understand the world around them

(Simon, 2000). Framing is a media theory closely related to agenda setting that focuses on how

media will frame or influence how an audience interprets information. The theory was first

introduced by Goffman (1974). Research on framing has been historically vague according to

Scheufele (Scheufele, 1999), The SAGE Handbook of Media Processes and Effects explains that

agenda setting and framing are similar examinations of how the media can impact their

audiences opinions through their deliberate choosing of which stories to feature and the

prominence that those stories have in media outlets. It goes on to distinguish framing as the

method of how the emphasis or construction of a message has an impact on its interpretation

(Shah, 2009). Scheufeles article, Framing as a Theory of Media Effects, explains how many

researchers believe that framing is an extension of agenda setting, and many use the term

second level agenda setting as a way to describe the impact of noticeable characteristics of the

media and they way the audiences interpret these stories (Scheufele 1999 pg. 103). Weavers

article Thoughts on Agenda Setting, Framing, and Priming expands on the similarities between

agenda setting and framing, and states that while second level agenda setting and framing are

similar as they both deal with how certain issues or things are presented in the media, framing

theory goes further and considers morals and reasoning (Weaver, 2007). In Van Gorps article
 Gwin, Sangster, Brodersen, Blackwood 4

(2007), The Constructionist Approach to Framing: Bringing Culture Back In, explains how

certain cultures can impact framing. The article states that a constructionist approach to framing

means that the potential power a frame has to influence the public is related to how well the

frame aligns with the culture of the public (Van Gorp, 2007). According to Matthess research,

some current issues with framing research is that reliability reporting is lacking as well as a lack

of operational precision (Matthes, 2009).

Section II: Framing and Television

The use of news framing was more so found in sensationalist versus sober media outlets

as opposed to the different types of media. It was proven that serious outlets such as newspaper

and television news programs used the responsibility and conflict frames when presenting the

news. Sensationalist outlets on the other hand focused more on the human interest frame

(Semetko, 2000). Through a recent study, the media framed organ donors as being good people

through broadcasts on ABC, NBC, CBS, and FOX from 2004-2005 (Morgan et. al, 2007). Media

framing can persuade viewers of certain views due to agendas that are unseen to the viewers--

such as the need for organ donors.

Framing persuasive appeals: Episodic and thematic framing, emotional response, and

policy opinion is a study that found that within the realm of politics, many individuals use

emotional effects to their advantage. However, it was found that episodic framing was more

emotionally stimulating than thematic framing when it comes to response. The emotions tied to

the episodic framing pieces also led to a larger opposition to the sentencing even though the

thematic framing was more compelling (Gross, 2008).

Media framing strongly affects culture, as shown in the study Media framing biases and

political power: Explaining slant in news of Campaign 2008. Regardless of how careful
 Gwin, Sangster, Brodersen, Blackwood 5

journalists may attempt to be, biases will appear towards a certain political candidate in any sort

of political news (Entman, 2010). In Television and Everyday Life, Silverstone studies the

importance of television in humanitys everyday life. He created a theory in which he explores

through a sociological, psychological, and geographical lens the way television has become so

vital in the world today. This source rids the myths that surround television as a complicated

medium. (Silverstone, 1994).

Section III: Framing and Entertainment

The study, Effects of Entertainment Media Framing on Support for Gay Rights in China:

Mechanisms of Attribution and Value Framing, found that depending on how homosexuality was

portrayed, the portrayal inevitably affected the viewer's emotional response. Family value shows

with homosexuality in them produced a more positive emotional response, whereas gay-themed

programs caused viewers to see homosexuality as controllable and therefore caused viewers to

be angry, and less supportive of gay rights (Zhang, 2013) . This shows that due to the context, a

controversial topic can be viewed drastically different.

In Framing Environmental Risks and Natural Disasters in Factual Entertainment,

Campbell shows that entertainment television of the early 2000s portrays natural disasters as

purely a display for entertainment (Campbell, 2014). This use of a destructive force as something

to be enjoyed desensitizes the viewer.

The study The News Media, the Problem Frame, and the Production of Fear shows how

the media constructed fear towards certain topics over time, by pairing the topic with fear

associated words (Altheide, 1997). This demonstrates how media framing can derive desired

responses from viewers over time, by simply relating topics to the desired emotional responses.
 Gwin, Sangster, Brodersen, Blackwood 6

Explaining the Effects of Narrative in an Entertainment Television Program: Overcoming

Resistance to Persuasion Study, is a study that shows how a narrative view can influence a

viewer more than a non narrative storyline. Due to surveys taken immediately after viewing

content, and two-weeks after viewing, the results showed that a narrative story of teen pregnancy

made viewers feel more vulnerable to teen-pregnancy after the two-week survey (Moyer-Gus,

2010).

Face- ism and Primetime Television, is a study that showed viewers of both single

camera and multiple camera primetime productions prefer to see womens bodies and mens

faces (Copeland, 1989). The sexualization of women in the media is rampant.

Section IV: The Office

The Americanization of The Office: A Comparison of the NBC sitcom and its British

Predecessor discusses the importance of changing the show to represent American humor and

values. According to Griffin, cultural differences lessen the appeal of an imported show, so the

goal of adapting a show for audiences in a different country is to utilize local culture often and

effectively so that the viewers of the adapted television show may not realize that the show has

foreign origins (2008). Griffin also discusses how changing the setting plays an important role in

the success of an adapted series, and that by changing the commonly visited locations outside of

the office building from pubs and nightclubs to places such as Chilis, the viewer can relate more

to the show.

Cynics Encouraged to Apply: The Office as a Reality Viewer Training focuses on the

style of The Office in America compared to the style of the British version of The Office.

According to the journal, the American version of The Office has evolved from the British
 Gwin, Sangster, Brodersen, Blackwood 7

version of The Office into a parody of documentary filmmaking and social commentary on

prevalence of reality television in America (Kocela, 2009). Kocela also describes how one of the

characters, Michael Scott, is used to represent the desire of regular people to be a part of a reality

show, commenting on how American society fuels reality tv show production through the desire

to become a part of the life they see on television (Kocela, 2009).

K. H. Schwinds article, Multi-Layered Sitcom Performances in the British and American

versions of The Office, discusses the effect that adapting a show from one country to suit the

cultural differences of another can cause a rift in how the characters are portrayed. Specifically,

Steve Carrells character on the American version of The Office and Ricky Gervais character on

the British version of The Office are parallels, but the personalities of these characters differ

greatly because network America has to give its viewers a reason to like or be attached to a

character, not just create a character that is interesting to watch but not likeable (Schwind, 2014).

Therefore, we propose the following hypothesis and research questions:

Hypothesis and Research Question:

H1: The media frames the American version of The Office as more crude than the British

version, due to blunt comments and cultural humor differences.

RQ1: On average, are there more sexist comments in the British version or the US version?

RQ2: In the US version of The Office, are there more that's what she said jokes than the British

version?

RQ3: How is race portrayed in the British version of The Office compared to the American

version?
 Gwin, Sangster, Brodersen, Blackwood 8

Methodology

For the study, we examined the British version of The Office and the U.S. version to see

which displayed more crude behavior, racist comments, sexist comments, and thats what she

said humor. We created a literature review and looked for scholarly articles that described how

the British version of The Office was Americanized to better suit the sense of humor in the

United States, how sexism is portrayed in sitcoms, and how the media frames certain topics that

are addressed in sitcoms. From the literature review, we developed our hypothesis and three

research questions. We selected our variables based on what we thought were the most

prominent themes that could differ between the two versions as a result of cultural differences.

The variables we looked for are: breaking the fourth wall, thats what she said jokes, pranks,

sexist comments, degrading conduct, office relationships, racist comments and conference room

meetings. We agree that evidence of an office relationship would be public displays of affection

and that racist comments would not be limited to the mention of race, and that there would need

to be a negative stereotype or comment made in order for the variable to be present. We used a

coding sheet to record which episodes contained the variables we selected, using one to represent

the presence of the variable and zero to represent the absence. The British version of The Office

has 14 episodes, and the U.S. version of The Office has 201. We watched all of the episodes in

the British version and every twelfth episode in the U.S. version of The Office, so we watched 16

of the 201 episodes. We watched the first episode of the U.S. version of The Office together, and

ran the intercoder reliability test. We then divided the remaining episodes into four groups. We

gathered our information onto two excel spreadsheets; one for the U.S. version and one for the

British version. We combined the British and U.S. categories for the following three variables:
 Gwin, Sangster, Brodersen, Blackwood 9

sexist comments, thats what she said jokes, and racist comments. We then ran t-tests for each

of our research questions using the SPSS Statistics application to determine if any of the

relationships were significant.

Results

While testing our hypothesis, we came across many results that were not expected. In

order to test our data for our three research questions we decided to run a T-test. We chose this

test so that we could test for the variances in variables between the two versions of The Office.

We tested for differences, whether positive or negative, in the average occurrence of variables

labeled as crude in the different versions of the office, by using a T-test. After running all of

the statistical test, we concluded that there not was enough statistical evidence to support H1
 Gwin, Sangster, Brodersen, Blackwood 10

which states the media frames the American version of The Office as more crude than the British

version, due to blunt comments and cultural humor differences. The results of the test on H1

showed a t-statistic of 3.043. Following this, there was a p-value of .002 and the degrees of

freedom were (1,26). Prior to watching the episodes, we were unaware of the culture of British

media and were surprised to find that the British series included much more unrefined language

and actions than the American.

The second thing we tested was the frequency of sexist comments in both versions of the

show. We were eager to see how our hypothesis would be altered by our first research question.

Originally, we continued to believe that the American version would be considered to have, on

average, a higher frequency of sexist comments per episode. To test RQ1 which asks are there

more sexist comments in the British version or the US version, a t-test was run. There is enough

statistical significance to address RQ1, and the results show that the British version of The Office

had more sexist comments than its American counterpart. A t-test yielded a t-statistic of 3.785.

The test also revealed a p-value of .000 and the degrees of freedom were (1,26).

For our second topic of research we decide to focus on the factor of thats what she said

jokes. We wanted to once again determine whether or not these jokes were more prominent in

the American version or the British version. By testing for this, it would help us to conclude

which version of The Office was more crude than the other. To answer Research Question 2

which asks in the US version of The Office, are there more that's what she said jokes than the

British version, another t-test was run. There is enough statistical significance to address RQ2

and the results show that the American version of The Office had more thats what she said jokes

than the British version. A t-test yielded a t-statistic of -2.251. The test also yielded a p-value of
 Gwin, Sangster, Brodersen, Blackwood 11

.033 and the degrees of freedom were once again (1,26). This research question turned out to be

the first test to prove our hypothesis to be true.

Lastly, we decided to look at how each version of the show portrayed racism. After

running a t-test to calculate results, we found that our Research Question 3 had failed. There was

no significance between the two. There were no differences in how American version portrayed

race versus how the British version portrayed it. Since our test failed, we can conclude that the

portrayal of racism is not a valid way to determine whether or not one version was more crude

than the other.

Discussion

Our hypothesis states that The media frames the American version of The Office as more

crude than the British version, due to blunt comments and cultural humor differences. Through

the coding process, sexism, racist comments, degrading comments or behavior, and thats what

she said jokes, were coded for each episode viewed. Those variables specifically were the ones

used to determine how crude an episode is. Coming from the context of American television, the

U.S. version of The Office has been claimed as offensive at times, therefore in the study between

the two separate versions of the show, it was believed that the U.K. version would be cleaner

than the U.S.s. Since the statistical tests showed that the U.S. version had, on average, less crude

content per episode than the U.K. version, our hypothesis was wrong. The context of each

countrys media regulation--or lack thereof--was not accounted for. In the creation of this study,

the United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC) was not taken into account when

considering the vulgarity of the two versions of The Office. Since 1934 the FCC has regulated

and censored wired media, such as radio and cable. Therefore, the U.S. has many more
 Gwin, Sangster, Brodersen, Blackwood 12

restrictions on public wired media. For instance, in the U.S. version, the fowl language is very

minimized because of the 7 deadly words, whereas the British version utilized most of those

seven words. There is much less federal regulation in the U.K.s media, therefore the content is

more vulgar. Our hypothesis was proved false, and could be revised to say that the British

version of The Office is more crude than the U.S. version because of the blunt comments and

cultural humor differences. Since the media is indeed less censored in the U.K., an episode of the

U.K. version would not be seen as offensive by a British viewer than it would be by an American

viewer.

Each of the three research questions took a different aspect of our combined variables

that created our blanket term of crude. The first research question sought to discover whether

there were more sexist comments in the British version or the U.S. version of The Office. In RQ1

sexism was a singular aspect of this studys definition of crude. Because of our hypothesis, it was

believed prior to the research and tests that the U.S. version would contain a higher degree of

sexism than the U.K. version. This belief was contrived due to previous beliefs of the U.S. being

very generally sexist, and Europe typically being labeled as more progressive. However, this was

proven false. Again, the vulgarity allowed on British television, was not taken into account. The

sensitivity of certain subjects for American audiences has lead to a higher amount of political

correctness in terms of what is said and what is or is not appropriate for audiences. This is

more of a cultural difference, than government regulation, but regardless the difference between

the amount of sexism was noticeable, with the U.K. being higher on average than the U.S.

version. In RQ2 the aspect of crudeness that was specifically honed in on was whether there

were more that's what she said jokes in the U.S. version compared to the British version. The

data showed that the U.S. version did contain more of these jokes than the British version. It was
 Gwin, Sangster, Brodersen, Blackwood 13

not taken into account the cultural difference in the joke itself. The thats what she said jokes

were very popular in America. The episodes with those jokes in the U.S. version were only

prevalent in a certain number of seasons, seasons which were filmed well after the U.K. shows

only existing season. Thats what she said jokes were not popular at all yet, regardless of

country, when the U.K. version aired. RQ3 attempted to show any difference in racial treatment

between the different versions. It was assumed that the U.S. version would contain more

instances of racism, however the average occurrence for the shows were the same at 2.5.

Therefore, the T-test failed, since there was not sufficient statistical evidence to show a

difference.

When reporting our findings, we came across many limitations. There were many things

about our study which we could have changed. One of these included thinking more about the

cultural differences in each version of the show. This would have been a step we could have

done more with while conducting our literature review. This way we could have had a better

understanding in what is acceptable in American media as well as British media. When coding,

we should have looked at more specific examples for each category. This would have been easier

had we done more thorough research on this topic prior to collecting our data. Another limitation

that we faced was the amount of episodes we observed. While analyzing the episodes, we only

looked at every twelfth episode. It could have been more beneficial had we looked at every

episode over a longer duration of time. Lastly, we could have been more specific as to what is

considered crude behavior. This ties into being more specific when deciding what to look for

prior to collecting data. By giving ourselves more specific things to look for, we could have

come to more precise conclusions and results.

 Gwin, Sangster, Brodersen, Blackwood 14

There are definitely many possibilities for future studies in terms of comparing the U.S.

and U.K. versions of The Office. Many different cultural differences in handling hot topics such

as politics, sexism in the workplace, sexual jokes, the work environment of women in the

workplace, and whether women are over sexualized. It could be interesting to do a study with

very specific manifest and latent variables for the coding sheets, in terms of gender, sexual

orientation, race, inappropriate hand gestures, sexual harassment. Another study could even

focus on when, or if, inappropriate behavior is corrected, how it was corrected (verbally, or

actual consequences), and how effective the correction was. There could be many different

studies analyzing the cultural differences of the U.K. and U.S. as shown through culturally

popular versions of the same show.

Conclusion

Our research involved looking for differences in how British and American society

portray different aspects of crudeness. We initially believed that American humor would be more

crude in The Office, because we are used to the bold and open humor that Americans are known

for. Having little first-hand knowledge and experience of the kind of humor that British viewers

tend to find entertaining led us to believe that the American version would be more crude. We

often view British people as more refined, and assumed that their television programs would be

more refined as well, which led us to our hypothesis. Through our literature review, we gained

more knowledge about the Americanization of The Office that further supported our hypothesis

and research questions. Our research questions created more specific categories of crudeness for

us to analyze. Our results from the T-tests for the research questions led us to the conclusion that
 Gwin, Sangster, Brodersen, Blackwood 15

the British version of The Office is more crude than the American version of The Office. There

were more sexist comments in the British version, which was unexpected, because we believed

that Americans would be more prone to using sexist humor in television shows. There were more

thats what she said jokes in the American version of The Office, which most likely resulted

from the fact that the British version ended before thats what she said became a popular

phrase. When we tested for how race was portrayed in each version, the results showed that

neither of the versions had more racist comments than the other.

Through the literature review, we gained more knowledge about how the media frames

certain topics in order to influence how the audience will feel about certain topics. In the United

States, we are used to the media framing sexist and racist comments in a way that allows the

viewer to enjoy the show without being overly offensive. After this study, we learned that British

society has a different way of framing the topics of racism and sexism that is more blunt than

what we view on American television shows. Some of the limitations in our study included our

lack of experience with British humor, and that we selected only certain episodes of the

American version so we may have missed many of the sexist or racist comments that were most

likely made throughout the series. Future studies could be done involving other shows that have

been adapted for American audiences to gain a better understanding of just how differently

British media and American media frame racism and sexism.

There are many television shows that we watch in the U.S. that are versions of

preexisting shows are censored to fit the regulations of the FCC, and many other countries do not

require as much censoring. From the results that we obtained in this study, it is apparent that the

British version of The Office was actually altered to have fewer crude comments to fit the

standards of American society. The sexist comments made in the British version of the show are
 Gwin, Sangster, Brodersen, Blackwood 16

much blunter than those made in the American version. Our culture finds humor in sexist and

racist jokes, which are portrayed in The Office, but our society would not respond as well the

blunt and extremely crude humor that is present in the British version of The Office.
 Gwin, Sangster, Brodersen, Blackwood 17

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