Synopses & Reviews
Catherine Murray is Associate Professor at the School of Communication at Simon Fraser University, British Columbia.
Kim Schroder is Professor at the Centre for User-Oriented Communication Researc at Roskilde University, Denmark.
Kirsten Drotner is Professor at the Centre for Media Studies at University of Southern Denmark. How do young audiences play with the cultural spectacle offered by reality shows like Big Brother? How does interactive media influence learning the process in educational and everyday settings? How can corporate communicators address their ethical commitment more effectively to the general public? And is there a link between television viewing and violent behavior? Researching Audiences is a practical hands-on guide to the main types of empirical fieldwork that have established themselves in academic, policy, and commercial research. It will help readers explore what audience members do with the media, how they make sense of the media, and how the media may influence social affairs from the micro to the macro level. An enormously knowledgeable, highly detailed and well-exemplified study of the several traditions of research that have historically helped form audience studies an exceptionally valuable book.-- Particip@tions
Synopsis
How do young audiences play with the cultural spectacle offered by reality shows like Big Brother? How does interactive media influence learning the process in educational and everyday settings? How can corporate communicators address their ethical commitment more effectively to the general public? And is there a link between television viewing and violent behavior? Researching Audiences is a practical hands-on guide to the main types of empirical fieldwork that have established themselves in academic, policy, and commercial research. It will help you explore what audience members do with the media, how they make sense of the media, and how the media may influence social affairs from the micro to the macro level.
Table of Contents
Part 1 - Approaching the Media Audience
The relevance of audience research
What is an 'audience'?
Audience research: a brief history
Part 2 - Survey Research on Audiences
Survey research in practice: an eye-opening case study
Survey research: defining the fielda
The toolbox of survey research about media audiences
Part 3 - Experimental Research on Audiences
Experimental research in practice: an eye-opening case study
Experimental research: defining the field
The toolbox of experimental research about media audiences
Part 4 - Reception Research
Reception research in practice: an eye-opening case study
Reception research: defining the field
The toolbox of reception research
Part 5 - Media Ethnography
Media ethnography in practice: an eye-opening case study
Media ethnography: defining the field
The toolbox of media ethnography
Part 6 - Future Horizons of Media Audience Research
Towards a common toolbox?