Researching Audiences

Preface vii Section One Contours of Audiences Approaching media audiences 3(23) The history and divisions of audience research: the received view 26(18) Methodological pluralism: the meta-theoretical foundations of discursive realism 44(13) Section Two The Ethnographic Approach to Audiences Audience ethnography in practice: between talk, text and action 57(6) Media ethnography: defining the field 63(24) The ethnographic toolbox: participant observation 87(18) Section Three Audience Reception Research Reception research in practice: researching media meanings through talk 105(16) Reception research: defining the field 121(22) The reception research toolbox: the qualitative interview 143(30) Section Four Foundations of Quantitative Audience Research Introduction: the historical legacy of the philosophy of science 173(7) Towards a basic toolbox for quantitative researchers 180(25) Section Five Survey Research on Audiences Audience surveys in practice: from social context to numbers and back again 205(20) Audience surveys: defining the field 225(20) The audience survey toolbox: the questionnaire as lens 245(34) Section Six Experimental Audience Research Experimental audience research in practice: conceptualizing effects 279(13) Experimental audience research: Defining the field 292(30) The experimental audience research toolbox: the controlled experiment 322(27) Section Seven The Dual Challenge of `Convergence' in Audience Research Introduction: the dual challenge 347(2) Convergence of methodologies: rethinking methodological pluralism 349(17) Convergence of media: towards a new sense of `audience' 366(13) Bibliography 379(34) Index 413