Communications Research and the Social Sciences

Abstract

The interests of the communications researcher often bring him onto common ground with other social scientists. The long-range, cumulative effects of the mass media are of common concern, as is the study of the communicator himself. Com munications research has some familiar problems of method, and also some techniques such as content analysis that could be redirected to provide a new way for studying social and selective aspects of perception. Multidisciplinary team research may not live up to its billings, but interdisciplinary appreciation is always worth seeking. The author is Director of the Research Division of the University of Minnesota's School of Journalism; this article is based on a talk he gave at the University of Oregon in March 1960.