Lazarsfeld_1941_admin_critical_communication.pdf

LAZARSFELD, Paul (1941). «Remarks on Administrative and Critical Communications Research» Studies in Philosophy and Social Science, vol. 9, p. 2-16. 2 Paul Feli.J. Launfdd Remarks on Adminjstrative and Critical CommunicatioD8 Researeh. By Paul Felix Lazaraf e ld. During the lut two decades the media of mass communication. notably radio, print and film, have become some of the .beat-known and best documented spheres of mod,em society . Careful studies have revealed the size of the audiences of all major radio prograrna and the composition of this audiern:e in respect to sex, income, and a few other criteria. The circulations of newspapers and magazines are recorded by 8pecially organized research outfits, and others report currently on which maguine storics and which advertisements are read week by week. Boob, radio programs. and moviee arc tested I to the difficulty of the language they use and 85 to how adequate they arc for the different educational levels of the population. The types of entertainment that diHerent groups of people prefer are beiDa; inves- tigated all the time, a.nd many promotional campaigns are tested currently as to their success. A number of important new techniques have been developed in the course of aU these research efIorta. Modem aampling techniques, for instance, bave made great progreu because it bas been realized that the practical value of a study would be lost if it were conducted among a group of people wbo are Dot r epresentative of those sections of the population which the sponJOr· ing agency wants to reach. Interviewing techniques have been greatly refined for similar re