Audience Analysis - Softcover

Denis McQuail provides a coherent and succinct account of the concept of `media audience' in terms of its history and its place in present-day media theory and research. McQuail describes and explains the main types of audience and the main traditions and fields of audience research.

Audience Analysis explains the contrast between social scientific and humanistic approaches and gives due weight to the view `from the audience' as well as the view `from the media'. McQuail summarizes key research findings and assesses the impact of new media developments, especially transnationalization and new interactive technology. The book concludes with an evaluation of the continued relevance of the audience concept under conditions of rapid media change. Audience Analysis provides both an overview of past research and a guide to current thinking.

Denis McQuail (1935-2017) is Emeritus Professor at the School of Communication Research (ASCOR) University of Amsterdam and Visiting Professor in the Department of Politics at the University of Southampton. He studied history and sociology at the University of Oxford and received his Ph.D. from the University of Leeds. He is an Honorary Doctor of the University of Gent. He has published widely in the field of media and communication, with particular reference to audience research, media policy and performance, and political communication. His most recent book publication is McQuail's Media and Mass Communication Theory, 7th edition., SAGE, 2020, co-authored by Mark Deuze.