Investigating Audiences

"It is a strong book and a welcome addition to the literature on audiences, either as a first introduction or as a particular reading of the tradition for those more familiar with it.  Ruddock presents himself as a very human but also very trustworthy guide, one worth following."              --COMMUNICATION RESEARCH TRENDS

Picking up on some of the themes developed in his critically acclaimed book Understanding Audiences (SAGE), this new book on audience research focuses on qualitative methods and will draw upon students′ own media experience. Structured around contemporary topics, including celebrity and reality TV, Investigating Audiences is designed with the needs of lecturers and students in mind.

The book is divided into chapters that deal with audience research in terms of concepts and topics. Regarding concepts, Investigating Audiences is firmly grounded within interpretive approaches to studying viewers, readers, and listeners. Further to this, the book looks at the different ways in which media influence can be accessed and the attendant methodological consequences. These issues are then be applied to a survey of recent scholarship on a variety of topics of pressing concern such as violence, pornography, video gaming, and children and advertising.

Investigating Audiences will be very useful for undergraduates in media studies/mass communications courses containing qualitative research components and dealing with cultural studies themes and approaches to audience studies.

Andy Ruddock lectures in Communications and Media Studies at Monash University. He has authored four books on researching media influence. Andy is known for his work on Cultivation Theory. He has published over 50 book chapters and journal articles, applying this theory to media violence, gaming, reality TV, political celebrity pornography, drug and alcohol abuse, sport and media education. Andy is currently writing Cultivation Theory and Digital Media Challenges. This new book details the history of cultivation theory and explains its relevance to contemporary “isms”; activism, sexism, Trumpism, and extremism.