Audience Research Trends in Mainland China: An Analysis of Three Major Journalism and Mass Communication Journals, 1985–2002

Abstract

This paper employed quantitative methods to explore the trends of audience research in Mainland China by analyzing research articles in three major journalism and communication academic journals. The author analyzed research approaches, research methods, medium of focus and theoretical frameworks in these audience research articles from 1985 to 2002. Unlike findings derived from the analyses of mass communication research articles in major international journals, most of the research articles in Mainland China used qualitative methods. Chinese scholars tend to adopt behaviorist and structural approaches towards the study of audience. The number of research articles that dealt with broadcast and print media exceeded any other media, while more and more studies on Internet users are being conducted. Chinese scholars began to develop theories in recent years. The future study will continue based on analysis of other research materials and comparison with audience research articles in leading international journals.