THE FOUNDING FATHERS OF COMMUNICATION RESEARCH

 

    1. Harold Lasswell/                        Content analysis                      Symbols of identification,                                     Propaganda

    Political Science                                                                           image versus reality/ effects                               Technique in World

                                                                                                     on public opinion                                                 War (1927)

 

    2. Kurt Lewin/                                Group experiments                  Gatekeeping, autocratic vs.Informal Social      

   Social Psychologist  in quasi-natural                                                 democratic leadership style,                                Communication

                                                         Settings                                   group pressures on individuals/                          (written by Lewin’s

                                                                                                       effects on individual behavior of                        students); Principles

                                                                                                       group members                                               of Topological  Psychology

 

    3. Carl Hovland/                             Laboratory experiments            Source credibility, one-sided                              Experiments in Mass

    Experimental                                                                                versus two-sided messages,                            Communication (with

    Psychologist                                                                                 fear appeals/effects on persuasion                    others) (1949);

                                                                                                       (attitude change)                                             Communication and

  Persuasion (with  others)  (1953)

 

    4. Paul F. Lazarsfield/                    Personal interviews,                  Socioeconomic status, mass media                 The People’s Choice

    Sociologist                                      surveys                                   exposure, interpersonal influence/                    (with others) (1944);

                                                                                                       Effects on individuals knowledge,                     Communication Research,

                                                                                                       Attitude and behavior change                           1948-1949 (with Frank

                                                                                                                                                                          Stanton) (1949); Personal

                                                                                                                                                                          Influence (with Katz)

                                                                                                                                                                          (1955)

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