Values and norms as research objects and guiding principles in communication research. An integrative research approach

• Applicant: Privatdozentin Dr. Arne Freya Zillich
• Subject Area: Communication Sciences
• Term: from 2014 to 2019
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 259653244

The interdisciplinary network pursues the goal to document, to synthesize, and to systematize values and norms as research objects and guiding principles in communication research. A systematic review of national and international publications dealing with norms and values from 1990 to 2013 in the central research fields media policy, journalism, media content and audience research will be conducted. Thereby, the network identifies different theoretical concepts and guiding principles and provides a significant contribution to the methodological standardization by analyzing the used methods and instruments. This approach not only allows us to open up a critical self-reflection of norms and values in communication research in its entirety, but also to reveal changes over a period of 23 years. Against this background, open research questions for future studies are deduced. The network connects 13 female young scholars, which are experts in one of the four aforementioned research fields and own methodological expertise. Three senior scholars support the network. The network results will be published in a special issue of a journal. In this manner, a gap in research literature will be closed and a sound basis for prospective interdisciplinary research projects will be build.

• DFG Programme: Scientific Networks
• Participating Person: Dr. Claudia Riesmeyer