Measurement of Media Exposure

Abstract

How to measure media exposure is one of the most central—and most challenging—questions in communication research, particularly the media effects paradigm. For there to be media effects, there must first be media exposure, defined as the extent to which individuals encounter specific media messages or content. Remarkably, despite media exposure's centrality to the study of effects, there has been little scholarly consensus on how to measure it. This entry begins by reviewing traditional approaches to measurement, describing the major classes of exposure measures and drawing on examples from health communication, political communication, and other media effects domains. This historical approach to measurement is contrasted with more recent developments, including efforts to provide reliability and validity evidence for novel measures. The entry concludes by considering future questions that could be addressed by media effects scholars interested in advancing measurement of media exposure.

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