Developing 'CEDAR': Consortium on Emerging Directions in Audience Research

1. 雪松（受众研究新兴方向联盟）汇集了来自14个欧洲国家的学者和来自欧洲广播联盟（欧盟层面）和Creative Skillset（英国层面）的利益相关者，将加强传播研究和人文社会科学相关领域的知识。它将(1)在网络化和全球化的世界中绘制媒体受众实践中的关键新兴趋势，(2)使用既定的前瞻性分析工具，为2030年的受众研究制定跨学科研究议程。雪松将是第一次对受众进行前瞻性分析的尝试，也是第一个在该领域动员早期职业学者工作的研究联盟。CEDAR将为整整一代学者建立知识和能力，同时促进跨学科、概念和部门间界限的知识交流。关键问题——媒体受众不仅仅是媒体研究者感兴趣的领域，因为受众也是家庭和个人、社区和团体、公众、公民、消费者等。家庭内外观众的活动引起了社会学家（如作为观众的家庭）、文化理论家（如种族群体之间的电视反应）、政治学家（如作为抗议者、意见提供者、选民的观众）、教育工作者（如媒体素养）、政府和媒体本身的兴趣。关于受众的研究结果（存在于媒体研究的一个专门的子领域）对各个部门和学科都有明确的影响，但其中许多还没有得到充分的阐述，也没有在该领域之外得到清楚的传达。尽管有几十年的经验证据，但人们对不同能力的受众的态度、品味和偏好做出了许多假设，由于受众在多媒体世界中变化迅速，媒体中充斥着对受众（通常被认为）脆弱性的担忧。政策和行业的利益相关者对60年批判性学术研究的结果知之甚少。同样，整合该领域的现有发现和趋势是一项有待完成的任务，因为学术车轮似乎过于频繁地重新发明。3研究问题和议程-网络将回答两个问题：第一，在网络化和全球化的世界中，观众的经验和实践中出现的关键主题是什么？为了回答这个问题，该网络将把一半的讲习班用于对涵盖受众研究领域的4个研究集群进行分析主题映射。这项工作超越了对现有研究的巩固，因为它将引发一项前瞻性分析的任务，即问——从今天起15年后该领域的未来议程是什么？为此，我们将利用主题映射的结果和专家小组和情景构建等既定工具进行前瞻性分析及时性-该项目特别及时，因为它解决了学术问题以及当代公共政策问题，例如感知到的受众脆弱性（参见OFCOM广播法规），媒体素养强调文化教育和所有人的参与（Henley, 2012； Tripney等人，2010），年轻人作为公民文化的受众和参与者（参见欧洲委员会关于年轻人），以及对新界面，设计和平台的吸收。5联盟结构-该联盟包括(a)来自14个欧洲国家的知识生产核心学者(b)由13名高级学者组成的指导外围(c)两个合作组织-欧洲广播单位（欧盟级别）和Creative Skillset（英国级别）以及(d)两位协调员，莱斯特大学的Das博士（首席研究员）和挪威卑尔根大学的Ytre-Arne博士（共同研究员）。

1. Overview - Bringing together academics from 14 European countries and stakeholders from the European Broadcasting Union (EU level) and Creative Skillset (UK level), CEDAR (Consortium on Emerging Directions in Audience Research) will enhance knowledge in communication studies and related fields in the humanities and social sciences. It will (1) map key emerging trends in the practices of media audiences in a networked and globalised world and (2) use established tools of foresight analysis to draw out a cross-disciplinary research agenda for the study of audiences in 2030. CEDAR will be the first attempted foresight-analysis exercise on audiences and also the first research consortium in the field mobilizing the work of early-career academics. CEDAR will build knowledge and also capacities of an entire generation of academics, while facilitating the exchange of knowledge across disciplinary, conceptual and inter-sector boundaries. 2 The critical problem- Media audiences are not solely a domain of interest for media researchers, for audiences are also families and individuals, communities and groups, publics, citizens, consumers, etc. The activities of audiences inside and outside the home have interested sociologists (e.g. families as viewers), cultural theorists (e.g. television responses amongst ethnic groups), political scientists (e.g. audiences as protestors, opinion providers, voters), educators (e.g. media literacies), the government and the media itself. Findings about audiences (existing in a dedicated sub-field of media studies) have clear implications across sectors and disciplines, but many of these have not been drawn out to their fullest and communicated clearly outside the field. Despite decades of empirical evidence, many assumptions are made about the attitudes, tastes and preferences of audiences in all their different capacities, and as audiences are changing rapidly in a multimedia world, concerns about the (often perceived) vulnerability of audiences abound in the media. Stakeholders in policy and industry have little idea of the findings from 6 decades of critical academic research. Equally, the consolidation of current findings and trends in the field is a task yet to be undertaken as the academic wheel seems to be reinvented too often. 3 Research Questions and Agenda- The network will answer two questions: First, what are the key emerging themes in the experiences and practices of audiences in a networked and global world? To answer this, the network will devote half of its workshops to conduct an analytical theme-mapping of 4 research clusters covering the field of audience research. This exercise goes beyond the consolidation of existing research for it will ignite the task of foresight-analysis to ask - what is a future agenda for the field 15 years from today? To respond, we will conduct a foresight analysis exercise using the outcomes of theme-mapping and established tools such as expert panels and scenario building.4 Timeliness- The project is particularly timely as it addresses academic questions as well as contemporary public policy concerns, for instance on perceived audience vulnerabilities (see OFCOM Broadcasting Code), media literacy emphases on cultural education and engagement for all (Henley, 2012; Tripney, et. al 2010), young people as audiences and participants in civic culture (see European council on young people), and the uptake of new interfaces, designs and platforms. 5 Consortium structure- The consortium comprises (a) a knowledge-producing core of academics from 14 European countries (b) a mentoring periphery of 13 senior academics (c) two collaborating organisations - The European Broadcasting Unit (EU level) and Creative Skillset (UK level) and (d) two coordinators, Dr Das of the University of Leicester (principal investigator) and Dr Ytre-Arne of the University of Bergen in Norway (co-investigator).