摘要：In today¡¯s era of extensive specialisation researchers
tend to know little about other approaches than that
of their own expertise. Conceptions of research
fields are often based more on personal and common
assumptions than knowledge produced by empirical
analyses. This article tries to clarify the empirical
reality of media research by summarising the
results of the project ¡®Mapping Media and Communication
Research¡¯, which examined the contents
and trends of current media and communication research
in seven countries: Finland, the United
States, Germany, France, Japan, Estonia and Australia.
The project was funded by the Helsingin
Sanomat Foundation and carried out by the Communication
Research Centre (CRC, University of
Helsinki) during a nine-month period between autumn
2006 and spring 2007.1 The purpose of the
project was to produce an overview of media-related
research, in connection with the launch of the
Foundation, but at the same time it offered a rare
opportunity to outline the similarities and differences
among academic approaches in the abovementioned
countries.
