Interpretive media study and interpretive social science

Abstract Described by their proponents as an alternative to positivistic perspectives on media effects that ignore audience activity, interpretive approaches center on the interpretive processes employed by audience members in their decoding of media content. Meaning is viewed as a product of the interaction between media texts and the varied, at times contradictory, interpretive strategies employed by audience members. This article defines the major theoretical influences on interpretive approaches in mass communication, examines the central concepts of these perspectives and provides a critique of these approaches. In criticizing these perspectives, this article holds that researchers often have unquestioningly adopted premises and concepts from a variety of disciplines. More broadly, the adoption of interpretive approaches in mass communication has ignored varied critiques of interpretive social science.