Professorship of Media Use and Effects

The team of the chair Empirical Communication Research is dedicated to the research of selection, exposure, and effects of media from a communication and media psychological perspective. The team deals with questions about media-mediated social communication, health communication, persuasion, cultivation, emotional media effects, excessive media use and media dependence/addiction, the importance of the media and public for changing media-mediated communication processes, the relationships of media users to media characters as well as the employment of psychophysiological measures to investigate media exposure processes and effects. The chair is in charge of the DCM Research Lab and there applies observational methods in the area of media exposure and effects.

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  • Research Projects

    The staff at the chair actively contribute to the research area "Media Use, Exposure, and Effects" at the DCM with various research projects. In recent years, projects have been conducted primarily in the areas of health communication, emotionalisation & persuasion, and parasocial relationships with media personalities.

  • Teaching
    • In the German BA, we offer the lecture "Study of audience and media effects" in the second year as well as a thematic Advanced seminar.
    • In the Master's programme, we offer the lecture "Media Uses and Effects" as well as a regular Master's seminar on current issues of media use, effects, and reception.
    • Our research and teaching is strongly orientated towards media psychology, with a focus on quantitative, empirical and social science research. An interest in systematic-analytical research and a fearless approach to data analysis and statistics are a great advantage for successful participation in our courses.
    • Students who wish to write their BA or Master's thesis in our research area are very welcome - also with their personal ideas. You can find a list of theses from our area here.

    Hints for writing presentations, seminar papers, and theses with Prof. Dr. Andreas Fahr (in German)

  • Transfer

    Research results should be of benefit to society as a whole - the interested public, the media, public organisations, politics, and administration. We therefore not only publish our findings in books and specialist journals, but also present them in journalistic and popular science articles, at public events (e.g. the Children's University at the University of Fribourg and "Explora" - the Open Day at the UniFR), or we are available as experts for symposia.

  • Academic Services

    The staff at the Chair take on numerous tasks and offices in the academic self-administration and in commissions. Here is a selection:

     

    Prof. Dr. Andreas Fahr

Shaila Caspanello

Diploma Assistant / Assistant paid with third-party funding, Student Assistant


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