Approaches to Audiences offers a comprehensive survey of contemporary academic research along with a brief account of its history and development . The main themes include social influences, public opinion, individual impacts and uses, children and young people, cultures of class and nation, families and households. Each of the three sections presents a group of key studies on the relevant topic, followed by a specially commissioned critical analysis written by a distinguished scholar. Audience research ranges from the study of individual impacts to wider social/global influences. Students and researchers alike will find this book an essential up to date guide to the state of the field today.