Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

The concept of agenda setting has become a term of art in the sociology of social problems largely through research concerning the effects of mass media on public opinion. However, it has also been applied beyond this particular area of research to consider how topics arise as matters of public concern more generally. Thus research on agenda setting focuses on the whole range of forces that influence public opinion on any given issue and the various ways in which issues become topical among policymakers themselves. Research on agenda setting is predicated on the fact that there is not always a very strong relationship between scientific accounts of the prevalence and/or seriousness of a given social problem and the success with which that problem is publicized and/or made the focus of public policy. Often, putative problems that are not very widespread or significant get very high levels of public attention, while problems that are quite serious are comparatively ignored. If problems do not get placed on the public agenda simply by virtue of the fact that, objectively speaking, they warrant public attention, then there is a need to study the real reasons why some problems find their way onto the public agenda and others do not. Research based on this insight is often called social constructionist, to highlight its insistence that our beliefs about social problems do not derive as ... log in or subscribe to read full text