Istraživačka tematika u hrvatskom tisku devedesetih godina

Abstract

Authors discuss the articulation and structuration of public opinion as a complex social phenomenon in the last decade in Croatia. It is typical for democratic societies that when they become democratic there are more possibilities for expressing oneself and for one's afirmation. Consequently, we can investigate the society by researching its public opinion, and pointing out actual and potential social problems. The paper presents some of the results of methodological research, using applied content analysis of Croatian newspapers. The sample included all the articles in three daily journals and three weekly journals, from 1991. to 1998. which presented results of the empirical research. At the beginning of 90’s appeared the first journalistic research into public opinion. Surveys were the most represented method (91.61%) in all the analised articles. But, those surveys did not satisfy basic methodological and statistical criteria. The most treated theme was the political one and the one about media. On the other hand, economic and social aspects of living and labour were neglected. Finally, the authors plea for more efforts and more debates, for the aim of methodologicaly les improving the work of researchers. Newspapers as media are powerful means of informing and shaping the public opinion, because they act continually in an interactive way between the citizens and the authorities, creating the condition for the efficacy of the democratic development in Croatian society.