The Application of Social Network Analysis in Agenda Setting Research: A Methodological Exploration

Abstract

This article presents the innovative application of social network analysis to agenda setting research. It suggests that the approach of network analysis enables researchers to map out the interrelationships among objects and attributes both in the media agenda and the public agenda. Further, by conducting statistical analysis, researchers are able to compare the media agenda networks and public agenda networks in order to explore a third level of agenda setting effects. Concrete procedures for applying network analysis in agenda setting research are presented, and a set of hypotheses are suggested in this article.