The Research Profile of the Hans-Bredow-Institute

Understanding the influence of the media on everyday life and on commerce and culture, gauging developments and risks and developing options for taking action – these are the central objectives of the Institute’s research. The “Wissenschaftsrat” (The German Science and Humanities Council) had already stressed the high level of this research in 1999 and ranked the Institute among the most prestigious specialised research centres in Germany; in 2007 the Council emphasised the Institute’s particular standing once again.

Working Methods

The Institute’s research takes place independently, across disciplines, flexibly, and is oriented towards cooperation; the transfer of research results into practice, politics and the public sphere is of great importance:

  • Core projects in research develop theoretical insights or methods, which are then applied and further  developed in ensuing projects.
  • Individual projects analyse current developments in media.
  • Procedures such as monitoring, coaching and periodically recurring projects create a basis of information for other parties but also for the Institute itself.
  • Findings are elaborated and research results communicated in workshops with experts and practitioners.

Research Foci

The Institute’s staff and its organisation are separated into two strands, one jurisprudential and one social scientific; within each strand, research projects proceed according to their respective theoretical and methodological standards. However, in accordance with the Institute’s transdisciplinary approach, the medium-term research planning follows comprehensive thematic foci. With its clearly defined research foci, the Institute seeks to set emphases in areas deemed particularly relevant. In cases where the Institute is convinced that any such thematic focus should consolidate and structure its work, it makes this line of enquiry also externally visible as a separate “research programme”. What follows will sketch the foci currently being foregrounded.

Overview Current Research Projects

As a rule the Institute deploys its research organisationally in the form of single projects oriented towards the research foci named above. The present report is also accordingly structured along individual projects. They are categorised – to enable easier access – according to the classical research areas: