Measurement of Behavior

Abstract

The present entry deals with the question of how behavioral effects of (mass‐)mediated communication can be systematically measured. Behavior is defined as an occurrence that emanates from an organism or may be detected by an observer on the outside of an organism (e.g., media recipient). A three‐stage process for measuring behavior in communication research is proposed, and several examples of observational studies (e.g., mobile eye tracking, psychophysiological measures) are provided. The implementations for future research are discussed.