framingstudier

Framingstudier, also known as framing studies, is an interdisciplinary field of research that investigates how information is presented and how that presentation influences perception, interpretation, and decision making. The concept emerged in the 1970s within political science and communication studies, but has since been incorporated into psychology, sociology, media studies, and marketing.

A central tenet of framing studies is that the way a message is framed can alter the audience’s priorities, attitudes, and actions, even when the underlying facts remain unchanged. Researchers examine both de facto frames—those that occur naturally in discourse—and de jure frames—those intentionally employed by communicators. Typical methodological approaches include content analysis of media texts, experimental studies manipulating frames to measure behavioral outcomes, and ethnographic fieldwork.

Prominent scholars such as Erving Goffman, who introduced the notion of "framing" in 1974, and Walter Lippmann, who discussed representative imagery in the civic press, laid foundational theoretical frameworks. More recent work has expanded the concept to digital contexts, exploring how algorithmic personalization can serve as an invisible framing device and how framing shapes online political polarization.

Applications of framing studies span public health communication, where framing health risks in terms of gain or loss can influence preventive behaviors; environmental advocacy, where framing climate change as a moral issue can mobilize support; and corporate communication, where framing product attributes can affect consumer choice. By delineating how context, selection of details, and emphasis transform information, framing studies contribute to a deeper understanding of both the power and responsibility inherent in communication practices.