ABSTRACT
After finishing secondary education in 1986 I was admitted to the Department of Journalism at the Faculty of Philology of Tartu University. I already had decided to study journalism by my next to last year of secondary school. My father, Rein Vihalemm, a professor of the philosophy of science, and my mother, Tiiu Vihalemm, an assistant professor of biochemistry, fully supported my choice. By the time I started my studies in 1986 the Department of Journalism, which was incorporated into the Faculty of Philology, had a relatively strong tradition of social surveys and analysis. Students were offered courses on theories of mass communication, public opinion, and survey methods.
