ABSTRACT
This chapter presents research done fifteen or more years ago, and makes a few observations that are tempered by time. The following is a summary from data gathered in three settings: Iceland, Northern Minnesota, and Quebec. Two sets of data providing material about cross-cultural mass media impact were gathered in Iceland, one by Thorbjorn Broddason and one by Thomas Dunn and Bragi Josepsson. Data were obtained in rural northern Minnesota from three matched sites; one received only Canadian TV, one received both Canadian and US TV, and one received only US TV. The Quebec study built on the Minnesota study and used many of the same measures translated into French and adapted to local cultural circumstances. There are many difficult methodological problems in conducting cross-cultural research. One of the striking consistencies across the years is the relatively low level of association between mass media use and the variety of attitudes, behaviors, and levels of information acquisition that are analyzed.
