The word audience has long been familiar as the collective term for the "receivers" in the model of mass communication process (source, channel, message, receiver, effect). It is a term that is understood by media practitioners and theorists alike and has entered into everyday usage; however, there is much room for differences of meaning, misunderstandings, and theoretical conflicts. In Audience Analysis, author Denis McQuail provides a coherent and succinct account of the concept "media audience" in terms of its history and its place in present-day media theory and research. He describes and explains the main types of audience, alternative theories about the audience, and the main traditions and fields of audience research. This informative volume explains the contrast between social scientific and humanistic approaches and gives due weight to the view "from the audience," as well as the view "from the media." It summarizes key research findings and assesses the impact of new media developments, especially transnationalization and new interactive technology. Finally, the volume concludes with an evaluation of the continued relevance of the audience concept under conditions of rapid media change. Providing both an overview of past research and a guide to current thinking, Audience Analysis will be enlightening to academics and students in the fields of mass communication and media studies.

丹尼斯·麥奎爾(Denis McQuail)，著名傳播學者，荷蘭阿姆斯特丹大學傳播學終身教授，“歐洲傳媒研究小組”成員，《歐洲傳播學雜誌》三位創始人之一。麥奎爾曾經就讀於牛津大學，獲得曆史學學位，後在利茲大學獲得博士學位。曾先後在美國賓夕法尼亞大學、哥倫比亞大學、哈佛大學、俄羅斯莫斯科大學、芬蘭坦佩雷大學、英國南安普敦大學擔任教授或客座教授，在阿姆斯特丹大學任教長達二十多年。

丹尼斯·麥奎爾在傳播學領域有著漫長而輝煌的研究經曆。從1968年至今，麥奎爾齣版瞭十幾本著作，廣泛涉及傳播研究的諸多領域，主要著作有：《邁嚮大眾傳播社會學》(Towards a Sociology of Mass Communications，1971)、《傳播》(Communication，1975)、《大眾傳播研究模式論》(Communication Models for the Study of Mass Communications，1982)、《大眾傳播理論》(Mass Communication Theory，1983)、《媒介行為》(Media Performance,1992)、《受眾分析》(Audience Analysis,1997)。《媒介政策》(Media Policy，1998)。他的不少著作被翻譯成多種文字並作為教材或教學參考書在世界各地使用。