Views on Mediatization in the Brazilian Research in Communication

Abstract

In this paper, we present results of a meta-research that sought to identify the theoretical and methodological ways of observing communication processes from the perspective of mediatization. Firstly, we reflect on two main angles of observation of mediatization that stand out in the theoretical-epistemological debate about the concept: the micro (or individualist) and the macro (or holistic). Then, we present a synthesis of our methodological path to “observe the observation” of mediatization, which involved the performative analysis of 21 theses and 46 dissertations defended between 2016 and 2018. Then, we examined mediatization as a general context of the observation carried out by the researches, seeking to understand in what situation, reality, general or specific social context the researcher observes what he/she calls as “mediatization,” pointing out eight main modes of observation found in the researches. Finally, we conclude that, from the point of view of empirical research, it is necessary to seek a complex articulation between micro and macro perspectives, in order to overcome the risk of possible dualisms, through the indispensability of an observational ecotransversality of mediatization.