Compare methods

	Media System Dependency Analysis	Agenda-Setting Analysis
Field	Communication	Media Studies
Family	Process / pipeline	Process / pipeline
Year of origin	1976	1972
Originator	Sandra Ball-Rokeach & Melvin DeFleur	Maxwell McCombs, Donald Shaw
Type	Survey approach to audience reliance on media to meet goals	Empirical method for studying how media coverage affects issue salience and public concern
Seminal source	Ball-Rokeach, S. J., & DeFleur, M. L. (1976). A dependency model of mass-media effects. Communication Research, 3(1), 3–21.	McCombs, M. E., & Shaw, D. L. (1972). The agenda-setting function of mass media. Public Opinion Quarterly, 36(2), 176-187.
Aliases	Media dependency analysis, MSD analysis, Dependency theory measurement, Medya Bağımlılığı Analizi	agenda-setting theory, media agenda analysis, issue salience
Related	4	5
Summary	Media system dependency analysis operationalizes Ball-Rokeach and DeFleur's 1976 theory that media effects are strongest when individuals depend heavily on the media system to attain personal goals — understanding their world, orienting their actions, and finding diversion. The method surveys the intensity of these dependency relations and relates them to cognitive, affective, and behavioral effects of media.	Agenda-Setting Analysis is an empirical method for investigating the influence of media coverage on what issues the public considers important. Developed by Maxwell McCombs and Donald Shaw (1972), the approach tests a core hypothesis about media effects: media coverage does not tell people what to think, but rather what to think about. By comparing the issues receiving media coverage with the issues the public identifies as important, researchers measure agenda-setting effects—the degree to which media attention predicts public concern. The method demonstrates media's power to structure the hierarchy of issues, even when media may not directly persuade on specific issues.