Compare methods

	Third-Person Effect Survey	Agenda-Setting Analysis
Field	Communication	Media Studies
Family	Process / pipeline	Process / pipeline
Year of origin	1983	1972
Originator	W. Phillips Davison	Maxwell McCombs, Donald Shaw
Type	Survey approach to perceived differential media influence on self versus others	Empirical method for studying how media coverage affects issue salience and public concern
Seminal source	Davison, W. P. (1983). The third-person effect in communication. Public Opinion Quarterly, 47(1), 1–15.	McCombs, M. E., & Shaw, D. L. (1972). The agenda-setting function of mass media. Public Opinion Quarterly, 36(2), 176-187.
Aliases	Third-person perception survey, TPE measurement, Perceived media influence survey, Üçüncü Kişi Etkisi Anketi	agenda-setting theory, media agenda analysis, issue salience
Related	4	5
Summary	The third-person effect survey measures W. Phillips Davison's 1983 observation that people tend to believe persuasive media messages affect other people more than themselves. The perceptual component documents this self–other gap, while the behavioral component tests whether the gap leads people to support censorship, corrective action, or other responses aimed at protecting the supposedly more-influenced others.	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.