Abstract:

Ever longer time-series trends in survey research are increasingly opening up opportunities to determine covariance and formulate hypo- theses about causality through analysis of the connections with other data from company statistics, from media content analyses of the print and electronic media--both in the advertising and editorial pages--or from official statistics. The validity of such hypotheses increases with the size of the sample and the length of the time period within which they are confirmed, thus providing increasingly firm ground for economic and political decisions. Research is faced with new challenges to develop theories which can clarify unanticipated connections.