Bernard Berelson

Bernard Reuben Berelson (1912–1979) was an American behavioral scientist, known for his work on communication and mass media.

He was a leading proponent of the broad idea of the "behavioral sciences", a field he saw as including areas such as public opinion. In Chapter 14 of ''Voting'' (1954), he enunciated what has become known as ''Berelson's paradox'' on democracy: while classical theories of its success assume voters committed to interest in public life, this fails to correspond with practical politics, while the system itself functions.

Berelson wrote a summary entitled ''The Great Debate on Cultural Democracy'' regarding the confrontation between mass society theorists and researchers for the media industries. Berelson asserted that the resolution of the debate was simple: just listen to mass communication researchers like himself as they develop useful answers to the issues raised by others. Provided by Wikipedia