This book is one of the results of the II International Seminar on Research on Mediatization and Social Processes. The II International Seminar on Research on Mediatization and Social Processes had a program developed at two levels: Debate panels, with invited researchers – five tables with the participation of researchers from Sweden (1), Russia (1), Portugal (1), Argentina (1), and Brazil (6). The schedule of the II Seminar and its structure are available at https://www.midiaticom.org/seminario-midiatizacao/grade-de-programacao-2018/. Intotal, there were 15 hours of debates at the five debate panels. This second event gave continuity to the first International Seminar on Research on Mediatization and Social Processes, which also had guest researchers. In the first seminar, the five panels were attended by researchers from France (3), Denmark (1), Argentina (2), and Brazil (4). See: http://www.midiaticom.org/seminariointernacional/programacao-2016/. Therefore, methodologically, the Seminar takes place in the articulation of debate panels with international guests and working groups, with the presence of researchers, doctors, doctoral students, Masters, and master’s degree students. We emphasize that, still in the scope of training processes, master’s and doctoral students, masters and doctors, post-doctoral students and post-doctors, and members of the organizing Research Group take part in them as reviewers, in a blind evaluation, of the expanded abstracts submitted by graduates with lower titles – under the coordination of researchers/professors of the Research Group on Mediatization and Social Processes. They evaluated (in a group of more than three dozen reviewers) each of the works submitted by colleagues with training at a lower level, with classification grades, which resulted in the approved papers. Then, they were grouped by the organizing committee, successively, until the event’s working groups were formed. A total of 237 abstracts were submitted. They were selected in the following proportion of participants: 21% of professors/researchers; 33% doctors and doctoral students; 33% masters and master’s students; 13% graduates and undergraduate students, linked to scientific initiation research project and/or with research results of a senior research project. In the first seminar, in 2016, there were 250 submissions by authors and 217 expanded abstracts. Out of these, around 188 works were selected. At both events, half of the participants were from universities in other states (São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, and Minas Gerais, mainly). Among its results, in addition to the training processes in the course of its realization, we emphasize its consolidation in a library of reflections, in the form of complete articles of the presentations in Working Groups and books published in e-book format (with chapters produced by the participants of the debate panels). The expanded abstracts of the event are available at https://midiaticom.org/anais/index.php/seminario-midiatizacao-resumos. The full articles are available at https://midiaticom.org/anais/index.php/seminario-midiatizacao-artigos. This book of the Debate Panels of the II Seminar, in this e-book edition, is available not only in the project collection (https://www.midiaticom.org/e-books/) but also at FACOS UFSM (https: / /www.ufsm.br/editoras/facos/publicacoes/). We reiterate our thanks to CAPES and FAPERGS for the financial support, which is essential for to enable this proposal of conversation via research, both theoretical and empirical, carried out by its participants.

This book is one of the results of the III International Seminar on Research on Mediatization and Social Processes held in 2019. The III International Seminar on Research on Mediatization and Social Processes had a program developed on two levels: Debate Tables, with invited researchers (five discussion tables, with the participation of researchers from France (3), Argentina (2), Germany (1), and Brazil (5). The schedule of the III Seminar and its structure can be seen at https://www.midiaticom.org/seminario-midiatizacao/grade-de-programacao-2019/. In total, there were 15 hours of debates at the five Discussion Tables. Methodologically, the Seminar takes place in the articulation of Debate Tables with international guests and Working Groups with the presence of researchers, doctors, doctoral students, masters, and masters' degree students. We point out that, even in the scope of training processes, master's and doctoral students, masters and doctors, post-doctors and post-doctoral graduates, and members of the organizing Research Group take part as reviewers, in a blind evaluation process, of the expanded abstracts submitted by graduates with a lower title - under the coordination of the research professors from the Mediatization and Social Processes Group. They evaluated (in a group of more than three dozen reviewers) each of the works submitted by colleagues with a lower instructional level, with classificatory notes, which resulted in the approved works. They were then grouped by the Organizing Committee, successively, until they reached the event's working groups.

Producing scientific knowledge that can inform solutions and guide policy-making is one of the most important functions of social science. Nonetheless, if social science is to become more relevant and influential so as to impact on the drawing and execution of policy, certain measures need to be taken to narrow its distance from the policy sphere. This decision is less obvious than it seems. Both research and experience have proved that policy-making is a complex, often sub-rational, interactive process that involves a wide range of actors such as decision makers, bureaucrats, researchers, organized interests, citizen and civil society representatives and research brokers. In addition, social science often needs to defend both its relevance to policy and its own scientific status. Moving away from instrumental visions of the link between social research and policy, this collective volume aims to highlight the more constructed nature of the use of social knowledge.

`This is a very clear and concise summary of media studies, present and future. There is no other book that can both be used as a teaching tool and can help scholars organize their thinking about new media as this book can' - Steve Jones, University of Chicago This book offers an introduction to communication theory that is appropriate to our post-broadcast, interactive, media environment. The author contrasts the `first media age' of broadcast with the `second media age' of interactivity. Communication Theory argues that the different kinds of communication dynamics found in cyberspace demand a reassessment of the methodologies used to explore media, as well as new understandings of the concepts of interaction and community (virtual communities and broadcast communities). The media are examined not simply in terms of content, but also in terms of medium and network forms. Holmes also explores the differences between analogue and digital cultures, and between cyberspace and virtual reality. The book serves both as an upper level textbook for New Media courses and a good general guide to understanding the sociological complexities of the modern communications environment.

The Encyclopedia of Communication Theory provides students and researchers with a comprehensive two-volume overview of contemporary communication theory. Reference librarians report that students frequently approach them seeking a source that will provide them with a quick overview of a particular theory or theorist - just enough to help them grasp the general concept or theory and its relation to the discipline as a whole. Communication scholars and teachers also occasionally need a quick reference for theories. Edited by the co-authors of the best-selling textbook on communication theory and drawing on the expertise of an advisory board of 10 international scholars and nearly 200 contributors from 10 countries, this work finally provides such a resource. More than 300 entries address topics related not only to paradigms, traditions, and schools, but also metatheory, methodology, inquiry, and applications and contexts. Entries cover several orientations, including psycho-cognitive; social-interactional; cybernetic and systems; cultural; critical; feminist; philosophical; rhetorical; semiotic, linguistic, and discursive; and non-Western. Concepts relate to interpersonal communication, groups and organizations, and media and mass communication. In sum, this encyclopedia offers the student of communication a sense of the history, development, and current status of the discipline, with an emphasis on the theories that comprise it.