A journal article titled “Great expectations? A taxonomy for expectancy research in journalism studies“, written by Assistant Professor Dr Claudia Wilhelm and Professor Dr Hanne Detel, was published in the renowned journal Journalism at the end of September 2023. In order to enable a systematisation and classification of the various expectation concepts in journalism research, they developed a taxonomy comprising seven criteria: While the (1) dimension indicates the content of the expectations and the (2) dimensionality the degree of complexity of the concept, the criteria (3) perspective and (4) object specify whose expectations are addressed and to whom they are directed. The (5) expectation level distinguishes between first-order and second-order expectations and the (6) level of analysis helps to localise expectation concepts (micro, meso or macro level). Finally, the (7) mode enables expectations to be categorised as prescriptive, probabilistic or evaluative.
