Formation of Political Preferences in Russia: Contemporary Theoretical and Methodological Discussion

Contemporary research on media effects in Russia points out the high importance of media coverage as a source of basic values ​​and attitudes which help russians to orient in the current social, economic and political reality. The role of the mass media in this process is fully revealed in the framework of the Theory of Media Effects. However, conducting an applied research of media effects is hampered by the problem of "methodological entropy" in selecting the most appropriate and relevant models and approaches to considering the impact of mass media on public opinion. This study is aimed to create a basis for selecting conceptual basis and methodological tools that are adequate and relevant to the tasks of applied research, allowing to give the most complete and reliable answer about formation of political preferences in Russia. The scale of the review of the dynamics of the development of media effects studies makes it possible to generalize on the current state of this research tradition as a whole. The materials of this work can serve as a basis for deciding on the choice of certain theoretical and methodological predispositions for applied research on the role of the media in the process of public opinion formation. Also, the review provides an opportunity for scholars to base their research on already accumulated knowledge, instead of an independent review and unsystematic attempts at orientation in hundreds and thousands of scientific papers.