Paul Lazarsfeld

“It is not so much a matter of personal taste as it is a matter of what the group values.”

“Opinion leadership is not a trait which a person has or does not have, but a role which is played in specific situations.”

“Simply to say that people get their ideas from other people is not very instructive.”

“The empirical social scientist has the task of putting his general hunches to a test.”

“What we today call 'theories' are in most cases still pre-theories; they are sets of concepts, which are not yet sufficiently specified to permit the derivation of empirically testable hypotheses.”

“Ideas often flow from radio and print to the opinion leaders and from them to the less active sections of the population.”

“The whole process of mass communication and its effect upon the decisions of individuals can only be understood if the role of interpersonal relations is taken into account.”