Lazarsfeld deliberately carved out theory-friendly space for European critical music research.

Evidence

I intend to make the musical section, so to speak, the hunting ground for the `European approach’. By that I mean two things: a more theoretical attitude toward the research problem, and a more pessimistic attitude toward an instrument of technical progress. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 985

Categorization

• DEFINE: Lazarsfeld here defines the ‘European approach’ as theoretical and pessimistically critical of technical progress — a key methodological contrast in media research history.
• SEED: Seed for an essay on how empirical ‘administrative research’ institutionalized itself by self-consciously reserving a critical wing, revealing a division of labor inside the American academy.
• XREF: connects to: Lazarsfeld hired Adorno to supply a European critical stance — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 985; Lazarsfeld privileged music in the radio project to soften controversial findings — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 997; Lazarsfeld chose music as the safest domain for controversial radio research. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 997 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Lazarsfeld chose music as the safest domain for controversial radio research. #corroborates (0.85) — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 997
• Lazarsfeld’s methodological flexibility allowed reconciliation of radical research with institutional demands #expands (0.82) — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 1000