The highlights of articles evaluating the results of media research over the past 25 years are briefly reviewed, and the constructionists' and the reductionists' approaches to media research are described. It is pointed out that for the researcher in media, the implications of a constructionist approach are quite clear, at least from a methodological point of view. Instead of the reductionist process of isolating variables within a tightly controlled experimental frame, the constructionist would wish to record, through anthropological and sociological means, the situational conditions which impinge upon the uses and interpretations of media. The paper closes by urging a more detailed study of the values to be derived from both the reductionist and constructionist points of view so that the values of both approaches may help in designing research in media that makes a fundamental difference. (Author/LLS)