René Weber
renew@msu.edu
Principal Investigator, Comm Tech Lab
Assistant Professor, Communication & Telecommunication, Information Studies and Media

René received his Ph.D. for his work on the theory and methods of TV audience prediction. He has developed a system that can predict ratings and market shares of TV programs and helps to optimize program decisions. His system was tested by media research professionals over a period of nearly two years. With his dissertation he introduced modern artificial intelligence approaches (e.g. neural networks) in communication research in order to model complex dependencies (e.g. transactional, dynamic structures). In his recent research projects he concentrates on using brain imaging techniques (fMRI) to explore media effects (especially video games’ effects) and also on how to define and measure “Television Quality”. René joins the Comm Tech Lab in fall 2004 when he returned to MSU as an assistant professor of both Communication and Telecommunication, Information Studies and Media.

As an academic expert on audience prediction he worked for the SAT.1/PROSEVEN networks in Germany as well as for NBC New York/Los Angeles. He founded "OpinionNow!", a media research start-up company. The company's main product is a data collection software system for use with new technology including mobile media. He was Assistant Professor in Research Methods and Statistics at the University of Technology in Berlin and an Associate/Guest Professor in Media Research at the University of the Arts in Berlin. He also worked as Post Doctoral Associate in the Entertainment program at the USC's Annenberg School for Communication, Los Angeles, where he served as PI for a German Research Foundation grant to do research on "Quality of Entertainment" and as PI of studies using brain imaging techniques (fMRI) to explore media effects (especially video games’ effects).
He earned several awards and honors, e.g. the first prize of the TL Foundation, University of Tuebingen, Germany, for the study "Violent Computer Games. The Impact of Different Perceptions and Modes on Brain Activity", or the first prize for his dissertation in the 2000 Annual Awards of the German and Swiss Marketing Societies.


Current Projects:
Television quality - entertainment programs in the US. Indicators of quality and success.
Violent computer games, aggression and brain activity. A functional magnetic resonance imaging study.


Products:
ProTv (TV audience prediction/optimizing tool)
Opinion Now! (Mobile survey tool)


Publications:
Weber R., Kostygina A., Ritterfeld U. (in press): Aggression and Hostility as Effects of Playing Violent Games. In: Vorderer P., Bryant J. (eds.): Playing Computer Games - Motives, Responses, and Consequences. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Weber R., Gehrau V (in press): Spielverlauf und Spielausgang im Erleben der Zuschauer aus unterhaltungstheoretischer Sicht. In: Schramm H. (Edt.): Die Rezeption des Sports in den Medien. Koeln: Halem. English title: Watching Soccer in TV. An Empirical Study.

Gehrau V., Weber R. (in press): Ergebnisrelevanz als Anreiz zur Nutzung von Medienspielen. In: Scherer H., Rössler P.: Nutzung der Medienspiele – Spiele der Mediennutzer. English title: The Relevance of Results and the Attraction of Media Games.

Ritterfeld U., Weber R. (in press): Interactivity, Enjoyment, and Learning. In: Vorderer P., Bryant J. (eds.): Playing Computer Games - Motives, Responses, and Consequences. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Smith S., Tamborini R., Wilson B., Pieper K., Weber R. (in press): Brandishing Guns in American Media: Two Studies Examining How often and in what Context Firearms Appear on Television and in Popular Video Games.

Vorderer P., Bryant, J., Pieper K., Weber R. (in press): Playing Computer Games as Entertainment. In: Vorderer P., Bryant J. (eds.): Playing Computer Games - Motives, Responses, and Consequences. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Weber R. (2004): Statistik mit SPSS. In: Bortz J.: Statistik für Sozialwissenschaftler. 6. Auflage. Berlin: Springer. English title: Statistics with SPSS.

Ritterfeld U., Weber R., Fernando S., Vorderer P. (2004): Think science! Entertainment Education in Interactive Theaters. In: Computers in Entertainment, 1, Issue 2, Educating Children Through Entertainment (Part II).

Weber R., Gardini F. (2003): TV Entertainment Programs: Validation of Quality Indicators. In: Sartori C., Pinelli L. (Edt.): Television Quality and Product Innovation in the Digital Age. Rome: Rai. 152-177.

Vorderer P., Weber R. (2003): Unterhaltung als kommunikationswissenschaftliches Problem. Ansätze einer konnektionistischen Modellierung. In: Früh W., Stiehler H.J.: Unterhaltung – ein Reader. Köln: Halem. 136-159. English title: Entertainment as a Problem in Communication Sciences. First Ideas of a Connectionist Approach.

Weber, R. (2003). Methods to Forecast Television Viewing Patterns for Target Audiences. In: Schorr, A., Campbell, B., Schenk, M. (2003). Communication Research and Media Science in Europe. New York, Berlin: De Gruyter. 271-285.

Weber, R. (2001). Datenanalyse mittels neuronaler Netze am Beispiel des Publikumserfolgs von Spielfilmen. In: Zeitschrift für Medienpsychologie, 13, 4, 164–176. English title: The Success of Movies. Data Analysis with Neural Networks.

Boger Z., Weber R. (2000). Finding an Optimal Artificial Neural Network Topology in Real-Life Modeling. In: The ICSC Symposium on Neural Computation, Article No. 1403/109.

Weber, R. (2000). Prognosemodelle zur Vorhersage der Fernsehnutzung. Neuronale Netze, Tree-Modelle und klassische Statistik im Vergleich. München: Reinhard Fischer. English title: Models to Forecast Television Usage. A Comparison of Neural Networks, Tree Models and Classical Statistics.

Bretz, H.J., Weber, R., Gmel, G., Schmitz, B. (1999). The Time of the “Wende”: Social Change and the Reception of Political Broadcasting in the German Democratic Republic. Time-Series Analysis of News Usage. In: Silbereisen, R.K. & Von Eye, A. (eds.): Growing Up in Times of Social Change. New York, Berlin: De Gruyter. 203-223.

Weber R. (1999): SPSS-Beispiele zu den vorgestellten Methoden. In: Bortz J.: Statistik für Sozialwissenschaftler 5. Auflage. Berlin: Springer. 703-738. English title: SPSS Examples of Selected Statistical Methods.

Weber, R. (1998). Statische und dynamische Evaluation von Prognosen. In: ZA-Information, 43, 111-123. English title: Static and Dynamic Evaluation of Forecasts.


Presentations (Selection):
Weber R., Gardini F. (2004): TV Entertainment Programs: Validation of Quality Indicators. International Communication Association (ICA). New Orleans, May 27-31, 2004.

Gehrau V., Weber R. (2004): Evaluations of TV Quality as a Tool to Predict TV Actions. International Communication Association (ICA). New Orleans, May 27-31, 2004.

Weber R., Gardini F. (2003): TV Entertainment Programs: Validation of Quality Indicators. Invited Presentation. Prixitalia – International Competition for Radio, Television and Web. Catania, September 13-20, 2003.

Weber R. (2003): Prognosis Methods on Television Viewing Patterns for Target Audiences. New Findings. International Communication Association (ICA). San Diego, May 23-27, 2003.

Weber R. (2003): Entertainment Programs in TV - Indicators of Quality and Success from Professionals’ Viewpoint. International Communication Association (ICA). San Diego, May 23-27, 2003.

Gehrau V., Weber R. (2003): Published Advertising Price as Indicator of Success? International Communication Association (ICA). San Diego, May 23-27, 2003.

Weber R. (2002): Methoden zur Optimierung von Erklärungs- und Prognosemodellen der Fernsehnutzung. Deutsche Gesellschaft für Psychologie. Berlin, September 22-26, 2002. English title: Methods for an Optimization of TV Usage Models.

Gehrau V., Weber R. (2002): Ergebnisrelevanz als Anreiz zur Nutzung von Medienspielen? Fachgruppe „Rezeptionsforschung“ der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Publizistik und Kommunikationswissenschaft. Hannover, October 25-26, 2001. English title: The Relevance of a Result as Motivation to Use Media Games.

Weber R. (2001): Prognose und Simulation der Fernsehnutzung. Internationale Funkausstellung. Berlin, September 25-30, 2001. English title: Prediction and Simulation of TV Viewing Behavior.
Weber R. (2001): Prognose und Simulation der Fernsehnutzung. Cebit Computermesse. Hannover, March 21-28, 2001. English title: TV Audience Prediction and Simulation.

Weber R. (2000): Prognosemodelle zur Vorhersage der Fernsehnutzung. Deutsche Gesellschaft für Medienwirkungsforschung. Stuttgart, October 1-2, 2000. English title: Models to Forecast TV Usage.

Weber R. (2000): Neuronale Netze und ihre Anwendung in der Medien- und Kommunikationsforschung. Fachgruppe „Methoden“ der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Publizistik und Kommunikationswissenschaft. Loccum, October 28-31, 2000. English title: Neural Networks and their Applications in Media- and Communication Research.

Weber R. (2000): New Models to Forecast and Simulate TV Usage. International Association for Media and Communication Research. Singapore, July 17–20, 2000.

Weber R. (2000): Techniques for Forecasting, Simulating and Explaining TV Use Based on Telemetric Data. International Association for Media and Communication Research. Singapore, July 17–20, 2000.

Weber R. (2000): Prognosemodelle zur Vorhersage der Fernsehnutzung. Neuronale Netze, Tree-Modelle und klassische Statistik im Vergleich. Deutscher und Schweizerischer Marktforschungs-Berufsverband.
Basel, May 28-30, 2000. English title: Models to Forecast TV Usage. Neural Network, Tree-Models and Classical Statistics in Comparison.

Weber R. (1999): Models to Forecast TV Usage. Neural Networks, Tree-Models and Classical Statistical Models in Comparison - First Overview. International Association for Media and Communication Research. Leipzig, July 27–31, 1999.

Weber R. (1994): Nachrichtennutzung. Der Einfluss herausragender Ereignisse auf die Einschaltquoten der Tagesschau vor dem Hintergrund des dynamisch-transaktionalen Modells. Deutschen Gesellschaft für Psychologie. Hamburg, September 25-29, 1994. English title: News Usage. Effects of Outstanding Events on News Ratings.

Bretz H.J., Weber R., Gmel G. (1994): Politische Destabilisierung und Rezeption der „Aktuellen Kamera“ in der DDR während der Wende. Zeitreihenanalysen der Nachrichtennutzung. Deutsche Gesellschaft für Psychologie. Hamburg, September 25-29, 1994. English title: Political Destabilization and the Reception of “Aktuelle Kamera (news)” in the German Democratic Republic during the Breakdown of the Wall. Time-Series Analysis of News Usage.


Related URLs:
http://www.comm.msu.edu/people/faculty/389
http://www.dr-rene-weber.de


Course Offerings:
Spring 2005: CAS 992/892


Credentials:
MA in Communication, Berlin University of Arts
MBA/Econometrics & Statistics, Berlin University of Technology
PhD in Psychology/Research Methods, Berlin University of Technology

     
  Copyright © 2003 Michigan State University. All Rights Reserved.