A study examined the mass media research literature to determine if there was a dominant paradigm in the field. The mass media research published in eight communication journals from 1965 to 1989 was content analyzed to identify paradigm, orientation (focus and theory), data (type, source, and sample), methodology (type and manipulation), and number of authors (e.g., single, or collaborative). Three paradigms were identified, but none was considered "dominant" in the (T. S.) Kuhnian sense. Results indicated that the social science paradigm accounted for over 60% of the studies, while the descriptive paradigm accounted for about 34%, and the critical paradigm less than 6%. (Three tables of data are included; 26 references are attached.) (Author/PRA)