His most influential work[1] is the book Using Communication Theory from 1989, co-authored with Dr. Benno Signitzer and Jean T. Olson.

The MPP was founded by professors Karl Erik Rosengren and Sven Windahl, and is acknowledged as being one of the most comprehensive of its kind.

Publications stemming from the program include: Media matter: TV use in childhood and adolescence (KE Rosengren, S Windahl and B Dervin, JAI Press Limited 1989).

While still a professor at Växjö University he started the consultancy ComCare, serving the public and health-care sector.

In September 2017 he received an honorary doctorate from Roskilde University in recognition of his role as “a central researcher in the field of communication theory”.