research topics in development communication

Development Communication Research Paper Topics

Activist Media
Citizens’ Media
Communication Evaluation Research
Communication Strategies for Empowerment
Communication Technology and Development
Community Media
Daniel Lerner
Dependency Theories
Development Communication Campaigns
Development Communication in Africa
Development Communication in Asia
Development Communication in Latin America
Development Communication in the Middle East
Development Discourse
Development Institutions
Development Journalism
Development Support Communication
Development, Gender, and Communication
Everett Rogers
Geometry of Development
Health Campaigns for Development
Media Democracy Movement
Modernization
Participatory Action Research
Participatory Communication
Planning of Development Communication
Population Campaigns
Postdevelopment
Radio for Development
Rural Development
Social Mobilization
Spirituality and Development
Sustainable Development
Telecenters
Television for Development
Transnational Civil Society
Wilbur Schramm

Development Communication in Historical Context

Historically, development strategies have targeted developing countries, meaning those with fewer resources than the wealthier countries supporting bilateral and multilateral development institutions. More recently, development goals have been incorporated into social and political protests, through transnational movements actively engaged in promoting economic, political, social, or cultural progress. Social change may be occurring as a result of a variety of factors, such as long-term shifts in policies and political leadership, economic circumstances, demographic characteristics, normative conditions, and ideological values: development communication intersects with social change at the point of intentional, strategic, organized interventions.

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Following World War II, development communication emerged as a foreign aid strategy, designed by northern and western institutions to promote modernization among less wealthy countries. Early approaches articulated by Daniel Lerner, Wilbur Schramm, and others advocated the promotion of media toward national modernization. Critics raised concerns with hierarchical communication transmissions devoid of historical, structural, or geopolitical context, with some arguing for more participatory processes.

Justifications for participatory development have varied greatly. Development institutions interested in creating efficient and effective projects understand participation as a necessary tool for achieving defined ends. Other development institutions concerned with the ethical aspects of participation are more likely to conceive of participation as an end in itself, regardless of project outcomes. Some participatory approaches build on more resistant strategies to fight oppressive conditions, inspired through Freire’s work in liberation theology. These concerns resonate with recent attention in development to the importance of social and political movements in the broader context of social change.

Although the focus of development communication has changed over time from concerns with modernity, to dependency, cultural imperialism, globalization, participation, and resistance, these shifts have not evolved in a linear fashion. Many underlying concerns with power, whether conceived within political-economic structures or within community contexts, or whether posited as hegemonic or pluralist processes, remain. Highlighting experiences of oppression and dominance, a reframing of the ‘geometry of development’ shifts the landscape of development from nation-states in north/ south orientations toward a more fluid sense of transnational collectivities and agencies.

Academic attention to development communication typically addresses programs designed to communicate for social change, or what can be called “communicating for development.” More recent critical approaches of development concern “communicating about development,” questioning the way that social change projects articulate assumptions about problems, solutions, and communities. These are not mutually exclusive endeavors: ongoing critique and research engaged through communicating about development should contribute to improving strategies for communicating for social change.

Communicating for Development

Communicating for development engages intentional strategies to promote socially beneficial goals. Development problems often addressed through these projects can be found in health, agriculture, governance, population, nutrition, sustainable development, and other subjects. These programs address a variety of themes, such as stimulating economic growth, promoting transparent governance, asserting cultural identities, and creating social spaces for community dialogue, through project implementation.

Communication interventions may help to mobilize support, create awareness, foster norms, encourage behavior change, influence policymakers, or even shift frames of social issues. The goals themselves vary with the underlying approach taken to development, such as social change frameworks based in social marketing, entertainment education, or media advocacy. What unites these approaches is having an intentional, organized strategy toward a specific, noncommercial goal. These types of projects differ, however, in terms of the types of groups they address and the nature of the social change process assumed. Some projects integrate more than one of these types of interventions in broader programmatic efforts. They also may incorporate a variety of mediated technologies as part of their strategic intervention. Communications technologies and processes contribute to these strategic approaches to directed social change.

Communicating about Development

A complementary approach within the broader field of development communication addresses the topic of communication about development. Critical of a development industry that appears to channel resources yet has worsening rather than improving consequences, some scholars position development as a particular discourse that communicates problematic assumptions about the nature of the problems addressed, appropriate solutions, and communities at risk.

The ideological assumptions of development are deconstructed and criticized in this approach. The underlying issue questions how development communicates particular ideological assumptions, and, moreover, what the implications are in terms of understanding power. Power can be understood as a negotiated and fluid process through which some agencies have the economic, cultural, and other resources to dominate and advance their agendas, whereas other groups have the potential to subvert and resist. Some development strategies explicitly take on the goal of empowerment, advocating the rights and responsibilities of particular communities.

Recent attention to postdevelopment posits social movements as radical alternatives to dominant development structures and ideologies. In this regard, social movements are seen not as a way to transform or improve mainstream development, but as potential channels for resistance. Opening our gaze to the possibilities of more resistant strategies means advocating a more inclusive conceptualization of development and social change.

Development Communication Research Agendas

Development communication requires research as integral to the dialogic implementation and assessment of programs. Individual projects need to be analyzed not only in terms of their defined objectives, but also as they relate to broader programmatic strategies and underlying social problems. Monitoring and evaluation research allows an assessment of the program consequences, in order to contribute to improving future projects.

Although quite different in strategies implemented and theories engaged, these approaches are united in their attempts to build on communication toward and about social change. Sharing a profound concern with devastating conditions worldwide, critical scholars and advocates broaden their vision of development communication to include concerns with inequities and to advocate for social justice. Development communication continues to offer an increasingly holistic and far-reaching framework for engaging in dialogue and action toward social change. Future research can inform development communication to improve its contribution toward resolving global concerns.

References:

Dutta, M. (2011). Communicating social change: Structure, culture, agency. London: Routledge.
Enghel, F. & Wilkins, K. (eds.) (2012). Communication, media and development: Problems and perspectives. Nordicom, Special Issue, 31.
Escobar, A. (1995). Encountering development: The making and unmaking of the third world. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Gumucio-Dagron, A. & Tufte, T. (2006). Communication for social change anthology: Historical and contemporary readings. South Orange, NJ: Communication for Social Change Consortium.
McAnany, E. (2012). Saving the world: A brief history of communication for development and social change. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press.
S. (ed.) (2012). Development communication in directed social change: A reappraisal of theory and practice. Singapore: AMIC.
Nedervee Pieterse, J. (2001). Development theory: Deconstructions/reconstructions. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Sparks, C. (2007). Globalization, development and the mass media. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Wilkins, K. & Mody, B. (eds.) (2001). Communication, development, social change, and global disparity Communication Theory, Special issue, 11(4).
Wilkins, K., Tufte, T., & Obregon, R. (eds.) (2014). Handbook of development communication and social change. Oxford: Wiley Blackwell.

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research topics in development communication

Research Topics & Ideas: Communication

50 Topic Ideas To Kickstart Your Research

Research topics and ideas about communication and comms strategy

If you’re just starting out exploring communication-related topics for your dissertation, thesis or research project, you’ve come to the right place. In this post, we’ll help kickstart your research by providing a hearty list of research topics and ideas related to communication and comms strategy, including examples from recent studies.

PS – This is just the start…

We know it’s exciting to run through a list of research topics, but please keep in mind that this list is just a starting point . These topic ideas provided here are intentionally broad and generic , so keep in mind that you will need to develop them further. Nevertheless, they should inspire some ideas for your project.

To develop a suitable research topic, you’ll need to identify a clear and convincing research gap , and a viable plan to fill that gap. If this sounds foreign to you, check out our free research topic webinar that explores how to find and refine a high-quality research topic, from scratch. Alternatively, consider our 1-on-1 coaching service .

Communication-Related Research Topics

Analyzing the effectiveness of crisis communication strategies in the airline industry post-accidents.
The role of social media in shaping corporate brand identity in the fashion industry.
Investigating the impact of internal communication on employee engagement in remote work environments.
The effectiveness of influencer marketing in health and wellness brands.
Analyzing the impact of virtual reality in enhancing audience engagement in museums and galleries.
The role of communication in change management within large healthcare organizations.
Investigating the use of digital storytelling in non-profit fundraising campaigns.
The impact of corporate social responsibility communication on consumer perceptions in the fast-food industry.
Analyzing the effectiveness of environmental communication strategies in promoting sustainable practices among businesses.
The role of intercultural communication in the success of international mergers and acquisitions.
Investigating the impact of communication style on leadership effectiveness in tech startups.
The effectiveness of targeted advertising in political campaigns.
Analyzing the role of public relations in managing celebrity image crises.
The impact of mobile communication technologies on marketing strategies in retail.
Investigating the use of employee advocacy on social media as a branding tool.
The role of communication in enhancing customer service experiences in the hospitality industry.
Analyzing the impact of user-generated content on brand loyalty in the automotive industry.
The effectiveness of communication strategies in addressing gender diversity in the workplace.
Investigating the role of strategic communication in corporate restructuring processes.
The impact of language barriers on global marketing and advertising strategies.
Analyzing the effectiveness of communication platforms in remote team collaboration.
The role of multimedia content in enhancing online engagement for educational institutions.
Investigating the impact of communication strategies on patient adherence in healthcare.
The effectiveness of internal crisis communication in financial institutions during economic downturns.
Analyzing the role of corporate storytelling in enhancing brand identity.

Communication Research Ideas (Continued)

The impact of social media algorithms on news dissemination and public opinion.
Investigating the role of communication in customer retention strategies in the telecom industry.
The effectiveness of green marketing communication in promoting eco-friendly products.
Analyzing the impact of augmented reality in interactive marketing campaigns.
The role of communication in managing stakeholder relationships in construction projects.
Investigating the impact of cultural differences on international public relations practices.
The effectiveness of video marketing in consumer engagement on social media platforms.
Analyzing the role of communication in employee wellness programs.
The impact of digital communication tools on enhancing B2B sales strategies.
Investigating the effectiveness of podcasting as a marketing tool for small businesses.
The role of communication in facilitating organizational change in public sector organizations.
Analyzing the impact of artificial intelligence on personalized customer communication.
The effectiveness of integrated marketing communications in luxury brand management.
Investigating the use of virtual events for community building in online gaming.
The role of strategic communication in environmental advocacy.
Analyzing the impact of communication technologies on remote learning and education.
The effectiveness of grassroots communication campaigns in social movements.
Investigating the role of communication in project management success in the IT industry.
The impact of communication style on negotiation outcomes in international trade.
Analyzing the effectiveness of brand messaging in sustainable fashion.
The role of visual communication in enhancing brand presence on social media.
Investigating the impact of public speaking skills on leadership effectiveness.
The effectiveness of communication strategies in health promotion and disease prevention.
Analyzing the role of communication in the adoption of new technologies in traditional industries.
The impact of cross-cultural communication on global marketing and branding strategies.

Recent Communication-Related Studies

While the ideas we’ve presented above are a decent starting point for finding a research topic, they are fairly generic and non-specific. So, it helps to look at actual studies in the communication space to see how this all comes together in practice.

Below, we’ve included a selection of recent studies to help refine your thinking. These are actual studies, so they can provide some useful insight as to what a research topic looks like in practice.

Studying Linguistic Means of Expression of PR Campaigns Aimed at Combating the Pandemic in the Digital Age: A Multimodal Approach (Minyar-Belorucheva & Sergienko, 2022)
Educating communication sciences and disorders students to use evidence-based practice literature: A collaboration between a library liaison and a CSD professor (Day & Flynn, 2022)
The Teaching and Learning of Communication Skills in Social Work Education (Reith-Hall & Montgomery, 2022)
Communication skills training for improving the communicative abilities of student social workers (Reith-Hall & Montgomery, 2023)
The Case for Addressing Emotional Resilience in Graduate Student Training (Malandraki, 2022)
Role of Communication Skills: A Review (Saxena et al., 2022)
Future Challenges of Post-third Wave Communication Studies Covid-19 Pandemic: Media Practitioner Perspective (Santoso, 2022)
Effective communication management in a public health crisis: lessons learned about COVID-19 pandemic through the lens of health communication executives (Voges et al., 2023)
Transdisciplinary engaged learning (Griffith, 2023) The mediating effect of mindfulness and self-compassion on leaders’ communication competence and job satisfaction (Salazar, 2022)
Communication Skills across Engineering Curriculum: A Case Study (Kakepoto et al., 2022)
Communication Skills among University Students (Ansari et al., 2022).
The Management of Communication Skills Development in Literature High Secondary Education from the Student’s Point of View (Hung et al., 2022).
A study about recognition of middle school and high school students on teacher’s communication skills (Chang et al., 2022)
Communication pedagogy in public affairs programs: Insights from a study of MPA and MPP curricula (Manoharan & Rangarajan, 2022)
Health communication needs for COVID-19 prevention and control among college students (Zhang et al., 2023)
The strategic value of “chaos” in the South African context for the training of communication students (De Wet, 2022)
Underrepresentation of Students From Diverse Backgrounds Entering Communication Sciences and Disorders Programs: An Investigation Into the University Student Perspective (Richburg, 2022)
Communicating Science, Technology, and Environmental Issues: A Case Study of an Intercultural Learning Experience (van Kempen et al., 2022)

As you can see, these research topics are a lot more focused than the generic topic ideas we presented earlier. So, for you to develop a high-quality research topic, you’ll need to get specific and laser-focused on a specific context with specific variables of interest. In the video below, we explore some other important things you’ll need to consider when crafting your research topic.

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If you’re still unsure about how to find a quality research topic, check out our Research Topic Kickstarter service, which is the perfect starting point for developing a unique, well-justified research topic.

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Handbook of Communication for Development and Social Change

Living reference work
© 2020
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Jan Servaes 0

Former UNESCO Chair in Communication for Sustainable Social Change, University of Leuven, Hong Kong, Hong Kong

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Table of contents (85 entries)

A changing world: fao efforts in communication for rural development.

Silvia Balit, Mario Acunzo

A Community-Based Participatory Mixed-Methods Approach to Multicultural Media Research

Rukhsana Ahmed, Luisa Veronis

A Sense of Community in the ASEAN

Pornpun Prajaknate

A Threefold Approach for Enabling Social Change: Communication as Context for Interaction, Uneven Development, and Recognition

Gloria Gómez Diago

Asian Contributions to Communication for Development and Social Change

Cleofe S. Torres, Linje Manyozo

Bottom-Up Networks in Pacific Island Countries: An Emerging Model for Participatory Environmental Communication

Usha S. Harris

Broadcasting New Behavioral Norms: Theories Underlying the Entertainment-Education Method

Kriss Barker

Capacity Building and People’s Participation in e-Governance: Challenges and Prospects for Digital India

Kiran Prasad

Case Study of Organizational Crisis Communication: Oxfam Responds to Sexual Harassment and Abuse Scandal

Claudia Janssen Danyi

Co-creative Leadership and Self-Organization: Inclusive Leadership of Development Action

Alvito de Souza, Hans Begeer

Communicating Climate Change: Where Did We Go Wrong, How Can We Do Better?

Communication and culture for development: contributions to artisanal fishers’ wellbeing in coastal uruguay.

Paula Santos, Micaela Trimble

Communication for Development and Social Change Through Creativity

Arpan Yagnik

Communication for Development and Social Change: Conclusion

Jan Servaes

Communication for Development and Social Change: In Search of a New Paradigm

Communication for development and social change: three development paradigms, two communication models, and many applications and approaches.

Jan Servaes, Patchanee Malikhao

Communication Policy for Women’s Empowerment: Media Strategies and Insights

Communicative analysis of a failed coup attempt in turkey.

Zafer Kıyan, Nurcan Törenli

Community Radio in Ethiopia: A Discourse of Peace and Conflict Reporting

Mulatu Alemayehu Moges

Daniel Lerner and the Origins of Development Communication

Hemant Shah
Communication for development and social change
Communication for change
Strategic communication
Journalism and international communication
Health communication
Environmental communication
Social change activities
Knowledge management and development
Communication activities for development

About this book

This handbook provides a single reference resource for communication for development and social change. Increasingly, one considers communication to be crucial to effectively tackle the major problems of today. Hence, the question being addressed in this handbook is, is there a right communication strategy? Perspectives on sustainability, participation, and culture in communication have changed over time in line with the evolution of development approaches and trends, and in response to the need for effective applications of communication methods and tools to new issues and priorities. Divided into prominent themes comprising relevant chapters written by experts in the field and reviewed by renowned editors, the book addresses topics where communication and social change converge in both theory and praxis. Specific concerns and issues include food security, climate change, poverty reduction, health, equity and gender, sustainable development goals, and information and communication technologies (ICTs). The book shows how communication is essential at all levels of society. It helps readers understand the processes that underlie attitude change and decision-making and the work uses powerful models and methods to explain the processes that lead to sustainable development and social change. This is essential reading for academics and practitioners, students and policy makers alike.

Editors and Affiliations

About the editor, bibliographic information.

Book Title : Handbook of Communication for Development and Social Change

Editors : Jan Servaes

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-7035-8

Publisher : Springer Singapore

eBook Packages : Springer Reference Literature, Cultural and Media Studies , Reference Module Humanities and Social Sciences , Reference Module Humanities

eBook ISBN : 978-981-10-7035-8 Due: 16 April 2020

Topics : Development Communication , Development and Social Change , Environmental Communication

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Publication: Communicating the Impact of Communication for Development : Recent Trends in Empirical Research

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Publication Environmental Implications of a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) ( Washington, DC : World Bank , 2022-07 ) Lee, Soohyang ; Park, Jinhee Show more Two-thirds of central banks in the East Asia and Pacific (EAP) region have started researching or testing the implementation of a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). At the same time, the region accounts for one-third of world CO2 emissions and is vulnerable to climate risks. As the Group of 7 (G7), European Central Bank (ECB), and Bank of England (BoE) have stated in their public statements, it is increasingly important to consider environmental impact when designing CBDC. However, only a few brief studies have been done on this subject, which will be crucial for the region. This Note explores the environmental implications of CBDC by comparing technical mechanisms and energy consumption within its distributed structure. It also illustrates differences in ecological footprint between CBDC and other payment methods (cryptocurrency, cash, and card networks). As the legitimacy of CBDC is backed by the trust of central banks, CBDC does not need to prove its legitimacy through its technological structure. Therefore, CBDC does not require the energy-intensive consensus or mining mechanisms used by a cryptocurrency, so its energy consumption is lower (comparable to that of a credit card system). CBDC can be designed to use various systems, such as Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS), Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT), or a mixture of both. Careful deliberation to meet the objectives and implications will be important as CBDC can be a catalyst for financial innovation. Show more
Publication A Novel Tobacco Market Diversification ( World Bank, Washington, DC , 2022-04-27 ) Marquez, Patricio V. Show more In this working paper, an exploration of available data and information is conducted and findings presented, to support the view that the dichotomous business model and related harm reduction narrative promoted nowadays by the tobacco industry, merits scrutiny by the international community. The promotion of e-cigarettes as welfare enhancing in rich countries, particularly because they are posited to help adult smokers quit, tends to obfuscate a dire reality. The same tobacco industry that promotes (e-cigarettes as harm reduction in rich countries, derives the bulk of its profits by selling cigarettes in lower income countries. Show more
Publication The Role of Coherence in Strengthening Community Accountability for Remote Schools in Indonesia ( World Bank, Washington, DC , 2022-04 ) Hwa, Yue Yi ; Lumbanraja, Sharon Kanthy ; Riyanto, Usha Adelina ; Susanti, Dewi Show more Incoherence in accountability relationships, or the lack of alignment between the various components of a specific education system, can hamper the quality of education. Such incoherence can be a particular challenge in resource constrained, remote villages where teachers tend to have higher educational capital and social status than the parents and communities whom they serve. We analyzed quantitative and qualitative data from a randomized controlled trial of a social accountability mechanism (SAM) for primary schools in remote Indonesian villages. The intervention had three treatment groups, all of which included the SAM, that engaged village-level stakeholders in a consensus-building process that led to joint service agreements for supporting the learning process. Prior analyses have found that all three treatment groups significantly improved student learning, but the treatment group combining the SAM with teacher performance pay based on camera-monitored teacher attendance led to much larger gains than the SAM-only treatment group or the treatment group combining the SAM with teacher performance pay based on a community-evaluated scorecard. Drawing on a range of quantitative data sources across all treatment group schools (process monitoring, survey, and service agreement indicators) and qualitative data from nine case study schools (interviews and focus group discussions), we show first that the student learning gains across all three treatment groups were accompanied by increases in both the coherence of the accountability relationships between village-level stakeholders and the degree to which these relationships were oriented toward the purpose of cultivating learning. We further show that the treatment group combining the SAM with camera monitored teacher attendance led to greater improvements in the coherence of accountability relationships than the other treatment groups, because the cameras improved both the technical capacity and the social legitimacy of community members to hold teachers accountable. This coherence-focused, relational explanation for the relative effectiveness of the treatment groups has more explanatory power than alternative explanations that focus narrowly on information quality or incentive structure. Our analysis reinforces arguments for ensuring that accountability structures are coherent with the local context, including local social structures and power dynamics. Show more
Publication WBG COVID-19 Crisis Response Operational Update ( Washington, DC , 2022-03-31 ) World Bank Show more This note provides an update on the WBG’s COVID-19 Crisis Response, outlined in June 2020 to help developing countries address the impacts of the pandemic while maintaining a line of sight to long-term development goals. It comprises five short sections: (I) the impacts of COVID-19 and compounding crises on developing countries, (II) an update on the WBG’s operational crisis response and priorities moving forward, (III) the critical role of international coordination, (IV) WBG financing framework for GRID, and (V) concluding remarks. Show more
Publication Structured Lesson Plans for Literacy Instruction ( World Bank, Washington, DC , 2022-03-31 ) World Bank Show more Literacy is the cornerstone of education, and a driver of human economic, social, and civic wellbeing. Despite its importance, far too many children fail to become literate. The World Bank uses a measure called learning poverty to indicate when a child cannot read and understand an age-appropriate text by age ten. The best available data showed that more than two-thirds of children in low- and middle-income countries suffer learning poverty. The World Bank is committed to helping countries achieve the learning target: to cut learning poverty by at least half by 2030. Achieving better outcomes in literacy requires a comprehensive effort in many domains. One of the most important is ensuring that students and teachers have and use high-quality instructional materials, especially textbooks, for reading instruction. As countries and systems review their literacy teaching and learning materials, they will want to compare them to the materials from other countries and systems. The purpose of the compendium is to allow such reviews and comparisons by grouping a critical mass of structured pedagogy lesson plans and related materials in one place. Show more

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Home » 300+ Communication Research Topics

300+ Communication Research Topics

Communication is an essential aspect of our everyday lives. It is the backbone of human interaction and the foundation of relationships, both personal and professional. As technology continues to advance, the ways in which we communicate are constantly evolving, and with it, new research topics emerge. Communication research spans a wide range of disciplines, including psychology , sociology , linguistics, and anthropology , among others. In this blog post, we will explore some of the most fascinating and relevant communication research topics that are shaping our understanding of human interaction in the modern age.

Communication Research Topics

Communication Research Topics are as follows:

The effectiveness of nonverbal communication in virtual interactions
Cross-cultural communication in multinational corporations
The role of social media in shaping public opinion
The impact of technology on interpersonal communication skills
The influence of language barriers on intercultural communication
Gender differences in communication styles
The effect of communication on workplace culture
The role of communication in conflict resolution
The impact of communication technology on long-distance relationships
Communication strategies for virtual teams
The effects of communication on employee motivation
The role of communication in leadership
The impact of communication on consumer behavior
The role of communication in healthcare
The effects of communication on public relations
The impact of communication on customer satisfaction
The role of communication in organizational change
The effect of communication on employee turnover
The impact of communication on job satisfaction
The role of communication in team building
The effects of communication on organizational performance
The impact of communication on decision-making processes
The role of communication in crisis management
The effect of communication on organizational culture
The impact of communication on sales performance
The role of communication in cross-functional teams
The effects of communication on knowledge sharing
The impact of communication on customer loyalty
The role of communication in innovation
The effect of communication on supply chain management
The impact of communication on project management
The role of communication in talent management
The effects of communication on employee engagement
The impact of communication on stakeholder engagement
The role of communication in organizational learning
The effect of communication on team performance
The impact of communication on organizational trust
The role of communication in change management
The effects of communication on organizational agility
The impact of communication on organizational creativity
The role of communication in knowledge management
The effect of communication on brand reputation
The impact of communication on employee well-being
The role of communication in corporate social responsibility
The effects of communication on customer experience
The impact of communication on organizational ethics
The role of communication in performance management
The effect of communication on talent retention
The impact of communication on organizational identity
The role of communication in customer retention.
The role of communication in sustainable development
The effects of communication on political campaigns
The impact of communication on public policy-making
The role of communication in disaster management
The effects of communication on environmental activism
The impact of communication on public health campaigns
The role of communication in social movements
The effects of communication on intergroup relations
The impact of communication on cultural identity
The role of communication in multicultural societies
The effects of communication on media literacy
The impact of communication on civic engagement
The role of communication in social capital formation
The effects of communication on online communities
The impact of communication on democracy
The role of communication in public opinion formation
The effects of communication on conspiracy theories
The impact of communication on media bias
The role of communication in international relations
The effects of communication on peacebuilding
The impact of communication on diplomacy
The role of communication in conflict transformation
The effects of communication on human rights advocacy
The impact of communication on transitional justice
The role of communication in gender equality
The effects of communication on sexual health education
The impact of communication on youth empowerment
The role of communication in rural development
The effects of communication on poverty reduction
The impact of communication on economic growth
The role of communication in cultural diplomacy
The effects of communication on virtual reality
The impact of communication on artificial intelligence
The role of communication in e-commerce
The effects of communication on online privacy
The impact of communication on cybersecurity
The role of communication in online education
The effects of communication on online activism
The impact of communication on social media addiction
The role of communication in mental health awareness
The effects of communication on healthcare disparities
The impact of communication on health policy
The role of communication in crisis communication
The effects of communication on risk perception
The impact of communication on disaster preparedness
The role of communication in community development
The effects of communication on community resilience
The impact of communication on community participation
The role of communication in public safety
The effects of communication on public transportation planning.
The role of communication in mental health treatment and recovery
The role of communication in digital transformation
The role of communication in artificial intelligence ethics
The role of communication in promoting mental health
The role of communication in building trust in virtual teams
The role of communication in corporate crisis management
The effects of communication on intercultural marriage satisfaction
The impact of communication on peacekeeping missions
The role of communication in human resource management
The effects of communication on emotional labor in the workplace
The impact of communication on healthcare provider-patient relationships
The role of communication in social entrepreneurship
The effects of communication on virtual trust building
The impact of communication on environmental education
The role of communication in cultural preservation
The effects of communication on online learning engagement
The impact of communication on social media platform regulations
The role of communication in organizational change management
The effects of communication on virtual reality gaming experiences
The impact of communication on urban resilience
The role of communication in feminist movements
The effects of communication on disaster response coordination
The impact of communication on social support networks
The role of communication in intergenerational caregiving
The effects of communication on online privacy policies comprehension
The impact of communication on indigenous language revitalization
The role of communication in intercultural conflict resolution
The effects of communication on political polarization in social media
The impact of communication on digital literacy
The role of communication in online community management
The effects of communication on virtual team communication satisfaction
The impact of communication on sustainable transportation practices
The role of communication in multicultural counseling
The effects of communication on e-commerce return policies
The impact of communication on sustainable agriculture practices
The role of communication in social media influencer marketing
The effects of communication on intercultural collaboration in the workplace
The impact of communication on online safety education
The role of communication in social enterprise management
The effects of communication on virtual team conflict management
The impact of communication on public perception of scientific research
The role of communication in public-private partnerships
The effects of communication on ethical decision-making in the workplace
The impact of communication on online civic engagement
The role of communication in sustainable tourism development
The effects of communication on online engagement in political campaigns
The impact of communication on cross-cultural adaptation
The role of communication in virtual reality tourism
The effects of communication on online privacy protection behaviors
The impact of communication on sustainable waste management practices
The role of communication in sustainable urban development
The effects of communication on intercultural sensitivity in healthcare
The impact of communication on environmental activism mobilization
The role of communication in conflict-sensitive journalism
The effects of communication on virtual team decision-making.
The effects of communication on online consumer behavior
The impact of communication on community resilience in disaster recovery
The role of communication in climate change communication campaigns
The effects of communication on intergenerational communication in the workplace
The impact of communication on patient satisfaction in virtual healthcare delivery
The effects of communication on political participation of marginalized groups
The impact of communication on workplace communication satisfaction
The role of communication in virtual event marketing
The effects of communication on online privacy perceptions
The impact of communication on workplace stress and burnout
The role of communication in promoting social responsibility in the workplace
The effects of communication on consumer perceptions of brand personality
The impact of communication on healthcare provider-patient communication
The role of communication in promoting ethical behavior in the workplace
The effects of communication on online self-disclosure
The impact of communication on intercultural business negotiations
The role of communication in promoting cultural diversity in the workplace
The effects of communication on intergenerational family communication
The impact of communication on online privacy protection behavior
The role of communication in promoting social justice in the workplace
The effects of communication on social media influencer marketing
The impact of communication on intercultural adaptation
The role of communication in promoting sustainable consumption behavior
The effects of communication on online information seeking behavior
The impact of communication on consumer trust in online reviews
The role of communication in promoting interfaith dialogue and understanding
The effects of communication on intercultural friendship formation
The impact of communication on workplace conflict resolution
The role of communication in promoting cross-cultural communication in international business
The effects of communication on online trust in e-commerce
The impact of communication on intercultural empathy development
The role of communication in promoting environmental sustainability behavior
The effects of communication on intercultural communication competence in healthcare
The impact of communication on employee engagement in the workplace
The role of communication in promoting cross-generational communication in families
The effects of communication on social media addiction among adolescents
The impact of communication on cross-cultural virtual teamwork
The role of communication in promoting ethical consumption behavior
The effects of communication on online privacy concerns
The impact of communication on intercultural negotiation in international business
The role of communication in promoting cultural humility in healthcare
The effects of communication on social media influencer authenticity perception
The impact of communication on intercultural trust development
The role of communication in promoting sustainable tourism behavior
The effects of communication on online privacy awareness and education
The impact of communication on cross-generational conflict resolution in families
The role of communication in promoting intercultural dialogue and understanding
The effects of communication on cross-cultural communication competence in education.
The effects of communication on workplace productivity
The role of communication in interfaith dialogue
The effects of communication on online privacy and security
The impact of communication on virtual reality gaming
The role of communication in online sports fandom
The effects of communication on digital advertising effectiveness
The impact of communication on virtual reality marketing
The role of communication in community resilience to natural disasters
The effects of communication on citizen journalism
The impact of communication on social media influencer marketing
The effects of communication on intercultural communication competence
The impact of communication on virtual reality training
The role of communication in promoting physical health
The effects of communication on social media use and addiction
The impact of communication on social media engagement
The role of communication in promoting sustainable fashion
The impact of communication on virtual reality tourism
The role of communication in promoting intercultural understanding
The effects of communication on media framing and bias
The impact of communication on social media analytics and metrics
The role of communication in promoting gender equality in the workplace
The effects of communication on online censorship and freedom of speech
The impact of communication on virtual reality art and design
The role of communication in promoting intergenerational understanding
The effects of communication on media ownership and control
The impact of communication on virtual reality education
The role of communication in promoting sustainable transportation
The effects of communication on virtual reality entertainment
The impact of communication on virtual reality shopping
The role of communication in promoting sustainable agriculture
The effects of communication on virtual reality real estate
The impact of communication on virtual reality healthcare
The role of communication in promoting sustainable urban development
The effects of communication on virtual reality architecture and engineering
The impact of communication on virtual reality sports training
The role of communication in promoting sustainable food systems
The effects of communication on online political polarization
The impact of communication on virtual reality socialization
The role of communication in promoting sustainable tourism
The effects of communication on virtual reality fashion and beauty
The impact of communication on virtual reality mental health therapy
The role of communication in promoting sustainable energy consumption
The effects of communication on virtual reality music and entertainment
The impact of communication on virtual reality healthcare training
The role of communication in promoting sustainable waste management
The effects of communication on virtual reality journalism and news reporting.
The effects of communication on social influence
The impact of communication on public trust
The role of communication in virtual reality therapy
The effects of communication on intercultural empathy
The impact of communication on workplace diversity and inclusion
The role of communication in online reputation management
The effects of communication on e-commerce customer reviews
The impact of communication on virtual team performance
The role of communication in international business negotiations
The effects of communication on social justice movements
The impact of communication on corporate social responsibility practices
The role of communication in virtual leadership
The effects of communication on social media activism
The impact of communication on online hate speech
The role of communication in conflict prevention
The effects of communication on global citizenship
The impact of communication on gender-based violence prevention
The role of communication in disaster risk reduction
The effects of communication on online misinformation
The impact of communication on mental health stigma reduction
The role of communication in virtual healthcare delivery
The effects of communication on brand loyalty
The impact of communication on consumer trust
The role of communication in political polarization
The effects of communication on civic education
The impact of communication on intercultural competence development
The role of communication in environmental conservation
The effects of communication on sustainable tourism practices
The impact of communication on urban planning
The role of communication in disaster recovery
The effects of communication on digital privacy advocacy
The impact of communication on public health policy-making
The role of communication in global governance
The effects of communication on intergenerational communication
The impact of communication on organizational innovation
The role of communication in virtual event planning
The effects of communication on virtual networking
The impact of communication on language revitalization efforts
The role of communication in community policing
The effects of communication on virtual team building
The impact of communication on online education effectiveness
The role of communication in food security efforts
The effects of communication on intercultural education
The impact of communication on media ownership and control
The role of communication in entrepreneurship
The effects of communication on the digital divide
The impact of communication on sustainable energy practices
The role of communication in political campaigns for women candidates
The effects of communication on diversity and inclusion in media representation.
The effects of communication on innovation adoption
The impact of communication on remote work
The role of communication in online customer service
The effects of communication on online brand communities
The impact of communication on online brand reputation
The role of communication in online political campaigning
The effects of communication on political polarization
The role of communication in social media marketing
The impact of communication on online product reviews
The role of communication in online trust building
The impact of communication on online data security
The role of communication in online content moderation
The effects of communication on online information overload
The impact of communication on online news consumption
The effects of communication on online student engagement
The impact of communication on online learning outcomes
The role of communication in online teamwork
The effects of communication on online collaboration
The impact of communication on online project success
The role of communication in online conflict resolution
The effects of communication on online negotiation outcomes
The impact of communication on online group decision-making
The role of communication in online leadership
The effects of communication on online employee performance
The impact of communication on online team trust
The role of communication in online customer support
The effects of communication on online customer satisfaction
The impact of communication on online sales conversion
The role of communication in online brand loyalty
The effects of communication on online reputation management
The impact of communication on online influencer marketing
The role of communication in online crisis management
The effects of communication on online brand recovery
The impact of communication on online customer loyalty
The role of communication in online customer retention
The effects of communication on online service quality
The impact of communication on online customer experience
The role of communication in online brand equity
The effects of communication on online brand identity
The impact of communication on online brand differentiation
The role of communication in online brand awareness
The effects of communication on online customer engagement
The impact of communication on online word-of-mouth
The role of communication in online social influence
The effects of communication on online user-generated content.
The effects of communication on cultural assimilation and integration
The impact of communication on digital marketing
The role of communication in ethical decision-making
The effects of communication on intergenerational relationships
The role of communication in global supply chains
The effects of communication on cultural tourism
The impact of communication on political polarization
The role of communication in language acquisition
The effects of communication on healthcare decision-making
The impact of communication on public transportation ridership
The role of communication in crisis management for tourism destinations
The effects of communication on international trade relations
The impact of communication on green consumerism
The role of communication in organizational transparency and accountability
The effects of communication on public perception of science and technology
The impact of communication on financial literacy and decision-making
The effects of communication on intergenerational wealth transfer
The impact of communication on food culture and consumption
The role of communication in emergency preparedness and response
The effects of communication on alternative energy adoption
The impact of communication on entrepreneurship and innovation
The role of communication in international development
The effects of communication on the gig economy
The impact of communication on consumer behavior in the sharing economy
The role of communication in sports marketing
The impact of communication on media convergence
The role of communication in art and cultural preservation
The effects of communication on social entrepreneurship
The impact of communication on global health disparities
The role of communication in international humanitarian aid
The effects of communication on refugee integration and resettlement
The impact of communication on sustainable urban planning
The role of communication in environmental conservation and activism
The effects of communication on global security and terrorism
The impact of communication on climate change policy and action
The role of communication in animal welfare advocacy
The effects of communication on the politics of immigration
The role of communication in international diplomacy and negotiation
The effects of communication on the psychology of decision-making
The impact of communication on organizational knowledge management
The role of communication in disaster recovery and resilience
The effects of communication on healthcare technology adoption
The impact of communication on cybersecurity policy and regulation
The role of communication in sustainable fashion and textiles
The effects of communication on human trafficking prevention and intervention.
The role of communication in international disaster relief
The effects of communication on social media addiction
The impact of communication on virtual mentoring
The role of communication in sustainable fashion industry practices
The effects of communication on intercultural communication apprehension
The impact of communication on political polarization in traditional media
The effects of communication on social media mental health awareness campaigns
The impact of communication on sustainable water management practices
The role of communication in multicultural education
The effects of communication on virtual team creativity
The impact of communication on global health campaigns
The role of communication in ethical marketing practices
The effects of communication on virtual collaboration satisfaction
The impact of communication on sustainable forestry practices
The role of communication in immigrant integration
The effects of communication on virtual team feedback and evaluation
The impact of communication on environmental activism strategies
The effects of communication on virtual team leadership
The impact of communication on sustainable seafood industry practices
The role of communication in conflict resolution in online communities
The effects of communication on virtual team trust and cohesion
The impact of communication on urban mobility practices
The role of communication in cultural heritage preservation
The effects of communication on virtual team decision-making processes
The impact of communication on sustainable mining practices
The role of communication in peacebuilding and reconciliation
The effects of communication on virtual team conflict resolution
The impact of communication on sustainable renewable energy practices
The role of communication in virtual reality education
The effects of communication on virtual team member satisfaction
The impact of communication on sustainable packaging practices
The role of communication in intercultural adaptation
The effects of communication on virtual team project management
The impact of communication on environmental consumerism
The role of communication in cross-cultural negotiation
The effects of communication on virtual team member motivation
The impact of communication on sustainable tourism marketing strategies
The role of communication in social entrepreneurship ecosystems
The effects of communication on virtual team member commitment
The impact of communication on sustainable food supply chain practices
The role of communication in global health diplomacy
The effects of communication on virtual team member diversity
The impact of communication on sustainable mining industry practices
The role of communication in refugee integration
The effects of communication on virtual team information sharing
The impact of communication on sustainable transportation infrastructure
The role of communication in sustainable seafood industry marketing
The effects of communication on virtual team conflict prevention.
The role of communication in promoting interfaith dialogue
The effects of communication on online hate speech countermeasures
The impact of communication on sustainable fashion practices
The role of communication in peacebuilding
The effects of communication on intercultural adaptation in study abroad programs
The impact of communication on intergenerational relationships
The role of communication in virtual mentorship
The effects of communication on ethical consumption behaviors
The impact of communication on environmental activism communication strategies
The role of communication in disaster preparedness
The effects of communication on mental health literacy
The role of communication in building resilience in marginalized communities
The impact of communication on online identity formation
The role of communication in sustainability reporting
The effects of communication on cross-cultural communication apprehension
The impact of communication on intercultural marketing effectiveness
The effects of communication on virtual learning outcomes
The impact of communication on corporate social responsibility reporting
The role of communication in building trust in online dating
The effects of communication on online activism mobilization
The role of communication in international conflict resolution
The effects of communication on online consumer reviews
The impact of communication on multicultural team performance
The role of communication in sustainable urban mobility
The effects of communication on intercultural adaptation in international business
The impact of communication on virtual reality education effectiveness
The role of communication in social entrepreneurship funding
The effects of communication on online engagement in civic education
The impact of communication on sustainable tourism marketing
The role of communication in building resilience in disaster-affected communities
The effects of communication on virtual team trust
The impact of communication on online mental health interventions
The role of communication in multicultural team conflict resolution
The effects of communication on virtual team creativity in crisis situations
The impact of communication on sustainable waste reduction practices
The role of communication in intercultural negotiation
The effects of communication on online privacy invasion perceptions
The impact of communication on sustainable energy consumption behaviors
The role of communication in building social capital in marginalized communities
The effects of communication on virtual team communication effectiveness
The impact of communication on sustainable forest management practices
The role of communication in promoting diversity in the workplace
The effects of communication on virtual team psychological safety
The impact of communication on multicultural team decision-making
The role of communication in promoting sustainable tourism practices in developing countries
The effects of communication on online civic participation.
The role of communication in organizational culture
The effects of communication on intercultural negotiation outcomes
The impact of communication on mental health treatment adherence
The role of communication in sustainable fashion practices
The effects of communication on online customer service satisfaction
The impact of communication on interfaith dialogue
The role of communication in virtual customer experience management
The effects of communication on gender representation in media
The impact of communication on human rights advocacy
The role of communication in urban planning for climate change adaptation
The effects of communication on virtual team performance in crisis situations
The role of communication in ethical decision-making in healthcare
The effects of communication on online brand authenticity perception
The impact of communication on social support for caregivers
The role of communication in sustainable tourism marketing
The impact of communication on virtual reality therapy for phobias
The role of communication in virtual team trust repair
The effects of communication on intergenerational workplace conflict resolution
The role of communication in online reputation repair
The effects of communication on gender-based violence reporting
The impact of communication on rural healthcare access
The role of communication in sustainable supply chain management
The effects of communication on intercultural learning in study abroad programs
The impact of communication on virtual reality tourism experiences
The role of communication in sustainable energy marketing
The impact of communication on interfaith conflict resolution
The role of communication in environmental justice movements
The role of communication in intercultural team leadership
The effects of communication on online brand trustworthiness
The impact of communication on social media activism mobilization
The role of communication in virtual customer relationship management
The effects of communication on intergenerational mentorship
The impact of communication on sustainable transportation marketing
The role of communication in sustainable urban design
The effects of communication on virtual team knowledge sharing
The impact of communication on social media user privacy perceptions
The role of communication in conflict resolution in healthcare
The effects of communication on intercultural communication competence in business
The impact of communication on sustainable food practices
The role of communication in sustainable tourism planning
The effects of communication on virtual team motivation
The impact of communication on interfaith dialogue and reconciliation
The role of communication in online brand advocacy
The effects of communication on gender representation in leadership.

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178 Communication Research Topics For Your Paper

Imagine what the world would be without communication! How would we get along? I guess there would be no sense in existing after all. That is just a tiny snippet of how important communication is in everyday life. Exchanging information is a key component of coexistence as it creates order and a sense of satisfaction in the end.

However, communication as a discipline cuts across all other niches in the academic world. Students from an Engineering course would also take up communication as a unit of study. Students delve into the transmission, representation, reception, and decoding of information communicated to a greater extent.

Situations When You May Need To Write A Communication Paper

Various scenarios call for a communication paper either as an assignment or a research project in college. The communication papers needed for every situation vary in format and outline. Here are some of the cases when communication papers are necessary:

When writing a resume or cover letter In presentations and reports Internal or external communication in a company Writing a thesis statement

When writing communication papers in these different scenarios, students can develop the following aspects:

Understand the various communication phenomena Ability to direct communication messages towards accomplishing individual and organizational goals Understand various types of communication such as rhetoric, interpersonal or organizational

Such an assignment is peculiar because it deals with students’ communication processes. Therefore, the student can easily relate a communication assignment to the real-world environment.

You will have to conduct extensive digging before writing your paper like any other research project. In writing a communication research paper, you will benefit from the importance of communication in general, such as building better relationships and finding the right solutions to various problems.

It takes a lot of time to create a high-quality writing, so you have all the right to ask dissertation writers for hire to help.

Guidelines On Structure And Step By Step Tips On Writing

To have an award-winning communication paper, you need to understand that structure is always at the heart of it all. A great communication paper follows the structure below:

Solid intro : Begin by presenting a captivating introduction by highlighting the facts, questions, or problems that you will explore in the body. The reader should find more than a million reasons to proceed with your essay by reading the first two lines. A strong thesis statement is also necessary for the introduction. An insightful literature review : It shows the theoretical basis of your research project, thus giving it validity. An in-depth literature review will give room for exploration and further research. Main body : This is where we expect to find all your findings, methodological steps, concepts, analyses, and the outcome. Discussion and conclusion : Depending on your professor’s instructions, you can divide this into two parts or put it as one. In either case, this section will consist of the strengths and weaknesses of your research and any future development or improvements. You could also compare the results found in your research with what other authors have discovered.

Provided you have all your facts at hand, a communication research paper will be the easiest you will ever handle in college. Nonetheless, you can order a custom paper from various online writing experts.

If you want to make an impression with your communication research paper, here are some tips to consider:

Select a thought-provoking and captivating research topic Have a working outline with all the arguments and examples/evidence in place Ensure that you exhaust reading all the possible research materials on your topic Such papers are always in the first person except in unique cases

You can review some of the samples on our essay writer to familiarize yourself with the structure and outline of a communication research paper.

Let’s now explore 178 of the hottest communication research topics to ace your project:

World-Class Communication Research Topics For College Students

Understanding the historical research methods in communication
Discuss the relationship between technology, media, and culture
Evaluate the various revolutions in human communication
Discuss the developments made in the invention of human speech and language
The role of image-making, cinema, and media entertainment in communication
How to overcome communication barriers among students
Steps in encouraging participation in meetings
How employees contribute to the information flow in organizations
How to evaluate a report based on its findings
Sources of error during nonverbal communication
How the media can match the channels of communication to their audience
Ensuring audience attention during a presentation
The impact of graphics in communication strategies
How to interpret non-verbal signals
Developing communication methods that match a given purpose

Possible Topics For Communication Research

How to develop realistic communication strategies
Discuss the economics of finance in communication processes
How exposure to radio and TV impacts communication
How to manage controversial issues in communication
Why speaking with confidence is still difficult for many people
The effectiveness of communicating with words and body language
Why defining your purpose is key in any communication process
Why explanatory communication is more difficult than informative communication
The place of communication in long-distance relationships
Communication strategies that influence people
How to use communication effectively for conflict resolution
Developing your self-esteem for effective communication
Effects of redundancy in communication processes
The place of responsibility in developing communication messages
How to acquire effective communication skills in college

Latest Communication Topic For Research

The role of persuasive dialogue in negotiations
Why everyone must learn proper expression strategies
Effects of emoji and other characters in enhancing textual conversations
The role of propaganda in shaping communication tones
Evaluate the unique political language used in America versus Africa
The continuing impact of the internet on interpersonal communication
How images are enhancing communication
Discuss the effects of gender victimization on communication
Evaluate the development of modern digital communication
How to effectively communicate during a war or crisis
How hacking is transforming communication of encrypted messages
Effects of stereotyping in developing communication messages
Is virtual reality ruining effective communication?
Evaluate language as a barrier in communicating messages
The role of empathy in communicating to victims of a disaster

Top-Notch Communication Research Paper Topics

The role of diplomacy in fostering better relations among countries
Why aided communication may not achieve the intended purpose
Effects of using a translator in the communication of critical messages
Evaluate the development of audio-visual devices for communication
The dangers of failing to notice barriers to communication
How stigma and prejudice impact effective communication
Discuss the impact of having a common language in a country
How social classes affect communication messages
Factors that hinder communication between fighting political sides
How to develop strong communication skills in a marketplace
Why opinions may prevent one from seeing the true picture
Discuss the role of fantasy and exaggeration in communication
Differences between oral and verbal messages in conveying information
The role of attitude and mood in enhancing effective message delivery
How the media sets the communication pattern of a given society

Highly Rated Mass Communication Research Topics

Discuss the essence of social media among PR practitioners
The role of mass media in rebranding a nation
Challenges to media freedom and their impact on proper communication
Discuss the effects of news commercialization and their credibility
How TV advertisements impact children and their development
Compare and contrast between animation and real-people adverts in mass media
How the internet affects professionalization in news media
How mass media messages contribute to the development of religion in Africa
Evaluate the radio listenership patterns between men and women
How does mass media contribute to an emerging democracy
Discuss how the media enlightens the public on issues of concern
The role of mass media in communicating development messages
Why mass media is critical before, during, and after elections
Assess the influence of community radio in remote areas
How mass media contributes to national integration

Good Communication Research Topics

What determines consumer preference patterns in the 21 st century?
Effective communication strategies for creating awareness against drug abuse
Prospects and challenges of local dialects in communication
Evaluate the influence of television on public opinion
Discuss the growing cyberactivism in the digital age
How social media is contributing to misleading information
Challenges facing teachers when communicating to pre-school students
Discuss the impact of information overload on the credibility of information
Evaluate communication patterns among the youth in the US
Assess the effects of the Russia-Ukraine conflict on communication patterns
How public perception influences communication strategies
Explain how mothers learn to communicate with and understand their babies at such a tender age
The role of music in shaping communication models
How to overcome the challenge of top-down communication in companies
Management of information on online media for effective use

Business Communication Research Paper Topics

Discuss the increasing role of influencers on brand marketing
Why company blogs are essential in attracting new clients
Evaluate the differences between face to face and virtual business meetings
The growing popularity of social media in business marketing
Why every company should have a partner relations department
Dealing with complaints in a relaxed and useful manner
Why online project management is the future of business
Discuss why it is necessary to have company retreats
Explore the role of digital document sharing in speeding up business communication
Effects of relying on online communication at the expense of physical meetings
The role of effective business management in the performance of an organization
How staff motivation improve the overall working environment
Discuss the place of corporate social responsibility in a company
Effective ways of handling crisis in a large company
Explain why trust is important in any business partnerships

Intercultural Communication Research Topics

Discuss how Muslims interact with Christians at a social level
Evaluate the reception of instructions from a man to a woman
How Americans interact with Africans at the basic level
Discuss how an American Democrat would associate with a Chinese politician
Discuss the impact of marginalization in developing communication messages
How migration and immigration affect communication patterns
Effects of social stereotyping in communication
How do Western communication models differ from those of Africa?
Impact of discriminatory communication messages
How to organize an effective intergroup come-together
How the media represents various groups in its communication
Effects of the growing intercultural norms
The role of language attitudes in inhibiting effective communication
Evaluate how ethnographic perspectives affect communication messages
Why it is difficult to solve intercultural conflicts

Additional Interpersonal Communication Topics For Research Paper

The role of interpersonal communication in team member satisfaction
How collaboration and teamwork enhances business success
Discuss how interpersonal communication enhances problem-solving skills
The role of trust in interpersonal communication
Effects of confusion, negativity, and conflicts on interpersonal communication
How to deal with workplace miscommunication effectively
The role of personalizing information
How to improve internal communication channels in a company
Discuss the role of interests in communication patterns
Challenges when implementing modern communication solutions
Evaluate how jargon and inattention make internal communication difficult
The role of feedback in interpreting messages correctly
Discuss the influence of environmental factors in communication
Why miscommunication may result in a disconnect among a group of people
Discuss the role of skills and knowledge in effective communication among leaders

Interesting Communication Research Topics

How can effective interpersonal communication be a catalyst for action
Why a focused and intentional approach is necessary for effective communication
Discuss why online dating is not successful in most cases
Evaluate the role of non-verbal communication and customer satisfaction
Why is it important to have a list of communication networks?
Effects of lack of personal contact when it comes to communication
Discuss the various forms of human interactions and their influence on communication
The role of clear communication during an organizational change process
Why online communication is not as effective as physical meetings
Evaluate the roles and issues involved in a nurse-patient communication
The role of TV shows in determining how people relate to each other in the society
Effects of the digital divide in communication paradigms
The relationship between quality leadership and effective communication
Why is email still not yet an effective communication medium?
Effects of integrating marketing communication

General Communication Studies Research Topics

Discuss the differences in body language between male and female
The role of communication in familiarizing with someone
How online gaming communication affects one’s interpersonal communication
Why a leader without proper communication skills may not succeed
The role of communication in achieving an organization’s vision
How mobile phone conversations are turning around interpersonal communication
Discuss the role of different personality types in communication
Is there a difference between language and communication?
Discuss how communication in the military is different from that in a normal setting
Compare and contrast between written and spoken forms of communication
Why family communication is critical for a peaceful coexistence
Shortcomings to understanding foreign languages
Discuss the effectiveness of web-based communication

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120 incredible communication research topics to make your life easier.

February 14, 2020

Possible questions for communication research are drawn from what we do, see, or hear every day. Some are related to the courses we do, and so this is going to be a smooth ride above flat boulders underneath.

With the advent of new technologies, the communication arena has made significant strides. Social media has taken over with the broadcast media resorting to this platform. People can communicate thousands of miles away from each other. Indeed, the world has become a global village.

Let’s now delve into why you are here.

Social Media Research Topics

Research topics on social media are because of its vast nature. Here are some social media research topic ideas for your inspiration:

How safe are you on social media
Is social media taking over the broadcast media
Crime and social media: A case study
The effectiveness of social media marketing
Why are people less productive nowadays? An impact of social media?
What measures can curb false information on social media
Have Facebook and WhatsApp taken over family time
Impact of social media on academic progress
How social media has led to a kidnapping
The growth of fake profiles
The effectiveness of social media on campaigns
Human values lost as a result of social media
Has depression has resulted from social media
The speed of news on social media
Who is responsible for ethics on social media?
A study of policies related to social media
How social media has contributed to plagiarism and piracy
Spamming on social media: Is it possible to curb it?
How social media has connected and disconnected people at the same time
What is the future of social media?

Interpersonal Communication Research Topics

Interpersonal research topics deal with communication between two or more people. The issues here include:

What is the barrier to language and verbal communication?
How effective is nonverbal communication
Factors affecting interpersonal communication: gender
A study of perception in interpersonal communication
What is the importance of listening in conversation?
Emotion and its impact on communication
Interpersonal communication: A study of self-discourse
Relational development in communication
How is the connection between family and intimate relationships?
Interpersonal communication deceptions
Conflicts arising from interpersonal communication
Competence of interpersonal communication
Growth of social and personal relationships
Culture and communication
Dealing with blindness as a barrier to interpersonal communication

Mass Communication Research Topics

Research topics related to mass communication include the following:

An analysis of the role of mass media in rebranding
Challenges facing freedom of the press in various countries
Mass media and democracy
What are the constitutional provisions for mass media?
The attitude of viewers and listeners towards mass media
Growth of private media ownership
Are the airwaves truly liberated?
Impact of digital media
Mass communication and media
Effects of the internet on media ethics and standards
What are the dangers facing journalists?
Is print media still competitive?
Mass media with the law of defamation
State broadcasting versus private broadcasting
How effective are phone-in Programmes?

Business Communication Research Topics

These are business-related communication topics dealing with customers, investors, and corporates. It also includes corporate communication research topics. They are:

Vital issues in organizational communication
Dealing with organizational uncertainty
Management of communication crisis in organizations
Corporate communication and public relations
Practices for effective business communication
Business to Business communication
A guide to writing effective organizational communique
E-mail writing and management in the workplace
Creating a balance between upward and downward communication
How to effectively handle external communication
Intercultural communication in a competitive global business environment
Effective horizontal communication in a workplace
What is the effect of grapevine communication on a company’s success?
A study of proper communication channels
How to craft a topnotch business letter
Corporate social responsibility communication
Change management and culture of organizations
Communication in organizations
The relationship between social media and organizations
How can organizations benefit immensely from the press?
How to handle crisis communicational
The media and economic crisis
How sharing of messages has affected the business market
Is stereotyping a stumbling block to economic progress?
Implications of the political class on the country economy
Responsible and ethical investor relations
Organizational identification in the corporate world
Reputation and why it is vital for the success or failure of a company
How can corporate businesses incorporate the use of creative designs?
Symbols and critical features of effective business communication
How are communication skills essential in marketing?
How can brand awareness be made possible through communication?
Practical communication skills for the growth of profit
Development of marketing value using excellent communication skills
How the cognitive-communication theory is vital in marketing

Development Communication Research Topics

Achieving millennium development goals using mass media
Useful media tools in curbing the spread of coronavirus
How social media malaria campaigns have helped reduce the spread
Audio drama as a tool in reducing HIV/AIDS among the youths
Using the press as a tool in fake drugs sensitization
Role of mass media in preventing early pregnancies
Family planning radio Programmes and their effectiveness
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About Adverse Childhood Experiences
Risk and Protective Factors
Program: Essentials for Childhood: Preventing Adverse Childhood Experiences through Data to Action
Adverse childhood experiences can have long-term impacts on health, opportunity and well-being.
Adverse childhood experiences are common and some groups experience them more than others.

diverse group of children lying on each other in a park

What are adverse childhood experiences?

Adverse childhood experiences, or ACEs, are potentially traumatic events that occur in childhood (0-17 years). Examples include: 1

Experiencing violence, abuse, or neglect.
Witnessing violence in the home or community.
Having a family member attempt or die by suicide.

Also included are aspects of the child’s environment that can undermine their sense of safety, stability, and bonding. Examples can include growing up in a household with: 1

Substance use problems.
Mental health problems.
Instability due to parental separation.
Instability due to household members being in jail or prison.

The examples above are not a complete list of adverse experiences. Many other traumatic experiences could impact health and well-being. This can include not having enough food to eat, experiencing homelessness or unstable housing, or experiencing discrimination. 2 3 4 5 6

Quick facts and stats

ACEs are common. About 64% of adults in the United States reported they had experienced at least one type of ACE before age 18. Nearly one in six (17.3%) adults reported they had experienced four or more types of ACEs. 7

Preventing ACEs could potentially reduce many health conditions. Estimates show up to 1.9 million heart disease cases and 21 million depression cases potentially could have been avoided by preventing ACEs. 1

Some people are at greater risk of experiencing one or more ACEs than others. While all children are at risk of ACEs, numerous studies show inequities in such experiences. These inequalities are linked to the historical, social, and economic environments in which some families live. 5 6 ACEs were highest among females, non-Hispanic American Indian or Alaska Native adults, and adults who are unemployed or unable to work. 7

ACEs are costly. ACEs-related health consequences cost an estimated economic burden of $748 billion annually in Bermuda, Canada, and the United States. 8

ACEs can have lasting effects on health and well-being in childhood and life opportunities well into adulthood. 9 Life opportunities include things like education and job potential. These experiences can increase the risks of injury, sexually transmitted infections, and involvement in sex trafficking. They can also increase risks for maternal and child health problems including teen pregnancy, pregnancy complications, and fetal death. Also included are a range of chronic diseases and leading causes of death, such as cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and suicide. 1 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17

ACEs and associated social determinants of health, such as living in under-resourced or racially segregated neighborhoods, can cause toxic stress. Toxic stress, or extended or prolonged stress, from ACEs can negatively affect children’s brain development, immune systems, and stress-response systems. These changes can affect children’s attention, decision-making, and learning. 18

Children growing up with toxic stress may have difficulty forming healthy and stable relationships. They may also have unstable work histories as adults and struggle with finances, jobs, and depression throughout life. 18 These effects can also be passed on to their own children. 19 20 21 Some children may face further exposure to toxic stress from historical and ongoing traumas. These historical and ongoing traumas refer to experiences of racial discrimination or the impacts of poverty resulting from limited educational and economic opportunities. 1 6

Adverse childhood experiences can be prevented. Certain factors may increase or decrease the risk of experiencing adverse childhood experiences.

Preventing adverse childhood experiences requires understanding and addressing the factors that put people at risk for or protect them from violence.

Creating safe, stable, nurturing relationships and environments for all children can prevent ACEs and help all children reach their full potential. We all have a role to play.

Merrick MT, Ford DC, Ports KA, et al. Vital Signs: Estimated Proportion of Adult Health Problems Attributable to Adverse Childhood Experiences and Implications for Prevention — 25 States, 2015–2017. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2019;68:999-1005. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm6844e1 .
Cain KS, Meyer SC, Cummer E, Patel KK, Casacchia NJ, Montez K, Palakshappa D, Brown CL. Association of Food Insecurity with Mental Health Outcomes in Parents and Children. Science Direct. 2022; 22:7; 1105-1114. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acap.2022.04.010 .
Smith-Grant J, Kilmer G, Brener N, Robin L, Underwood M. Risk Behaviors and Experiences Among Youth Experiencing Homelessness—Youth Risk Behavior Survey, 23 U.S. States and 11 Local School Districts. Journal of Community Health. 2022; 47: 324-333.
Experiencing discrimination: Early Childhood Adversity, Toxic Stress, and the Impacts of Racism on the Foundations of Health | Annual Review of Public Health https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-publhealth-090419-101940 .
Sedlak A, Mettenburg J, Basena M, et al. Fourth national incidence study of child abuse and neglect (NIS-4): Report to Congress. Executive Summary. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health an Human Services, Administration for Children and Families.; 2010.
Font S, Maguire-Jack K. Pathways from childhood abuse and other adversities to adult health risks: The role of adult socioeconomic conditions. Child Abuse Negl. 2016;51:390-399.
Swedo EA, Aslam MV, Dahlberg LL, et al. Prevalence of Adverse Childhood Experiences Among U.S. Adults — Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, 2011–2020. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2023;72:707–715. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm7226a2 .
Bellis, MA, et al. Life Course Health Consequences and Associated Annual Costs of Adverse Childhood Experiences Across Europe and North America: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Lancet Public Health 2019.
Adverse Childhood Experiences During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Associations with Poor Mental Health and Suicidal Behaviors Among High School Students — Adolescent Behaviors and Experiences Survey, United States, January–June 2021 | MMWR
Hillis SD, Anda RF, Dube SR, Felitti VJ, Marchbanks PA, Marks JS. The association between adverse childhood experiences and adolescent pregnancy, long-term psychosocial consequences, and fetal death. Pediatrics. 2004 Feb;113(2):320-7.
Miller ES, Fleming O, Ekpe EE, Grobman WA, Heard-Garris N. Association Between Adverse Childhood Experiences and Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes. Obstetrics & Gynecology . 2021;138(5):770-776. https://doi.org/10.1097/AOG.0000000000004570 .
Sulaiman S, Premji SS, Tavangar F, et al. Total Adverse Childhood Experiences and Preterm Birth: A Systematic Review. Matern Child Health J . 2021;25(10):1581-1594. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-021-03176-6 .
Ciciolla L, Shreffler KM, Tiemeyer S. Maternal Childhood Adversity as a Risk for Perinatal Complications and NICU Hospitalization. Journal of Pediatric Psychology . 2021;46(7):801-813. https://doi.org/10.1093/jpepsy/jsab027 .
Mersky JP, Lee CP. Adverse childhood experiences and poor birth outcomes in a diverse, low-income sample. BMC pregnancy and childbirth. 2019;19(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12884-019-2560-8 .
Reid JA, Baglivio MT, Piquero AR, Greenwald MA, Epps N. No youth left behind to human trafficking: Exploring profiles of risk. American journal of orthopsychiatry. 2019;89(6):704.
Diamond-Welch B, Kosloski AE. Adverse childhood experiences and propensity to participate in the commercialized sex market. Child Abuse & Neglect. 2020 Jun 1;104:104468.
Shonkoff, J. P., Garner, A. S., Committee on Psychosocial Aspects of Child and Family Health, Committee on Early Childhood, Adoption, and Dependent Care, & Section on Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics (2012). The lifelong effects of early childhood adversity and toxic stress. Pediatrics, 129(1), e232–e246. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2011-2663
Narayan AJ, Kalstabakken AW, Labella MH, Nerenberg LS, Monn AR, Masten AS. Intergenerational continuity of adverse childhood experiences in homeless families: unpacking exposure to maltreatment versus family dysfunction. Am J Orthopsych. 2017;87(1):3. https://doi.org/10.1037/ort0000133 .
Schofield TJ, Donnellan MB, Merrick MT, Ports KA, Klevens J, Leeb R. Intergenerational continuity in adverse childhood experiences and rural community environments. Am J Public Health. 2018;108(9):1148-1152. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2018.304598 .
Schofield TJ, Lee RD, Merrick MT. Safe, stable, nurturing relationships as a moderator of intergenerational continuity of child maltreatment: a meta-analysis. J Adolesc Health. 2013;53(4 Suppl):S32-38. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2013.05.004 .

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)

ACEs can have a tremendous impact on lifelong health and opportunity. CDC works to understand ACEs and prevent them.

Open access
Published: 16 May 2024

Experiences of UK clinical scientists (Physical Sciences modality) with their regulator, the Health and Care Professions Council: results of a 2022 survey

Mark McJury 1

BMC Health Services Research volume 24 , Article number: 635 ( 2024 ) Cite this article

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Metrics details

In healthcare, regulation of professions is an important tool to protect the public. With increasing regulation however, professions find themselves under increasing scrutiny. Recently there has also been considerable concern with regulator performance, with high profile reports pointing to cases of inefficiency and bias. Whilst reports have often focused on large staff groups, such as doctors, in the literature there is a dearth of data on the experiences of smaller professional groups such Clinical Scientists with their regulator, the Health and Care Professions Council.

This article reports the findings of a survey from Clinical Scientists (Physical Sciences modality) about their experiences with their regulator, and their perception of the quality and safety of that regulation.

Between July–October 2022, a survey was conducted via the Medical Physics and Engineering mail-base, open to all medical physicists & engineers. Questions covered typical topics of registration, communication, audit and fitness to practice. The questionnaire consisted of open and closed questions. Likert scoring, and thematic analysis were used to assess the quantitative and qualitative data.

Of 146 responses recorded, analysis was based on 143 respondents. Overall survey sentiment was significantly more negative than positive, in terms of regulator performance (negative responses 159; positive 106; significant at p < 0.001). Continuous Professional Development audit was rated median 4; other topics were rated as neutral (fitness to practice, policies & procedures); and some as poor (value).

Conclusions

The Clinical Scientist (Physical Sciences) professional registrants rated the performance of their regulator more negatively than other reported assessments (by the Professional Standards Authority). Survey respondents suggested a variety of performance aspects, such as communication and fitness to practice, would benefit from improvement. Indications from this small dataset, suggest a larger survey of HCPC registrants would be useful.

Peer Review reports

In Healthcare, protection of patients and the public is a core principle. Part the framework of protections, includes regulation of professions [ 1 ]. This aims to mitigate risks such as the risk from bogus practitioners – insufficiently trained people acting as fully-trained professional practitioners, see Fig. 1 .

Recent UK media report on a bogus healthcare practitioner [ 2 ]

Regulation of professions ensures that titles (e.g. Doctor, Dentist, Clinical Scientist) are protected in law. The protected title means someone may only use that title, if they are on the national register, managed by the regulator – the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC). It is a criminal offence to use a protected title if you are not entitled to do so [ 3 ]. There are a large number of regulators in healthcare – see Table 1 . Most of the regulators manage a register for one profession, except the HCPC which regulates 15 professions.

To be included on the register, a candidate must meet the regulators criteria for knowledge and training, and a key element to remain, is to show evidence of continuous professional development (CPD). Being on the register ensures that a practitioner has met the appropriate level of competence and professional practice.

For many healthcare workers, being on the HCPC register is a compulsory requirement to be appointable to a post. They must pay the necessary annual fees, and abide by the policies drawn-up by the regulator, and generally professions have no choice of regulator – these are statutory bodies, setup by government.

Recently, there has been considerable public dissatisfaction with the activity & performance of some regulators, notably Ofwat [ 4 ], and Ofgem [ 5 ]. Healthcare workers should expect a high level of professionalism, efficiency, and integrity from a regulator, as the regulator’s performance directly affects staff and public safety.

In terms of the regulation of UK Clinical Scientists, there is a dearth of data regarding experiences with the HCPC and views on the quality of regulation provided.

Findings are reported here from a 2022 survey of Medical Physicists and Engineers (one of the 16 job roles or ‘modalities’ under the umbrella of Clinical Scientist). The research aim was to assess experiences, and the level of ‘satisfaction’ with the regulator. For the remainder of this report, the term Clinical Scientist will be taken to mean Clinical Scientist (Medical Physicist/Engineer). The survey was designed to gather & explore data about opinions and experiences regarding several key aspects of how the HCPC performs its role, and perception of the quality & safety of regulation delivered.

A short survey questionnaire was developed, with questions aimed to cover the main regulatory processes, including registration & renewal, CPD audit, and fitness-to-practice. There were also questions relating more generally to HCPC’s performance as an organisation, e.g. handling of personal data. Finally, participants were asked to rate the HCPC’s overall performance and what they felt was the ‘value’ of regulation. The survey questions are listed in the Supplementary file along with this article.

Questions were carefully worded and there was a balance of open and closed questions. A five-point Likert score was used to rate closed questions. The survey was anonymous, and the questions were not compulsory, allowing the responders to skip irrelevant or difficult questions. The survey also aimed to be as short & concise as possible, to be a minimal burden to busy clinical staff & hopefully maximise response rate. There were a small number of questions at the start of the survey, to collect basic demographics on the respondents (role, grade, UK nation etc.).

The survey was advertised on the online JISC-hosted UK Medical Physics and Engineering (UKMPE) mail-base. This offered convenient access for the majority of Clinical Scientists. The survey was advertised twice, to allow for potential work absence, holiday/illness etc. It was active from the end of July 2002 until October 2022, when responses appeared to saturate.

The data is a combination of quantitative rating scores, and qualitative text responses. This allows a mixed-methods approach to data analysis, combining quantitative assessment of the Likert scoring, and (recursive) thematic analysis of the free-text answers [ 6 ]. Thematic analysis is a standard tool, and has been reported as a useful & appropriate for assessing experiences, thoughts, or behaviours in a dataset [ 7 ]. The survey questions addressed the main themes, but further themes were identified using an inductive, data-driven approach. Qualitative data analysis (QDA) was performed using NVivo (QSR International).

Two survey questions attempted to obtain an overall perception of HCPC’s performance: the direct one (Q12), and a further question’Would you recommend HCPC as a regulator…?’. This latter question doesn’t perhaps add anything more, and in fact a few respondents suggested it was a slightly awkward question, given professions do not have a choice of regulator – so that has been excluded from the analysis.

Study conduct was performed in accordance with relevant guidelines and regulations [ 8 , 9 ]. Before conducting the survey of Clinical Scientists, the survey was sent to their professional body, the Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine (IPEM). The IPEM Professional Standards Committee reviewed the survey questions [ 10 ]. Written informed consent was obtained from participants.

Data analysis

Data was collected via an MS form, in a single excel sheet and stored on a secure network drive. The respondents were anonymised, and the data checked for errors. The data was then imported into NVivo v12.

Qualitative data was manually coded for themes, and auto-coded for sentiment. An inductive approach was used to develop themes.

The sample size of responses allowed the use of simple parametric tests to establish the level of statistical significance.

Survey demographics

A total of 146 responses were collected. Two respondents noted that they worked as an HCPC Partner (a paid role). They were excluded from the analysis due to potential conflict of interest. One respondent’s responses were all blank aside from the demographic data, so they were also excluded from further analysis.

Analysis is based on 143 responses, which represents ~ 6% of the UK profession [ 11 ]. It is arguable whether it is representative of the profession at this proportion of response – but these responses do offer the only sizeable pool of data currently available. The survey was aimed at those who are on the statutory register as they are most likely to have relevant interactions & experiences of the HCPC, but a small number of responses were also received from Clinical Technologists (Medical Technical Officers-MTOs) and Engineers (CEs) and these have been included in the analysis. Figure 2 shows the breakdown in respondents, by nation.

Proportion of respondents, by nation

Of the respondents, 91% are registered Clinical Scientists, and would therefore have a broad range of experience with HCPC and its processes. Mean time on the register was 12 yrs. Respondents show a large range in seniority, and their roles are shown in Fig. 3 (CS-Clinical Scientist; CE-Clinical Engineer; MTO-Medical Technical Officer/Technician; CS-P are those working in private healthcare settings, so not on Agenda for Change (AfC) pay bands).

Breakdown in respondents, by role and pay banding

These data can be compared with the most recent HCPC ‘snapshot’ of the CS registrants (find here: Registrants by profession snapshot—1967 to 2019 | ( https://www.hcpc-uk.org/resources/data/2019/registrant-snapshot/ )).

The perception of overall regulator performance, can be assessed in two ways – one interview question directly asked for a rating score, and the overall survey sentiment also offers additional insight.

The score for overall performance was a median of 3 (mean 2.7; response rate 90%) which suggests neutral satisfaction.

Respondents were not asked directly to explain this overall performance rating – themes were extracted from the questionnaire as a whole.

The auto-coded sentiment scores generated in the NVivo software are shown in Table 2 . There is a significantly stronger negative sentiment than positive for HCPC performance – moderate, strong and total sentiment scores are all higher for negative sentiment. The normal test for a single proportion (109), shows the negative and positive sentiment differences have statistical significance with p < 0.001. Whilst the PSA assessment of HCPC performance in 2022–23 shows 100% performance for 4 out of 5 assessment areas, survey data here from regulated professionals suggests considerably less satisfaction with HCPC. This raises associated questions about the relevance and validity of PSA assessment.

A large number of respondents seem to question the value of regulation. Whilst many accepted the value for it in terms of protecting the safety of the public, many questioned its relevance & benefit to themselves. Many respondents also queried the payment model where although the main beneficiaries of regulation are the public & the employer, it is the registrants actually pay the fees for registration. There was very little mention in survey responses, of benefit in terms of protected-title. These issues were amalgamated into Theme 1— Value of regulation , with the two sub-themes Value in monetary terms (value-for-money) and Value in professional terms (benefit and relevance to the individual professional) (see Table 3 ).

In the survey, several aspects of HCPC organisational performance were scored – handling of personal data, registration and renewal, engagement with the profession, audit, and the quality and usefulness of HCPC policies. These formed Theme 2 and its sub-themes.

A third theme Registrant competence and vulnerability , was developed to focus on responses to questions related to the assessment of registrant competence and Fitness To Practice (FTP) processes.

Finally, the survey also directly asked respondents if they could suggest improvements which would have resulted in higher scoring for regulation quality and performance. These were grouped into Theme 4.

Theme 1 – Value of regulation

Value in monetary terms.

The Likert score for value-for-money was a median of 2 (mean 2.3; response rate 100%) which suggests dissatisfaction. This is one of the few survey questions to elicit a 100% response rate – a clear signal of its importance for registrants.

There was a high number of responses suggesting fees are too expensive (and a significantly smaller number suggesting good value). This ties in with some respondents explaining that the ‘benefit’ from registration is mainly for the employer (an assurance of high quality, well-trained staff). Several respondents point to little ‘tangible’ benefit for registrants and query whether the payment model is fair and if the employer should pay registrant fees.

“Expensive fees for what appears to be very little support.” Resp094

“It seems that I pay about £100 per year to have my name written on a list. It is unclear to me what the HCPC actually does in order to justify such a high fee.” Resp014

“I get, quite literally, nothing from it. It’s essentially a tax on work.” Resp008

Several respondents suggested that as registration was mandated by the employer, it was in essence an additional ‘tax’ on their employment, which was highlighted previously by Unison [ 12 ]. A comparator for payment model, are the checks preformed on potential staff who will be working with children and vulnerable adults. In general, these ‘disclosure’ checks are paid for by the employer, however the checks are not recurrent cost for each individual, but done once at recruitment.

Value in professional terms & relevance

This was not a direct question on the questionnaire, but emerged consistently in survey responses. Aside from value-for-money, the value of regulation can also refer to more general benefit and relevance for a professional, for example in protecting a professional title or emphasising the importance of a role. Many respondents commented, in relation to the ‘value’ of regulation, about the relevance of the HCPC to them and their job/role.

The largest number of responses highlighted the lack of clarity about HCPC’s role, and also to note its lack of relevance felt by a significant proportion of respondents.

“Not sure I have seen any value in my registration except that it is a requirement for my role” Resp017

“I really fail to understand what (sic) the benefits of registration.” Resp018

“They do not promote the profession. I see no evidence of supporting the profession. I pay to have the title and I am not aware of any other benefits.” Resp038

Theme 2 – HCPC performance

Communication & handling data.

The survey questionnaire did not have a specific question relating to communication, therefore no specific Likert scores are available. Rather, communication was a sub-theme which emerged in survey responses. The response numbers related to positive (1) and negative experiences (50) clearly suggest an overall experience of poor communication processes (and statistically significant at p < 0.001 for a normal proportion test).

One respondent noted they had ‘given up’ trying to communicate with HCPC electronically. Several respondents also noted issues with conventional communication—letters from HCPC going to old addresses, or being very slow to arrive.

“…I have given up on contacting by electronic means.” Resp134

When trying to renew their registration, communication with HCPC was so difficult that two respondents noted they raised a formal complaint.

A number of respondents noted that when they eventually got through to the HCPC, staff were helpful, so the main communication issue may relate to insufficiently resourced lines of communication (phones & email) or the need for a more focussed first point of contact e.g. some form of helpdesk or triaging system.

“Recently long wait to get through to speak to someone… Once through staff very helpful.” Resp126

This topic overlaps with the next (Processing Registration & renewals) in that both involve online logins, website use etc.

Security & data handling was rated as neutral (median 3, mean 3.4; response rate 91%). Although responses were balanced in terms of satisfaction, a significant number noted a lack of knowledge about HCPC processes. There are almost equal proportions of respondents reporting no issues, some problems with handling of personal data, or insufficient knowledge to express an opinion.

Registration and renewal

The score for processing registrations & renewals, was a median of 4 (mean 3.5; response rate 92%) which suggests modest satisfaction.

The overall rating also suggests that the issues may have been experienced by a comparative minority of registrants and that for most, renewal was straightforward.

“They expected people to call their phone number, which then wasn’t picked up. They didn’t reply to emails except after repeated attempts and finally having to resort to raising a complaint.” Resp023

“Difficult to get a timely response. Difficult to discuss my situation with a human being…” Resp044

Although the Likert score is positive, the themes in responses explaining the rating, are more mixed. Many respondents mentioned either having or knowing others who had issues with registration renewal, and its online processes including payments. A few respondents mentioned that the process was unforgiving of small errors. One respondent, for example, missed ticking a box on the renewal form, was removed from the register and experienced significant difficulties (poor communication with HCPC) getting the issue resolved.

Some respondents noted issues related to a long absence from work (e.g. maternity/illness etc.) causing them to miss registration deadlines – for some, this seems to have resulted in additional fees to renew registration. It seems rather easy for small errors (on either side) to result in registrants being removed from the register. For registrants, this can have very serious consequences and it can then be difficult and slow to resolve this, sometimes whilst on no pay. There have also been other reported instances of renewal payment collection errors [ 13 ].

“I had been off work… and had missed their renewal emails…I was told that there would be no allowances for this situation, and I would have to pay an additional fee to re-register…” Resp139.

Some respondents raised the issue of exclusion – certain staff groups not being included on the register—such as Clinical Technologists and Clinical Engineers. This desire for inclusion, also points to a perception of value in being on the register. One respondent raised an issue of very difficult and slow processing of registration for a candidate from outside the UK.

“Staff member who qualified as medical physicist abroad…has had a dreadful, drawn out and fruitless experience.” Resp135

Overall, many respondents noted difficulties in renewing registration and issues with HCPC’s online processes. Some of these issues (e.g. website renewal problems) may have been temporary and are now resolved, but others (e.g. available routes for registration) remain to be resolved.

Audit process & policies

In the survey, 12% respondents reported having been audited by HCPC regarding their CPD (response rate 97%). This is well above the level of 2.5% of each profession, which HCPC aims to review at each renewal [ 14 ], and similar values reported by some professional bodies [ 15 ]. The participants seem representative, although two respondents mentioned their perception of low audit rates. Data on CPD audit is available here: https://www.hcpc-uk.org/about-us/insights-and-data/cpd/cpd-audit-reports/

Respondents rated the process of being audited as a median of 4 (mean 3.7), which is the joint highest score on the survey, pointing to satisfaction with the process. From the responses, the overall perception could be summed up as straight-forward, but time-consuming. Without regular record-keeping, unfortunately most audits will be time-consuming – the HCPC more so, as it is not an annual audit, but covers the two preceding years.

Some respondents did find the process not only straight-forward, but also useful (related to feedback received). However, responses regarding feedback were mixed, with comments on both good, and poor feedback from HCPC.

“Not difficult but quite long-winded” Resp008

“Very stressful and time consuming” Resp081

“While it was a lot of work the process seemed very thorough and well explained.” Resp114

The HCPC’s policies & procedures were rated as a median of 3 (mean 3.2; response rate 98%). This neutral score could suggest a mixture of confidence in HCPC practise. This score may also reflect the fact that the majority of respondents had either not read, or felt they had no need to read the policies, and so are largely unfamiliar with them.

The reasons for this lack of familiarity are also explained by some respondents – four commented that the policies & procedures are rather too generic/vague. Three respondents noted that they felt the policies were not sufficiently relevant to their clinical roles to be useful. This may be due to the policies being written at a level to be applicable to registrants from all 16 modalities – and perhaps a limitation of the nature of HCPC as a very large regulator. Familiarity seemed mainly to be restricted to policies around registration, and CPD. There were slightly lower response levels for positive sentiment (6), than negative sentiment (9).

“I’ve never had cause to read them.” Resp115

“Detached from the real clinical interface for our professions…” Resp083

HCPC split their policies into ‘corporate’- which relate to organisational issues (e.g. equality & diversity; find them here: Our policies and procedures | ( https://www.hcpc-uk.org/about-us/corporate-governance/freedom-of-information/policies/#:~:text=Our%20main%20policies%20and%20procedures%201%20Customer%20feedback,scheme%20...%207%20Freedom%20of%20Information%20Policy%20 )) and those more relevant to professions (e.g. relating to the register; find them here: Resources | ( https://www.hcpc-uk.org/resources/?Query=&Categories=76 )).

One respondent noted not only that the policies were ‘as you might expect’, but felt the policies were less demanding than those from other similar bodies such as the CQC ( https://www.cqc.org.uk/publications ).

“…Other regulatory bodies (such as the CQC for example) have policies and procedures that are a lot more challenging to comply with.” Resp022

Theme 3 – Registrant competence and vulnerability

In this survey, 3.5% (5/143) of respondents noted some involvement with the HCPC’s Fitness to Practice service. These interactions were rated at a median of 3 (mean 2.8) suggesting neutral sentiment.

Firstly, we can immediately see the level of interaction with the FTP team is very small. CS registrants represent approx. 2% of HCPC registrants, and the level of CS referrals to FTP in 2020–21 was 0.2% [ 16 ].

The data is a very small sample, but responses vary strongly, so it is worth digging a little further into the granularity of individual responses. Response scores were 1, 1, 2, 5, 5 – which are mainly at the extremes of the rating spectrum. The majority of respondents described poor experiences with the FTP team: errors, a process which was ‘extremely prolonged’, involved slow/poor communication, and processes which were ‘entirely opaque’.

“It is slow, the process was badly managed… and the system was entirely opaque,” Resp37

“They were hard to contact and I didn't feel they listened…no explanation, apology or assurance it would not happen again. It left my colleague disillusioned and me very angry on their behalf…” Resp044

Some respondents commented that the team were not only difficult to contact, but also didn’t seem to listen. At the end of a process which involved errors from HCPC, one respondent noted were ‘no explanation, apologies or assurance that it would not happen again’, leaving the registrant ‘disillusioned’. These experiences do not fit with the HCPC’s stated goal to be a compassionate regulator, see Fig. 4 . Arguably it is more difficult to change a culture of behaviour and beliefs, than to publish a corporate goal or statement of vision.

HCPC’s vision statement & purpose [ 17 ]

Some survey respondents have noted the necessity of regulation for our profession.

“Ultimately I am very grateful that I can register as a professional.” Resp024

Theme 4 – Suggestions for improved regulation

Following the question relating to overall performance, respondents were invited to suggest things which might improve their rating for HCPC’s performance and value. These suggestions were also combined with those which appeared in earlier survey responses.

Although we are in a current cost-of-living crisis, responses did not query simply high absolute cost of fees, but also queried the value/benefit of HCPC regulation for registrants. Many responses expressed doubt as to the added value & relevance of HCPC registration for them. They seem to point to a desire for more tangible benefit from their fees. Perhaps, given the costs and levels of scrutiny, registrants want some definite benefit to balance the scales .

“Cost less and do more for the people who are on the register.” Resp089

“Vastly reduced cost. Employer paying registrant fees.” Resp074

A significant number of responses pointed out that the main benefits of registration are for the public, and for employers – but that it is the registrants who pay for registration. Many queries why this should be, and whether there should be a different payment model, where for example employers pay.

Similarly, some respondents felt that the HCPC’s unusual position of regulating a large swathe of healthcare professions was not necessarily helpful for their profession or others.

Communication and response times are obviously an issue of concern for registrants, and improvements are needed based on the low satisfaction levels reported here. This is also linked to a wish for increased engagement with the CS profession.

“Engagement with the workforce, specialism specific development, reduced fees” Resp025

Some responses suggested they would be comforted by increased accountability / governance of HCPC including improved FTP efficiency.

“More accountability to registrants” Resp130

Finally, improvement in terms of additional registration routes for Engineers & Technical staff were also suggested. It may be damaging to work-place moral, if two professionals doing roles of a similar nature are not being governanced is the same way and if there is not parity of their gross salary due to mandatory professional fees & reductions.

Value-for-money : This will vary between individuals depending on many variables, such as upbringing & environment, salary, lifestyle priorities, political persuasion, and so on. However, many of these factors should balance in a large sample. In general, it can be suggestive of satisfaction (or lack of) with a service. The score here suggesting dissatisfaction, echoes with other reports on HCPC’s spending, and financial irregularities [ 18 , 19 ].

In the survey findings, respondents have voiced dissatisfaction with registration value for money. In fact, HCPC’s registration fees are not high when compared to the other healthcare professions regulators. Table 1 shows data from 2021–22 for regulator annual registration fees. However, the HCPC has risen from having the lowest regulator fees in 2014–5, to its current position (9 th of 13) slightly higher in the table. Perhaps more concerning than the absolute level of fees, are when large increases are proposed [ 12 , 20 , 21 , 22 ].

However, fees have regularly increased to current figure of £196.48 for a two-year cycle. During a consultation process in 2018, the Academy for Healthcare Clinical Scientists (AHCS) wrote an open letter to the HCPC, disputing what they felt was a disproportionate fee increase [ 23 ]. Further fee rises have also been well above the level of inflation at the time.

HCPC expenditure (which is linked to registration fees) has arguably been even more controversial than fee increases – noted by several respondents. A freedom of information (FOI) request in 2016 showed HCPC’s spending of £17,000 for their Christmas party [ 18 ] – which amounts to just over £76 per person. This cost was close to the annual registration fee (at that time) for registrants.

In 2019, regulation of social workers in England moved from HCPC, to Social Work England. This resulted in a loss of over 100,000 registrants, and a loss in registration fee income. HCPC raised fees to compensate, but a freedom of information (FoI) request in 2020 [ 18 ] showed that even though there was an associated lowering in workload associated with the loss of 100 k registrants, the HCPC had no redundancies, suggesting the loss of income was compensated mainly by the fees increase.

Inherent value & relevance

One of HCPC’s aims is to promote ‘the value of regulation’ [ 24 ]. However, not only is there dissatisfaction with value-for-money, the second highest response suggests a lack of inherent value (or benefit) from regulation to the individual registrant. In some ways, there is a lack of balance – registrants are under increasing scrutiny, but feel there is little direct benefit, to provide balance.

This also suggests that HCPC’s aim or message is not getting through to the CS profession. It’s not clear what the HCPC 2021–22 achieved milestone – ‘Embedded our registrant experiences research into employee learning and development and inductions’ has actually achieved.

A large number of responses pointed to the lack of clarity about HCPC’s role, and also to note its lack of relevance for respondents. Some of this is understandable – until recently, many CS registrants will have little interaction with HCPC. They would typically get one email reminder each year to renew their registration and pay those fees, and hear little else from the HCPC. That is beginning to change, and HCPC have recently begun to send more regular, direct emails/updates to registrants.

However, for many registrants, the HCPC appears not to be clearly communicating its role, or the relevance/importance of regulation. As mentioned above, this also links in to previous mentions of the lack of any tangible benefit for registrants. Some note little more relevance other than the mandatory aspects of regulation.

Finally, relevance is also queried in relation to the limited access for some professional groups to a professional register. The current situation of gaps in registration for some groups, results in two situations – firstly, for Clinical Scientists and Clinical Engineers/Technologists, one group has to compulsorily pay a fee to be allowed/approved to do their job and the other does not; also, the public are routinely helped and assisted by Clinical Scientists and Clinical Engineers/Technologists – but only one group is regulated to ensure public safety.

HCPC Communication

This was highlighted by respondents as often poor. Recently in the media, there has been a concern raised by The College of Paramedics (CoP) about communications issues with HCPC—changes to the HCPC policy on the use of social media [ 25 ]. They raised particular concerns about the use of social media content and ‘historical content’ in the context of investigations of fitness-to practice.

There have previously been some concerns raised on the UKMPE mail-base regarding handling of personal data, and lack of efficiency in addressing the issue [ 26 ]. Several messages detailed HCPC communicating unencrypted registrant passwords in emails and sending personal data to the incorrect registrant. Some on the forum noted that they had reported this problem over a period of several years to HCPC, suggesting HCPC’s response to these serious issues was extremely slow. Several responses noted these previous issues.

Registration processes

Although responses here show some satisfaction, there have been reports in the media of significant issues with registration (such as removing registrants from the register in error) with associated impact for patients and the public [ 27 , 28 ]. Similarly, there were reports on the UKMPE mail-base of significant issues with registration renewals being problematic [ 26 ]. In Scotland, NHS.net email accounts ceased to be supported in July-Sept 2020 and the associated lack of access to email accounts and messages used for HCPC communication and registration, caused a major issue in registration renewal. This coincided with COVID lockdowns and a period of unusually difficult communication with HCPC. If NHS staff lose registration (irrespective of the reason), respondents noted that some Human Resources (HR) departments were quick to suspend staff from work, and in some cases withhold pay. That spike in difficulties is likely the cause of the most common responses suggesting issues with a complicated process.

In safe-guarding public safety, a key task for a healthcare regulator is assessing the competence of registrants. This is done via a small set of related activities. Registrants must return regular evidence of CPD, and these are audited for 2.5% registrants. This process is simple and routine, and as seen in Theme 2 responses here suggest registrants are reasonably satisfied with this process.

More formal and in-depth competence assessment happens when a complaint is raised against a registrant, either by a work colleague/management, a member of the public or occasionally by the HCPC itself. The process is complex, lengthy and can end in a registrant attending a court hearing [ 29 ].

It is usual for registrants to continue in their normal job during FTP investigations – effectively the public remains at risk from a registrant if their competence is eventually proven to be below the regulators standards, so there is a need for investigations to be efficient both in timeliness, and outcome.

Obviously, being under investigation can be highly stressful, and has the potential for the registrant to be ‘struck off’ the register, and lose their job if registration is mandated (e.g. NHS posts). There are many reports of the process & experience either provoking or increasing underlying mental health challenges [ 30 , 31 , 32 ]. Along with efficiency, a regulator needs to behave compassionately. Investigations of highly-skilled professionals engaging in complex work activities, is also necessarily complex and requires a high degree of knowledge and experience from the regulator’s investigational panel.

The Professional Standards Authority (PSA) regulate the HCPC, and publish annual reviews of their performance ( https://www.professionalstandards.org.uk/publications/performance-reviews ) (see Table 4 ). HCPC performance as reported by PSA, seems to be generally higher than noted by survey respondents here. For 2022–23, aside from one area, the HCPC has scored 100% for performance, which seems at odds with these survey responses [ 33 ]. The FTP team is notable in repeatedly performing very poorly compared to most other sections of the HCPC (even though the majority of the HCPC budget goes to FTP activity, see Fig. 4 ). The HCPC Annual Report 2018–9 [ 34 ] highlighted the completion of the first phase of the Fitness-To-Practice Improvement Plan. This delivered “A root and branch review of this regulatory function… a restructure, tightened roles and processes and the introduction of a new Threshold Policy”, but this seems to have no impact on the performance reported by the PSA for the next few years shown in Table 4 . However, the most recent data does suggest improvement, and HCPC continues to develop FTP team practice [ 17 ].

HCPC expenditure for the year 2020–21 [ 17 ]

There are other reports of poor experiences with this team [ 35 , 36 ], and in one report the FTP team’s processes have been noted as being rather inhumane [ 35 ].

Regulation is an important part of public protection, but how effectively it is managed & enforced is also a concern, given it involves increased scrutiny of registrants. A topical comparator is the current dissatisfaction by a large section of the public about several other government regulators allowing seemingly poor performance to go unchecked [ 4 , 5 ].

It is arguable, that registrants remain on the register as long as the HCPC allows them. Several respondents in this survey noted being removed from the register through HCPC administrative error. Removal could also happen through poor judgement/decision-making – the FTP team handle large numbers of very complex investigational cases – 1603 concluded cases for the year 2021–22 and 1024 hearings [ 16 ]. Every justice system is subject to a level of error – guilty parties can be erroneously ‘cleared’, and vice-versa. It is essential therefore, that policies & procedures relating to FTP are fit for purpose—that the FTP team work effectively and humanely, and that there is genuine & effective governance of HCPC to ensure accountability. In this survey, some respondents seem to be saying that currently this seems not to be the case.

It might have been anticipated that the greatest concern is costs, especially in the current cost-of-living crisis. The recent HCPC consultation to increase fees [ 37 ] seems particularly tone-deaf and has caused concern across the professions [ 21 , 22 ].

Above findings show respondents are interested in lower fees, but also increased benefit for their fees. Some respondents pointed out that whilst registrants pay for registration, benefit is mainly for the public and employers. The HCPC is a statutory body, its funding model will have been designed/decided upon by government, and may be unlikely to change. However, there are a variety of potential regulation models [ 38 ], and so change is possible. A review of the financial model for regulation may be welcome.

Regulator size

Some aspects of HCPC performance, policies, and distribution of spending, is related to the nature of it being the largest and only multi-professional regulator in the healthcare sector. Data from the HCPC suggests (see Fig. 5 ) that the majority of spending relates to FTP activity. Data also points to Clinical Scientists having very low levels of FTP investigation compared to others in HCPC [ 16 ]. This suggests that a significant proportion of CS registrant fees are used to investigate other professions. It’s possible (perhaps simplistically) that if, like many other healthcare professions such as doctors & dentists who’s regulator is concerned only with that single profession, if CSs were regulated separately, their registrant fees may be reduced. This model of single-profession regulation may also mitigate against other disadvantages of the HCPC’s practice, such as the ‘generic’ policies aiming to apply to a pool of 15 professions.

Although there is a very low level of data for this topic, the concerned raised by registrants are serious in nature. There also seems to be issues in handling of complaints related to this service and advocacy for registrants. Certainly, there is a clear governance path via PSA, to the Health Secretary. However, this does not offer a route for individual complaints to be raised and addressed. Unlike complaints from the public in other areas, there is no recourse to an ombudsman for registrants. The only option for individual registrants, is the submission of a formal complaint to the HCPC itself, which is dealt with internally. Comments from survey respondents suggest this process does not guarantee satisfaction. Indeed, one of the respondents who mentioned submitting a complaint, made it clear they remained unhappy with HCPC’s response. Overall, there seems to be a lack of clear & effective advocacy for registrants.

“…the HCPC’s stance appeared to be guilty until proven innocent… At no point did I feel the HCPC cared that their (sic) was an individual involved....” Resp044.

FTP processes affect a comparatively small number of CS registrants, compared to other professions. However, it seems clear that the majority of those who have interacted with the FTP team have had poor experiences, and respondents have suggested improvements are needed. The reason for FTP investigations, is protection of staff and the public. If processes are slow, and investigations prolonged, or decisions flawed, the public may be exposed to increased levels of risk, as healthcare practitioners who may be lacking in competence continue to practice. The data in Table 4 shows concerning but improving trends in FTP performance levels.

Limitations

There are two main limitations to this work. Firstly, due to time constraints, there was no pilot work done when designing the survey questionnaire. This may have helped, as noted earlier, a few responses pointed to some awkwardness with one survey question. Although no pilot work was done, the questionnaire was reviewed by the IPEM Professional Standards Committee, as noted in the Acknowledgements section.

The other obvious limitation is the low response rate (~ 6% of UK Medical Physicists). Circulation of the survey was performed via the only online forum for the profession currently available. The survey was advertised multiple times to ensure visibility to staff who may have missed it initially due to leave etc. However, the forum does reach 100% of the profession, and some addressees may have filters set to send specific posts to junk folders etc. The professional body IPEM declined to offer support in circulating the survey (believing the issues involved would affect/be of interest only to a small minority of members.)

The low response rate also has a particular impact on the pool of responses relating to FTP issues, which inherently affect low numbers of registrants.

However, the importance of some of the findings here (e.g. expressed dissatisfaction with regulation in terms of value; the poor experience of some members with the Registration, Communication and FTP teams) and the low sample surveyed, both justify the need for a larger follow-on survey, across all of Clinical Science.

In Healthcare, regulation of professions is a key aspect of protecting the public. However, to be effective, regulation must be performed professionally, impartially, and associated concerns or complaints investigated efficiently and respectfully.

This report presents findings from a survey aimed at collecting a snap-shot of the experiences of Clinical Scientists with their regulator, and their perception of the quality and safety of that regulation performance.

Overall survey sentiment scores showed a significantly more negative responses than positive. Survey comments relate not only to current issues, but to previous problems and controversial issues [ 18 , 26 ]. It seems that some respondents have at some point lost confidence and trust in the HCPC, and survey responses suggest there has not been enough engagement and work done by HCPC to repair and rebuild this trust.

In the midst of a cost of living crisis, costs are a large concern for many. The HCPC fees are neither the highest not lowest amongst the healthcare regulators. Spending is transparent, and details can be found in any of the HCPC’s annual reports.

A repeating sub-theme in responses, was a lack of tangible value for the registrant, and that the employer should pay the costs of registration, where registration is mandated by the job.

Many respondents have suggested that they feel there should be more proactive engagement from HCPC with the profession. Most respondents were not familiar with or felt the HCPC policies are relevant/important to them.

Survey data showed moderate satisfaction with registration processes for the majority of respondents. Some respondents also noted a lack of registration route for engineering & technical healthcare staff. CPD processes also achieved a score indicating registrant satisfaction. This generated the highest ratings in the survey. Communication scored poorly and many respondents suggests there needs to be improved levels of communication in terms of response times and access to support.

The CS profession experiences low levels of interaction with the FTP service. However, those interactions which were recorded in the survey, show some poor experiences for registrants. There also seems to be a lack of advocacy/route for complaints about HCPC from individual registrants. There may need to be more engagement between registrants and their professional body regarding HCPC performance, and more proactivity from the stake-holder, IPEM.

Some of the findings reported here relate to important issues, but the survey data are based on a low response rate. A larger survey across all of Clinical Science is being planned.

Availability of data and materials

To protect confidentiality of survey respondents, the source data is not available publicly, but are available from the author on reasonable request.

Abbreviations

Agenda for Change

Academy for Healthcare Clinical Scientists

Continuous professional development

Clinical Engineer

Clinical Scientist

College of Paramedics

Clinical Technologist

Freedom of Information

Fitness-to-practice

Health and Care Professions Council

Human resources

Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine

Joint Information Systems Committee

Medical Technical Officer

Professional Standards Authority

Professional Standards Committee

Qualitative data analysis

UK Medical Physics and Engineering

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Acknowledgements

The author wishes to kindly acknowledge the input of Dr Carl Rowbottom (IPEM Professional Standards Committee), in reviewing the survey questions. Thanks also to Dr Nina Cockton for helpful advice on ethics and recruitment issues.

There were no sources of funding required for this work.

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As this study relates to low risk, survey data, formal ethics committee approval is not required (exemption obtained from NHSGGC REC04 REC Officer Dr Judith Godden [email protected]). As the survey responses were from members of a professional body (The Institute of Medical Physics and Engineering in Medicine (IPEM) it was consulted. Its Professional Standards Committee (PSC) reviewed the survey and raised no objections. The survey questions were assessed for bias and approved unchanged (acknowledged in the manuscript). Written informed consent was obtained from all participants in the study.

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Supplementary Information

Additional file 1..

The survey questionnaire has been provided as a supplementary file.

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McJury, M. Experiences of UK clinical scientists (Physical Sciences modality) with their regulator, the Health and Care Professions Council: results of a 2022 survey. BMC Health Serv Res 24 , 635 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-024-10956-7

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Development Communication: The State of Research in an Era of ICTs and
2. Failing to find many articles on the topic of development incorporating the globalization discourse, we conducted an additional search of the Communication and Mass Media Complete index for articles that combined 'communication' with 'globalization' in their key terms to locate the topics of those articles apart from development.
PDF Communicating the Impact of Communication for Development
Growing Interest in Communication for Development and the Challenges Facing Communication Initiatives Demonstrating the Impacts of Communication for Development: A Domain of Self-Reporting by Organizations 2. Theoretical Models in Communication for Development 3. Trends in Recent Research Paradigmatic and Theoretical Underpinnings of Empirical ...
Understanding Development Communication: A Review of ...
empowerment tool, communication is used to promote people's participation in. development activities.Particularly, citizens rely on knowledge and information. in order to successfully respond to ...
Development Communication Sourcebook
The Development Communication Sourcebook illlustrates why the field of development communication is important and how its tools and methods enhance long-term and sustainable results. The book presents basic concepts and explains key challenges faced in daily practice. Each of the four modules is self-contained, with examples, toolboxes, and ...
Communication Research: Sage Journals
Communication Research (CR), peer-reviewed and published bi-monthly, has provided researchers and practitioners with the most up-to-date, comprehensive and important research on communication and its related fields.It publishes articles that explore the processes, antecedents, and consequences of communication in a broad range of societal systems.
300+ Communication Research Topics
Communication Research Topics. Communication Research Topics are as follows: The effectiveness of nonverbal communication in virtual interactions. Cross-cultural communication in multinational corporations. The role of social media in shaping public opinion. The impact of technology on interpersonal communication skills.
178 Communication Research Topics To Impress The Professor
Here is a list of 178 good and interesting research topics in communication. You can use them for inspiration or choose the one for your thesis. Toll-free: +1 (877) 401-4335. Order Now. About; ... In either case, this section will consist of the strengths and weaknesses of your research and any future development or improvements. You could also ...
Status and Trends in Development Communication Research in the
Felix Librero. In the last decade, trends in development communication (devcom) research have been changing fast, and the variables that we ought to be looking into have been shifting as well. Given the rapid developments in the field of communication, we are constantly refocusing our research thrusts and interests.
200 Trendy Communication Research Topics
Appealing Communication Research Topics for the Most Demanding Students. Updated 18 Apr 2024. Recent innovations in computing, transportation, and telecommunication have combined to increase the frequency and ease of people's communication, intensifying cross-cultural interactions. While innovations benefited modern society, they also brought ...
120 Communication Research Topics For Your Inspiration
Research topics on social media are because of its vast nature. Here are some social media research topic ideas for your inspiration: How safe are you on social media. Is social media taking over the broadcast media. Crime and social media: A case study. The effectiveness of social media marketing.
Development Communication
7 answers. Dec 29, 2015. The web-based software should collect continuous measurement data, store it to the database and visualize the data. In addition to these basic functions, the software ...
New research initiative tackles pressing global development issues
External URL. New research initiative tackles pressing global development issues. Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management. Applied Economics. School of Integrative Plant Science. School of Integrative Plant Science. Soil and Crop Sciences Section.
About Adverse Childhood Experiences
Toxic stress, or extended or prolonged stress, from ACEs can negatively affect children's brain development, immune systems, and stress-response systems. These changes can affect children's attention, decision-making, and learning. 18. Children growing up with toxic stress may have difficulty forming healthy and stable relationships.
Experiences of UK clinical scientists (Physical Sciences modality) with
Questions covered typical topics of registration, communication, audit and fitness to practice. The questionnaire consisted of open and closed questions. ... significant at p < 0.001). Continuous Professional Development audit was rated median 4; other topics were rated as neutral (fitness to practice, policies & procedures); and some as poor ...