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

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Developmental Communication Research Paper Topics

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  • Advertising Responses across the Life-Span
  • Age Identity and Communication
  • Attention to Media Content across the Life-Span
  • Children’s Responses to Educational Television
  • Communication Skills across the Life-Span
  • Computer Games and Child Development
  • Conflict and Cooperation across the Life-Span
  • Death, Dying, and Communication
  • Family Communication Patterns
  • Family Decision-Making
  • Fantasy-Reality Distinction
  • Fear Induction through Media Content in Children
  • Friendship and Communication
  • Intergenerational Communication
  • Internet Use across the Life-Span
  • Language Acquisition in Childhood
  • Media Regulations for Child Protection
  • Media Use across the Life-Span
  • Media Use and Child Development
  • Media Use by Children
  • News Processing across the Life-Span
  • Parental Mediation Strategies
  • Personality Development and Communication
  • Pornography Use across the Life-Span
  • Violence as Media Content Effects on Children

Significance of Developmental Communication Research

First, they note that it is important to recognize that communication is, by nature, developmental. In other words, communication is a process over time rather than a single event. Second, they advocate acknowledging multiple influences in order to obtain a comprehensive understanding of interactive behavior. Their third proposition asserts that when scholars examine communication change over the life-span, they must appreciate both quantitative and qualitative change because quantitative changes are useful in depicting “a difference in degree,” whereas qualitative changes display a “fundamental departure in the meaning of an event or a relationship” (Pecchioni et al. 2005).

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In their final two propositions, they address theory and method. The fourth proposition advocates including all theories that are testable. Most communication theories lack any consideration of development, yet life-span scholars fully appreciate that any theory may be useful in expanding knowledge of communication behavior. Moreover, this perspective does not exclude any theory of behavior or development. As a result, developmental communication studies have been firmly grounded in communication theory (Nussbaum & Friedrich 2005).

Incorporating Communication Theory

Developmental communication studies can incorporate theory from all paradigms of thought (Pecchioni et al. 2005). Pecchioni and colleagues note that, at one end of the spectrum, interpretive and critical theories are useful in attributing meaning to social interaction as well as in unveiling factors that influence these experiences. For instance, an interpretive perspective is useful in examining how we communicatively make sense of our social experiences across time through the use of stories. Similarly, critical approaches, such as power and language studies, aid in illuminating factors, like power, that impact communication over the life-span. At the other end of the spectrum, scientific theories enable scholars to examine more universal communicative patterns by using scientific methods to control variables in order to reach more generalizable conclusions from multiple data sets (Pecchioni et al. 2005). The latter approach is more common in the communication discipline as communication theory has typically been generated from this approach.

In addition to the above-mentioned scientific theories, communication accommodation theory (CAT) has greatly contributed to developmental communication research as well as to the communication discipline as a whole (Ryan et al. 1986). Like many life-span studies, CAT views age as a marker related to change. In this case, age is a group identifier that influences behavior leading to generational differences in attitude and behavior. CAT posits that younger adults influenced by negative age stereotypes will over-accommodate their speech with elderly adults. As a result, older adults may encounter negative social experiences with younger generations, which may lead to their avoidance of future interactions. Scholars have also used CAT to advance various models of communication and aging stereotypes. Ryan et al. (1986) introduced the communication predicament of aging model (CPA) to demonstrate that in social interactions, age-related cues (i.e., physical appearance, age, behavior, and socio-cultural signs) activate age-related stereotypes that negatively affect intergenerational interactions, leading for example to over- or under-accommodation results (Coupland et al. 1988). Hummert, Wiemann, & Nussbaum (1994), on the other side, discovered that some stereotypes are positive.

Capturing Communication Development over Time

While developmental communication scholars should be attuned to integrating theory in their investigations, they must also choose methodologies that enable them to capture change over time (Nussbaum et al. 2002; Nussbaum & Friedrich 2005; Pecchioni et al. 2005). A critical area of concern is the issue of capturing intra- versus interindividual change. To date, most life-span communication research has examined interindividual change. These researchers typically utilize cross-sectional designs to compare communicative behavior between age groups. By doing so, scholars can only suggest behavioral change over the life-span. Consequently, cross-sectional studies often produce findings that lead to misinterpretations of intra- versus interindividual changes over time (Schaie & Hofer 2001; Nussbaum et al. 2002; Pecchioni et al. 2005), illustrating the point that in order to fully appreciate, examine, and interpret communication change, designs and methodologies need to capture developmental change utilizing longitudinal methods.

References:

  • Baltes, P. B. (1987). Theoretical propositions of life-span developmental psychology: On the dynamics between growth and decline. Developmental Psychology, 23, 611–626.
  • Baltes, P. B. & Nesselroade, J. R. (1979). The developmental analysis of individual differences on multiple measures. In J. R. Nesselroade & H. W. Reese (eds.), Life-span developmental psychology: Methodological issues. New York: Academic Press, pp. 1–40.
  • Baltes, P. B., Reese, H. W., & Nesselroade, J. R. (1988). Life-span developmental psychology: Introduction to research methods. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
  • Coupland, J., Coupland, N., Giles, H., Henwood, K., & Wiemann, J. (1988). Elderly self disclosure: Interactional and intergroup issues. Language and Communication, 8, 109–133.
  • Hummert, M. L. (1994). Stereotypes of the elderly and patronizing speech. In M. L. Hummert, J. M. Wiemann, & J. F. Nussbaum (eds.), Interpersonal communication in older adulthood: Interdisciplinary theory and research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, pp. 162–184.
  • Hummert, M. L., Wiemann, M., & Nussbaum, J. F. (1994). (eds.), Interpersonal communication in older adulthood: Interdisciplinary theory and research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
  • Nussbaum, J. F. & Friedrich, G. (2005). Instruction/ developmental communication: Current theory, research, and future trends. Journal of Communication, 55, 578–593.
  • Nussbaum, J. F., Pecchioni, L., Robinson, J. D., & Thompson, T. (2000). Communication and aging, 2nd edn. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
  • Nussbaum, J. F., Pecchioni, L., Baringer, D., & Kundrat, A. L. (2002). Lifespan communication. In W. B. Gudykunst (ed.), Communication yearbook 26. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, pp. 366–389.
  • Pecchioni, L. L., Wright, K., & Nussbaum, J. F. (2005). Life-span communication. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
  • Ryan, E. B., Giles, H., Bartolucci, G., & Henwood, K. (1986). Psycholinguistics and social psychological components of communication by and with the elderly. Language and Communication, 6, 1–24.
  • Schaie, K. W. & Hofer, S. M. (2001). Longitudinal studies in research on aging. In J. E. Birren & K. W. Schaie (eds.), Handbook of the psychology of aging, 5th edn. San Diego, CA: Academic Press, pp. 55–77.
  • Williams, A. & Nussbaum, J. F. (2001). Intergenerational communication across the life span. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

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Development communication.

Development communication refers to a process of strategic intervention toward social change, initiated and engaged by organizations and communities. Development itself encompasses participatory and intentional strategies designed to benefit the public good, whether in terms of material, political, or social needs. While the more broadly defined field of development communication incorporates mediated as well as interpersonal channels, more particular approaches of media development specifically include mediated technologies, such as television, radio, and computer systems.

Historical Context of Development Communication

Historically, the notion of development has been accorded to the domain of developing countries, meaning those with comparatively fewer resources than the wealthier countries supporting bilateral and multilateral development institutions. More recently, the field of development has been merging into a more broadly defined interest in social change, applicable to any group, regardless of material base or geographical setting, 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.

Following World War II, development communication emerged as a foreign aid strategy, designed by northern, 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 modernization, through individual change (such as empathy, advanced by Lerner) as well as structural change (addressed by Schramm). According to these scholars, through individual attention to mediated news as well as fiction, consumers would become more modern, meaning capitalist and democratically inclined, constituents. These early efforts were also more focused on rural development. Everett Rogers expanded upon the individual process of social change through his articulation of diffusion of innovations, charting a path across the projected rate of adoption of new practices.

These theories equating development with modernization were advanced mostly from US-based academic and development institutions. From the mid-1970s, scholars in Latin America and Asia initiated critiques, joined by others, of these models of development, for being ethnocentric, linear, acontextual, and hierarchical. These critiques were grounded in broader concerns with cultural imperialism and dependency, drawing attention toward global conditions rather than the internal national contexts highlighted in earlier models. The processes of development, along with media production and distribution, were then recognized as privileging those with political and economic capital to the detriment of those without these resources.

Emerging from these critiques came a profound stance advocating participation, in opposition to hierarchically and narrowly defined terms of development. Overall, participatory approaches center their attention on the people engaged in and affected by social change interventions. Development is accorded to communities over nations, while communication is envisioned as dialogic rather than linear. Multiplicity refers to the aspect of participatory communication that recognizes diversity in approaches to development, as opposed to assuming social change occurs along one universal path. The role of the development communicator then becomes one of facilitator rather than outside expert, such that local knowledge is privileged over external advice.

The Concept of Participatory Development

Conceptualizations and justifications for participatory development have varied greatly, encompassing recognition of the processes as well as the consequences of social change. Development institutions interested in creating efficient and effective projects understand participation as a necessary tool toward achieving a defined end. For example, social marketing projects may involve extensive interviews and conversations with intended beneficiaries in project planning stages. A television advertisement would be created only after beneficiaries had been consulted in their understanding of the problem and possible solutions, and in their reactions to types of messages, sources, visuals, and other aspects of the campaign. These types of interventions utilize participation as a means toward an end, defined by the institution itself.

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. Community members are encouraged to define their own social problems, and to engage actively in their resolution. Some projects, for example, teach video production skills, so that local participants can create their own mediated texts, building on what came to be known as the “Fogo process” after Canadian development strategies implemented in the mid-1980s. Radio, the Internet, theater, and other venues of communication can function in dialogic capacities, contingent upon how the processes of production and distribution are organized. Participation can be built around concerns with access to the means of cultural production, as well as to the technologies of distribution. Key to this approach is centering control within communities rather than large development institutions.

Participatory goals may be constrained, however, by resistant power structures. In this view, participation may be a necessary though not sufficient condition toward social transformation. Substantive long-term change would require institutional, normative, and political-economic support. Positioning local community efforts within broader contexts of social change allows attention to the possibilities for resistance.

Moving participatory approaches toward more resistant strategies to fight oppressive conditions finds grounding in dialogic communication, inspired through Freire’s and others’ work in liberation theology. Building on a foundation in praxis, in which thoughtful reflection grounds political engagement, this dialogic approach sees the value of communications in illuminating oppressive conditions in order to inspire collective action. The locus of control then is situated within the collectivity of the oppressed group, determining both the reasons for problems as well as their potential resolutions. Moreover, the contribution of liberation theology to development recognizes the importance of addressing those who are suffering the most, not only in terms of lack of material resources but also in terms of human rights and dignity.

These concerns resonate with recent attention in development to the importance of social movements in the broader context of social change. Social movements, like development organizations, engage in strategic social change, using communications processes and texts to facilitate their goals. Their origins and compositions, however, differ from those of the more formally constituted development organizations, being created through interests and acts of collective groups and advocating potentially more resistant strategies. Although there are many different types of social movements in the development realm, they have the structural potential to advocate against groups with power, through recognizing historical conditions privileging certain groups over others.

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.

Development communication typically addresses programs designed to communicate for the purposes of social change, or what can be called “communicating for development.” Other terms that resonate with this approach include “development support communication” and “participatory communication.” 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 dialogue engaged through communicating about development should contribute toward improving strategies for communicating for social change.

Communicating for Development

Communicating for development engages processes of mediated as well as interpersonal communication designed 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 sectors. These projects address a variety of goals, such as facilitating economic liaisons between consumers and businesses, promoting transparent governance, asserting cultural identities and practices, and creating social spaces for interpersonal exchange and community dialogue.

Media and communication technologies might include radio, television, film, print, telecommunications, mobile phones, computers, and more. Interpersonal forms of communication might be manifest in the form of discussion groups, folk media, theater, and personal interviews, as well as other approaches. Radio for development projects have been quite popular in the field, particularly with rural and illiterate populations. Evolving with the field historically, early radio projects were designed to advance the path of modernization, whereas more recent efforts are more concerned with issues of access and dialogue. Television has also been employed in development projects, with early efforts distributing information through satellite programming. More recently, telecenters have been supported in order to offer public access to information provided through information and communication technologies. Many projects use other communications technologies as well, at times in concert with broadcasting modes.

Communication intervention for social change 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.

Communication projects focusing on media tend to employ social marketing, entertainment education, or media advocacy interventions. What unites these approaches is 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. Therefore, these are not proposed as independent types of interventions, but as a variety of approaches that can be employed in the process of strategic social change.

Social marketing, for example, targets individual consumers to change their behavior, whereas media advocacy directs attention toward policymakers who have the potential to change structural conditions. Social marketing remains a frequently employed approach to communication for development, particularly in health, nutrition, and population projects. Typically, the ultimate goal of social marketing is to induce behavior change among individuals through mediated messages, through more intermediary goals, such as knowledge and attitude change. Built along the parameters of commercial models of advertising, social marketing focuses on changing behavior, as a consequence of exposure to messages and knowledge gained.

Entertainment education programs also incorporate socially beneficial messages into mediated texts, typically, though not always, through longer narratives in comparison to the shorter segments often used in exclusively social marketing campaigns. Popular cultural formats are used, such as songs and fictional narratives, distributed through radio, television, film, theater, and other venues. Capitalizing on audience interest in the entertaining draw of these texts, producers incorporate educational messages they hope will influence audiences. Social learning theory, building on projected positive and negative role modeling of fictional characters, guides the composition of these projects. Some of the topics addressed include fertility and gender equity, as engaged by the Indian television program Hum Log, as well as subjects of health, sexual and reproductive health, political and civic engagement, and education. Entertainment education strategies are at times combined with social marketing efforts, integrating intervention strategies in order to promote social change.

While prominent development organizations may be more likely to fund extensive social marketing and entertainment education campaigns, media advocacy projects tend to be promoted more by social movement organizations engaged in social change. Media advocacy is designed to foster change at a structural rather than individual level, through attempting to influence policy and decision-makers as well as normative climates. Media advocacy strategies are more likely to employ news media than the other approaches described above, which rely more on popular culture as a vehicle toward reaching audiences.

Some development institutions also address structural issues through investing in media systems and facilities. Rebuilding radio and television systems in countries devastated by conflict and war focuses on the need to build media infrastructures in order to bolster economic growth, democratic governance, and civic engagement. These projects tend to be expensive in nature, and thus promoted by the larger of the bilateral and multilateral development organizations. With these projects, the immediate goal is to establish the infrastructure needed for the system to function, with the intention that long-term sustainability will follow.

Whereas many of the large-scale infrastructural projects tend to be funded through the auspices of bilateral and multilateral development organizations, other media systems are engaged at a more local level, building on participatory processes. With some participatory media projects, people are involved in the creation of the texts themselves, such as through the use of video to document critical social issues. Other participatory efforts build and foster the media systems themselves, such as community radio, in addition to the production of texts. The terms activist media, citizens’ media, and community media share a concern with participation and control over media production and distribution. Community and citizens’ media assert the importance of empowerment within local venues to create cultural texts, focusing on the importance of the processes of production. Activist media identify the outcome of their strategies as a central feature, utilizing resistant strategies to oppose politically and economically privileged groups. Some of these media centers concentrate on the process of production, emphasizing participatory aspects of engagement, whereas others privilege the content produced, toward creating high quality texts designed to attract and compel particular responses. Funding structures and resources of these media centers, to the degree they rely on a concentration or multiple donors, commercial or nonprofit financing, volunteer or paid support staff, guide and constrain the possibilities for these processes and products. While their primary concern with process or outcome may diverge, these approaches connect in their interest in active participation among community members in the process of articulating problems and enacting solutions, as well as the more resistant possibilities of the strategies engaged.

Development journalism shares some of the concerns inspiring activist, citizens’, and community media, attempting to offer democratic, public spaces for political engagement. The value of development journalism lies in a need to chronicle the path of socio-economic development as well as to offer an independent critical voice. Whereas development journalism emerged through the ideas and practices of professionals in less wealthy countries, there are some critical links to a recently emerging media democracy movement within the US. Both movements are concerned with establishing venues for critical dialogue and active engagement. The media democracy movement combines an interest with democratic engagement and a concern with corporate power in media industries, whereas the development journalism model has been more centered on political concerns.

Research Methods and Approaches

Communicating for development builds on a variety of research approaches that inform the design, implementation, and assessment of projects. Formative research contributes to decisions made in the planning of communication interventions, such as the selection of problems engaged, media employed, messages devised, and audiences approached. This type of research can be used to promote participatory practices that might contribute toward more effective or efficient interventions. Monitoring research analyzes the ongoing implementation of projects, in order to understand how the project has worked in the event of future replication in other sites. Summative evaluation research allows an assessment of the consequences of the project, in order to contribute to improving future projects. The knowledge gained from summative work can inform the future development practices.

Participatory action research (PAR) resonates with the broader evaluative concern in acquiring knowledge for the sake of social gain. Research engaged in the interests of development should be considering the broader interests of society, not implemented for commercial gain or for individual accomplishment. In addition to a concern with how research is used, PAR incorporates attention to research processes, advocating the active involvement of local constituents, rather than relying on external research experts.

Many projects focus their applied research on short-term indicators of success, such as audience exposure, knowledge gained, or behavior changed. There is a critical role, however, for more long-term consequences of social change interventions. Research of this nature serves as a valuable resource, for participants in the immediate intervention as well as others who might be interested in replicating similar projects.

In addition to assessing the degree to which projects have achieved their institutionally defined goals, research might also question the content of communication interventions, in terms of the efficacy or appropriateness of the source or message, or in terms of the relationship between the mediated representations and larger social circumstances. Relying on stereotypical images of gender roles, for example, may hasten short-term acceptance of campaign objectives in children’s health or population projects, but may also curtail more progressive long-term goals toward shifting gender roles.

Although quite different in strategies implemented and theories engaged, these approaches are united in their attempts to build on communication processes and technologies toward social change. Sharing a profound concern with devastating conditions worldwide, critical scholars and advocates broaden the vision of development communication to encompass concerns with the development industry more broadly, in terms of what visions of social change and communities are articulated.

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 with 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, as an industry and as a particular institutional practice, are deconstructed and critiqued in this approach. For example, when groups are described as suffering from a particular problem, they are framed in particular ways. Women may become subject to population projects designed to lower fertility rates, in projects that reinforce the idea of contraception as a female responsibility. When women are targeted in children’s health interventions, women’s central role in infant care is confirmed. Similarly, characterizing Egyptian development problems as a natural result of too many people on too little arable land confirms dominant development approaches that privilege geography and demography as points for intervention, rather than raising political questions regarding social and economic inequality or the role of development institutions in influencing national policies. In addition, when development institutions partner with commercial organizations, profit-driven processes are legitimized as a central part of efforts designed for the public good. Development institutions and social movement organizations create and act on these social categorizations as definitions of problems and solutions.

This approach to development questions the discourse of the industry, through examinations of institutional rhetoric and practice. 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. The power to situate a problem at an individual or structural level, for example, has serious long-term implications. Providing clean water, for example, could be framed as requiring individual change (such as boiling water) or structural change. Promoting automobile safety could be positioned as necessitating individual (such as wearing a seatbelt) or regulatory (such as fining people for noncompliance with seatbelt laws) acts. The group able to define these conditions and solutions is able to control the process of strategic social change.

Some development strategies explicitly take on the goal of “empowerment,” advocating the rights and responsibilities of particular communities. Women’s empowerment in some gender programs, for example, may be facilitated through promoting gender equity in governance, education, and microenterprise. Empowerment can be conceptualized at individual, community, or even organizational levels, as a way of establishing control over social, economic, or political conditions. With reference to communications processes, empowerment might also refer to an ability to communicate one’s own stories.

Apart from the intentional objectives of particular projects to promote empowerment, one can understand development as implicitly enacting the broader power dynamics of society, engaging state as well as commercial institutions. Focusing on structure, power refers to the ability to shape the contexts within which interventions are conceived and engaged. These projects take place either through the direct coordination or the tacit approval of the state. Moreover, some projects explicitly incorporate commercial organizations in the implementation of their programs. Partnering with corporations may enhance the overall reach of a project through shared financial, material, and human resources. This form of partnership may be critiqued, though, for narrowing a vision of social change to one that benefits particular enterprises as well as more normative capitalist values.

Critical approaches to development have raised a number of other issues as well. While historically, development primarily referred to economic prosperity and growth, recent attention to issues of cultural identity, spirituality, and political governance broadens the scope of development to include non-material components of social change. Recognition of human rights, freedom of expression, reproductive rights, and other concerns contribute to a more holistic vision of development. Concerns with the spiritual aspects of development are based in part on Freire’s approach to liberation theology. But even with the emergence of these nonmaterial interests within the development community, concerns with poverty and inequity remain.

Classic conceptualizations of development have divided up nations according to their relative wealth, though not in terms of disparity in income or basic needs. These divisions generally operated on a national level, classifying some as “developed” and others as “developing” countries, or aligning countries as in first, second, third, and fourth worlds. Critical approaches again contribute toward reshaping interest in social change across and within national boundaries, recognizing pockets of elite as well as poverty stricken regardless of geographical positioning. 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.

A central concern within the genre of communication about development work is with the ideological foundations of the development industry. Attention to women, gender, and feminism helps illustrate how these issues become articulated in the course of development practice. Early concerns with women’s role in development highlighted their previous absence in discussions of agricultural and economic projects. Offering visibility then brought women’s contributions into sharper focus. Subsequent concerns with gender dynamics questioned the ideological tenets of women and development work, in that the very goals and structures of development were not questioned, but rather assumed. Instead, gender concerns recognized the ways in which gender dynamics contributed to the potential for social change. Feminist critiques further broadened the scope of ideological critique to subsume attention to the political and economic structures constraining the possibilities for material, cultural, and political gain.

Understanding development as an industry within a global context also includes recognition of social movements, particularly in terms of their potential to resist dominant global forces. Communication strategies may facilitate the process of social mobilization toward resistance, but may also serve as a target for activists attempting to increase visibility and induce sympathy for particular causes.

This vision argues for a phase of “postdevelopment,” positing 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 development, but as a channel for resistance. The potential for social movements to engage in resistance is quite varied, given the complexity of their conditions, with varied access to powerful agencies and resonance with dominant discourse. Opening our gaze to the possibilities of more resistant strategies, though, means advocating a more inclusive understanding of development and social change. Individual projects need to be analyzed not only in terms of their defined objectives, but also as they relate to broader programmatic strategies, such as structural adjustment programs of multilateral and foreign policies of bilateral institutions.

Building on interdisciplinary theories and methods, development communication advances applied work through thoughtful reflection and critique. Development communication continues to offer an increasingly holistic and far-reaching framework for engaging in dialogue and action toward social change.

References:

  • 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.
  • Hemer, O., & Tufte, T. (2006). Media and global change: Rethinking communication for development. University of Göteborg: NORDICOM.
  • Hornik, R. C. (1988). Development communication: Information, agriculture, and nutrition in the third world. New York: Longman.
  • Jacobson, T., & Servaes, J. (eds.) (1999). Theoretical approaches to participatory communication. Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press.
  • McMichael, P. (2004). Development and social change: A global perspective. Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge Press.
  • Melkote, S. R., & Steeves, H. L. (2001). Communication for development in the third world, 2nd edn. New Delhi: Sage.
  • Nedervee Pieterse, J. (2001). Development theory: Deconstructions/reconstructions. London: Sage.
  • Singhal, A., & Rogers, E. M. (1999). Entertainment-education: A communication strategy for social change. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
  • Wilkins, K. (ed.) (2000). Redeveloping communication for social change: Theory, practice and power. Boulder, CO: Rowman and Littlefield.
  • Wilkins, K., & Mody, B. (eds.) (2001). Communication, development, social change, and global disparity [special issue]. Communication Theory, 11(4).

research topics in development communication

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The Top 10 Most Interesting Communication Research Topics

Communication students usually face two problems when it comes to research. The first is identifying compelling communication research topics. The second is crafting appropriate communication research questions that are specific and relevant.

Fortunately, choosing communication research paper topics doesn’t have to be challenging. This article outlines all you need to know about selecting the right topics for your research. It also lists 10 interesting examples of communication research topics you can consider for your essay or thesis.

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What makes a strong communication research topic.

Simplicity is what makes a strong communication research topic. Your research topic should contain relevant content that gives readers a general insight into what you intend to study. However, it must be concise and free from unnecessary jargon or wordy sentences.

As a communication researcher, you must also tackle relevant subjects. Your research should contribute to existing knowledge in your field by corroborating previously known facts or drawing attention to new insights.

Tips for Choosing a Communication Research Topic

  • Find out your school’s requirements. Some schools have curriculum requirements that may streamline your communication research topic ideas. For example, your department may have a specified word count for research papers. Such a condition would prevent you from selecting a topic that would require a lengthy write-up.
  • Read industry-related surveys. If you want your research to address a specific industry pain point, industry-related surveys can help you choose a suitable topic. Some communication and media firms release their survey findings to the public. You can explore these surveys to identify the direction your research should take.
  • Visit an academic journal. Journals like The International Journal of Communication and Journal of Health Communication can provide you with inspiration for choosing your communication topic. These reliable sources cover many subjects and contain ideas that can steer you on the right path.
  • Attend conferences. Conferences are a credible source to learn about the future of communication research. This knowledge can be beneficial for choosing a topic that would attract much interest. You can visit online sources like conferenceindex.org to find a list of upcoming communication conferences.
  • Avoid over-researched topics. There is already a wealth of research available on many communication topics. As much as you can, it’s best to avoid over-researched topics. Choose topics that allow you to provide unique information rather than rehashing previously published ideas.

What’s the Difference Between a Research Topic and a Research Question?

A research topic highlights the researcher’s area of focus during research. Research questions are usually narrow enough to allow the researcher to focus on a particular sub-topic within their field. However, they are also extensive enough to allow for exploration of the chosen subject from various angles.

Research questions, on the other hand, are more succinct. They are usually derived from the chosen research topic and leave no room for ambiguity. Research questions show the purpose of the study. They clearly define the parameters being studied. They may also provide insight into the research methods employed.

How to Create Strong Communication Research Questions

Strong communication research questions must focus on addressing a particular issue. Also, they must be presented objectively. Your research question should not reflect bias or attempt to tilt the reader’s mind toward a particular direction.

Top 10 Communication Research Paper Topics

1. personality differences and their effect on negotiation techniques.

Different factors affect how individuals approach a negotiation. One of the most influential factors is personality type. A compelling research idea would be to provide insight into the most common negotiation styles applied by individuals based on their personality type.

2. The Influence of Public Relations in Building Thriving Businesses

Most highly ranked companies place a premium on maintaining their brand image through external communication. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, jobs for public relations specialists are expected to increase by 11 percent between 2020 and 2030. An examination into the impact of public relations in building a reputable business would make a great research topic.

3. Critical Approaches for Dealing With Fake News

Due to the prominent role of bloggers in contemporary society, there is a shortage of legitimate sources for information. This challenge has brought about a need to provide credible reporting and establish proper communication channels. Your research could provide a critical approach for examining the spread of fake news and suggest effective methods for building reliable communication networks.

4. Practical Communication Skills for the Development of Intimate Relationships

Interpersonal dialogue is one of the most intriguing aspects of communication. Several studies have been carried out on effective dialogue as a tool for building strong personal relationships. However, there is still a wide knowledge gap on the subject. You could carry out communication studies on practical communication skills that can facilitate the growth of relationships.

5. Email as an Effective Business Communication Tool

All emerging tech businesses use email as a corporate communication tool, according to Statista. Despite this, some still have concerns about the adverse effects of email on business-to-business communication. You could carry out research to determine the positive or negative influences of email and instant messaging on the overall work culture of organizations.

6. The Evolution of Horizontal and Downward Communication in the Business Environment

Workplace culture has changed massively in the 21st century with the advent of Zoom meetings and other non-traditional discussion channels. Your research could examine the history of communication in organizations. It could also highlight the changes in downward and horizontal communication practices in leading global businesses.

7. Regular Social Media Communication and Its Impact on Human Behavior

Social media has become a vital part of our personal life. Unfortunately, regular social media use has been linked to vices like substance abuse and several mental health challenges. A study of the effect of social networks on the attitude of viewers would make a very relevant topic for a communication research paper.

8. Techniques for Improving Virtual Communication

Since the Covid-19 pandemic, there has been a sharp increase in the use of virtual dialogue globally. Various companies have experimented with different techniques to improve the experience of virtual communication technology. Your research could compare these strategies and, if possible, offer some communication tips for virtual environments.

9. The Relationship Between Organizational Communication and Workplace Culture

Communication is one of the vital factors that affect employee performance and workplace culture. Different companies have devised effective communication strategies to eliminate organizational uncertainty. You can study these various communication processes and show how they influence employee behavior in the workplace.

10. The Growth of Instant Messaging and Its Effect on Modern Society

No one can deny that instant messaging apps have become a ubiquitous phenomenon. Presently, Whatsapp has a total of 2 billion active monthly users , according to Statista. For your research paper, you could explore the impact of this mass adoption of instant messaging apps on our overall quality of everyday life.

Other Examples of Communication Research Topics & Questions

Communication research topics.

  • Building successful mass media campaigns
  • Non-verbal communication and its impact on relationships
  • Teenage texting and its impact on relational development
  • Religious affiliation and its impact on communication
  • An in-depth analysis of communication theory

Communication Research Questions

  • What are the most effective public health communication methods for patient-centered communication?
  • What is the importance of non-verbal interpersonal communication in developing professional relationships?
  • What is the role of mass media in improving international relations?
  • What are the most effective communication styles for social marketing?
  • What is the role of social media platforms in promoting intercultural dialogue?

Choosing the Right Communication Research Topic

Although it is essential to learn different research methods , your research won’t have much impact without choosing a strong topic. So, selecting an excellent research topic is the first step in writing a noteworthy research paper on communication.

Also, selecting the right communication research paper topic can help you identify which communication discipline is right for you. If you are wondering what you can do with your communications degree , a research paper is a perfect way to get a feel of various areas of interest before you graduate.

Communication Research Topics FAQ

Qualitative questions are open-ended and aim to explore a thought or subject matter through qualitative methods. For example, with qualitative research, rather than comparing data sets, the goal is to gather and interpret data to generate a hypothesis.

Quantitative research questions usually seek to establish a cause-and-effect relationship between two or more data sets. Unlike qualitative research, quantitative research aims to confirm or test the accuracy of a hypothesis.

A thesis statement is a brief overview of the main point of a research paper. Your thesis statement should be short, straightforward, and inform the reader of what your paper is all about.

Yes, online communication master’s degree programs also involve research work. So, if you are considering getting an online master’s in communication , you must be ready to write a research paper as one of the major requirements for graduating.

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Research to Action

The Global Guide to Research Impact

Social Media

Strategic communication

7 principles for doing meaningful research communications

By Emilie Wilson , Vivienne Benson , Samantha Reddin , Ben O'Donovan-Iland , Annabel Fenton , Sophie Marsden , Roxana-Alina Vaduva and Alice Webb 25/02/2022

At IDS, we believe that evidence-based research plays a vital role in bringing about a more equitable and sustainable world. And to achieve this, we are committed to communicating research beyond academic audiences and journal articles.

Two people speaking to camera to share the impact of their research

However, we are very aware of the responsibility we have in shaping and delivering meaningful research communications. We are tackling complicated and sensitive issues and the communications process and content should reflect that. That is why we have developed 7 guiding principles to underpin our approach to research communications – throughout the lifetime of a project or programme.

1. Enabling

When it comes to engaging stakeholders and audiences in a targeted and meaningful way, the research team have relationships and networks beyond the reach of communications specialists, which need to be used. Researchers and partners share findings and messages at meetings and events, have one-to-one conversations and send direct communications, or engage with social media. These are all key communications tactics. Project support staff are also often heavily involved in engaging stakeholders and organising events. They can be seen as the ‘face’ of the project for partners, as a key point of contact.

Our role as communicators is to enable and facilitate our colleagues, partners, and networks to communicate in a way that fosters these important and individual relationships.

2. Context-specific

Most projects and programmes will set time and resources aside for scoping research questions in different contexts – be this geographical or sectoral. They will also ensure the right partners are on board with relevant local expertise. It is equally important to take this approach for successful research communications and uptake, for example looking at the media and social media landscape, mapping digital inequalities and internet penetration. There can be difficult dynamics to consider in many of the countries and settings in which we conduct our research. This can be a result of aid being increasingly targeted at fragile, violent or conflict-affected settings or the shrinking civic space.

Underpinning our work is a commitment to lead activities and work with partners to understand and remain up to date on ‘context’. This ultimately means that we create communications (often in partnership) that are sensitive to the different contexts and settings we navigate.

3. Targeted and agile

Understanding the ‘who’ is fundamental for reaching and delivering meaningful communications and engagement. Without that knowledge, we would only create general, or worse, irrelevant communications that don’t mean anything to our key stakeholders. We have connected the ‘targeted’ to keeping our communications ‘agile’ as we are committed to communications that are responsive to the times and to the needs of our stakeholders.

By embedding this approach in projects and programmes, research communications has much more impact and relevance to the context.

4. Creative

Creative communications is as simple as it sounds. It’s about keeping an open mind and identifying the approach, format and content for your communications that engages your target audience most effectively. This involves thinking not only about the content you create (i.e., through visual, digital and written) but also the spaces and ways in which you might share and engage.

Being creative in how we communicate leads to greater clarity in our messaging. It also means we are open to new and relevant opportunities that might be outside our usual approach. It also allows for flexibility and scope to bring in partners and key stakeholders into shaping our communications.

5. Data-driven

Data analysis is a key aspect of successfully communicating impact. It provides an accurate understanding of the outcomes of our communications, which helps the team make informed decisions and accurately shape communications throughout the lifetime of the project.

What can happen if you don’t take the time to analyse the impact of communications? The phrase ‘if you throw enough mud at a wall, some of it will stick’ comes to mind. Imagine that your research paper gets great engagement in Uganda – do you understand why it got engagement, who was reading it, and what they did after reading it? If you understand and document that, can you incorporate more of that into your communications approach going forward?

Data collation can range from social media metrics to engagement at an event, to testimonials. Without the proper tools and processes in place to analyse your data, you can lose on valuable opportunities to target content and drive more engagement.

6. Decolonised

When applied to development, a decolonial lens questions the underlying assumptions: that Western progress is aspirational, and that former colonies are ‘behind’ because they fall short in terms of mainstream socioeconomic indicators.

When it comes to communications, the same power hegemonies and assumed moralities influence how we communicate about (and communicate to) marginalised individuals, communities, countries, and regions. We are working towards decolonised communications by continuously questioning our approach, and ourselves: this includes being more conscious about asking who the right people are to do the communications, questioning what we show (vocabulary, images), how we put it together (our suppliers, who’s doing the talking), and who we are targeting (our audience, translation, and accessibility).

7. Accessible

Accessibility in communications is about inclusivity, making sure that everyone can access and understand research. Accessible communications encompass all media types and takes different forms depending on individual or group needs.

Accessible communication materials must be clear and understandable, easy to access and navigate, and respect people’s different needs. It is at the heart of aesthetics and design, and is included for all video, aural, digital, print and web media. People living with disability should, where possible, be involved in the production and delivery of communications materials, such as writing blogs or speaking at events; they should be heard and not spoken for.

We aim to review our accessibility methods on a regular basis to ensure they are working and improving; this includes getting feedback from people living with disabilities.

This article was first published on the IDS Opinions blog .

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178 Communication Research Topics For Your Paper

178 Communication Research Topics

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:

Top Interpersonal Communication Research Topics

  • Evaluate the different relational patterns of interaction theory
  • How to achieve coordinated management of meaning
  • Discuss the fundamentals of pedagogical communication
  • How does technology relate to interpersonal communication?
  • Key constructs of openness and closeness
  • Establishing identities in the identity management theory
  • Evaluate the contribution of interpersonal communication scholars
  • How mental representations influence how people interpret information
  • Conceptualizing the process of social interaction
  • Discuss the various behavioral interaction patterns among siblings
  • Why do individuals modify their communicative behavior?
  • Describe why new environments present a challenge for most people to communicate effectively
  • The role of eye contact and gestures in interpersonal communication
  • Varying effects of nonverbal and verbal acts of interpersonal communication
  • Effects of different cultures on interpersonal communication strategies

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.

communication research topics

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
  • Print media as an awareness tool in the community
  • Role of radio in curbing violence in the marginal areas
  • How broadcasting media is effective in promoting the use of contraceptives
  • Role of social media in preventing Ebola virus spread
  • Impact of cartoon Programmes on aggressiveness behavior
  • The media as a tool for enhancing profitability
  • Mass media and the reduction of maternal deaths
  • How compelling is drama as an awareness tool?

General Communication Research Topics

  • What is the history of communication
  • Theories of communication
  • Social networks in the modern world
  • Role of bloggers in social media
  • Media censorship
  • Impact of the freedom of speech on media
  • The growth of video blogs
  • How accurate is news from the media?
  • Media as a watchdog
  • Media and terrorism
  • How the media has evolved
  • New communication technologies
  • What is journalism ethics?
  • Media and politics
  • Virtual reality in the media
  • How media differs in style and types
  • The growth of international journalism
  • Why is radio still popular?
  • Decrypting media messages
  • How are media laws effective in ensuring credible reporting?

Communication Research Topics Just For You

Communication is an exciting and fascinating field to venture into for students. The beauty is that media is evolving every day. Therefore, there is a wide range of topics to choose from quickly.

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The Oxford Handbook of Networked Communication

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34 The Past and Future of Communication Research

Sandra González-Bailón is an Associate Professor at the Annenberg School for Communication, and affiliated faculty at the Warren Center for Network and Data Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA.

Brooke Foucault Welles is an Associate Professor in the department of Communication Studies and core faculty of the Network Science Institute at Northeastern University, Boston, MA.

  • Published: 09 October 2018
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This chapter offers an overview of the theoretical ideas that helped consolidate the field of communication and relates those ideas to the current media environment, where digital technologies and online networks mediate most exposure to information. The chapter offers a summary of research achievements and future challenges through the lens of the work discussed in the six parts that form this Handbook . Special attention is given to the question of how new data sources and recent methodological developments can help communication evolve as a field and adapt its research agenda to the demands of digital data, both in terms of analyzing that data with the right theoretical motivations and protecting the privacy of users to cement trust and a sustainable research agenda.

1. Introduction

The world has changed much since the 1940s, the decade during which communication grew institutional roots in the United States and adopted the academic contours that still define the field today. Those were the days of mass communication, when the Office of Radio Research became the Bureau of Applied Social Research, with Paul Lazarsfeld at the helm. During his tenure, Lazarsfeld put on the table the main theoretical concerns that drove communication research in the decades that followed ( Katz, 1987 ). Prominent among those concerns was the question of media effects, that is, the extent to which the media are capable of shaping the minds of the people—or in the words of Walter Lippmann, whether the media have the ability to manufacture consent ( Lippmann, 1922 ). What Lazarsfeld and his team uncovered was the importance of primary groups, “represented both as a network of information and a source of social pressure” ( Katz, 1987 , p. 25). Their research suggested that these groups, composed of peers, were more influential than newspapers. This finding was seen as “a good thing for democracy” because it signaled that people could “fend off” media influence ( Katz, 1987 , p. 25). More than seven decades later, the importance of peers and primary groups vis-à-vis the media is still the focus of much research—as is the question of whether peer influence is good or bad for democracy. However, the context of the debate has changed drastically: digital technologies have morphed the domains of interpersonal communication and broadcasting to the point of making them unrecognizable by the old standards.

In many other respects, however, the world has not changed much since the era of mass communication. At a time when social media are under increased scrutiny for their role in the spread of misinformation and “fake news” ( Allcott & Gentzkow, 2017 ; Guess, Nyhan, & Reifler, 2017 ), we often forget that similar debates also took place during the golden age of radio. After all, radio airwaves were the channel that in the late 1930s allowed Orson Welles to broadcast the news of an alien invasion, a dramatization of H. G. Wells’s The War of the Worlds that was not recognized as fiction by some audience members who succumbed to panic as they listened ( Schwartz, 2015 ). After the incident, policy measures were taken to keep news broadcasters from misleading the public (even though, in the end, the episode was more consequential for the discussions that followed than for the actual level of collective hysteria it triggered). These policy measures were “based on the idea that the people…owned the airwaves, and that the public had a right to be informed” ( Schwartz, 2015 , p. 227). The policies remained in place until the late 1980s, when broadcasters were given “the freedom to tailor news content toward certain demographics, in order to maximize their ratings and appeal to advertisers” ( Schwartz, 2015 , p. 227). This policy change meant that, from then on, segmented audiences could get customized or slanted information. So while the ability to personalize content might have reached a new level of sophistication in our current era of filter bubbles ( Pariser, 2011 ) and polarized social media ( Sunstein, 2017 ), the underlying phenomenon carries echoes of times past. The forces that drive communication, in other words, have remained remarkably unchanged across various waves of technological development.

What connects this era with previous eras is how technologies underpin the social architecture that allows information to flow. The dynamics of information flow are consequential to the extent that they can shape shifts in opinion patterns or facilitate the emergence of new forms of organization, as many of the chapters in this Handbook have discussed. This emphasis on the architecture that facilitates communication does not undermine the value of the message or the impact messages have on opinions and behavior (and many other chapters included in this Handbook pay deserved attention to these elements of the equation; see, for example, chapter 16 on the mechanisms that make ideas more likely to go viral or chapter 21 on text production in the context of political campaigns). Instead, the emphasis on the architecture of information diffusion, or networks, highlights the role that technologies play in channeling communication and determining the reach of the content spread. It is to this hidden architecture—and to how it interacts with messages and transmission mechanisms—that we point when we talk about “networked communication.” This epithet gave us the title to this Handbook because it identifies the common thread that connects the six parts organizing the chapters; but also, and perhaps most importantly, because it helps us emphasize the theoretical value of conceptualizing communication, and its effects, as an ever-shifting network of actions and reactions.

2. Revisiting the Principles of Networked Communication

In the introduction to this volume, we wrote that “networked communication represents a new direction in a research agenda that centers on the complexity, interconnectedness, and dynamism of communication practices”. Now, through the lens of the detailed discussion offered by the 32 preceding chapters of how that statement materializes in a range of substantive domains, we can make an additional assertion: networks are more than just a convenient metaphor. Networks offer a theoretical language and an analytical toolset that allow us to examine many of the communication dynamics that for decades remained hidden or imperfectly mapped. This theoretical language, we believe, cannot be developed in isolation from the research coming out of other disciplines – especially those that are also looking into communication dynamics as they manifest in the digital realm.

The background of our contributors includes computer science, political science, sociology, human-computer interaction, physics, epidemiology, and information systems. Their work connects with communication research in a space that, as discussed in the Introduction , is already consolidating under the name of computational social science ( Lazer et al., 2009 ; Watts, 2007 ). Our main goal with this Handbook was to offer a tangible space in which some of these recent developments were brought together to make their convergence explicit as it relates to the research agenda of communication as a field. This, of course, begs the question of how, exactly, communication benefits from that exchange, or why important theoretical developments will follow from it. The purpose of this concluding chapter is to directly address those questions and explain, in turn, why the research agenda represented in this Handbook falls in line with the questions that motivated the institutional development of communication as a field.

One important element that sets this era of networked communication apart from previous eras (and certainly from the mass media era of the 1940s) is that the same technologies that channel communication can also be used to analyze its dynamics and effects. For example, we can trace the origin and pathways of information cascades (see chapters 4 and 5 ); uncover organizational dynamics through digital footprints (see chapters 8 and 9 ); map spatial and mobility patterns as they relate to collective action and urban landscapes (see chapters 24 and 26 ); or identify the role that emotions play in political communication and deliberation (see chapters 18 and 19 ). This type of analysis, which relies on observational data generated in natural environments but also on the use of new measurement instruments enabled by the digital revolution, was simply precluded by older technologies. Of course, these new possibilities also create new challenges, for instance, when trying to preserve the ethics of social research (considered, from different angles, in the five chapters that form part VI ); but the opportunities to develop our theories of why communication offers a backbone to so many dimensions of social life are many and exciting.

Digital technologies have created new research frontiers that we have just started to explore. They have also created a new media environment. It is not only that networks are now more pervasive, or that “interpersonal and mass communication are increasingly intertwined” ( Neuman, 2016 , p. 1); it is also that the connections between sources and audiences can be mapped in ways that allow us to understand how mediated communication weaves interdependence—the networks of action and reaction to which we referred above. One of the core theories in the field, the two-step flow model ( Katz, 1957 ; Katz & Lazarsfeld, 1955 ), suggests that interpersonal communication is crucial to understanding the reverberating effects of mass media. Until recently, those reverberating waves could only be depicted through broad strokes; the theory was for the most part speculative until reliable ways to connect survey and observational data were developed. We can now reconstruct the temporal and aggregate dynamics of peer-to-peer communication with much more refined devices; as a consequence, we can reconsider the scope of mass communication theory through a new empirical light (see, e.g., chapters 3 and 20 ). Improvements in measurement inevitably lead to advances in theory, and today we are in a position to revisit the intuitions that motivated Lazarsfeld and his colleagues with richer data and stronger analytical tools. Not only that; we can also revisit the many other theories and models of communication that followed those foundational ideas, as the chapters in this Handbook show.

3. Theoretical Developments

So what is the theoretical gain of focusing on the principles of networked communication? The most important is that it forces us to unpack old analogies of how communication operates to uncover the observed mechanisms through which news and information, as they travel from person to person, exert influence on a large scale (for a more detailed discussion of this base statement see González-Bailón, 2017 ; many of the ideas discussed in this section draw from this book). When Gabriel Tarde talked in the late 1800s about the laws of imitation and the difference between publics and crowds, he was setting down the foundations of how we think about diffusion and collective behavior today—ideas that shaped Lazarsfeld’s approach to what he called “the discipline of communications research” and, more specifically, his two-step flow theory ( Clark, 1969 ; Katz, 1987 ; Katz, Ali, & Kim, 2014 ). At the time, all Tarde could do was elucidate through the use of metaphors how social influence underpinned the behavior of publics and crowds. And yet the impressionistic depictions of the social world he presented in his writings responded to objective and radical changes in how communication took place, changes that were introduced by the technological revolution of the era: the telegraph.

The telegraph, and the form of mass newspapers it allowed to flourish, made it possible for a new, powerful type of audience to arise in the form of “the public”: a modern phenomenon that detached audiences from a shared time and space and allowed them to exist as a distributed form of collective attention synchronized around common issues ( van Ginneken, 1992 ). The telegraph, however, did not allow mapping shifts in those collective dynamics as, say, social media allow us to do today; there was no obvious way to monitor that activity, to store that information, or to analyze it. It was not even obvious how to make the most of the postal system to track shifts in public attention, something about which Tarde complained explicitly because he thought it would be interesting to have access to “statistics of conversation” as compiled through letter exchange ( Clark, 1969 , p. 310). In his mind, those letters created important pathways through which the public gained some of its strength; they allowed individuals to coordinate their attention through the many long-range ties that postal activity helped maintain. The streams of influence that gave society its lifeblood (a common metaphor at the time) were certainly felt, but they remained intangible for most research purposes.

The attempts by Lazarsfeld and his team to monitor interpersonal communication through surveys were an influential step toward making more palpable what was perceived but largely unmeasurable: the part that people played in channeling and amplifying mass media effects ( Katz & Lazarsfeld, 1955 ). In this conception, as in Tarde’s, the public is not composed of isolated receptors of information but of actors embedded in large structures of interdependence that are woven and rewoven constantly—that is, the interpersonal networks through which messages resonate and information flows. The ability to map those networks, however, was highly limited by the measurement instruments available at the time. Lazarsfeld and his team used a version of the name generator to elicit data on personal ties as recalled by their respondents. This approach involved asking people about whom they talked to, an obvious way to gather Tarde’s statistics of conversation but based on subjective recollection as opposed to objective trails like those left by, say, letter exchange. In addition, this information allowed assessing the relative popularity of specific individuals, but not how their networks fit with other networks to assemble the larger structures that give backbone and muscle to the public.

We have since advanced far in our measurements and conceptualization of networks—and that is due, in great measure, to the digital revolution ( Christakis & Fowler, 2009 ; Mejova, Weber, & Macy, 2015 ; Watts, 2003 ). Digital technologies have not only improved our ability to track and analyze networked communication; they have also changed “the very nature of our object of study,” as Delli Carpini writes in his introduction to part V . Fortunately, he states, “the networked information environment (and crucially, the digital traces it leaves)…has the potential to greatly increase the variation in communication content we can observe, our ability to accurately measure this content and its reception in often unobtrusive and more contextualized ways, and our ability to demonstrate effects and the conditions under which these effects are met.” In other words, we can now conduct better research because there is more observational data on the expression, dynamics, and consequences of communication.

Today, most forms of mediated communication can be reconstructed as networks that help us trace the origins and effects of information exchange. The chapters in this Handbook have considered some of the theoretical questions that arise around the study of those networks: How do network structure and evolution affect diffusion processes (part I )? How does the emergence of networks in online spaces change organizational dynamics (part II )? How do online networks complement or displace more traditional structures of support, and how do they amplify media effects (part III )? How do online interactions change the dynamics of political communication and behavior (part IV )? How does geographical space mediate the formation of ties, and how do digital technologies help overcome spatial constraints to rewire networks (part V )? And what are the ethical dilemmas that arise from the uses we can make (for research and practice) of networked data (part VI )? What all the preceding chapters have in common is the use of digital technologies to obtain novel empirical insights about why networked communication is so consequential for social life. They help realize, in other words, the research vision that Tarde put forward as he tried to make sense of an older technological revolution.

4. The Virtues of Interdisciplinary Work

Better measurements lead to better theories because they encourage us to sharpen the methodological tools we use to dissect and understand the world. The analysis of digital traces and the vast amounts of social data that can be now parsed and sifted have prompted researchers to look over the fence of their disciplinary boundaries. Computer and data scientists look for guidance on how to theorize about human behavior, and social scientists look for aid in how to analyze new sources of data. Another important element the preceding chapters have in common is that they do not necessarily operate within the disciplinary boundaries that have delimited the field of communication since the 1940s.

Around the same time that Lazarsfeld and his team published their first research on interpersonal communication and media effects, another influential article was published by Claude Shannon under the title “A Mathematical Theory of Communication,” later transformed into a book ( Shannon & Weaver, 1949 ). Shannon’s approach followed the legacy of information theory to unpack the mathematical building blocks of communication and, subsequently, the hidden probabilistic structure of language. This work would ultimately lead to developments in cryptography, natural language processing, and computational linguistics, but at the time there were very few bridges connecting the way in which these engineers and emerging communication scholars thought about their work. These bridges are still scarce today, but luckily they are being erected in increasing numbers. This type of collaboration has already led to the adoption of methodologies like machine learning and large-scale text analysis, which in turn are empowering the type of research that communication scholars can do in realms such as health and political behavior (see, e.g., chapters 15 , 21 , and 22 ).

We are just starting to create a common language and research standards that can be used across disciplinary domains ( Salganik, 2017 ). One of the realizations that have surfaced from this digital revolution is that “the scholarly research paradigm is lagging far behind the relentless pace of technical change” ( Neuman, 2016 , p. 2). New computational methods and modeling choices are helping us catch up with the empirical demands of digital data. However, as Lazer writes in his introduction to part I , “there is yet so much to be done even in this territory”; to the extent that digital data are often the “digital refuse” of modern technologies, a careful mapping “between behavior and relevant social science constructs” is necessary, but often problematic.

Digital technologies have not dissolved the truth contained in the old adage that “not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted” ( Lohr, 2015 , p. 10). And yet much in the same way as new technologies have encouraged us to think about complex network dynamics, “we can step back and think about knowledge as a networked system, with connections across theories and disciplines providing a more stable base upon which to innovate,” as Ellison writes in her introduction to part III . Knowledge, too, can be conceived of as a structure connecting ideas, and interdisciplinary work can only improve the density and quality of those connections. Developing a common framework for theory building, with translatable research standards, depends on the existence of those ties bridging disciplinary domains. The chapters in this Handbook are an example of how to develop that type of work.

5. Current and Future Challenges

It is difficult to build theory around phenomena that cannot be observed, but the vast amounts of data digital technologies have made available present an equally relevant problem: not all observations are useful for the purposes of research, and the size of data sets does not necessarily ensure higher quality in the information contained. Theory is still the safest guide to determine if the slice of the world we can see through the digital lens is informative enough. Issues like representation and bias are relevant to understanding the limits of digital research, as the various chapters in this Handbook have considered from their respective empirical corners. Also relevant is the question of how to link different forms of communication so that the interplay of online and offline behavior can be more accurately mapped. An important aspect of this problem is how to incorporate geography and space into the analysis. As Marvin notes in her introduction to part IV , rather than render space irrelevant, digital technologies have made it even more salient; most digital research, she writes, is “locally entangled at every point with physical bodies, political cultures, and mobile communication systems.” And as with analog mapping, higher resolution is not always a virtue. Finding the right approach to the fine-grained landscape of digital traces requires a trade-off between detail and efficacy.

Related to this problem is the question of how to go from description to explanation. The changes triggered by the irruption of digital networks have been so drastic in so many domains that much research has taken a descriptive approach to those changes. Statistical methods to infer patterns and yield predictions using large-scale digital data are becoming increasingly powerful, but there is still much work to be done both in developing new methods and in making them more conventional in the research agenda of communication as a field. An epistemological issue that comes up as part of this discussion is the relationship between data-driven and theory-driven research. Rather than alternatives, these two approaches should complement each other, although it is true that data-driven research often takes priority because of the new sources of large-scale data and the analytical tools developed to sift through those data. The question of who has access to those sources of information immediately follows. The cloistering of data within private companies, non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) that prevent data sharing among researchers, as well as ongoing changes to API access that limit or, in some cases, completely eliminate researchers’ access to data challenge the entire research enterprise.

Transparency and the ability to reproduce findings are essential features of cumulative research, but these are principles that are difficult to enforce if access to data becomes restricted on proprietary grounds. Moreover—and less frequently discussed—limitations risk creating a hierarchy of researchers who can access data easily, less easily, or not at all. When access to data hinge on things that advantage already priviledged researchers and insititutions—including internship relationships, limited data grants, and high fees to purchase data—we directly feed the elitism and exclusivity that has hampered diversity in science in the past. As we argue in the Introduction , research benefits from removing barriers to access that limit diversity and, as a result, the quality of our collective work.

Privacy concerns are another legitimate reason access to data is often restricted. Those concerns are usually expressed in terms of violated expectations, as Hancock explains in his introduction to part VI . Improving our understanding of how people conceptualize technologies, he argues, can help us understand how they engage in the data-generating process and therefore how to avoid violating their expectations when designing research. Likewise, the expanding use of artificial intelligence and machine learning to make predictions that can inform decision-making raises some risks in the perpetuation of bias and structural discrimination, which is of particular relevance when using research to inform interventions, for example in the design of targeted campaigns. Of course the core of the challenge is not really new; bad research has always informed poor decision-making, and the use of artificial intelligence and other computational tools is no exception to this rule. However, insofar as algorithms are perceived as “objective,” researchers must take extra care to unpack and critically evaluate biases in the data driving our interventions.

One of the new avenues through which networked communication can exert mass influence has taken the form of algorithmic interventions, that is, bots or software designed to seed and spread messages ( Ferrara, Varol, Davis, Menczer, & Flammini, 2016 ) or encourage some sort of behavioral response ( Munger, 2016 ; Shirado & Christakis, 2017 ). These artificial actors are being deployed to shape the internal logic of networked communication: to the extent that they are centrally controlled by organized interests, they can redirect information flows according to some politically motivated design. This seems to counter Lazarsfeld’s idea that peer influence helps people “fend off” media influence, or the idea that peer discussions are a good antidote to media manipulation; when some of the “peers” in the networks we are exposed to are not humans but actors executing a preprogrammed script, the logic of decentralized communication changes drastically. It is too early to determine the consequences of having these artificial actors shaping the way in which information circulates online, although some evidence has started to accumulate across political contexts (e.g., Ferrara, 2017 ; Sukal, Sanovich, Bonneau, & Tucker, 2017 ). Future research should look more systematically at how software programmed to seem human shapes the dynamics of attention allocation when inserted in online networks. Future research should also consider whether other forms of algorithmic intervention result in networked communication evolving into a hybrid model of mass influence built in under the appearance of peer effects.

Scholars are still working to understand how to best deal with these challenges. The task will require an ongoing conversation and research designed to offer cumulative insights on ever-changing technologies. As the chapters in this Handbook show, the advantages that digital data offer and the new methodological possibilities of computational tools are already palpable. Understanding the effects that technological changes have on communication dynamics and the effects that these in turn have on social phenomena and individual behavior is a long-distance race, with no clear finish line. We will move faster in that endeavor if we integrate the knowledge that comes out of different disciplinary efforts, especially when they converge around the same questions. This volume has offered an overview of some of the most exciting developments in digital research arising at this intersection of disciplinary approaches. Surely this is just the starting point of many more exciting advances to come. The preceding chapters are all intended to offer an entryway to those developments.

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    Development communication is seen as a social process, intentionally designed to seek a common understanding among all the participants of a development initiative, in a manner required to bring ...

  14. Communicating the Impact of Communication for Development: Recent

    The UN Millennium Development Goals call for not only greater financial commitment in international assistance programs but also innovative strategies to tackle the serious economic, health, education, and other basic human rights problems in the developing world. This paper is organized as follows: Chapter 2 is an overview of key theoretical models of development communication. Chapter 3 ...

  15. 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 ...

  16. 100 Trendy Communication Research Topics

    100 Communication Research Topics. For your convenience, we've grouped 100 topics into 10 popular categories. Remember that you can choose from these topics or topics provided by your professor and receive a ready-made custom research paper using EduBirdie research paper online help for communication research topics.

  17. Communication Research Topics

    A study of the effect of social networks on the attitude of viewers would make a very relevant topic for a communication research paper. 8. Techniques for Improving Virtual Communication. Since the Covid-19 pandemic, there has been a sharp increase in the use of virtual dialogue globally.

  18. 7 principles for doing meaningful research communications

    1. Enabling. When it comes to engaging stakeholders and audiences in a targeted and meaningful way, the research team have relationships and networks beyond the reach of communications specialists, which need to be used. Researchers and partners share findings and messages at meetings and events, have one-to-one conversations and send direct ...

  19. 178 Communication Research Topics To Impress The Professor

    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.

  20. The Highs in Communication Research: Research Topics With High Supply

    The Highs in Communication Research: Research Topics With High Supply, High Popularity, and High Prestige in High-Impact Journals. Chung-hong Chan ... Salge T. O. (2016). Mapping the topic landscape of JPIM, 1984-2013: In search of hidden structures and development trajectories. Journal of Product Innovation Management, 33(6), 726-749. https ...

  21. 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.

  22. The Past and Future of Communication Research

    Special attention is given to the question of how new data sources and recent methodological developments can help communication evolve as a field and adapt its research agenda to the demands of digital data, both in terms of analyzing that data with the right theoretical motivations and protecting the privacy of users to cement trust and a ...

  23. Sustainability

    Also, open innovation practices could facilitate SMEs to take advantage of industrial revolutions with lower costs in technology, research and development, and sustainable development. Thus, further research on their perceived "Industry 5.0" suitability for sustainable growth will bring more insights on the readiness of seafood processing SMEs.

  24. Advancing Journalism and Communication Research: New Concepts, Theories

    Although many have called for further theoretical development of journalism and communication research, the meanings of these calls vary widely and come from many different traditions and perspectives (Craig, 2007; Levy & Gurevitch, 1993; van Dijck, 2013; Waisbord, 2019; Zelizer, 1993).