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Introduction: Has Communication Research Made a Difference?

There is little doubt that the communication discipline has generated a sizeable body of research. For instance, the National Communication Association (NCA) sponsors 10 journals, with the oldest dating back to 1915 (Quarterly Journal of Speech). In addition, the International Communication Association (ICA) presents five journals as well as a variety of other publications such as Communication Yearbook and the International Encyclopedia of Communication. Beyond the numerous publications sponsored by international and US regional associations, there is also a wide range of independent publications that present scholarship from the communication field (e.g., Communication Research, Management Communication Quarterly). And, a quick scan of any university library database will point to abundance of books, edited volumes, conference proceedings, and beyond. Given this sizeable body of literature, one would certainly think that at least some of this research has utility beyond its appearance in our discipline’s journals. Yet, a variety of initiatives reveal a level of historical and contemporary unease about whether this research is producing an impact in communication practices and outcomes. The Journal of Applied Communication Research was launched with the suggestion that it contain research that is socially relevant and ‘‘will help bring about communico-social change’’ (Hickson, 1973, p. 3). More recently, the Communication Currents web magazine was developed to make communication scholarship ‘available in a form understandable and usable for broad audiences’ (NCA, 2008, p. 1). And informal commentary on forums such as the Communication Research and Theory Network (CRTNET) raise additional concerns about the discipline’s impact when, for example, media outlets fail to recognize the our discipline’s expertise about topics that are clearly communication-centered phenomena (e.g., Corman, 2008). Thus, the