Define the Field of Communication

As we talked about in class for the past few weeks, it is becoming increasingly hard to argue that the field of Communication is a field and providing current research. This lack of a clear and definable position of the field has made it a subject of great focus as many scholars strive to give Communication a definition. This week, the collection of articles provide only a small look into a collection of scholars providing a definition of Communication, each providing their own unique contribution to the definition. This leads me to my argument of are you really even able to define the field of Communication if the field itself provides a variety of definitions.

Robert T. Craig through his articles “Communication Theory as a Field” and “Pragmatism in the Field of Communication Theory” provides the idea of defining Communication through the lens of the theories that the field provides. Herman Cohen, who has created what can be considered as the best and most complete history to the field, brings emphasis on the importance of the research that the field has provided in his article “The Development of Research in Speech Communication: A Historical Perspective.” W. Barnett Pearce provides the insight on the application of scientific methodology into the field in only recent years in his article called, “Scientific Research Methods in Communication Studies and Their Implications for Theory and Research.” The final perspective that is provided this week is Bruce E. Gronbeck. Gronbeck provides the connecting article in which he explores not only whether or not the field of Communication fits into the field of humanities, but how does this field fit into the realm of academia in his article, “Is Communication a Humanities Disciplin...

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...ld of Communication that they need their own degree? My answer is simple, the field of Communication provides necessary skills in the sharing of ideas that can be applied to a variety of fields. Sure people with a degree in Communication my not be able to make ground breaking research in microbiology, but they can could possibly find a way to better help those in the field communicate their ideas to a larger audience. Think of defining the field of Communication as a field that allows for people to better understand how to communicate their points of view in a variety of ways. However, this is only my interpretation of the field. If there was one unified definition of the field of Communication, there would be more similarities between degrees in the field of Communication across a variety of universities and scholars would not be struggling to define the field.