100 Communication Research Paper Topics

This list of almost 100 communication research paper topics has been divided in 14 basic categories, following a number of different approaches to studying communication:

the different processes that people typically use to accomplish the task of communicating with each other (such as message creation, information processing, and identity construction);
the forms and types of communication (such as conversation, public speaking, interviewing, and decision making) that are commonly encountered in everyday life;
the characteristics (such as strategy, style, and the interplay of verbal and nonverbal codes) that a communicator must consider in creating messages; and
how communication changes depending on the nature of the relationships (such as familial, work, and romantic) that individuals build and maintain through these various processes, forms, and types and carefully or not so carefully constructed messages.

To these, we have added research paper topics on factors that influence how we communicate (such as gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and globalization), as well as a number of topics that could be considered to be both challenges and opportunities for communicators (such as communication competence, sexual harassment, deception, and bias).

Almost 100 Communication Research Paper Topics

The Discipline of Communication

Approaches to the Study of Communication

Key Processes of Communication

Forms and Types of Communication

Key Characteristics of Messages

The Interplay of Verbal and Nonverbal Codes
Rhetorical Style
Genre
Dramatic Elements in Messages
Rhetorical Exigency, Strategy, and Argumentation
Social Support

Key Communication Relationships

Spouses and Other Intimate Partnerships
Children, Parents, and Grandparents
Friends
Dating and Romantic Partners
Supervisors, Subordinates, and Coworkers
Social Groups, Workgroups, and Teams
Students and Teachers
Patients, Doctors, and Other Helping Relationships

Factors Affecting Communication

Gender
Ethnicity
Sexual Orientation
Culture
Risk
Freedom of Expression
Globalization

Challenges and Opportunities for Communication

Ethical and Unethical Communication
Competent and Incompetent Communication
Unwanted Communication, Aggression, and Abuse
Sexual Harassment
Deception
Bias

Media as Communication

Traditional and New Media
Media Portrayals and Representations
Media Uses and Gratifications
Agenda Setting and Framing
Cultivation and Media Exposure
Virtual Reality and Presence
Computer-Mediated Communication
Group Decision Support Systems
Media Literacy

Communication as a Profession

Professional Communication Practices

Journalism

The Idea of Journalism
The Changing Nature of “News”
Reporting, Story Development, and Editing
Investigative Journalism
Magazine and Feature Writing
Photojournalism
Broadcast Journalism
New Media Journalism
Media Law in the United States
Journalism Ethics
International Journalism
The Business of Journalism

Public Relations

History and Concepts of Public Relations
Theories and Effects of Public Relations
Public Relations Research
Ethics in Public Relations
Issues Management
Campaign Design and Management
Crisis Communication
Political Communication
International Public Relations
The Business of Public Relations

Advertising

History of Advertising
Research in Advertising Campaign Design
Creative Development and Copywriting in Advertising Campaigns
Media Planning for Advertising Campaigns
Integrated Marketing Communication
Social Marketing Campaigns
International Advertising
The Business of Advertising

Media Management

Media Economics and Ownership
Media Policy and Regulation
Radio and Television Programming
Media Convergence

The word “communication” is descended from the Latin noun communicatio, which meant a sharing or imparting. From the root communis (common, public), it has no relation to terms such as union or unity, but rather is linked to the Latin munus (duty, gift), and thus has relatives in such terms as common, immune, mad, mean, meaning, municipal, mutual, and German terms such as Gemeinschaft (community) and Meinung (opinion). Its root senses have to do with change, exchange, and goods possessed by more than one person; the Latin verb communicare means to make common.

The discipline of communication has grown in popularity from the time professors of journalism and speech decided, in the mid-1960s, that the term communication was an excellent general descriptor for the theory and research that each group aspired to create. Over time, the two groups grew closer together and began to recognize significant overlap in their theoretical and research interests, but there were also differences in their traditions that kept them apart. While both groups agreed that communication is a practical discipline, journalism professors focused a great deal of their attention on the education of media professionals. Speech professors, on the other hand, often were more oriented to the liberal arts and valued the fact that communication could be approached from a variety of traditions, including the arts, humanities, social sciences, and even the sciences.

A key term in modern communication research, however, is convergence. Not only are media and technology converging with each other to produce new means of communicating but also individuals are increasingly using both new and existing communication tools to create new forms of communication. And this convergence forces the various “camps” within the communication discipline to draw on each other’s theories and research methods to keep up with explaining the rapidly changing communication environment. This convergence of ideas and theories provides a space to challenge conventional ways of thinking about the communication discipline.

Media research paper topics are the centerpiece of the second part of the list. The study of media has been somewhat more organized than has been the study of the communication process more generally, and there are a number of widely recognized theories of media as communication for which considerable knowledge has been generated through various research studies. The list of selected research paper topics presents a number of these theories and approaches (such as agenda setting, cultivation, uses, and gratifications), as well as topics related to how people use technology in the communication process.

The remainder of communication research paper topics list focuses on communication as a profession and the various professional courses of study in the communication discipline: journalism, public relations, advertising, and media management. The curricula for these programs of study contain courses that are commonly taught across much of the United States, and so we tended to organize the research paper topics in these areas around those common course titles.