Institutional Sources of Intellectual Poverty in Communication Research

PETERS, J. D. (1986). INSTITUTIONAL SOURCES OF INTELLECTUAL POVERTY IN COMMUNICATION RESEARCH. Communication Research, 13(4), 527–559.

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Key Point

Explore communication field's failure to define its mission, subject matter, and relation to society in a coherent way. Communication has become institutionally (as department in universities) defined and thriving instead of intellectually defined.

Development of Communication and Social Research

1. Professional Social Science and American Democracy (first third of 20th century): Led by Dewey, social science is an essential part of modern democracy. It provides a way for society to clearly see itself and is used as social engineering to achieve ideal society.

2. The Rise of Big Socia Science (1930s onwards): Exemplified by Lazarsfeld, social science as a way to manage social order and understanding the impact of emerging medias.

Source of Intellectual Poverity

1. Institutionalization: In 1950s and 1960s, communication become policy science in a sense that it is used to defend democracy against communism. The Berelson-Schramm debate in a sense is Berelson claiming that the communication as an intellectual field is dead, and Schramm claim it has institutional vitality.

2. The use of Information Theory: In 1950s and 1960s, the field start to adopt the verbiage from information theory. It "illustrates the victory of institution over intellect in the formation of the field, because the theory was used almost exclusively for purposes of legitimation".

3. Self-Reflection as Institutional Apologetics: Most of self reflections are used to justify institutional existence instead of striving for theorical coherence.

State Like Behavior

Four state-like behavior as a result of the institutional triumph over intellect

1. Founding faters as historical anachronism: When looking at founding fathers like Lasswell, Lewin, Hovland, and Lazarsfeld. Their commonality is the style of research instead of intellectually related to communication.

2. Irredentist impulse: Claim territory currently occupied by other places

3. Philosophic incoherence

4. Sovereignty over a fixed territory: Communication's sub fields "do not designate different approaches to a common object, but very distinct kinds of inquiry".

Professionalization

Students are not gaining public recognition. i.e.: no "communicationist"

Future

Two options: radical surgery on the field or came up with a unifying grand theory.