Task Force on the National Research Council Study
Definitions of Subfields for the Faculty Questionnaire
Subfields are a faculty member’s “primary specialization” or the area of the field in which they focus their teaching and research. The discipline of Communication has a wide array of specializations. Based on categories in the Department of Education’s Instructional Programs Code (IPEDS), The National Research Council will use three subfields on the Faculty Questionnaire — Communication Studies, Mass Communication, and Speech and Rhetorical Studies. Faculty can specify more than one of these three, if it applies. These categories will also be used in additional analyses once NRC has released its data on CD Rom. Definitions of these subfields are listed below:
Communication Studies: Scientific and critical research on human communication, including cognitive, interpersonal, health, organizational, public, and intercultural communication. Communication studies, both quantitative and qualitative, in various social, cultural, and political contexts.
Mass Communication: Research on media institutions, media texts, media effects, and media use to produce and transform cultures. This category also includes research on the use, regulation, and effects of telecommunication and technologies, including radio, television, telephony, internet, and convergence studies. Research in the areas of advertising, public relations, and journalism also fit into this subfield.
Speech and Rhetorical Studies: Research that focuses on political and social rhetoric, audience analysis, public address, civil discourse, argumentation, rhetorical criticism, and rhetorical theory.
