III International Russian Communication Association Conference-2006
"COMMUNICATION AND (RE) MAKING SOCIAL WORLDS"
(Communication-2006)
PANEL PROPOSAL 1
THE ROLE OF APPLIED COMMUNICATION RESEARCH
IN (RE) MAKING SOCIAL WORLDS
Applied communication research has become an increasingly popular component within the communication discipline. By definition, applied communication research seeks to utilize communication theories and research methods in the study of practical, real-world situations and problems. Examples of applied communication research can be found in a wide range of contexts, including:
- health communication (i.e., studying doctor-patient interactions)
- crisis communication
- public relations (case studies of particular promotion or marketing campaigns),
- political communication (studying an effectiveness of a particular electoral campaign)
- family communication
- computer-mediated communication (i.e., what it takes to develop and maintain an NGO site, such as the RCA site, and what is its role in an NGO's organizational development)
- customer service relations
- organizational communication (such as exploring communication climate and how it affects a high turnover in a particular organization)
- intercultural communication (analyses of academic, business, or educational joint projects, specific case studies of intercultural partnerships).
At the intersection between theory and praxis, applied communication offers communication scholars a unique opportunity to utilize academic and theoretical understanding in an effort to redress contemporary problems in families, organizations, communities, and societies.
The panel is planned as a two-part session. Part 1 will offer specific examples of applied communication research conducted by Russian scholars. Part 2 will engage a group of scholars and practitioners from Russia and the US in a round-table discussion of the theoretical and practical implications of conducting applied research within the communication discipline, as well as beyond it, within modern social cultural contexts.
Discussion Moderators:
Olga Matyash (oimatyas@ori.net, Russia-USA) and Beth Goering, IUPUI (bgoering@iupui.edu, USA)
Part 1:
Specific Examples of Applied Communication Research by Russian Scholars
Presenters:
- Svetlana Barmatova (Kiev), Opportunity of Communicative Research in Political Forecasting
- Irina Bobrinskaya (Moscow), Using ethno-psycho-linguistic research in developing intercultural sensitivity and competence
- Natalia Eydelman (Novosibirsk) and C. Niedzwiecki (Wisconsin, La Crosse, USA), Organizing and running of an intercultural communication email exchange between Russian and American university students.
- Vadim Golubev (St. Petersburg), The Rhetorical Portrait of President Putin
- Elena Nikitina (Moscow), Dialogical Methods in Psychotherapy and Education
- Irina Rozina (Rostov-on-Don) and Marina Raskladkina (Moscow), The RCA site development
- Svetlana Shaihitdinova (Kazan), Tolerance to "otherness" in mass -media: Problems of measurement and evaluation
- Irina Safiullina (Naberezhnye Chelny), Communication within the organizations. Communication flows and factors of distortion.
Part 2:
Round table discussion of what it means to do applied communication research
Tentative questions that will be discussed:
- What is applied communication research?
- What are good examples of applied communication research?
- Why would we need to synthesize research and practice?
- What is the status of applied communication research in Russia and in the United States? What are the barriers, if any, to its development and promotion?
- How is applied communication research important for the development of communication studies as a field in general and for the development of communication education in Russia?
- What can be done to stimulate applied communication research (i.e., possible collaborative research projects)?
Discussion Participants (in addition to presenters from Part 1):
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