US Communications Policy Research and the Integration of the Administrative and Critical Communication Research Traditions

Abstract

This article argues that many of the traditional distinctions used to distinguish critical from administrative research do not hold up well within the context of communications policy research. This argument is illustrated through an analysis of early communications policy research literature that sought to define the contours and objectives of the field, as well as through an assessment of developments in the field over the past 30 years. This article then uses the recent controversy surrounding the FCC's abandoned critical information needs research as a case study for exploring the prospects for a more integrated critical administrative research tradition.