Communication as a discipline

What constitutes a discipline? Is communication a discipline?

Webster's defines discipline as a branch of knowledge. As a body of knowledge, discipline has an established set of concepts and facts. It is dynamic, constructed and tested through time and space by academics and scholars. According to Bridges (2004), a discipline means that "enquiry was conducted in accordance with some established rules and procedures which provided the basis for among other things distinguishing truths from falsity, warranted from unwarranted beliefs."

According to Flor (2007), a discipline has three aspects: theory, policy and practice. All these aspects are products of research and inquiry.

Thus, a discipline is constituted through research. A discipline is an established field of inquiry. It has gone through the rigors of research and has established a tradition of scholarly work. A discipline must have scholars, both academics and practitioners, who formally communicate relevant knowledge through publications and other scholarly work.

Given this requirements of discipline, it can be concluded that communication is definitely a discipline. Over the years, communication as a discipline has gone through various paragdimatic shifts. Communication scholars continue to conduct research to contribute to this body of knowledge.

References

David, Bridges (2004) The Disciplines and Discipline of Educational Research. Paper presented at the Annual Conference of the British Educational Research Association, Manchester Metropolitan University

Flor, Alexander (2007) Development Communication Praxis. University of the Philippines Open University