Communication Research in India status, Trends, Problems

Abstract

The reason for lack of quality research in India is one area of concern that most academicians share. Dearth of institutes of international standing in higher learning and quality research output has pushed India out of reckoning in the international market place of education. This paper traces the trajectories of growth in the field of Communication and Journalism, status of research, and associated problems, to the reasons for the poor output in research and finally, the shift towards interdisciplinary nature of communication and media studies that has evolved and widened the scope of the narrow understanding of mass communication research studies. The field of Development studies has been popular in the initial days of communication research in India, while post liberalization, trend has been in market research and voter studies. The disjunction between academia and industry especially in media has been one of the prime reasons for the lack of any worthwhile applied research, while fundamental research has not been conducive given the systemic limitations.