Interdisciplinary communication research and the courage to research

SELF-CONFIDENCE AND COURAGE FOR YOUNG RESEARCHERS 

I have witnessed how the research process is sometimes overshadowed by hesitation and a lack of self-confidence, especially for early-career researchers and graduate students. The fear of being exposed to criticism from more experienced researchers can prevent young researchers from expressing their ideas freely. 

It is frequently observed that one of the greatest anxieties for researchers who hesitate to participate in academic discussions is the criticism of their own colleagues, and that a harsh critique from a respected professor can be a “heavy blow” for a young researcher. However, to overcome the reservations that can arise at every stage, one must nurture the sense of curiosity rather than suppress it. As the famous anthropologist Zora Neale Hurston said, “research is formalized curiosity; it is poking and prying with a purpose”. Therefore, conducting research on a topic we are curious about is not something to be feared; on the contrary, it is an enjoyable process and an exciting learning journey where we seek answers to the questions in our minds. Marie Curie’s expression is meaningful in this respect: “Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less”. This perspective highlights the passion for discovery and understanding that is inherent in research, encouraging young scientists to set out with self-confidence.

Today’s complex problems and research topics require holistic approaches that transcend the boundaries of a single discipline. For this reason, I believe that combining methods and perspectives from different fields is a key strategy that facilitates the understanding and dissemination of scientific knowledge. For example, when a quantitative analysis method or model developed in the natural sciences is used creatively in communication research, it both allows us to understand the relevant topic in depth and creates a common language between different disciplines, delivering scientific knowledge to wider audiences. Indeed, addressing interdisciplinarity in a broad scientific context improves our grasp of multifaceted phenomena by offering appropriate methods to integrate various fields of knowledge. Moreover, it is predicted that as interdisciplinarity becomes more systematic, universal methods can develop, which could trigger innovation and empower scientists in solving the problems humanity faces. This will be especially valid for studies in the field of artificial intelligence. In short, applying a method from one field to another helps us move away from science being a fragmented picture and contributes to our evolution toward a more unified field of science.

For example, to explain the interdisciplinary approach more clearly, we can look at the use of the social network analysis method in communication research. Social network analysis is actually a method with roots in both social sciences and computer sciences, used to examine large-scale relationship data. This method has become extremely valuable in the field of communication, especially in social media studies. For instance, the phenomenon called hashtag activism is exactly a product of this interdisciplinary intersection. In today’s network societies, social media has become a tool that enables users all over the world to interact and influence one another. Among the usage areas of social media is initiating or supporting an activist movement on a global scale. Many hashtag activist movements emerge, especially around a specific social or political claim, under words tagged with the # sign. As can be seen, methods borrowed from different disciplines can help us analyze complex social phenomena in the field of communication, enriching the production and sharing of scientific knowledge.

It must be emphasized that in the history of the development of communication science, researchers from different disciplines have played a major role from the very beginning. In particular, experts from outside the field, such as ethnologists, sociologists, psychologists, and economists, played a pioneering role in shaping communication as an academic field of study starting from the 1920s. For example, Harold D. Lasswell was actually a political scientist; his doctoral thesis titled “Propaganda Technique in the World War”, published in 1927, was a study considered a turning point in the development of communication research. Lasswell’s famous formula, “Who says what to whom, in which channel, with what effect?”, has guided research for generations by providing a fundamental framework for the communication process. 

Similarly, Paul F. Lazarsfeld, as a sociologist, brought an empirical and quantitative-focused approach to the field of communication, which he called administrative research, and defined the main character of American communication science with his research on the limited effects of mass media in the 1940s and 50s. Lazarsfeld’s interest in methodology and the techniques he developed, such as surveys, made a great contribution to the scientific maturity of communication studies. Kurt Lewin, a social psychologist, left his mark on communication research with the concept of “gatekeeping” that he introduced in the 1940s; this idea, which he initially developed to explain food habits in households, was later adapted to the field of communication to understand the control of news and information flow. In other words, the gatekeeping theory, which defines the processes regarding which information is “let in” and which is filtered, became one of the cornerstones of media studies. 

Another researcher who came from outside and guided the field of communication is Daniel Lerner. As a social scientist in the 1950s, Lerner focused on the role of communication tools while examining the modernization process of Middle Eastern societies. His classic 1958 work, The Passing of Traditional Society: Modernizing the Middle East, is one of the first comprehensive studies to reveal how media use can be a catalyst in the transition from a traditional society to a modern society. This study analyzed development and modernization moves in many Middle Eastern countries, including Turkey, on the axis of the spread of mass media such as newspapers and radio, bringing an economic and development perspective to communication research. 

These typical examples clearly show that the communication discipline has been enriched by the contributions of experts from different fields. Ethnologists by examining cultural contexts and narratives, sociologists by measuring the social effects of mass communication, psychologists by testing the cognitive and behavioral effects of communication on individuals through experiments, and economists by researching the relationships between communication and development, welfare, or market dynamics have offered significant theoretical and practical expansions to the field. This diversity has made communication science a multi-disciplinary and increasingly interdisciplinary field of study from the beginning.

I have shared all these examples and approaches to show how creative, enjoyable, and enlightening the process of conducting research actually is. A researcher who sets out with a sense of curiosity not only finds answers to their questions but also contributes to science by discovering new questions. 

What is important is that young researchers do not extinguish this spark of curiosity within them and do not hesitate to conduct research. On the contrary, one should see research as a pleasure and an intellectual adventure. Progress in science often sprouts at the intersection points of different fields and in curious minds that are not afraid to take risks. Let us not forget that many scientists who are famous today experienced similar fears at the beginning of their careers, but they did not give up on trying. After all, the world of research is also open to mistakes, and as the Japanese “kaizen” approach emphasizes, even every wrong step teaches us something. 

For this reason, we should see scientific research not as a pursuit to be feared, but as an adventure that satisfies our curiosity, broadens our horizons, and contributes to humanity’s body of knowledge.