THE PRESENT STATE OF COMMUNICATION RESEARCH.

In the past twenty-five years or so, there have been four major "approaches" or lines of inquiry in communication research, plus a number of minor ones. The major approaches are so clearly identified with and characterized by their leading proponents that they can be given names, the political approach of Lasswell, the sample survey approach of Lazarsfeld, the small groups approach of Lewin; and the experimental approach of Hoviand. The minor approaches are the reformist, the historical, the journalistic, the mathematical, the psycholinguistic and the psychiatric.