The Value of Communication Science

In communication science, the distinction between applied and basic research is often accompanied by a discussion of the relative value of each. However, the idea that there is a value distinction to be made between applied and basic research is fundamentally inconsistent with scientific epistemology. Rather than different modes of inquiry with different relative value, communication science is a whole, constituted by applied and basic researchers who focus on different goals of science: to explain, to predict, and to control. An example is provided of a highly successful communication intervention created via the cooperation between applied and basic scholars.