Communication theory and research in Spain: A paradigmatic case of a socio-humanistic discipline

Abstract

This article analyses the situation of communication research in Spain. First, a history of the development of communication research is presented. Then the authors describe and analyse the status of research at the beginning of the 21st century and present the opinion of researchers themselves concerning this situation. Subsequently, using the Delphi method, an analysis of the panorama of research in Spain is offered from the perspective of a group of Spanish researchers and lecturers in the field. Finally, the future prospects are discussed for communication theory and research in this European country. In general, this work aims to reflect on the state of communication theory as a social and humanistic science, in those democratic countries from the first world which incorporated the study of communication theory in their universities in the 1970s, based on an observation of the Spanish situation. Consequently, the issues analysed, the epistemological precept and the solutions proposed can be extrapolated to all those zones where the discipline is currently in a complete phase of consolidation, definition and maturity.