“More and Better” Research? Critical Communication Studies and the Problem of Policy Relevance

This article is a programmatic and reflexive report on a conference-workshop entitled Converging in Parallel: Linking Communications Research and Policy in Emerging Canadian Scholarship, held at McGill University November 9-10, 2006, and what we believe it suggests about improving the policy relevance of critical research in the field of communication studies in Canada. After canvassing three broad areas of communication policy research activity—methodology, linkages, and research topics—the report suggests several steps to address challenges identified in these areas.