A semantic network analysis of the international communication association

This article examines the structure of the International Communication Association (ICA) through semantic network analysis. Semantic network analysis examines the relationships among a system's components based on the shared meanings of symbols. Galileo analysis and Quadratic Analysis Procedure revealed that the semantic network for ICA based on paper titles presented to its divisions and interest groups at its 2992 conference had a high degree of correspondence with the affiliation structure reported by Barnett and Danowski. Both net-works differentiated the humanistic divisionsfrom the scientific, the mediafedfrom the inter-personal, and the theoreticalfrom the applied. The results are taken to be an indication of the validity of the procedures employed for determining semantic networks. Finally, results are interpreted in regard to Human Communication Research's relationship to its parent organi-zation, ICA. emantic network analysis, similar to network analysis, is both a research method and a theoretical framework (Doerfel, 1998). S Semantic network analysis differs from traditional network methods because it focuses on the structure of a system based on shared meaning rather than on links among communication partners. In other words, two nodes are connected in a semantic network to the extent that their uses of concepts overlap. The meaning-centered network approach stems from Monge and Eisenberg's (1987) call to enhance traditional net-work analysis by focusing on communication content. Semantic networ