Bulletin

Interested in attending Stanford?
Visit Undergraduate Admissions opens in a new tab or Graduate Admissions opens in a new tab.

Resources

  • About Stanford
  • About Bulletin
  • Academic Calendar opens in a new tab
  • Bulletin Archive
  • Enrollment Overview opens in a new tab
  • Enrollment Deadlines opens in a new tab
  • Degrees at a Glance

Schools

  • Doerr School of Sustainability opens in a new tab
  • Graduate School of Business opens in a new tab
  • Graduate School of Education opens in a new tab
  • School of Engineering opens in a new tab
  • School of Humanities and Science opens in a new tab
  • School of Law opens in a new tab
  • School of Medicine opens in a new tab
Give Feedback

Stanford University is accredited by the Accrediting Commission of Senior Colleges and Universities of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges opens in a new tab.

Give Feedback
Stanford
University
  • Stanford Home
  • Maps & Directions
  • Search Stanford
  • Emergency Info
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy
  • Copyright
  • Trademarks
  • Non-Discrimination
  • Accessibility
© Stanford University.  Stanford, California 94305.
Skip to main content
Stanford University
Bulletin
Communication
School of Humanities & Sciences
  • MA
  • PhD
  • PhD Minor
  • Coterm
  • Joint Degree
Program Info
  • About the Program
  • Master of Arts
  • Doctor of Philosophy
    • Admissions
    • Advising
    • Policies
    • Learning Outcomes
  • PhD Minor
  • Courses
  • Contact Us
Loading program
  1. Home
  2. Programs
  3. Graduate
  4. Communication
  5. Doctor of Philosophy

Doctor of Philosophy

PhDJoint Degree
  • Communication opens in a new tab
Program Minimum Units
135 Units
University Minimum Units
135 Units
Program Length
6 Years
Interests
Media Technologies, Government, Politics & Current Events, Data and Information Sciences, Media & Culture
Academic Areas
Humanities & Arts, Media Studies

Overview

The PhD in Communication focuses on theory and research. Each student builds a research specialty relating communication to current faculty interests in such areas as computational journalism, critical data studies, data science, digital media and change across the life span, emotion regulation, ethics, history of media and media technology, human-computer interaction, information processing, information technology, knowledge production, law, online communities, personality and digital media, personality expression, politics, psychology of technology, the influence of algorithms, virtual reality, and voting. Regardless of the area of specialization, the PhD program is designed primarily for students interested in university research and teaching or other research or analyst positions.

Students must complete the requirements listed in the Degree Requirements Section below for the PhD degree in Communication. Additional information is available in the Degree Requirements and Department Procedures for PhD Students and PhD Advisors opens in a new tab.

This program is full time. Doctoral students in the Communication Department are expected to maintain a significant physical presence on campus throughout their graduate studies. This ensures that students have access to advisors and mentors, libraries, and other resources that support timely progress towards completion of degree requirements. Additionally, being on campus ensures that students are part of the academic and campus community which supports continued professional development.

Requirements

Program Requirements

Overview

Students must complete introductory courses in communication theory and research, research methods, and pedagogy. These core courses are grounded in social science literature and emphasize how people respond to media and how media institutions function. In addition, PhD students must complete three substantive COMM courses designed for PhD students and another three graduate level COMM courses taught by PhD program faculty.

Required Coursework

Complete all of the following requirements:
Required Core Courses
Complete all of the following course(s):
COMM 300

Proseminar in Communication

2 Units
COMM 301

Communication Research, Curriculum Development and Pedagogy

1 Units
COMM 302A

Core Field Seminar in Media Psychology

3-5 Units
COMM 302B

Core Field Seminar in Political Communication

3-5 Units
COMM 302C

Core Field Seminar in Journalism, Media & Culture

3-5 Units
and
Advanced Methods Coursework

Two advanced research methods courses approved by the academic advisor and the DGS. The following courses are preapproved: COMM 314 and COMM 318.

Complete at least 2 of the following courses:
ANTHRO 301

History of Anthropological Theory, Culture and Society

5 Units
ARTHIST 502

Methods and Debates

5 Units
COMM 339

Questionnaire Design for Surveys and Laboratory Experiments: Social and Cognitive Perspectives

4 Units
COMM 352

Statistical Methods for Behavioral and Social Sciences

5 Units
COMM 365

Longitudinal Data Analysis in Social Science Research

3 Units
COMM 367

Longitudinal Design and Data Analysis

3 Units
COMM 369

Multivariate Analysis, Measurement, and Study of Change in Social Science Research

3 Units
ECON 272

Intermediate Econometrics III: Methods for Applied Econometrics

5 Units
MS&E 226

Fundamentals of Data Science: Prediction, Inference, Causality

3 Units
MS&E 379

Social Data Analysis

3 Units
POLISCI 355A

Data Science for Politics

3-5 Units
POLISCI 355B

Machine Learning for Social Scientists

3-5 Units
POLISCI 450A

Political Methodology I: Regression

3-5 Units
POLISCI 450B

Political Methodology II: Causal Inference

5 Units
SOC 349

Race, Space, and Stratification

3-5 Units
STATS 191

Introduction to Applied Statistics

3 Units
STATS 200

Introduction to Theoretical Statistics

3-4 Units
STATS 202

Statistical Learning and Data Science

3 Units
STATS 211

Meta-research: Appraising Research Findings, Bias, and Meta-analysis

3 Units
STATS 292

Statistical Models of Text and Language

3 Units

Courses cannot be double counted as both a substantive and a research methods course. Courses must be completed by the end of Spring quarter of year 2 with grades of ‘B’ or above.

and
Substantive Coursework

Three substantive COMM courses designed for PhD students (e.g., 300-level seminars) from three different Communication PhD faculty and another three different graduate level COMM courses from COMM PhD faculty by the end of Spring quarter of year 2.

and
Area Exam

The Area Exam is an opportunity to demonstrate proficiency in tools required in the student’s area of research specialization by passing a one-week take-home area exam followed by a one-hour oral exam by the end of spring quarter of year 4. The area exam is a critical assessment of the student’s knowledge in their research area and their ability to produce a dissertation. Identified with the advice of the faculty, the content of the area exam may include detailed theoretical knowledge, advanced statistical methods, ethnographic or archival skills, a foreign language, computer programming, or other technical skills. Because the multifaceted nature of the department makes it possible for the PhD student to specialize in areas that draw on different related disciplines, the Area Exam is individualized and developed between the faculty advisor and the student.

More detail about the Area Examination can be found in the Department of Communication’s Degree Requirements & Department Procedures for Ph.D. Students and Ph.D. Advisors opens in a new tab.

Teaching Requirement

Overview

Teaching is core to the academic and professional training of PhD students in our program. As such, all students must complete three quarters of teaching experience in courses offered by the Department of Communication to fulfill degree requirements regardless of financial support. Many communication students complete more than the required number of teaching experience quarters as part of their financial support and professional training.

Research Requirement

Overview

Research is core to the academic and professional training of PhD students in our program. Complete at least two pre-dissertation research projects. The Major Project and the Minor Project are research papers, primarily authored by the student, that are considered to be of sufficient quality to be publishable in a respected journal. The projects do not have to be completed in any specific order.

The Major Project must meet the APA guideline for first authorship, providing an opportunity for the student to demonstrate that they are able to successfully and independently perform all relevant aspects of a research project by developing the research questions, conducting the research, and writing the paper.

The Minor Project must meet the APA guidelines for authorship, providing an opportunity for the student to demonstrate that they have gained significant experience in all relevant aspects of a research project in collaboration with a faculty advisor by playing a major role developing the research questions, conducting the research, and writing the paper.

Students are required to complete their first project by the end of winter quarter of year 3, and their second by the end of winter quarter of year 4.

The Project Readers (the Project Advisor and another Academic Council member) are selected by the student and approved by the student’s advisor. The Project Readers will determine if the student has passed the project. A student failing to complete either the Major or Minor Project requirement may be dismissed from the program.

See the Department of Communication’s Degree Requirements & Department Procedures for Ph.D. Students and Ph.D. Advisors opens in a new tab for detailed information.

Advancement to Candidacy

Overview

Advancement to candidacy is a prospective judgement by the faculty in the degree program of the student’s potential to successfully complete the requirements of the degree program.

Students are required to apply for candidacy by the end of the first week of Spring quarter of the student’s second year. The evaluation for candidacy is based on the performance in the development of the Major and/or Minor Project and in the required  courses as well as the quality of final papers for the core seminars, COMM 302A, B, C. The student’s application to candidacy will be reviewed by the PhD faculty as a whole by the end of the Spring quarter of the second year. PhD candidacy is valid for five years.

See the Department of Communication’s Degree Requirements & Department Procedures for Ph.D. Students and Ph.D. Advisors opens in a new tab for detailed information.

Oral Exam

Overview

In the Department of Communication, the Oral Exam is a defense of the dissertation presented upon the completion of a substantial portion of the dissertation or upon completion of the pre-final draft. Students consult with their dissertation advisor and reading committee members on the timing of the defense.

Dissertation

Overview

Students complete a dissertation proposal document describing the research plan for the dissertation thereby clearly specifying the concepts and theories, literature(s), method(s) and data sources, and analysis strategy.  All members of the student’s Dissertation Reading Committee attend the proposal meeting to assess and approve the proposal.

The proposal meeting, attended by all members of the student’s Dissertation Reading Committee, is based on a dissertation proposal document describing the research plan for the dissertation, clearly specifying the concepts and theories, literature(s), method(s) and data sources, and analysis strategy. Subsequent to the proposal meeting, the student is responsible for revising the proposal document and receiving approval from the reading committee.

Students complete a dissertation satisfactory to a reading committee composed of three or more faculty members in the Department of Communication and one outside the Department of Communication.