Prevailing criticism of communication research in and out of university speech departments is justified and means that the quality of research must be improved. The last three years of speech communication research has not been noteworthy, dramatic, or significant. An initial remedial step might be the development of good, relevant, and sound research questions. The science of communication must be conceptualized and research must be geared toward solving practical communication problems such as improving group relationships between black and white students and between students and college administrators. By "maximizing relevance" speech teachers and speech scholars can contribute to social change and the solution of man's communication problems. (DS)