The Master of Arts degree program and interdisciplinary Doctor of Philosophy degree program in Communication are designed to prepare scholars for research-oriented careers in universities and in the public or private sectors.

Graduate students in The Hugh Downs School have engaged in the following sampling of research:

• Studying the colonial, heteronormative, racialized neoliberal implications of neo-conservative political discourse
• Assisting in developing sustainability community forums for the city of Mesa
• Participating in an internet media project on empowering women who have been bullied in the workplace
• Publishing an article on communication strategies to discuss culture shock for study abroad advisors
• Analyzing positive employee experiences in organizations.
• Conducting and evaluating work/life research concerning the of the division of household labor
• Working on a work/life research project considering how individuals communicate their positions regarding staying-in or opting-out of the paid labor workforce
• Writing two book chapters, one on constructing the public discourse of the first female president, and the other, Media in their Midst, about the history of the presidential press room and the relationship between the media and the first couple.
• Conducting research for a book contract; the book is a biography of First Lady Lucy Webb Hayes.
• Working as trial consultant on the David Anthony triple murder case
• Writing up a study entitled: Why do you love me?: The interplay of self-identity and intercultural dating.
• A cross cultural relationship study of three aspects of love: intimacy, commitment and passion
• A phenomenological study of communication and intercultural adaptation of college sojourners
• A social critique of sexual harassment policies
• Developing a touring version of People of the Shadows, a show adapted from a dissertation in which Phoenix-area homeless people were interviewed.
• Gathering narratives from differently-abled ASU students in order to adapt their stories and experiences to the stage.
• Writing an article entitled "When the Spirit Fails."
• Helping create "Diversity Dialogues" with the City of Tempe
• Conducting a replication study with adults of the "secret tests" studies
• Examining how work/family tension influences maintenance strategies in families
• Examining how firefighters must adopt the role of the "humble boot" in order to be recognized by other firefighters.
• A study on the role of family communication in firefighter organizational knowledge and assimilation.
• Interviewing software programmers on organizational identity issues to determine whether a virtual environment impacts identification
• A Foucaultian analysis of last year's best selling console video game title: Grand Theft Auto III (GTA3).
• A study of the sites of and responses to anger that youth use.
• "An Infusion Of Asianness And Whiteness: Exploring Biracial Cultural Identity In The United States"
• How people use the Internet to construct, maintain and alter individual identities
• An examination of siblings and conflict focusing on how jealousy and aggression are connected.
• A study focusing on the strategies employed by family members to manage (cope) with traumatic stress (ie. Sept 11).