research and communication methods

Guide to Communication Research Methodologies: Quantitative, Qualitative and Rhetorical Research

Understanding Communication Research Methods A Theoretical and Practical Approach

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Description

Using an engaging how-to approach that draws from scholarship, real life, and popular culture, this textbook, now in its third edition, offers students practical reasons why they should care about research methods and offers a practical guide to actually conducting research themselves. Examining quantitative, qualitative, and critical research methods, this new edition helps undergraduate students better grasp the theoretical and practical uses of method by clearly illustrating practical applications. The book features all the main research traditions within communication including online methods and provides level-appropriate applications of the methods through theoretical and practical examples and exercises, including sample student papers that demonstrate research methods in action. This third edition also includes additional chapters on experimental design and methods of performance, as well as brand new case studies throughout. This textbook is perfect for students and scholars using critical, cultural, interpretive, qualitative, quantitative, and positivist research methods, as well as students of communication studies more generally. It also offers dedicated student resources on the Routledge.com book page and instructor resources at https://routledgetextbooks.com/textbooks/instructor_downloads/. These include links, videos, outlines and activities, recommended readings, test questions, and more.

Table of Contents

Stephen M. Croucher is a Professor and the Head of the School of Communication, Journalism, and Marketing at Massey University, New Zealand. He is also Lead Research Fellow at the National Research University, Higher School of Economics, Russia. He serves on the editorial boards of more than 10 journals and served as the editor of the Review of Communication (2022–2025), Frontiers in Communication (2019–2022), Journal of Intercultural Communication Research (2010–2019), and Speaker & Gavel (2010–2015). He has held and holds various leadership positions in the National Communication Association, the International Communication Association, and the World Communication Association. He serves as President of the World Communication Association from 2019–2023. Daniel Cronn-Mills is a Professor and Distinguished Faculty Scholar at Minnesota State University, Mankato, USA. He has authored and co-authored three books, five book chapters, and a stack of journal articles. He served for more than a decade as the editor of Speaker & Gavel (1997–2010) and has served on the editorial board of 11 scholarly journals. Dan has served in numerous leadership roles from local to national levels including the National Communication Association, the American Forensic Association, and the Communication and Theatre Association of Minnesota.

Critics' Reviews

"Easy to follow, well-organized, comprehensive, solidly grounded in scholarship and real-life applications, this textbook will stimulate your interest and help you to move from understanding communication research to conducting it." Igor Klyukanov , Professor of Communication, Eastern Washington University, USA

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Media and Communication

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Communications Research Methods: Articles & Books

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• Communication Research Methods II: A Sourcebook An updated version of the "bible" of how to do research in communication and media studies.
• Handbook of Media and Communication Research: Qualitative and Quantitative Methodologies A great overview of both qualitative and quantitative approaches to content analysis and media studies research.
• Qualitative Media Analysis The authors of this work show readers how to obtain, categorize, and analyze different media documents. They look at traditional primary documents such as newspapers and magazines but also at more recent forms–television newscasts and cyberspace.
• Mass Communications Research Methods Originally published in 1988. Step-by-step, this book leads students from problem identification, through the mazes of surveys, experimentation, historical/qualitative studies, statistical analysis, and computer data processing to the final submission and publication in scientific or popular publications.
• Communication Research Methods in Postmodern Culture: A Revisionist Approach The second edition of Communication Research Methods in Postmodern Culture continues to explore research from a postmodern perspective. Typical qualitative and quantitative research methods are adjusted to fit the needs of contemporary culture.
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Three Types of Communication Research Methods: Quantitative, Qualitative, and Participatory

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• First Online: 09 June 2020
• Cite this reference work entry

• Jan Servaes 2 , 3  

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This chapter presents a brief overview of the three types of communication research methods being applied in development communication settings: quantitative, qualitative, and participatory. This chapter attempts to outline the relative characteristics and merits of these approaches to research and to emphasize some of the philosophical issues which underpin them. It discusses the strengths and weaknesses of each and highlights the benefits of a more normative approach focused on the “poor” in society.

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Servaes, J. (2020). Three Types of Communication Research Methods: Quantitative, Qualitative, and Participatory. In: Servaes, J. (eds) Handbook of Communication for Development and Social Change. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-2014-3_112

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The Sage Handbook of Qualitative Research in Organizational Communication

• Boris H. J. M. Brummans - Université de Montréal, Canada
• Bryan C. Taylor - University of Colorado Boulder, USA
• Anu Sivunen - University of Jyväskylä, Finland
• Description

The Sage Handbook of Qualitative Research in Organizational Communication  is a state-of-the-art resource for scholars, students, and practitioners seeking to deepen their understanding and expertise in this dynamic field. Written by a global team of established and emerging experts, this Handbook provides a comprehensive exploration of the field’s foundational traditions of epistemology and theory, as well as its latest methodologies, methods, issues, and debates.

The volume reflects a diverse range of approaches (e.g., mixed-methods, ethnographic, rhetorical, pragmatist, phenomenological, feminist, critical race, postcolonial, queer, and engaged), and covers a broad spectrum of topics ranging from data collection and analysis, to representation. Additionally, this Handbook addresses emerging trends such as digital forensics, post-qualitative research, and the transformative impact of COVID-19 on the conduct of qualitative research in organizational communication. As the first volume of its kind in this field, The Sage Handbook of Qualitative Research in Organizational Communication is a cornerstone text for scholars, students, and practitioners interested in understanding the vital role of communication in organizational life. Part 1: Approaches to Qualitative Organizational Communication Research  Part 2: Data Collection in Qualitative Organizational Communication Research: Methods and Issues Part 3: Data Analysis and Representation in Qualitative Organizational Communication Research: Methods and Issues Part 4: The Future of Qualitative Organizational Communication Research

See what’s new to this edition by selecting the Features tab on this page. Should you need additional information or have questions regarding the HEOA information provided for this title, including what is new to this edition, please email [email protected] . Please include your name, contact information, and the name of the title for which you would like more information. For information on the HEOA, please go to http://ed.gov/policy/highered/leg/hea08/index.html .

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The Sage Handbook of Qualitative Research in Organizational Communication is an essential resource for management scholars, practitioners, and students alike. This groundbreaking handbook is a comprehensive guide that navigates the vast landscape of qualitative research within the realm of organizational communication. With contributions from leading experts in the field, it provides invaluable insights, methodologies, and theoretical frameworks helping to understand the complex dynamics of communication in organizational settings. It offers a diverse range of perspectives and approaches, inviting readers to explore the intricacies of organizational communication through a qualitative lens. This handbook is an indispensable companion for anyone seeking to delve deeper into this fascinating field.

Communication scholars have developed many rich and rigorous qualitative methods for capturing, analyzing, and interpreting the communicative aspects of organizing. It is exciting to see these methods brought together in a comprehensive handbook that features both classical approaches and reflections on new forms of data and analysis. Boris Brummans, Bryan Taylor, and Anu Sivunen have put together a truly wonderful resource that I will return to again and again.

This handbook is an authoritative survey of qualitative approaches to organizational communication that summarizes the state of the art and advances new insights and ideas. Its authors span the panoply of takes on qualitative research on organizational communication and are literally an all-star cast. Experienced academics and graduate students alike will benefit from its many perspectives and inquiries into key issues.

This comprehensive handbook has all the ingredients to become the main go-to resource for qualitative research in organizational communication studies. I highly recommend it to anyone who aims to broaden their horizon and expand their methodological tool kit, whether scholars, students, or practitioners.

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How to communicate your research more effectively

Author: guest contributor.

by Angie Voyles Askham, Content Marketing Intern

"Scientists need to excite the public about their work in part because the public is paying for it, and in part because science has very important things to say about some of the biggest problems society faces."

Stephen S. Hall has been reporting and writing about science for decades. For the past ten years, he's also been helping researchers at New York University improve their writing skills through the school's unique  Science Communication Workshops . In our interview below, he explains why the public deserves good science communication and offers some tips for how researchers can make their writing clear and engaging.

How would you descr ibe your role as a science journalist?

I’ve always made a distinction between "science writer" and a writer who happens to be interested in science. That may sound like wordplay, but I think it captures what we aspire to do. Even as specialists, science journalists wear several hats: we explain, we report, we investigate, we step back and provide historical context to scientific developments to help people understand what’s new, why something is controversial, who drove a major innovation. And like any writer, we look for interesting, provocative, and deeply reported ways to tell these stories.

I know you from the science communication workshop that’s offered to NYU graduate students. One of the most important things that I got out of the workshop, at least initially, was training myself out of the stuffy academic voice that I think a lot researchers fall into when writing academic papers. Why do you think scientists fall into this particular trap, and how do you help them get out of it?

Scientists are trained—and rightly so—to describe their work in neutral, objective terms, qualifying all observations and openly acknowledging experimental limitations. Those qualities play very well in scientific papers and talks, but are terrible for effective communication to the general public. In our Science Communication workshops at NYU, we typically see that scientists tend to communicate in dense, formal and cautious language; they tell their audiences too much; they mimic the scientific literature’s affinity for passive voice; and they slip into jargon and what I call “jargonish,” defensive language. Over ten years of conducting workshops, we’ve learned to attack these problems on two fronts: pattern recognition (training people to recognize bad writing/speaking habits and fixing them) and psychological "deprogramming" (it’s okay to leave some details and qualifications out!). And a key ingredient to successful communication is understanding your audience; there is no such thing as the "general public," but rather a bunch of different potential audiences, with different needs and different levels of expertise. We try to educate scientists to recognize the exact audience they're trying to reach—what they need to know and, just as important, what they don't need to know.

What are some other common mistakes that you see researchers making when they’re trying to communicate about their work, either with each other or with the public?

We see the same tendencies over and over again: vocabulary (not simply jargon, but common expressions—such as gene “expression”—that are second-hand within a field, but not clear to non-experts); abstract, complicated explanations rather than using everyday language; sentences that are too long; and “optics” (paragraphs that are too long and appear monolithic to readers). We’ve found that workshops are the perfect setting to play out the process of using everyday language to explain something without sacrificing scientific accuracy.

Why is it important for researchers to be better communicators?

Scientists need to learn to tell their own stories, first and foremost, because society needs their expertise, their perspective, their evidence-based problem solving skills for the future. But the lay public, especially in an era where every fact seems up for grabs, needs to be reminded of what the scientific method is: using critical thinking and rigorous analysis of facts to reach evidence-based conclusions. Scientists need to excite the public about their work in part because the public is paying for it, and in part because science has very important things to say about some of the biggest problems society faces—climate change, medical care, advanced technologies like artificial intelligence, among many other issues. As climate scientist Michael Mann said in a celebrated 2014 New York Times OpEd, scientists can no longer stay on the sidelines in these important public debates.

As a science journalist, part of your job is to hunt for interesting stories to tell. How can scientists make their work more accessible to people like you—or to other people outside of their specific area of research—so that their stories are told more widely?

The key word in your question is “stories.” Think like a writer. What’s the story behind your discovery? What were the ups and downs on the way to the finding? Where does this fit into a larger history of science narrative? Was there a funny incident or episode in the work (humor is a great way to draw and sustain public interest)? Was there a conflict or competition that makes the work even more interesting? Is there a compelling historical or contemporary figure involved that will help you humanize the science? It's been our-longstanding belief that scientists have a great intuitive feel for good storytelling (we incorporate narrative training in our workshops), but just don’t think about it when it comes to describing their own work. The other key thing is to explain why your research matters.

One of the ways that many researchers try to share their work is through Twitter, but I noticed that on the NYU website it says you’re a Twitter conscientious objector. Why is that? What effect do you think Twitter has had on science communication and journalism in general?

I actually think Twitter can be a great tool for science communication, and many of my colleagues use it deftly. I tend to gravitate toward stories that everyone is not talking about, so Twitter doesn’t help much in that regard. The larger reason I’m a Twitter “refusenik,” as my colleague Dan Fagin sometimes calls me, is that I think the technology has been widely abused to disseminate misinformation, intimidate enemies, and subvert democratic norms; I don’t use it primarily for those reasons.

Are there any other tips that you can offer researchers who want to be better communicators and just aren’t sure where to start?

One first step might be to see if your institution offers any communication training and to take advantage of those programs; if not, think about how you might establish a program. We’ve posted a few of the things we’ve learned at NYU on our website ; we’ve also established a publishing platform for science communicators at NYU called the Cooper Square Review , which is a good way for scientists to get experience publishing their own work and reaching a larger public.

Stephen S. Hall  has been reporting and writing about science for nearly 30 years. In addition to numerous cover stories in the New York Times Magazine, where he also served as a Story Editor and Contributing Writer, his work has appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic Monthly, and a number of other outlets. He is also the author of six non-fiction books about contemporary science. In addition to teaching the Science Communication Workshops at NYU, he also teaches for NYU's Science, Health and Environmental Reporting Program (SHERP) and has taught graduate seminars in science writing and explanatory journalism at Columbia University.

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An excellent tool on social science research methods includes over 1000 methods books, 1100 case studies, reference works, journal articles, and instructional video tutorials by world-leading academics from across the social sciences. In addition, the full-text titles from the Sage’s Quantitative Applications in the Social Sciences series(“The Little Green Books”) and Qualitative Research Methods Series (The Little Blue Books”) books are available.

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[Collection of Polls from Different Sources]  

• iPoll Databank (database) IPOLL, from the Roper Center for Public Opinion Research, is a full text database of 500,000 questions from national public opinion surveys since 1935 and updated daily. iPOLL includes survey results data from academic, commercial and media survey organizations such as Gallup, Harris Interactive, Pew Research Associates, ABC, CBS, Wall Street Journal and many more. Many data sets are available for download in ASCII or SPSS format.
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• ICPSR (Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research) Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research maintains and provides access to a vast archive of social science data for research and instruction. The collection includes CBS News/New York Times Poll Series, National Poll on Healthy Aging, and over 3,000 polls on various topics.
• World Public Opinion An international collaborative project, a source for public opinion around the world on international issues

Fore more sources on polls and public opinions data, click here . 

From the U.S. Census. Topics include Age and Sex, Ancestry, Children, Computer and Internet Use, Foreign Born, Hispanic Origin, International, Language Use, Migration/Geographic Mobility, Older Population and Aging, Population Estimates, Population Projections, Race, and Veterans

Check their Data Center for the US and international data indicators including Gini Index of Income Inequality, Net Migration Count, Percent of the Population Living in Poverty, etc. 2021 World Population Data Sheet is also available.

Population estimates and projections for 227 countries and areas. Includes Population Pyramids.

Search by country or region.

Population estimates and projections that have been prepared by the Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat. The main results are presented in a series of Excel files displaying key demographic indicators for each UN development group, World Bank income group, geographic region, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) region, subregion and country or area for selected periods or dates within 1950-2100.

For more information, check our  U.S. Census Data Guide

FSU Student Statistics               FSU Office of Institutional Research  https://ir.fsu.edu/students.aspx Statistics on College Students                Almanac of Higher Education  (from The Chronicle of Higher Education)                               https://www.chronicle.com/section/Almanac-of-Higher-Education/141                              Open Doors  (for international students in the U.S. and American students studying abroad)                https://www.iie.org/en/Research-and-Insights/Open-Doors               Tip:               Newspapers or journal articles might be an excellent source to look up the statistics on college                   students.  Depending on your research topic, you might want to explore a Psychology database               such as APA PsycINFO, an Education database such as ERIC, or even a Nursing database such as               CINAHL.                              PsychINFO     https://lib.fsu.edu/get/psycinfo                              ERIC  https://lib.fsu.edu/get/ericcsa                              CINAHL   https://lib.fsu.edu/get/cinahlft               At  Google Scholar , try the following search statement:                           ("college students" OR "university students") "mental health" survey               à This will yield papers, blogs, etc. that are about survey research on mental health issues of               college students.  Please note that I used quotes for a phrase searching, and used parentheses               to group similar concepts together.                                Another example:                          ("college students" OR "university students") ("video game" OR gaming) qualitative               Not always, but highly likely, you may find the questionnaire that was used to conduct the               research at the Appendix or Supporting Material section of a research paper.  

See this Consumer Demographics page. 

    National Center for Health Statistics  (NCHS)  https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/                             E.g., Smoking                MedlinePlus Health Statistics   https://medlineplus.gov/healthstatistics.html                World Health Organization (WHO)’s Global Health Observatory                                   https://www.who.int/data/gho                              E.g., Nigeria’s neonatal mortality rate  For a comprehensive list of data sources on public health, see here . 

Basics of Business Research

Company information               Company Website > About > Invest Relations  (or Investors) > Annual Report               Business Source Complete database …Company profile. SWOT Analysis.                             E.g., Microsoft Industry information               For sales, audiences, revenue, the proportion of the market (market ratio)                             IBISWorld Industry Market Research database…Industry report. Industry SWOT analysis                                https://lib.fsu.edu/get/ibisworld                             E.g., Beer (brewery) industry  (for major players and the market share)

              eMarketer Pro https://lib.fsu.edu/get/emarket                                E.g. , Internet of Things (under Media), college students (under Demographics)  

Consumer and Market information               Mintel Academic                             E.g., Movie theatres (see data book), luxury consumers.                                            Search the database with “college students” to pull off various market reports                                            on college students Business Journal Articles               Business Source Complete database https://lib.fsu.edu/get/bscomp               ABI/INFORM Collection database https://lib.fsu.edu/get/abi-com

 Statistics               Statista http://lib.fsu.edu/get/stati  

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What is Communication Research?

Bryn Farnsworth

Table of Contents

Let’s start things off with a hopefully rather non-controversial assumption: you’re reading this text. Now, don’t worry, the rest of the post won’t continue to list such inanely clear truths, but this statement serves to highlight what’s occurring right now – communication.

It’s a rather one-sided process currently, with me doing the writing and you doing the reading, but the process of sending a message and that message being understood is occurring. There are endless ways of looking further at this – would you still be reading if you were on a different website? What about if you’re tired, or angry? How would whatever else you’ve read today – or ever – affect how you react to this information? This in essence is what communication research is about – how messages are sent, and how they are received.

At its broadest, communication research is concerned with identifying, exploring, and measuring the factors that surround communication, in any form and regarding any topic . Often from a theory-driven perspective, but increasingly with empirically-grounded methods. Want to know how to make political messaging more effective? Increase the appeal of advertising ? Make people adhere to a health campaign? Communication research these answers.

Below, we will discuss and define communication research further, the research that has shaped the field, and where the field is going.

Definition of Communication Research

As a field of study, communication research dates back either 2000 years or 100 years, depending on your level of pedantry. The study of rhetoric was a hot topic in ancient Greece, and shares some commonalities with the modern form, yet clearly much has changed. The field now focuses on gathering empirical data, and builds theories that help understand the complexity of communication on many levels. In a sense it has less interest in the linguistic style of debating philosophers, and more interest in the groups of people that might be listening.

History of Communication Research

One of the most influential books that helped give rise to modern communication research was “ Social Organization: a Study of the Larger Mind ” by Charles Cooley, published in 1909 [1]. Described by one reviewer as “a series of essays on fundamental sociological problems, written in delightful literary style, and with keen and sound psychological insight” and that “Professor Cooley gives, for the first time in sociological literature, strange as it may seem, full and adequate recognition of ‘communication’ as a fundamental fact in the social life” [2].

This book, with a delightful literary style , would set the stage for the work of other academics with an interest in communication, and ultimately the creation of the first academic departments with a clear focus on the field.

In 1952, Bernard Berelson released “ Content Analysis in Communication Research ” – a book that proved pivotal not only to communication researchers of the time, but also had a broader impact [3, 4]. Written in a way that was – according to one reviewer at the time – “unusually lucid for a social science publication”, the book describes the ways in which media and communication are compared, and explores the methods that are used to carry out those comparisons. The book ultimately helped shift the field towards a more quantitative, scientific approach.

In the 1960s and 1970s, social unrest brought about social change, and communication researchers looked more closely at the surrounding language. They explored the systems of thought and discourse that had traditionally been in place, how they were changing, and what that might mean for the future of communication [5]. This occurred alongside the continual expansion of mass communication methods – TV and radio continued their dominance of message-spreading in the western world.

The shift into empirical methodology continued. While theoretical discussions of communication remained (and remain) central to the field, the introduction of data-driven, quantified assessments became an increasingly routine aspect of communication research. The book “ Mass Communication Research Methods ”, released in 1998, helped cement this as standard, defining the experimental methods of the day [6].

These research methods – focus groups , observations, and surveys – have now long been central to the field, yet the next step in empirical quantification is already emerging. Continuing with the steps towards quantification and more thoroughly empirical approaches, new unbiased tools are now being used as a way to incisively measure the processes surrounding communication, to test theories, and to advance understanding further. But what does this look like?

New Methods for Communication Research

Eye tracking has become one of the most widely used technologies within communication research, largely as it “gives communication scholars the opportunity to examine more precisely how much visual attention has been paid to information” [7].

In 2016, researchers from the University of Amsterdam carried out the first retrospective study examining the use of eye tracking technology within communication research [7]. They found that the majority of studies within communication using eye tracking had focused on advertising research , yet public health, language, and computer-mediated communication were also areas that had been looked at. They also conclude that “ that eye tracking has much more potential in communication research”.

One example of this potential being seized upon is found in research by researchers from Ohio State University and the University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign, who developed eye tracking metrics to assess automatic stereotyping [8]. By using a gaze-contingency task , they were able to show that stereotype-congruent fixations were decreased for those with a higher political knowledge score.

Political Communication Research

The research showed that participants who are categorized as knowledgeable about politics were more capable of “moderating automatic responses” – adding a new layer of understanding to how political communication can impact reported and actual responses. The researchers go on to state that this “implies that the influence of automatic processes on political thinking is conditional” – meaning that our response to political communication may be less automatic than previously thought.

Responsive Media Messages

While these studies have used eye tracking to measure attention, other communication research has used a combination of methods. Researchers from Texas Tech University used facial electromyography (fEMG), electrocardiography (ECG) , and electrodermal activity (EDA) in order to assess affect in response to media messages [9].

They found that fEMG data provided reliable data regarding emotional state, while heart rate data collected from ECG indicated that negative messages received more attention than positive messages. The skin conductance data collected from EDA provided data that, together with a memory test, showed that the arousal level experienced was a greater predictor of memory retention for the media exposure, as compared to the valence experienced.

Increasing Engagement

Other research has also used arousal in order to understand the response to communication (for a review of some of these studies, see [10]). For example, researchers from Indiana University and the University of Wisconsin-Madison investigated responses to the number of edits within media using EDA and ECG [11]. They find that an increase of edits within the media can increase the encoding of the message without causing too much cognitive load , suggesting that media should feature a larger number of edits (where appropriate) to increase engagement.

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[1] Cooley, C. H. (1962). Social Organization: A Study of the Larger Mind . New York: Schocken (first published 1909).

[2] Ellwood, C. A. (1910). Social Organization: A Study of the Larger Mind. Charles Horton Cooley. The International Journal of Ethics , 20 : 2 ,  228-230.

[3] Berelson, B. (1952). Content analysis in communication research . Glencoe, IL: Free Press.

[4] Bauer, M. (2000) “Classical Content Analysis: A Review,” in M. Bauer and G. Gaskell (eds.), Qualitative Researching with Text, Image and Sound — A Handbook . London: SAGE. pp. 131—150.

[5] Park, D. W., & Pooley, J. (2008). The history of media and communication research: Contested memories . New York: Peter Lang.

[6] Hansen, A., Cottle, S., Negrine, R. and Newbold, C. (1998). Mass Communication Research Methods . London: Macmillan.

[7] Bol, N., Boerman, S. C., Romano Bergstrom, J. C., & Kruikemeier, S. (2016). An overview of how eye tracking is used in communication research. In M. Antona & C. Stephanidis (Eds.), International conference on universal access in human-computer interaction . Proceedings HCII 2016, Part I, LNCS 9737 ed. (pp. 421–429). Switzerland: Springer International Publishing.

[8] Coronel, J. C., & Federmeier, K. D. (2016). The Effects of Gender Cues and Political Sophistication on Candidate Evaluation: A Comparison of Self-Report and Eye Movement Measures of Stereotyping. Communication Research , 43(7), 922-944. doi:10.1177/0093650215604024.

[9] Bolls, P.D., Lang, A., & Potter, R.F. (2001). The effects of message valence and listener arousal on attention, memory, and facial muscular responses to radio advertisements. Communication Research , 28, 627-651.

[10] Ravaja, N. (2004). Contributions of psychophysiology to media research: Review and recommendations. Media Psychology , 6, 193-235.

[11] Lang, A., Zhou, S., Schwartz, N., Bolls, P. D., & Potter, R. F. (2000). The effects of edits on arousal, attention, and memory for television messages: When an edit is an edit can an edit be too much? Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media , 44(1), 94-109.

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Article contents

Methods for intercultural communication research.

• John Oetzel , John Oetzel Waikato Management School, The University of Waikato
• Saumya Pant Saumya Pant Mudra Institute of Communications, Ahmedabad (MICA)
•  and  Nagesh Rao Nagesh Rao Partner, Siya Consulting
• https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190228613.013.202
• Published online: 09 May 2016

Research on intercultural communication is conducted using primarily three different methodological approaches: social scientific, interpretive, and critical. Each of these approaches reflects different philosophical assumptions about the world and how we come to know it. Social scientific methods often involve quantitative data collection and research approaches such as surveys and experiments. From this perspective, intercultural communication is seen as patterns of interaction, and we seek to explain and understand these patterns through clear measurement and identification of key independent variables. Interpretive methods often involve qualitative data collection and research approaches such as interviews and ethnographic observation. From this perspective, intercultural communication and meaning is created through interaction, and we seek to understand these meanings by exploring the perspectives of people who participate as members of cultural communities. Critical methods often involve qualitative data collection and research approaches such as interviews and textual critique. From this perspective, intercultural communication involves inequalities that can be attributed to power and distortions created from (mis)use of this power. Critical scholars seek to unmask domination and inequality. Most scholars utilize one of these primary approaches given the consistency with their world views, theories, and research training. However, there are creative possibilities for combining these approaches that have potential for fuller understanding of intercultural communication.

• social science methods
• interpretive methods
• critical methods
• quantitative
• qualitative
• intercultural communication

Introduction

Our worldview shapes what is “interesting” to a particular audience, what is considered a problem, what problem is interesting to study, and whether the goal of studying a problem is to analyze the problem, to analyze and solve the problem, or to analyze, solve, and implement the solution. Our worldview defines if an issue is a problem or not and if we need to come up with a solution. For example, behaviors associated with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are seen as a problem in the United States, and there are medications to solve the problem. In India, the same set of behaviors among children is seen as what children tend to do, as normal and not as a problem.

Our worldview not only shapes what we see as an interesting problem to study but also the methodology we use to study the problem. The purpose of this article is to describe, and explore integration of, the three main methodological perspectives in studying intercultural communication issues: social scientific, interpretive, and critical. First, the ontological, epistemological, and axiological assumptions underlying each of these methodological perspectives are explored. Then, for each methodological perspective, common methods and types of data collected and some exemplars are identified. Finally, we offer traditional integration of the three approaches and also alternate methodological perspectives to study intercultural issues from a non-Western lens.

Ontology, Epistemology, and Axiology

Ontology is the study of the researcher’s orientation to reality. In the social scientific perspective, the researcher views the world objectively in that there is a world outside of us that can be systematically studied. Researchers from this perspective use a deductive approach and are keen to explain and predict phenomena. Social scientific ontology provides clarity and direction due to its rigorous questioning of plausibility and reduction of subjectivity. In contrast and as a reaction to the social scientific perspective, interpretive researchers argue that the observer and the observed are subjective and the most important lessons are in how they co-create meaning. If the social scientists take a deterministic view of human behavior, interpretivists thrive in a person’s free will. Critical theorists focus particularly on social injustices and inequalities in life. Researchers in this area explore how social structures create power inequalities and injustices. Thus, they believe that power differences are at the base of social transactions (Scotland, 2012 ). Any ontological investigation for a critical theorist will thus have to help unearth these inequities.

Epistemology looks at how we come to know a chosen phenomenon and thus how researchers study this phenomenon. Social scientists, interested in assessing objective reality (or at least reduced subjectivity), use a scientific method to collect empirical evidence. They focus particularly on causal relationships between phenomena and generally use quantitative approaches to collect data. The basis of their assessment and data collection is the premise that objects have an existence independent of the knower (Cohen et al., 2007 ). Interpretivists, who are interested in situational and contextual meaning, generally use qualitative methods to assess participants’ sense of reality. They are not exploring one truth, but the play of multiple truths simultaneously. They do so by studying individual interactions and the historical and cultural contexts in which these individuals interact. Critical researchers use a variety of qualitative methods to explore, for example, how language is used to create power imbalances or how mass media is used to avoid critical thinking. Critical scholars are particularly sensitive to the overdependence on empirical and social scientific evidence. They do so as critical investigations are premised on the fact that social/positional power determines what is considered knowledge (Cohen et al., 2007 ).

Axiology explores the values that guide a researcher’s questions, the methods used to collect and analyze data, the interpretation of the data, and the implications of the findings. Social scientists study phenomena to find the truth, which, in turn, guides specific types of action. They are focused on exploring what is referred to as the value axiom, or how much a phenomenon being studied fulfills the requirements of the concept to which it belongs (Kelleher, 2013 ). Both interpretivists and critical theorists are interested in describing what exists, how the participants in the community interpret phenomena, with critical theorists particularly interested in reducing class imbalances and other forms of oppression. Interpretivists are axiologically determined to encourage the fact that observations drawn can always be disagreed upon and reopened to interpretation. With respect to control, social scientists wish to control as many variables as possible, narrowing down the causal pattern to the variables under study. Interpretivists seek active participation in the study to understand how they view reality. Critical theorists are particularly aware of the community members’ need to take control of their own situations. With this brief overview in mind, we now explain the methodological approaches of the social scientific, interpretive, and critical perspectives; the types of data collected; some exemplars for each perspective; and some general concerns about each of the methods.

Social Science Methods

Social science research methods address questions related to both cross-cultural and intercultural communication. Much of the foundational work on intercultural communication research is based on comparisons of two or more cultures. Both forms of communication research try to enhance the comprehension of communication that are mediated by and through cultural context (Sponcil & Gitimu, 2010 ). These comparisons helped to identify how the normative and subjective aspects of culture vary across cultures and presumably provided information about what to expect when interacting with members from different cultures. This type of research is classified as cross-cultural. In contrast, intercultural communication is the exchange of messages between people from different cultural groups (Gudykunst, 2003a ). Regardless of the interest in cross-cultural or intercultural communication, the social scientific perspective seeks to understand and predict the effect of culture on communication variables and the subsequent effect of communication on various outcomes. Thus, the methods of study are similar. This section reviews the three most prominent social scientific methods providing an example of each. Additionally, the types of data generated and methodological concerns are discussed.

There are three methods used by most social scientific researchers to study cross-cultural and intercultural research: (a) survey questionnaire, (b) experimental design, and (c) content analysis. The survey questionnaire is by far the most frequently used research method (e.g., Oetzel & Ting-Toomey, 2003 ; Rao, Singhal, Ren, & Zhang, 2001 ). It is typically a self-administered and self-report instrument that is distributed to large samples in multiple cultures. Most cross-cultural comparisons utilize self-report questionnaires because of the difficulty of collecting data from large samples in multiple cultures using other methods. Finally, self-report questionnaires are relatively easy to construct. Numerous cross-culturally valid scales exist, and methodological difficulties have been clearly identified (Gudykunst, 2003b ). While not easy to overcome, methodological difficulties of survey questionnaires are manageable (see below for more detail). Survey questionnaires provide detailed description of cultural associations of communication behavior and outcomes and allow for comparisons to other cultures.

Hanasono, Chen, and Wilson’s ( 2014 ) study of perceived discrimination, social support, and coping among racial minority university students is an example of survey research. The authors surveyed 345 students, half international students and half U.S. students, about their acculturation, experiences with discrimination, support, and coping needs. They found that the level of acculturation helped to explain students’ need for support and how they coped with discrimination.

Experimental designs are highly regarded social scientific research because of the control of variables, which enables causal relationships to be examined. Culture is not a variable that lends itself well to experimental manipulation, and thus experimental designs are relatively rare in this line of research. Rather than experimental controlling culture, researchers typically use quasi-experimental designs manipulating the composition of groups or dyads to be intra- or intercultural (e.g., Cai, Wilson, & Drake, 2000 ; Oetzel, 1998 ). These experiments collect a combination of self-report information (e.g., cultural and individual variables) as well as videotaped interaction. Additionally, some researchers have used experimental conditions on survey questionnaires (e.g., Han & Cai, 2010 ). These studies utilize stimulus variables (e.g., contextual features) that ask participants to respond to specific situations.

Brinson and Stohl’s ( 2012 ) study of media framing on attitudes toward Muslims, civil liberties, and counterterrorism policies is an example of experimental design. They used a Solomon four-group design involving 371 U.S. adults to compare the media framing of “domestic homegrown” and “international” terrorism of the London bombings in 2005 . The authors used video segments from actual broadcasts on July 7, 2005 , and edited them together to create an approximately 10-minute video for each of the two conditions. The authors found that media frames of homegrown terrorism produced greater fear than the international framing. Fear resulted in greater support for restricting civil liberties of Muslims and, under certain conditions, general negative feelings toward Muslims.

A third method used in social scientific research is content analysis of media sources. This method is utilized to identify patterns prevalent in the media (e.g., Dixon & Azocar, 2006 ; Klein & Shiffman, 2006 ). Additionally, some researchers survey participants for their reactions about media patterns. Content analysis, while time consuming, is convenient and inexpensive since the only access needed is a recording or transcript of the artifact of study. It involves the use of a coding scheme to provide an “objective” description of the media and thus insights into cultural values and behaviors. The categorizations are then compared across cultures. When these categorizations are compared, it is done on the basis of frames, which are defined as a “schema of interpretation, collection of anecdotes, and stereotypes” (Cissel, 2014 , p. 67). Once these frames are determined, the way in which individuals deal with their realities within and across cultures can be studied.

An example of such content analysis was the study of the coverage of the Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan in two Belgian newspapers: Le Soir and De Standard (Perko et al., 2011 ). The time period of the study was from March 11, 2011, to May 11, 2011 . Every article was coded by two independent coders. The authors had begun their study with a question as to how the framing of the question of nuclear power would appear in the two Belgian newspapers. They arrived at the conclusion that the reporting was mostly neutral. Further, since the Fukushima nuclear accident was in a country quite remote, the articles did not frame the issue as an example of a possible threat to their own country from nuclear power plants.

Data Analysis and Methodological Concerns

Data from these three methods are quantified to allow for statistical analysis. All forms of data must be reduced to categories that are independent from one another (exhaustive and exclusive categories). These can include frequency counts of behaviors, sequence of behaviors, and self-report information on numerical scales. Data are then analyzed with statistical software to determine associations between cultural (independent) and communication (dependent) variables (outcomes are dependent variables with culture and/or communication as independent). The nature of analysis depends on the numerical measurement of the variables, but frequent tests include t -tests, analysis of variance, correlation, and regression. Additionally, complex modeling of dependent variables can be undertaken using, for example, structural equation modeling and hierarchical linear modeling. The key concern with the statistical tests is accounting for variance in the dependent variables. The more variance explained means the “more important” a cultural factor is for communication behavior. Because of the vast number of factors that explain human behavior, intercultural researchers believe that as little as 5–10% of variance explained is meaningful.

There are four concerns for data analysis in social scientific research: (a) reliability, (b) measurement validity, (c) internal validity, and (d) external validity. Reliability is reproducibility. For the aforementioned methods, two types of reliability are relevant. First, internal consistency of measures is usually measured with Cronbach’s alpha. Second, when completing content or interaction analysis, intercoder reliability (agreement between two or more coders) is important and measured with Cohen’s K or Scott’s pi (or the like). Reliability means a researcher has consistent measures, whereas validity focuses on accurate information.

Validity is a combination of measurement, internal, and external validity (depending on the goals in the study). Measurement validity focuses on the accuracy with which a scale (or coding scheme) is measuring what is supposed to be measured. Internal validity is the strength to which a researcher can conclude that the independent variable is associated with the dependent variable as hypothesized. Internal validity is established by eliminating rival explanations for statistical associations through statistical or experimental control of confounding (or nuisance) variables. External validity is the degree to which a study’s results can be generalized to the larger populations from which a sample was drawn. In intercultural research, researchers are more concerned with measurement and internal validity than external validity.

While these general methodological concerns are true for all social science research, there are also unique concerns with cross-cultural/intercultural communication research (Gudykunst, 2003b ; Levine, Park, & Kim, 2007 ). Gudykunst ( 2003b ) outlined a number of concerns with cross-cultural research, but chief among the methodological issues is establishing equivalence. In order to make cross-cultural comparisons (and have valid measures for intercultural research), researchers need to ensure that the constructs and measures are equivalent on five levels. First, constructs must be functionally equivalent; that is, the construct must work the same way in the cultures under study. Second, constructs must be conceptually equivalent; that is, the construct must have the same meaning within the cognitive system of the members of cultures being examined. Third, linguistic equivalence for constructs refers having language that is equivalent. Linguistic equivalence is often established through translating and backtranslating of measures. Fourth, metric equivalence is established by ensuring that participants in different cultures do not respond to numerical scales in different ways (e.g., one cultural group may not use the extreme scores in a scale). Finally, researchers need to take care and establish that there is sample equivalence in the two cultural groups. The samples need to be comparable (e.g., similar age, gender, education, etc.). Fletcher and colleagues ( 2014 ) explore the steps needed to statistically ensure equivalence in measurement across multiple cultures. Establishing equivalence on these issues helps to eliminate rival explanations and further ensures that differences found are due to cultural differences. In addition to such methodological rigor, scholars from other orientations argue that it is also imperative for the researcher to be reflexive and aware of theoretical and methodological centeredness that can come from such systematic rigor (Asante, Miike, & Yin, 2008 ).

Interpretive Methods

Interpretive scholars are interested in unearthing multiple simultaneous truths, believe in a person’s free will, acknowledge that the known and the knower cannot be separated, and believe that interpretation is based on one’s persuasive abilities. Striving for meaning, interpretive scholars generally use a variety of qualitative methods to study specific intercultural phenomena. As a result of this, interpretivists examine theoretical limits by comparing results from multiple forms of research about the same phenomenon (Szabo, 2007 ). For this article, we focus on ethnography of communication and interpretive interviews as these are two common approaches. We then discuss the general methodological issues in collecting and analyzing interpretive data.

Ethnography of communication (EOC) is a method to study the relationship between language and culture through extensive field experience. The concept of the ethnography of communication was developed by Dell Hymes (Hall, 2002 ). It can be defined as the discovery and explication of the rules for contextually appropriate behavior in a community or group or what the individual needs to know to be a functional member of the community. EOC applies ethnographic methods to understand the communication patterns of a speech community (Philipsen, 1975 ). A speech community is a group of speakers who share common speech codes and use these codes based on a specific situation. From the presence or absence of certain speech codes, one can interpret the culture of a community with its shared values, beliefs, and attitudes. In his classic study, Philipsen ( 1975 ) explored the communication patterns of white males in a predominantly blue-collar neighborhood called “Teamsterville” in South Chicago. Philipsen lived in the community for several years and worked and interacted as a member of the community while also conducting his research. Results from this study explained when talk was appropriate, at what levels, and when action was more appropriate than talk. When two men were of similar backgrounds, of more or less equal status, and were close friends, they could talk to each other. There was less talk when the relationship was asymmetrical (e.g., father–son and husband–wife). The least amount of talk occurred when a “Teamsterville” was responding to an insult or trying to assert his power over someone. It is in these instances that action was more appropriate than words. If a man did talk during this interaction, he was seen as not masculine enough. Another interesting study was conducted by Radford et al. ( 2011 ). The study focused on applying EOC to the case of virtual reference context. Here, the researchers focused on the interactions that constitute the context in which the participants make verbal statements and coordinate them with other statements in order to closely analyze the relational barriers and relational facilitators. The interactions spanned a 23-month time period ( July 2004–May 2006 ), and the transcripts of 746 live chats of this period were studied. The researchers were able to conclude from their study that when professional librarians chatted, they were more formal, less free with accepted online abbreviations, whereas students were more comfortable with using abbreviations and other turns of phrases. One of the conclusions the researchers drew was that if the librarians used more informal language they would appear more friendly and approachable.

Interpretive interviews are a second common approach. The purpose of the interpretive interview is to uncover insider meanings and understandings from the perspective of the participants (Denzin, 2001 ). According to Denzin ( 2001 ), the characteristic of interpretive interviews is that they allow us to understand the society in which we live, which is referred to as an interview society. Typically, these interviews are one-on-one and face-to-face interviews designed to elicit in-depth information. The interviews can focus on narratives, topics, perspectives, and opinions and often are conducted in a semi-structured manner (although unstructured interviews are sometimes conducted). One of the reasons why the semi-structured and/or narrative form is used is to allow for deeper and embedded meanings that might elude a more inquiry-based approach. An example of interpretive interviews is Baig, Ting-Toomey, and Dorjee’s ( 2014 ) study of meaning construction of the South Asian Indian term izzat (face) in intergenerational contexts. The authors interviewed six younger (aged 31–40) and six older (aged 55–72) South Asian Indian American women about face concerns in their intergenerational family communication situations. The authors found that family izzat is of primary importance in these contexts and that the motif of respect is central to the meaning of izzat . They also identified differences in the younger and older facework strategies.

The primary focus of analyzing interpretive research data is rather nicely summarized by Carbaugh ( 2007 ):

It is important to emphasize the interpretive task before the analyst: while engaging in a communication practice, an analyst seeks to understand what range of meanings is active in that practice, when it is getting done. The analyst sets out to interpret this practice, what is being presumed by participants for it to be what it is, that is, to understand the meta-cultural commentary imminent in it. What all does this practice have to say? (p. 174)

Thus, the interpretive scholar analyzes data in order to describe and interpret.

Carbaugh ( 2007 ) identified two concerns in analyzing interpretive data—the framework used to analyze the semantic content of cultural discourse and the vocabulary used to formulate these contents. A researcher’s analysis of the content of the communication exchange also includes a meta-analysis of the subject, the object, the context, the history, and the stories revolving around the exchange. Carbaugh ( 2007 ) noted that “these cultural meanings—about personhood, relationships, action, emotion, and dwelling, respectively—are formulated in cultural discourse analyses as radiants of cultural meaning” (p. 174). These radiants of cultural meanings focus on personhood and identity, relating and relationships, meanings about acting, action and practice, meanings about emotions and feelings, and meanings about place or context.

Reliability and validity are explicated differently in interpretive research compared to social science research. If social scientific scholars are interested in consistency for reliability, interpretive scholars see reliability as the quality of the information obtained; does the data give us a richer, clearer understanding of the phenomena (Golafshani, 2003 )? Lincoln and Guba ( 1985 ) used the term “dependability” in place of reliability to assess the quality of a research project. For validity, it is important to assess the quality based on the specific paradigm used to conduct the qualitative research. Further, while many scholars argue that validity is not a critical concept for interpretive research, Lincoln and Guba ( 1985 ) explained that the “trustworthiness” of the data is similar to validity in social science research. Do the community of scholars conducting interpretive research view the data as meaningful, useful, and following the research protocols appropriately?

After having considered these general considerations, we now consider three specific data analysis approaches using in interpretive intercultural communication research including grounded theory, constant comparative analysis, and thematic analysis. Other data analytic approaches for data analysis include narrative analysis, conversational analysis, EOC, and interpretive phenomenological analysis. Grounded theory is a continuum of practices that are inductive and iterative aimed at recognizing categories and concepts in texts in order to integrate them to formal theoretical models (Corbin & Strauss, 2008 ). They begin with the observations, experiences, and stories, and through a process of coding, analysts identify a theoretical model to fit the data. Another important approach that interpretive scholars use is that of constant comparative analysis (CCA). CCA has often been used as a part of grounded theory, but it is now being used separately to analyze cross-cultural and intercultural communication. CCA is used to balance the etic perspective (participant as outsider) with the emic perspective (participant as insider) to ensure balance between cultural readings and theoretical frameworks. CCA ensures that all data in the relevant set are compared with all other data in the same set to make sure that no data are dismissed on thematic grounds (O’Connor et al., 2008 ). Further, CCA tries to accommodate the most relevant theories though they may appear disparate. A final prominent approach is thematic analysis. Thematic analysis is a flexible and yet rigorous approach of identifying and analyzing patterns or themes of meaning from data. Braun and Clarke ( 2006 ) identify a six-step process for conducting thematic analysis.

Critical Methods

From the critical perspective, relationships between cultural groups are often characterized by dominance and resistance. Communication between groups is based on certain understanding of culture and ethnicity that is fixed, reified, and essentialized and is informed by certain cultural assumptions that tend to be rooted in Euro-American traditions and worldviews (Asante et al., 2008 ). Hermans and Kempen ( 1998 ) argued that dominant approaches to knowledge favor static conceptualizations of culture. It is the creation of these static categories in which the Western understanding of the rest of the world dominates the intercultural relations that results in the reification of culturally homogeneous “ethnic” and racial groups. Consequently, this orientation undermines ways in which the self is understood in different cultures.

Critical and feminist scholars have consistently raised questions about power imbalance between researchers and researched in the field, suggesting that if researchers fail to explore how their personal, professional, and structural positions frame social scientific investigations, researchers may inevitably reproduce dominant gender, race, and class biases (Fairclough, 1995 ; Lazar, 2005 ). This section illustrates postcolonial ethnography and critical discourse analysis as approaches for intercultural discovery from the critical lens. Additionally, we introduce the role of self-reflexivity and consciousness-raising in the context of methodological concerns from the critical perspective.

A variety of approaches to critical issues exist such as critical race theory, decolonizing and indigenous methodologies, engaged methodologies, and performative methodologies (Willink, Gutierrez-Perez, Shukri, & Stein, 2014 ). In this article, we explore two prominent methods to illustrate some of the key elements to critical approaches given that we cannot cover all of them: postcolonial ethnography and critical discourse analysis.

Postcolonial ethnography seeks to disrupt and restructure established academic practices and modes of knowledge development and dissemination (Pathak, 2010 ). It attempt to do this by pointing out that gender roles, academic institutions, racial binaries, and other power structures are not apolitical. Postcolonial ethnography seeks to question the reification and valorization of supposed objective, scientific, and disembodied knowledge formations. Instead they seek to find alternate and embodied knowledge forms that accommodate the subjective and the personal.

While postcolonial and third world feminist scholars point to myriad ways in which relations of domination infuse ethnography, they also offer some guidance for negotiating power inherent in the practice of fieldwork (Spivak, 1999 ). This guidance takes the form of feminist geopolitics, which involves not only questioning hegemonic structures and dominant power structures but also offering alternatives to those structures (Koopman, 2011 ). Postcolonial scholars argue that the practice of ethnography among marginalized groups is historically tainted by ethnocentric biases in traditional ethnographic practice and research (Collins, 1990 ). Further, as philosopher Sandra Harding ( 1998 ) emphasized, ethnocentricism is structured into the institutional and academic practices so as to produce relationships oppressive to indigenous cultures in the so-called first world as well as third world countries.

An example of postcolonial inquiry is that of an ethnographic encounter (Irani et al., 2010 ). As a part of this inquiry, the company that the researchers studied, Ddesign, had to develop prototypical home water purification filters (Irani et al., 2010 ). The site of their study was various villages in India where they were supposed to study the feasibility of home water purifiers among the economically deprived households of the villages. The researchers later were told that when Ddesign first started their study, they had notions of privations in the lives of the householders. During their study, they found that the reality was quite different from their preconceptions. They realized that the definitions of privations that the company personnel had were not applicable to the people or to their living conditions. In fact, the researchers were told by the company personnel that the villagers had a very different worldview from that of the personnel. Thus, the researchers and the company personnel realized that one group’s notions of well-being and happiness were not necessarily applicable to another group no matter how universal those notions might be.

A second approach is critical discourse analysis (CDA). The creative combining of different approaches of lived experience, texts or discourses, and the social and political structures of power has resulted in popularity of cultural studies as a critical site for different modes of enquiry. According to Fairclough ( 1995 ), “many analysts are becoming increasingly hesitant in their use of basic theoretical concepts such as power, ideology, class, and even truth/falsity” (p. 15). In recent social scientific research, there has been a turn toward language or, more specifically, toward discourse. According to the feminist critical scholar Michelle M. Lazar ( 2005 ), discourse is a “site of struggle, where forces of social (re)production and contestation are played out” (p. 4). Critical discourse analysis is known for its overtly political stance and deals with all forms of social inequality and injustice. It includes the study of processes premised on the acts and discursive interactions of individuals and groups on which both the local and international contexts bring to bear their limits in the production of legislation, news making, and other such products of discursive interactions (van Dijk, 2008 ).

An example of critical discourse analysis in intercultural communication research is Chen, Simmons, and Kang’s ( 2015 ) study of identity construction of college students. The authors contextualize their study in an era of “postracial” utopia resulting during the Obama administration. They coin the term “Multicultural/multiracial Obama-ism (MMO)” to reflect this era and the prominent frame of colorblindness and multiculturalism prominent in media discourse. They examined 65 student essays about three cultural identities that stood out in a particular context. They analyzed the essays using CDA and found three frames that support this construction of postracial utopia: meritocracy, identity as self-chosen, and equality of opportunity despite privilege. They critique these frames and identify implications for teaching about intercultural communication and identity in the classroom.

Key methodological issues in the critical approach are the role of reflexivity, consciousness-raising, and limitations/possibilities of the reflective approach. A sociology-of-knowledge approach to critical scholarship reveals the role of reflexivity as a source of insight (Cook & Fonow, 1984 ). Reflexivity means the tendency of critical scholars to reflect upon, examine critically, and explore analytically the nature of the research process. To some extent, this tendency toward reflection is part of a tradition of attention to what Kaplan ( 1964 ) referred to as “logic-in-use” or the actual occurrences that arise in the inquiry, idealized and unreconstructed. Feminist and critical epistemology carries this tradition of reflection further by using it to gain insight into the assumptions about gender and intercultural relations underlying the conduct of inquiry. This is often accomplished by a thoroughgoing review of the research setting and its participants, including an exploration of the investigator’s reactions to doing the research.

One of the ways in which reflexivity is employed involves the concept of consciousness-raising, a process of self-awareness familiar to those involved with the women’s movement. Underlying much of the reflexivity found in feminist scholarship is the notion found in the earlier work of scholars such as W. E. B. DuBois ( 1969 ) and Paulo Freire ( 1970 ) that consciousness of oppression can lead to a creative insight that is generated by experiencing contradictions. Under ideal circumstances, transformation occurs, during which something hidden is revealed about the formerly taken-for-granted aspects of intercultural relations.

Consciousness-raising is employed in various ways by the critical scholar. The first way is through attention to the consciousness-raising effects of research on the researcher. Consciousness-raising is also involved in discussions of ways in which the research process influences subjects of the inquiry. Some authors view the research act as an explicit attempt to reduce the distance between the researcher and subjects (Collins, 1990 ). These approaches have provided critical and feminist researchers with a way to tap collective consciousness as a source of data and have provided participants in the research process with a way to confirm the experiences that have often been denied as real in the past. The applications of critical consciousness-raising and reflexivity can be seen in discourses surrounding terrorism and counterterrorism. This application can be seen in the study by Schmid ( 2013 ) about radicalization, deradicalization, and counter-radicalization. Schmid has observed that the usual causes such as poverty, social inequality, oppression, and neglect by the West have not been empirically tested satisfactorily, yet they are believed to be the primary causes of radicalization. The study provides three levels of analysis that can be used to understand how “radicals” are born and how that complex construction can be interrogated: the micro level, dealing with the individual level in terms of identity and self-reflection; the meso level, which deals with the socio-political milieu surrounding the individual; and the macro level, which refers to the larger society and governance that affect the individual. Further, these three levels of analysis can also be used to see how the continuum from radical to political undesirable and terrorist can be studied.

Finally, there are limitations and possibilities of reflective practice. Critical researchers use self-reflection about power as a tool to deepen ethnographic analysis and to highlight the dilemmas in fieldwork. The call for reflective practice has also been informed by critiques of postcolonial theorists who argue for self-reflexive understanding of the epistemological investments that shape the politics of method (Mohanty, 1991 ). Cultural studies scholars have also questioned the call to reflective practice, arguing that taken to the extreme, “constant reflexivity” can make “social interaction extremely cumbersome” (Hurtado, 1996 , p. 29). In contrast, the call to “accountability” is said to offer a more collective approach than the “individual self assessment of one’s perspective” that the term “reflexivity implies” (Hurtado, 1996 , p. 29). However, from point of ethnographic practice, it is seldom clear to whom one should be “accountable,” and therefore the term reflective practice seems to be appropriate.

Reflective practice indicates both individual self-assessment and collective assessment of research strategies. Hurtado ( 1996 ) emphasized that a “reflexive mechanism for understanding how we are all involved in the dirty process of racializing and gendering others, limiting who they are and who they can become” (p. 124) is a necessary strategy to help dismantle domination. Such reflective strategies can also help ethnographers bring to the surface “their own privilege and possible bias” as well as “addressing the difference between different constituencies” (Hurtado, 1996 , p. 160) within the communities they study.

Integrating Social Science, Interpretive, and Critical Research Methods

Each set of methods presented in this chapter has strengths and limitations. They address specific purposes that collectively are all important for the field of intercultural communication. Moreover, integrating the research methods provides richer insights than using any method by itself. However, these integrations still may have limitations in exploring non-Western contexts. Thus, this section explores integrations of the methods and alternative methods for intercultural inquiry.

Integrations of Methods

The integration of research methods involves using different types of methods at different phases (Cresswell & Plano Clark, 2011 ). In this manner, the methods are used one after another (or concurrently) depending on the research question associated with the larger research program. Four phasic designs are most prevalent: a) qualitative/interpretive methods used to create a quantitative (social science measure); b) qualitative (interpretive and critical) methods used to embellish quantitative findings (Big Quant, Little Qual); c) quantitative methods used to embellish qualitative findings (Big Qual, Little Quant); and d) social science, interpretive, critical methods used conjointly. Space limitations prohibit us from providing examples of all of these approaches, so we detail two of them.

Zhang and colleagues (Zhang & Oetzel, 2006 ; Zhang, Oetzel, Gao, Wilcox, & Takai, 2007 ) provide an example of how to create a cross-culturally valid measure of a construct. Their purpose was to measure teacher immediacy. Teacher immediacy is the psychology closeness that is communicated from a teacher to a student. There exist different measures of immediacy, but Zhang and Oetzel ( 2006 ) argued that prior Western measures were not applicable in Chinese classrooms (i.e., they did not have conceptual equivalence). To address this issue, they first conducted open-ended interviews with Chinese students to identify themes associated with the meanings of immediacy. This phase of the research involved interpretive research methods as they put primacy on emic meanings. In the second phase, they used the emic meanings to create an operational measure of three dimensions of teacher immediacy (instructional, relational, and personal). This measure was administered to college students, and the data were analyzed with confirmatory factor analysis. The results dimensions were found to be internally consistent and had construct validity as they correlated with existing scales in expected directions. Zhang et al. ( 2007 ) then continued the development of the scale by administering the scale to college students in four national cultures: China, Japan, Germany, and the United States. With these data, the authors used confirmatory factor analysis to see if the three-dimensional model of teacher immediacy held up in each culture. They found cross-cultural support for the model and also the construct validity of the scales. Thus, their thorough testing from the interpretive phase to the social scientific phase led to the development of a teacher immediacy scale that has valid dimensions in at least four national cultures.

An example of integrating critical, social scientific, and interpretive methods into the same research program can be seen in the work on whiteness ideology (Nakayama & Martin, 1999 ). The project culminated in an edited book that included chapters using the various research methods. Whiteness ideology is the worldview that certain groups have privilege over others. It is labeled whiteness because whites tend to be the privileged groups in most societies. This research group’s work primarily focused on ethnic groups in the United States, but some international contexts were examined and other scholars have since examined international contexts we well (e.g., Collier, 2005 ). One part of the project examined the labels that white people in the United States prefer through a survey (Martin, Krizek, Nakayama, & Bradford, 1999 ). Another part of the project involved two of the team members’ integrated interpretive and critical methods to understand how whiteness is used as strategic rhetoric (Nakayama & Krizek, 1999 ). The volume included other scholars writing from different perspectives as well, and the editors attempted to bring together these various perspectives into a “coherent” picture about whiteness ideology. These scholars asked different questions and used different methods to investigate the same phenomena. Collectively, the research program told a richer and fuller story than any single study could have told. This example illustrates how different research methods can be used concurrently to advance understanding about intercultural phenomena.

Alternative Approaches to Studying Intercultural Communication

Intercultural research using the social scientific, interpretive, and critical methods have offered remarkable insights on a variety of intercultural phenomena. Each of these traditional approaches, however, uses a Euro-Western lens that is predominantly textocentric, privileging text, writing, and the lettered word in comparison to oral stories and visuals (Conquergood, 2002 ; Kim, 2002 ). We offer here two participatory approaches that, in some sense, hand over the power of the data to the participants. From these approaches, the ontology, epistemology, and axiology of the participants are more important than those of the researchers. Singhal, Harter, Chitnis, and Sharma ( 2007 ) explained that participation-based methodology allows for lateral communication between participants, creates a space for dialogue, focuses on the people’s needs, enables collective empowerment, and offers cultural-specific content. In contrast, they note that nonparticipatory methods allow top-down vertical communication, generally focus on individual behavior change, consider the donors’ and researchers’ goals of greater importance than community needs, and offer cultural-general information. This section discusses three participatory approaches: theater, photography, and community-based participatory research.

Participatory Theater

Based on the dialogic theorizing of Brazilian educator Paulo Freire ( 1970 ) and its application by Augusto Boal in his performative intervention, “Theater of the Oppressed” ( 1995 ), participatory theater can offer researchers an epistemology different from other research methods that rely on data from interviews and focus groups. This approach provides different kinds of data, discursive narratives that can be used to highlight some of the significant generative themes of the research participants.

The Theater of the Oppressed was developed in an effort to transform theater from the “monologue” of traditional performance into a “dialogue” between audience and stage. Boal ( 1995 ) experimented with many kinds of interactive theater. His explorations were based on the assumption that dialogue is the common, healthy dynamic between all humans and when a dialogue becomes a monologue, oppression ensues. Participatory theater is a research tool that produces generative and local knowledge, starting with the use of the body, the container of memory, emotions, and culture (Kaptani & Yuval-Davis, 2008 ). Theater has the ability to provide a useful connection to specific places as well as people. The encounter between the researcher and the researched in the theater space is outside the redundancy of everyday life. As a result, the researcher can see herself and her interactions between and with the researched in a way that is more distant than in everyday life, thus possibly making it easier to become reflexive.

Boal ( 1995 ) developed various forms of theater workshops and performances which aimed to meet the needs of all people for interaction, dialogue, critical thinking, action, and fun. For example, Forum Theater constitutes a series of workshops in which the participants are transformed from a passive audience into the double roles of actors and active audience. They construct dramatic scenes involving conflictual oppressive situations in small groups and show them to the other participants, who intervene by taking the place of the protagonists and suggesting better strategies for achieving their goals. One of the popular research tools used in Forum Theater is role-playing. Role-playing serves as a vehicle for analyzing power, stimulating public debate, and searching for solutions. Participants explore the complexity of the human condition and situate this knowledge in its cultural moment. The aim of the forum is not to find an ideal solution but to invent new ways of confronting problems. A second key tool is discussion. Following each intervention, audience members discuss the solution offered. A skilled facilitator encourages an in-depth discussion with the participants to generate ideas that will help to address issues under investigation.

Participatory Photography

Similarly, Paolo Friere is a pioneer in participatory photography. In 1973 , Freire and his team asked people living in a slum in Lima, Peru, to visualize “exploitation” by taking photographs (Singhal et al., 2007 ). One child took a photograph of a nail on a wall. While the photograph did not resonate with adults, many of the children strongly supported it. When asked to explain, it was learned that many of the boys in the neighborhood were shoeshine boys in the city. Since the shoeshine box was heavy and they could not carry it to the city, they rented a nail on the wall in one of the city shops. These shop owners charged the boys more than half of each day’s earnings as rent. The children expressed that the photo of the nail was the strongest symbol of exploitation. Friere and his team then used this photo to generate a discussion about exploitation and how the community members wished to address it.

Participatory photography, otherwise known as “photo voice” or “shooting back,” gives power to the participants, through photographs, to shape their own stories (Wang, 1999 ). Participatory photography has been used in a variety of contexts (slums, hospitals, schools, villages, etc.) and in different parts of the world (Singhal et al., 2007 ). For example, Briski and Kauffman ( 2004 ), in their Oscar-winning film, Born into Brothels: Calcutta’s Red Light Kids , taught the children of commercial sex workers how to take photographs. These children, then, took photos to depict their harsh reality. These powerful images became the foundation of this moving film. Another example is the work of Loignon et al. ( 2014 ) in Canada about the relation between impoverishment and lack of access to primary health care. The researchers recruited four family medicine residents and two medical supervisors to pursue their study. There were eight participants who came from economically underprivileged backgrounds trained in photographic techniques and photo voice philosophy. The researchers were able to realize the importance of primary health care professionals developing greater interpersonal and social acuity. They also realized that their patients were co-participants in the processes of diagnosis, prognosis, and medication. Finally, the researchers were also able to realize that they would be able to develop a greater competency by actually investing a part of their training time in the socioeconomic milieu of the patients they are to serve.

The implications of using participatory photography are significant. This method works best when the participants are given general directions and allowed to play with ideas. It is important for the participants to share their visual stories with the researchers. It is, however, critical for fellow participants in a community to share their stories with each other. The challenge of using photography is that it is, by nature, an intrusive process (Singhal et al., 2007 ). With terminology like “aim,” “shoot,” and “capture,” there can be a colonizing mentality in photography. It is particularly important that the participants be sensitive and reflective about how they take photographs of people and objects. While this may be difficult to accomplish across cultures, it is important to seek the permission of the participants before taking their photographs.

Community-Based Participatory Research

Community-based participatory research (CBPR) is a collaborative process where researchers and community members work together at all stages of the research process to address issues that are of importance to the community (Wallerstein et al., 2008 ). Rather than a top-down approach to health and social issues, CBPR focuses on a collaborative and bottom-up approach to identifying and defining problems and developing and implementing solutions (i.e., research “with” rather than “for” or “on”). CPBR is a preferred approach for researchers working with indigenous communities, other communities of color, or other communities facing disparities, which experience similar issues of mistrust for past research issues and social/health inequities. CBPR has goals of developing culturally centered research and interventions, building trust and synergy among partners, building the capacity of all members of the research team, changing power relations among communities and outside entities, developing sustainable change, and improving the social and health conditions of the community (Wallerstein et al., 2008 ).

CBPR is not a method, rather a philosophy of research. CBPR projects can include social scientific, interpretive, and critical approaches and often involve mixed methods. The specific methods meet the needs of the community and the research problem being addressed. The methods should follow key principles of CBPR, including: a) the project fits local/cultural beliefs, norms, and practices; b) the project emphasizes what is important in the community; c) the project builds on strengths in the community; d) the project balances research and social action; and e) the project disseminates findings to all partners and involves all partners in the dissemination process (Israel et al., 2008 ).

An example of CBPR is a project in Mysore, South India, addressing stigma and discrimination among men who have sex with men (MSM), many of whom were sex workers (Lorway et al., 2013 ). The project involved a collaboration of researchers and a sex workers collective in a long-term systematic process of knowledge production and action. The research approach involved training 10 community members as researchers who conducted interviews with MSM to understand their experiences. There were 70 in-depth interviews conducted in four days. Data analysis was completed with thematic analysis. The results provided a rallying point against stigma as the community cultivated its understanding of this concept and they mobilized to increase access to sexual health services.

The purpose of this article was to explore multidisciplinary methodological approaches to intercultural communication research. If our worldview shapes our reality, what we study and how we study phenomena is greatly influenced by our cultural frameworks. We described the traditional approaches to studying intercultural communication, namely, social scientific, interpretive, and critical perspectives. We identified the key ontological, epistemological, and axiological assumptions of each of these perspectives, offered an exemplar for each kind of perspective, types of data collected, and the methodological concerns in each framework. We then explained traditional ways to integrate the social scientific, interpretive, and critical perspectives, offered examples, and explicated the strengths of such integrations. We finally offered three alternative methodological approaches (participatory theater, participatory photography, and community-based participatory research) where the participants shape the scope of the study, interpret the meaning of the data, and offer practical implications for the study.

Historiography

The early history of intercultural communication, including some discussion of research methods, has been covered well by Leeds-Hurwitz ( 1990 ) and Moon ( 1996 ). Leeds-Hurwitz reviewed the early foundation of intercultural communication, which can be traced to the work of Edward T. Hall in the Foreign Service Institute in the 1950s and 1960s. The focus in the earlier years was on descriptive linguistic analysis of micro communication practices (e.g., proxemics, kinesics, and verbal practices) of multiple cultures. These early roots of intercultural communication were influenced by anthropological study of culture (i.e., ethnography).

The 1970s saw the development of the field of intercultural communication, with a focus on culture as race, gender, nationality, and socioeconomic status (Moon, 1996 ). The research at this time also reflected the social issues of the 1970s. Methods of research were diverse but predominantly included social scientific and interpretive methods.

The late 1970s and the 1980s saw a change where the focus of culture became nationality and a large emphasis was placed on cross-cultural comparisons. There was a pursuit to develop and apply Western theories to non-Western contexts. Methodologically, the 1980s was dominated by social scientific approaches.

The 1990s brought some backlash against social scientific approaches from interpretive scholars. There was also a rise of critical scholarship which critiqued the social scientific research methods. A number of critical approaches were identified and were especially used to develop theoretical approaches for understanding intercultural communications.

The 2000s brought more balance and integration of the research approaches. The Journal of International and Intercultural Communication was founded in 2008 . The three editors of this journal to date (Tom Nakayama, Shiv Ganesh, and Rona Halualani) issued editorial statements about the scope of the journal respecting and including diverse methodological approaches.

Further Reading

• Bhawuk, D. P. S. (2008). Science of culture and culture of science: Worldview and choice of conceptual models and methodology. The Social Engineer , 11 (2), 26–43.
• Biggerstaff, D. L. , & Thompson, A. R. (2008). Interpretative phenomenological analysis: A qualitative methodology of choice in healthcare research. Qualitative Research in Psychology , 5 , 175–177.
• Communication Methods & Measures. 2007–. Journal devoted to communication research methods; not exclusive to intercultural communication.
• Fram, S. M. (2013). The constant comparative analysis method outside of grounded theory. The Qualitative Report , 18 (1), 4–8.
• Israel, B. A. , Eng, E. , Schulz, A. J. , & Parker, E. (Eds.). (2013). Methods in community-based participatory research for health (2nd ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
• Lindlof, T. R. , & Taylor, B. C. (2011). Qualitative communication research methods (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
• Minkler, M. , & Wallerstein, N. (Eds.). (2008). Community-based participatory research for health: From process to outcomes . San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
• Otten, M. , & Geppert, J. (2010). Mapping the landscape of qualitative research on intercultural communication: A hitchhiker’s guide to the methodological galaxy. Forum: Qualitative Social Research , 10 (1), Article 52.
• Tuhiwai-Smith, L. (1999). Decolonizing methodologies: Research and indigenous peoples . London: Zed Books.
• Wagstaff, C. , Jeong, H. , Nolan, M. , Wilson, T. , Tweedlie, J. , Phillips, E. , & Holland, F. (2014). The accordian and the deep bowl of spaghetti: Eight researchers’ experiences of using IPA as a methodology. The Qualitative Report , 19 (47), 1–4.
• Asante, M. K. , Miike, Y. , & Jing, Y. (2008). Introduction. Issues and challenges in intercultural communcation scholarship. In M. K. Asante , Y. Miike , & Y. Jing (Eds.), The global intercultural communication reader (pp. 1–8). New York: Routledge.
• Baig, N. , Ting-Toomey, S. , & Dorjee, T. (2014). Intergenerational narratives on face: A South Asian Indian American perspective. Journal of International and Intercultural Communication , 7 , 127–147.
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A comparative study of the influence of communication on the adoption of digital agriculture in the united states and brazil  †.

1. Introduction

2. materials and methods, 2.1. study region, 2.2. survey instrument, 2.3. data collection, 2.4. data analysis.

• n = number of elements in the sample;
• p = probability of finding the phenomenon studied in the population;
• q = probability of not finding the phenomenon studied in the population; and
• E = margin of error.

2.5. Sample Characteristics

3. results and discussion, 3.1. technology adoption, decisions, and benefits, 3.2. level of influence from mass media, social media, and interpersonal meetings, 3.3. relationship between the adoption of technologies and communication channels, 4. conclusions, author contributions, institutional review board statement, data availability statement, acknowledgments, conflicts of interest.

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Colussi, J.; Sonka, S.; Schnitkey, G.D.; Morgan, E.L.; Padula, A.D. A Comparative Study of the Influence of Communication on the Adoption of Digital Agriculture in the United States and Brazil. Agriculture 2024 , 14 , 1027. https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture14071027

Colussi J, Sonka S, Schnitkey GD, Morgan EL, Padula AD. A Comparative Study of the Influence of Communication on the Adoption of Digital Agriculture in the United States and Brazil. Agriculture . 2024; 14(7):1027. https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture14071027

Colussi, Joana, Steve Sonka, Gary D. Schnitkey, Eric L. Morgan, and Antônio D. Padula. 2024. "A Comparative Study of the Influence of Communication on the Adoption of Digital Agriculture in the United States and Brazil" Agriculture 14, no. 7: 1027. https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture14071027

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• Open access
• Published: 26 June 2024

Cognitive influencing factors of ICU nurses on enteral nutrition interruption: a mixed methods study

• Huiling Pan 1 , 2 ,
• Chuanlai Zhang 1 , 2 ,
• Ruiqi Yang 1 , 2 ,
• Peng Tian 1 , 2 ,
• Jie Song 1 , 2 &
• Zonghong Zhang 1 , 2  

BMC Nursing volume  23 , Article number:  433 ( 2024 ) Cite this article

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The incidence of clinically avoidable enteral nutrition interruptions is high. ICU nurses, as the implementers and monitors of enteral nutrition, have a close relationship between their cognitive level of enteral nutrition interruption and the incidence of enteral nutrition interruption. The level of ICU nurses’ cognition of enteral nutrition interruption and the key factors influencing the level of ICU nurses’ cognition of enteral nutrition interruption are not known.

This study aims to explore the cognitive level of ICU nurses on enteral nutrition interruption and delve into the key factors that affect their cognitive level from the perspective of management.

A sequential explanatory mixed methods research design was used.

With the convenience sampling method, an online survey questionnaire was distributed to ICU nurses in Chongqing, and 336 valid questionnaires were collected. After the survey, ICU managers were invited to participate in qualitative interviews, in which 10 participants from five hospitals completed face-to-face individual semi-structured interviews and were analyzed with thematic analysis.

The survey found that ICU nurses had a good level of cognition towards enteral nutrition interruption but poor knowledge about the definition, causes, and consequences of enteral nutrition interruption, as well as negative attitudes toward active learning, assessment, and communication. And the longer work time in the ICU, joining the nutrition team, receiving systematic training, and acquiring relevant knowledge from academic journals more frequently were favorable to improving ICU nurses’ knowledge level of enteral nutrition interruption. Personal interviews further identified the key factors affecting their cognitive level, including (1) lack of knowledge, (2) lack of proactive thinking, (3) lack of enteral nutrition management programs, and (4) lack of quality management tools for enteral nutrition interruption.

Although ICU nurses demonstrate a relatively high level of cognition, there is still room for improvement. ICU administrators must take specific measures to improve the knowledge of ICU nurses, especially in non-tertiary hospitals, in order to prevent nurse-induced enteral nutrition interruption in all ICUs and improve medical quality.

Trial registration

Not applicable.

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Introduction

Critically ill patients often experience physiological, pathological, and metabolic disorders that limit nutritional intake, and the prevalence of malnutrition is as high as 38–78% [ 1 ]. Malnutrition refers to a state of energy or nutrient deficiency caused by inadequate intake or utilization barriers [ 2 ], and it is a major factor contributing to adverse clinical outcomes for patients. Studies have found [ 3 , 4 , 5 ] that malnutrition in ICU patients increases the incidence of complications such as ICU length of stay, days of mechanical ventilation, infections and organ failure, and mortality. Therefore, nutritional therapy is particularly important in the management of critically ill patients.

Enteral nutrition (EN) has become the preferred nutritional support treatment for ICU patients due to its alignment with normal physiological metabolic processes [ 6 ]. Guidelines recommend [ 6 , 7 ] that ICU patients should receive 80–100% of their target feeding volume within 3–7 days of initiating EN. 60–75% of patients in the ICU, however, as shown in several studies [ 8 , 9 , 10 ], do not reach the target feeding volume. Research [ 10 ] has found that the feeding deficiency rates were 54% and 15% ( p  < 0.001) on trial days with and without enteral nutrition interruption (ENI), respectively, indicating a positive correlation between ENI and insufficient feeding.

Enteral nutrition interruption (ENI) [ 11 ] is defined as an interruption of EN lasting 1 h or more with continuous enteral feeding or if the patient does not receive the expected amount of nutrients within 30 min with intermittent enteral feeding. Studies have found [ 10 ] that the average ENI time for ICU patients is up to 12 (6–24) hours per day. The causes of ENI are underestimated target feeding volumes, feeding intolerance, medical procedures, etc., which can be divided into patient factors and subjective factors [ 12 , 13 ]. Among these, avoidable subjective factors related to medical operations account for approximately 72% of the total time of ENI [ 14 , 15 ]. This is related to multiple factors such as physicians, nurses, frontline administrators, and healthcare institution management. ICU nurses, as the primary role in EN screening, assessment, implementation, monitoring, and complication intervention, are closely related to the occurrence of ENI in patients [ 16 ]. Studies have shown [ 17 ] that nurses not starting EN in a timely manner after medical procedures or outpatient examinations are the primary cause of ENI.

The Theory of Reasoned Action [ 18 ] proposes that individuals make behavioral decisions through rational thinking, and this decision-making process is influenced by various factors such as knowledge, attitude, and social environment. Thus, nurse-induced enteral nutrition interruption may be related to their level of knowledge, beliefs, and consequent practice behaviors related to ENI. To explore the current situation of ENI caused by ICU medical staff, previous studies [ 19 ] have examined the cognition of ENI among ICU medical staff in Wuhan. Little study, however, has been found to explore the key factors that affect their cognitive status. Currently, ICU managers lack a unified and standardized EN management plan. Furthermore, ICU nurses and doctors have different levels of knowledge, and nurses interact with patients more frequently, so a questionnaire is needed to evaluate ICU nurses’ cognition of ENI.

ICU manager [ 20 ] refers to the doctor or nurse who is responsible for the daily operation, management, supervision, and improvement of the ICU. ICU managers, as one of the key personnel in the whole link management and quality control of enteral nutrition, usually view problems from an overall perspective, and their perspectives and observations are more objective, in-depth, and comprehensive, which helps us understand the difficulties and challenges of ICU nurses in practice. We, therefore, use a sequential explanatory mixed methods research design [ 21 ] to investigate the cognitive level and influencing factors of ENI among ICU nurses through a cross-sectional survey. Based on the results, we will develop an interview outline to delve into the key factors influencing ICU nurses’ cognition of ENI from the perspective of ICU managers. This will lay the foundation for developing targeted interventions aimed at improving ICU nurses’ cognition of ENI, and provide the basis for improving the EN management program, so as to avoid nurse-induced ENI and improve medical quality.

Methodology

Research design.

A sequential explanatory mixed methods research design [ 21 ] was used that included both quantitative and qualitative research. The interview guide for the qualitative research was developed based on the findings of the quantitative research and served to complement and explain the quantitative results.

Quantitative research

Participants.

Convenience sampling was used to conduct a cognitive survey on ENI among ICU nurses in Chongqing. The recruited object of this study was ICU registered nurses who had worked in general ICUs for at least one year. The first page of the questionnaire describes the purpose of this study and informed consent. Respondents can only access the survey questions after giving informed consent. After completing and submitting the survey, participants were considered to have given informed consent. In addition, researchers can judge according to the basic information filled in by participants to exclude those who do not meet the inclusion criteria. The sample size of this study was at least 193 according to previous similar studies [ 22 ].

Data collection

The scale used in this study is the “ICU Healthcare Providers’ ENI Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice Scale,” developed by the Yuanyuan Mi team in 2022 [ 22 ], which is used to understand the current level of knowledge, attitude, and practice of ENI among ICU medical staff. This scale comprised three dimensions: knowledge, belief, and practice, with 14, 10, and 17 items, respectively, and total score ranges of 14–70, 10–50, and 17–85. Items were rated using a Likert 5-point scale, with 1 indicating “not at all,” 2 “uncertain,” 3 “slightly,” 4 “fairly,” and 5 “completely.” Scores below 4 indicated poor cognitive levels of ENI among ICU nurses; scores equal to or greater than 4 indicated that ICU nurses have a good level of ENI awareness. Reportedly, the Cronbach’s alpha for the original scale was 0.953, the test-retest reliability was 0.795, and the total content validity coefficient was 0.975, indicating that the scale had good reliability and validity. In addition, the Cronbach’s alpha was 0.965 when the scale was retested using data from this study.

In this study, 10 demographic variables and the “ICU Healthcare Providers’ ENI Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice Scale” developed by the Yuanyuan Mi team [ 22 ] were converted into an online questionnaire. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among ICU nurses in Chongqing in October 2023. 366 questionnaires were distributed through the questionnaire star platform, and 366 were recovered, with a recovery rate of 100%. Two researchers checked the content of the questionnaire and the duration of the questionnaire, deleted 30 invalid questionnaires, and finally found 336 valid questionnaires, for an effective rate of 91.8%.

Data analysis

Data were downloaded from the Questionnaire Star platform and analyzed in SPSS 27.0. Statistical significance was set at p  < 0.05. Means (standard deviations) and frequencies (percentages) were used for descriptive statistics. Differences and associations between ICU nurses’ EN cognition scores and demographic variables were analyzed using t-tests, chi-square tests, and binary logistic regression. Pearson’s correlation was used to assess the relationship between the total cognition score and the scores of each dimension.

Qualitative research

Purposeful sampling was used to select ICU EN managers willing to participate in qualitative interviews from hospitals where the questionnaire was administered. Eligible participants included healthcare providers from general ICUs involved in EN management for at least three years and willing to participate in this semi-structured interview. A total of 10 ICU managers were included in this study for personal interviews. Information saturation [ 23 ] was reached at interview 8, meaning that no new themes emerged at the end of the interview process. Two further interviews were conducted to confirm the results.

Data were collected through semi-structured interviews conducted by the first and second authors with participants in December 2023. The interview guide (see to S1 ) was developed by the lead author, guided by the Theory of Reasoned Action [ 18 ], and based on questionnaire results, a review of domestic and international literature, and expert consultation. Participants were contacted by phone before the interview to explain the purpose and significance of the study, obtain informed consent regarding confidentiality principles, recording, and other issues. Interviews were conducted at mutually agreed-upon times, ensuring privacy and a quiet environment. The interview time should be controlled at about 30 min. During the interviews, non-verbal cues such as body language, facial expressions, and tone of voice were observed and recorded along with audio recordings. A pilot interview was conducted with two ICU managers meeting the inclusion criteria before the qualitative study’s implementation, but their data were not included in the final analysis.

Audio recordings and written notes were transcribed verbatim within 24 h of the interview’s conclusion and stored on a computer for backup. Data analysis was based on the Theory of Reasoned Action [ 18 ] and aimed to identify key factors influencing the improvement of ICU nurses’ cognitive levels regarding ENI. A deductive thematic analysis approach [ 24 ] was employed, involving the following steps: (a) familiarization with the data; (b) initial code generation; (c) theme search based on initial codes; (d) theme review; (e) theme definition and labeling; and (f) report writing.

Quality control

To ensure reliability, the research team met regularly, and team members reviewed the study data and analysis results. For the quantitative study, the online survey was anonymous. To ensure the authenticity and validity of the questionnaire results, each respondent was given only one chance to answer the questionnaire and was required to answer all the questions before submitting the questionnaire. To prevent the inclusion of low-quality questionnaires, it was assumed that each question would take no less than 2 s to answer, and in combination with the number of demographic characteristics entries (10) and scale entries (41), questionnaires with an answer time of less than 2 min were excluded from this study. The researcher observed and collected the filled-in data through the background of the questionnaire and double-checked the extracted information to ensure the completeness of the information. In the qualitative study, interview transcripts were collected by two research members trained in qualitative research, and one researcher organized the audio-recorded interviews into text within 24 h of the end of the interviews, which was then returned to the interviewees for confirmation by two researchers who repeatedly read and proofread the information. Participant recruitment, interviews, and data analysis were conducted simultaneously to help researchers determine information saturation. No repeat interviews were conducted.

Ethical considerations

Ethical approval was obtained from the ethics committee of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University (Ke Lunshen No. (139) in 2023). The front page of the questionnaire sent to potential participants during the quantitative phase had an “informed consent” option, which was clicked on to allow participants to access the electronic questionnaire. Participants who submitted the questionnaire were considered to have obtained their informed consent. Participants in the quantitative phase volunteered their participation, and the questionnaire’s demographic data did not include names. Each participant was assigned a numerical code to ensure the confidentiality of survey responses. In the qualitative phase, participants provided written informed consent, and their interview recordings were analyzed anonymously and reported solely for research purposes by the study team.

Quantitative phase

Demographic characteristics of icu nurses.

Among the 366 participants who completed the questionnaire, 336 (91.8%) were considered to have provided valid questionnaires. The mean age of the 336 study subjects was 31.24 ± 5.68 years, ranging from 22 to 59 years old. Among them, 192 (57.1%) nurse had junior professional title, a total of 285 (84.8%) held a bachelor’s degree or higher, and the average ICU working time was 6.88 ± 5.05 years. Most of the nurses worked in tertiary care hospitals [ N  = 212 (63.1%)], but a few were members of the nutrition team [ N  = 83 (24.7%)]. This survey showed that only 54 (16.1%) nurses had received systematic training on knowledge related to enteral nutrition, and only 25 (7.4%) nurses reported that they regularly obtained knowledge related to enteral nutrition from academic journals. (See Table  1 )

Cognitive level of ICU nurses regarding enteral nutrition interruption

As shown in Table  2 , the mean score of ICU nurses’ knowledge of enteral nutrition interruption was 165.04 (22.86), which was higher than 164 (41 × 4), i.e., the cognitive level of ICU nurses regarding ENI was better. On the knowledge dimension, the mean score of ICU nurses’ knowledge of the definition, causes, and consequences of ENI was lower than 4, which was poor in this area; while " Unless contraindicated, the head of the bed should be elevated by 30–45° during EN administration to critically ill patients " and “When the medical and nursing-related examination, diagnosis, and treatment procedures are completed, enteral nutrition feeding should be resumed in a timely manner” had the highest scores, which were both higher than 4, indicating better knowledge in this area. The mean scores of ICU nurses in the belief dimension of ENI were all higher than 4, indicating better beliefs. On the behavioral dimension, ICU nurses scored higher than 4 on all behaviors except for lower scores on active learning about ENI, active patient assessment, and communication with physicians.

Pearson’s correlation analysis among knowledge, belief, and behavior dimensions

As shown in Table  3 , there was a strong positive correlation between the total cognitive score and the scores for the knowledge, belief, and behavior dimensions ( r  = 0.830, 0.766, and 0.850, respectively, P  < 0.01). There was also a positive correlation between the knowledge dimension score and the scores for the belief and behavior dimensions ( r  = 0.487 and 0.549, respectively, P  < 0.01). Furthermore, there was a positive correlation between the belief dimension score and the behavior dimension score ( r  = 0.535, P  < 0.01).

Univariate analysis of knowledge, belief and behavior against demographic characteristics

ICU nurses were deemed to have a low cognitive capacity about ENI if they received a single-item score of less than 4. Therefore, a cutoff value of ≥ 4 was used to categorize the participants’ total cognitive scores, knowledge dimension scores, belief dimension scores, and behavior dimension scores into two categories: low (= 0) and high (= 1). These were used as dependent variables. Univariate analysis of ICU nurses’ demographics and cognitive scores showed that age, nutrition team membership, and frequency of acquiring relevant knowledge from academic journals were associated with ICU nurses’ level of cognition about ENI; professional title, nutrition team membership, systematic training, and frequency of acquiring relevant knowledge from academic journals were associated with ICU nurses’ knowledge scores about ENI; and frequency of acquiring relevant knowledge was associated with ICU nurses’ ENI belief dimension and behavioral dimension scores. A P-value of < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. (See Table  4 )

Factors associated with improving ICU nurses’ cognitive level

Variables with a P-value of < 0.10 from the univariate analysis were included as independent variables in a logistic regression model. The results showed that a high frequency of reading academic journals was a facilitating factor for improving ICU nurses’ cognitive level regarding ENI. Additionally, longer work time in the ICU, participation in nutritional groups, receipt of systematic training, and a high frequency of acquiring related knowledge about EN from academic journals were promoting factors for enhancing ICU nurses’ knowledge dimension scores regarding ENI (see Table  5 ).

Qualitative phase

Ten ICU managers with bachelor’s degrees or above, ages ranging from 40 to 53, took part in individual semi-structured interviews from five hospitals. The duration of the interviews was roughly 12–36 min (see to S2 ). Four key factors were identified from qualitative data analysis that influence ICU nurses’ cognitive level regarding ENI: (1) Lack of knowledge; (2) Lack of active thinking; (3) Lack of EN management plans; and (4) Lack of quality management tools for ENI.

Lack of knowledge

According to participants, ENI is common in the ICU and is related to ICU nurses’ lack of knowledge about it. Many nurses are unclear about the definition, causes, and consequences of ENI. As Participant 5 described, ‘Many nurses are not yet aware of the concept of ENI and do not know how long a sustained pumping pause is an interruption of enteral nutrition, so much so that they are not particularly concerned about the time of restarting EN after a pause in EN, which leads to an increase in the duration and frequency of ENI in patients’. Furthermore, many participants stated that many nurses believe that pausing EN for a few hours during continuous enteral feeding does not constitute an interruption because the gastrointestinal tract remains active, which can damage a patient’s gastrointestinal function. Therefore, pausing for a few hours is similar to intermittent enteral feeding, allowing the patient’s intestine to rest. ICU nurses have a vague understanding of the definition and causes of ENI. What’s more, Participant 9 added, ‘Many nurses directly suspend EN when the gastric residual volume (GRV) exceeds 200 mL! Sometimes, when the GRV is assessed to be below 200 mL, the returned nutrient solution is discarded without realizing the relationship between ENI and adverse outcomes related to inadequate feeding’.

Lack of active thinking

Participants believed that the limitations in ICU nurses’ cognitive level regarding ENI were related to their mechanical work and lack of active thinking. Various reasons for ICU nurses’ lack of active thinking were described. Notably, due to limited human resources, ICU nurses, apart from handling doctor’s orders and basic care, also need to deal with emergencies and adverse reactions among critically ill patients, such as resuscitation, vomiting, and diarrhea. At the same time, they need to dynamically assess patients and fill out numerous assessment forms, making their workload heavy. As Participant 5 explained, ‘For example, when ICU nurses administer a doctor’s order of 1000 mL of nutrient solution to a patient, they routinely adjust the feeding speed, mechanically fill out various forms, and habitually assess the patient’s enteral feeding intolerance. If the patient tolerates it, they simply finish the feeding and move on, rarely thinking about whether the patient’s EN feeding has reached their nutritional goals……If the patient is intolerant, they habitually discard the syringe return fluid when the GRV is greater than 200 mL or even 50 mL and directly suspend the patient’s EN!’ Participants felt that ICU nurses, as implementers and monitors of EN, had a diminished sense of active learning as their sense of active thinking weakened. Participant 6 stated, ‘ICU nurses lack knowledge of biochemical indicators related to EN (such as phosphorus), hemodynamics, patients’ total enteral nutrition target, calories, and protein, and believe that nurses do not need to master these, lacking active learning consciousness’. Although many hospitals have EN management teams, most participants stated that team members are not very motivated, often forced to accept tasks, and lack active learning consciousness, which may be related to their lack of demand, competition, and conflict of interest.

Lack of EN management plans

It was evident from the interviews that the management level varies among different medical units, and there is inconsistency in the quality of care provided by doctors and nurses. The absence of standardized EN management plans that can be referred to has limited the improvement of ICU nurses’ cognitive level regarding ENI. For example, there is a lack of solutions to address inconsistencies between theory and practice. Participant 4 described, ‘Nurses are confused about the different gastric residual volume thresholds recommended by multiple guidelines, resulting in behaviors such as suspending EN when the volume exceeds 200mL. There is a lack of regulations regarding GRV thresholds and guidance on how to adjust or reduce the feeding rate in our department’. Participant 1 stated, ‘Nurses are unclear about whether it is necessary to routinely aspirate gastric residuals every 4–6 hours’. Participant 6 added, ‘The department lacks an active feeding strategy for restarting enteral nutrition to promote early active venting of patients’. Furthermore, participants felt that the management of EN in ICU patients requires multidisciplinary collaborative management, but the triad of physicians, nurses, and nutritionists each had their own role and lacked a closely linked management process. Participant 7 described, ‘ICU doctors have better knowledge of nutrition, less consultation with the Nutrition Department is requested, and nutritionists are unable to dynamically assess the EN status of patients in a timely manner, to the extent that it is mostly left to the ICU doctors themselves to determine the problem of patients’ EN compliance’. And participant 3 said, ‘Currently, ICU nurses put a lot of effort into screening, assessment, implementation, monitoring, and complication intervention of EN, and their awareness is gradually increasing (smiled), while physicians are less involved in the management of the EN process!’ What’s more, participants described that the initial nutritional screening assessor varies from ICU to ICU, that some are nurses whereas others are physicians, that it is not yet known who leads the management of EN in ICU patients, and that there is a lack of a collaborative management process between the medical and nursing professions.

Lack of quality management tools for enteral nutrition interruptions

Participants noted that current clinical EN management primarily consists of EN guidelines, implementation procedures, nutritional screening tools, enteral nutrition tolerance assessment forms, and aspiration risk assessment forms. However, there is still a lack of quality management tools specifically designed for ENI. This makes it difficult for ICU nurses to identify avoidable causes of ENIs, which in turn hinders their ability to reduce the occurrence of such interruptions. Participants described some avoidable issues related to ENIs. Participant 6 described, ‘ICU nurses often pause EN when the amount of GRV exceeds 200 mL, lacking a standardized deceleration or reduction in volume’. Participant 2 described, ‘Clinical situations often arise where infusions are not completed within 24 hours……This is attributed to unreasonable infusion speed settings, excessive preoperative fasting durations, forgetting to report to doctors after suspensions, forgetting to restart infusions, and equipment malfunctions.” Although the EN management team has identified issues related to ENIs during the management process, they lack plans for implementation and problem-solving. They expressed a desire to use quality management tools to manage ENIs and reduce those caused by human factors.

Understanding the cognitive level and influencing factors of ICU nurses regarding ENIs is crucial, as their cognition has a direct relationship with achieving the nutritional targets for ICU patients’ EN [ 16 ]. This study helps ICU managers understand the key factors affecting the cognitive level of ICU nurses’ ENI in order to lay the foundation for ICU managers to develop targeted interventions aimed at improving the cognitive level of ICU nurses’ ENI. Analysis of the questionnaire revealed that ICU nurses generally have a good level of cognition regarding ENIs, with a poorer understanding of their definitions, causes, and consequences. Additionally, they exhibited a negative attitude towards actively seeking knowledge, assessing, and communicating. However, there is still room for improvement, such as by joining nutrition groups, receiving systematic training on EN, participating in related academic conferences, and regularly acquiring EN knowledge from academic journals. Based on this, ICU managers further explained the key factors influencing nurses’ cognitive levels: a lack of knowledge regarding ENIs, inactive thinking about achieving EN feeding targets, a lack of management processes for addressing inconsistencies between theory and practice, and a lack of quality management tools for ENIs. These findings provide a basis for ICU managers to improve EN management plans. Therefore, it is recommended that ICU managers accordingly develop targeted interventions aimed at improving ICU nurses’ cognition of enteral nutrition interruptions in order to avoid nurse-induced ENI and improve medical quality.

This study is consistent with the findings of Mi Yuanyuan [ 19 ] et al. that ICU nurses have a better level of ENI cognition. However, this study also found that the number of years working in the ICU and nutrition team members were the influencing factors for the ICU nurses’ ENI knowledge dimension scores. This may be related to the fact that only ICU healthcare workers in tertiary hospitals were included in the study by Mi Yuanyuan [ 19 ] et al. or to the fact that nutrition team members accounted for as much as one-third of the ICU nurses in the study by Mi Yuanyuan [19] et al. This is also a side effect of the unequal levels of ENI awareness among ICU nurses in different levels of hospitals. In the future, more ICU nurses in secondary hospitals can be included to explore the current status of ENI cognitive level of ICU nurses in different grades of hospitals. Furthermore, unlike previous studies [19] , this study conducted qualitative interviews with ICU managers on the basis of a questionnaire survey of ICU nurses, which explored the key factors affecting the cognitive level of ICU nurses’ ENI in more depth and laid the foundation for ICU managers to formulate targeted interventions aiming to enhance the cognitive level of ICU nurses’ enteral nutrition interruption.

In this study, we found that high years of working experience in ICU, joining the nutrition team, receiving systematic training, and a high frequency of acquiring knowledge related to enteral nutrition from academic journals were the contributing factors to increasing the level of ICU nurses’ knowledge of enteral nutrition interruption. The longer the working years, the richer the clinical experience and related knowledge of ICU nurses. However, as shown in this study, nearly half [ N  = 154 (45.8%)] of the ICU nurses had less than 5 years of working experience; therefore, there is an urgent need to improve the level of ICU nurses’ cognition of ENI in other ways in order to balance the level of cognition of ICU nurses with different years of working experience. For example, by joining a nutrition team and receiving relevant systematic training, ICU nurses can be helped to gain a systematic, comprehensive, and in-depth understanding of knowledge related to enteral nutrition and to increase nurses’ awareness of and interest in the interruption of enteral nutrition [ 25 ]. This is to promote proactive thinking by ICU nurses and to improve their scores in proactive learning about interruption of enteral nutrition, proactive assessment of patients, and communication with physicians [ 26 ]. Further, ICU nurses can also compensate for knowledge blindness by frequently acquiring knowledge related to enteral nutrition from academic journals. Academic journals, as authoritative repositories of academic knowledge, have the most cutting-edge knowledge in the field, such as clinical guidelines and original research with practical guidance, and ICU nurses’ frequent acquisition of enteral nutrition-related knowledge from academic journals is conducive to a systematic and in-depth understanding of the guidelines, consensus, original research, and the frontiers of enteral nutrition in order to enhance nurses’ knowledge of enteral nutrition interruption. Therefore, ICU administrators can encourage nurses to join nutrition teams and conduct multi-pathway training to promote nurses’ acquisition of knowledge from academic journals in order to improve ICU nurses’ level of knowledge about enteral nutrition interruptions, as well as to promote nurses’ proactive thinking in order to avoid unnecessary enteral nutrition interruptions.

Nurses are susceptible to the influence of external factors, and procedures and systems are fundamental to regulating nurses’ behavior. The development of enteral nutrition management protocols is beneficial to standardizing ICU nurses’ management of patients with enteral nutritional feedings in order to improve the level of ICU nurses’ perception of enteral nutritional interruption. A national survey [ 27 ] found that enteral nutrition is usually prioritized lower than other urgent care needs for ICU patients. Furthermore, there is a lack of uniform and standardized clinical protocols for enteral nutrition management in critically ill patients [ 28 , 29 ]. This has hindered the improvement of the level of ENI awareness among ICU nurses in different levels of hospitals to a certain extent and is not conducive to the homogenization of ICU healthcare personnel in various healthcare institutions. Enteral nutrition is critical to the recovery of ICU patients [ 4 ]. It is necessary to enhance ICU nurses’ knowledge of enteral nutrition management to facilitate the development of standardized enteral nutrition protocols [ 30 , 31 ]. Currently, the threshold for GRV is not uniform in clinical settings, with 200–500 mL being the most common [ 32 , 33 ]. This is not conducive to ICU nurses’ judgment of GRV thresholds, which may lead to some degree to nurse-induced ENI. Furthermore, guidelines have recommended that routine monitoring of GRV [ 7 ] during the EN may not be necessary, but most clinical nurses still habitually aspirate gastric residual to monitor patients’ gastrointestinal intolerance, which may be related to the ICU nurses’ fear of the risk of patients’ vomiting or aspiration [ 34 ] or to their insufficiently in-depth view of the problem. At the same time, there is currently a clinical controversy over whether the gastric residual aspirates should be returned or discarded [ 35 ]. This may explain, in part, why some ICU nurses currently choose to discard the gastric residual aspirates directly to avoid contamination, and some ICU nurses choose to tie back the gastric residual aspirates to minimize the risk of fluid and electrolyte imbalance in the patient. Therefore, there is an urgent need for the development of standard enteral nutrition management protocols to address the currently controversial issues and to standardize ICU nurses’ behavior regarding enteral nutrition management.

The formulation of the scheme is conducive to standardizing the behavior of nurses, but the optimization of the implementation effect of the scheme requires the application of quality management tools. Currently, there is a lack of quality management tools in clinical practice to monitor the rate of implementation of EN measures [ 5 , 6 ]. Previous studies have shown [ 12 , 13 ] that the reasons for ENI in ICU patients include hemodynamic instability, high GRV, and medical procedures. It is difficult to avoid ENI, but as shown by Kagan et al. [ 36 ], the use of nutritional management feeding platforms (such as the smART + platform) can monitor ICU patients’ ENI in real-time, calculate the amount of compensation needed when restarting, and ultimately help patients reach their EN goal. In other words, most ENIs caused by ICU nurses can be avoided through the use of management tools28. As a fine and process management method, the Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) cycle method is a continuous quality management tool that targets clinical weaknesses, proposes countermeasures, and improves the implementation rate of measures. It has been widely used in ICU quality management [ 37 ]. Therefore, in the future, ICU managers can use quality management tools to dig deeper into the reasons for enteral nutrition interruption, promote the development and implementation of related plans, and solve the problem at the source in order to reduce avoidable enteral nutrition interruption, standardize nurses’ behaviors, and maximize the application of enteral nutrition management programs.

Strengths and limitations

This study boasts both strengths and limitations. Leveraging the advantages of mixed methods research, we delved into the key factors influencing ICU nurses’ cognition of ENI from both the nurses’ and management’s perspectives. This lays the foundation for targeted interventions aimed at enhancing ICU nurses’ understanding of ENI, ultimately aiming to prevent such interruptions caused by the nurses themselves. Rather, we must acknowledge its limitations. Our use of sequential explanatory mixed methods means our ability to explore the critical factors influencing ICU nurses’ cognition of ENI is somewhat limited, but this could be addressed through alternative mixed methods designs. Furthermore, our study sample was limited to a geographical region, potentially limiting the generalizability of our findings. Future research could expand the scope of the investigation. Nevertheless, this study provides novel insights and valuable perspectives for ICU managers to improve their department’s EN management strategies.

Overall, the level of ICU nurses’ cognition of enteral nutrition interruption is good, but there is still room for improvement. ICU nurses can improve the level of knowledge related to ENI and increase their proactive thinking about the management of enteral nutrition target feeding compliance by joining the nutrition team, participating in the systematic training of knowledge related to enteral nutrition, and frequently acquiring knowledge from academic journals. Furthermore, ICU managers should apply a quality management tool for enteral nutrition interruptions and develop targeted interventions aimed at improving ICU nurses’ cognition of enteral nutrition interruptions in order to provide a basis for improving the department’s enteral nutrition management program, so as to avoid nurse-induced ENI and improve medical quality.

Data availability

All data generated or analyzed during the study are available from the corresponding author [Chuanlai Zhang] on request.

Abbreviations

• Intensive care units
• Enteral nutrition
• Enteral nutrition interruption

Gastric residual volume

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the nurses who participated in this study.

This work was supported by the Medical Quality (Evidence-Based) Management Research Program (Award No.: YLZLXZ23G107) in 2023 of National Institute of Hospital Administration, National Health and Health Commission of the People’s Republic of China, Kuanren Talents Program of The Second Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University and Chongqing Municipal Education Commission’s 14th Five-Year Key Discipline Support Project.

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Conceptualization, ZCL; Methodology, PHL, ZCL, YRQ, TP, SJ and ZZH; Data curation, PHL, YRQ, TP, SJ and ZZH; Investigation, PHL, ZCL, YRQ, TP, SJ and ZZH; Formal analysis, PHL and YRQ; Writing- Original draft preparation, PHL; Funding acquisition, ZCL; Supervision, ZCL; Resources, TP, SJ and ZZH; Validation, TP, SJ and ZZH; Writing –review & editing, ZCL and YRQ.

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Pan, H., Zhang, C., Yang, R. et al. Cognitive influencing factors of ICU nurses on enteral nutrition interruption: a mixed methods study. BMC Nurs 23 , 433 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12912-024-02098-2

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Predicting plastron thermodynamic stability for underwater superhydrophobicity

• Alexander B. Tesler   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-3425-7667 1 ,
• Heikki A. Nurmi   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-8273-2077 2 ,
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Communications Materials volume  5 , Article number:  112 ( 2024 ) Cite this article

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• Surfaces, interfaces and thin films

Non-wettable surfaces, especially those capable of passively trapping air in rough protrusions, can provide surface resilience to the detrimental effects of wetting-related phenomena. However, the development of such superhydrophobic surfaces with a long-lasting entrapped air layer, called plastron, is hampered by the lack of evaluation criteria and methods that can unambiguously distinguish between stable and metastable Cassie-Baxter wetting regimes. The information to evaluate the stability of the wetting regime is missing from the commonly used contact angle goniometry. Therefore, it is necessary to determine which surface features can be used as a signature to identify thermodynamically stable plastron. Here, we describe a methodology for evaluating the thermodynamic underwater stability of the Cassie-Baxter wetting regime of superhydrophobic surfaces by measuring the surface roughness, solid-liquid area fraction, and Young’s contact angle. The method allowed the prediction of passive plastron stability for over one year of continuous submersion, the impeding of mussel and barnacle adhesion, and inhibition of metal corrosion in seawater. Such submersion-stable superhydrophobicity, in which water is repelled by a stable passive air layer trapped between the solid substrate and the surrounding liquid for extended periods at ambient conditions, opens new avenues for science and technologies that require continuous contact of solids with aqueous media.

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Introduction.

For thousands of years, humans had the desire to stay dry underwater. This can be accomplished by trapping a thin layer of air between a submerged solid and the surrounding liquid 1 . Researchers have been striving for decades to imitate the extreme water repellency of lotus leaves 2 , one of many natural systems that exhibit superior water repellency 3 . Various man-made surfaces inspired by nature have been designed and studied for their extreme hydrophobicity, which are named superhydrophobic surfaces (SHS) 4 . The application of such surfaces to solid substrates in contact with water is proving advantageous for many technologies 5 , 6 , 7 .

Despite extensive research, current achievements in the field fall short of meeting industrial requirements for several reasons 8 , 9 . The wetting repellency of solids is achieved by combining multiscale hierarchical structuring of their surfaces with low surface energy materials. The required high roughness reduces the mechanical robustness of the surfaces compared to the bulk, which presents a key challenge 10 . Therefore, for decades, research has emphasized this challenge of improving SHS through several approaches 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 . Another property, i.e., low surface energy materials, reduces attractive interactions between water and the coated solid surface, allowing the formation of a thin layer of air, called plastron, within rough protrusions. Plastrons were first observed on aquatic insects 15 , 16 , 17 , while Cassie and Baxter were the first to provide a mathematical description of such aerophilic surfaces 18 . However, the trapped air on underwater SHS lacks passive stability and disappears over time, leading to the Cassie-to-Wenzel transition, i.e., the transition from a non-wetted (Cassie–Baxter, heterogeneous) to a fully wetted (Wenzel, homogeneous) wetting regime, exposing a solid substrate with increased surface area to water 19 . The latter challenge has received considerably less research attention, as it is widely accepted that plastrons are metastable underwater 5 , 20 , 21 , 22 . Since it was observed that plastrons on most natural SHS last no longer than a few days 23 , the characterization of artificially made SHS by submersion is still an uncommon practice.

In general, each superhydrophobic surface can be characterized by measuring two specific apparent contact angles (CAs), which are the macroscopically measurable angles between the droplet and the solid at the three-phase contact line. The apparent CAs can be measured by fitting a model such as Laplace–Young to the droplet edge and the baseline, which is the line connecting the two three-phase contact points in the side view image of a droplet. These two specific apparent angles are the advancing and receding CAs, i.e., the largest and smallest metastable apparent CAs on a given surface. The difference between the advancing and receding CAs is called contact angle hysteresis (CAH), which describes lateral adhesion and mobility of the liquid droplet 24 . The CAH, or more accurately the difference between the cosines of the advancing and receding CAs, is also related to the roll-off angle (also tilt/sliding angle), which describes the angle at which the droplet begins to move on a tilted surface. When the advancing CA exceeds 150°, the CAH is less than 10°, and/or the sliding angle is below 5°, the surface is generally considered superhydrophobic 25 . Many studies use an average of static CA and CAH values to report the quality of artificially made SHS 26 . However, a static CA, which is measured from a droplet after it has landed on the surface, does not contain relevant information about the wetting regime. As stated in ref. 25 , the static CA “is a meaningless measurement, since there is a random element involved in the process of drop landing—that is, the contact can be any value within the range of advancing and receding contact angles; therefore, this contact angle is not useful for any analysis.” As a gold standard, the advancing and receding CAs should be carefully measured 27 , and then the estimation of the most stable CA (MSCA), for example, by averaging the advancing and receding CAs 28 , and the calculated CAH values should be reported. It should be noted that many theories use Young’s CA, which is not a measurable quantity and can only be estimated with the MSCA on a smooth and chemically homogeneous surface 25 .

However, there are several difficulties with these measurements. First, it is challenging to measure these values for surfaces with remarkably high CA (e.g., >170°) and incredibly low CAH (e.g., <1°). The latter is difficult due to the tendency of drops to roll off rapidly from these surfaces, and the former is due to the unreliability of the measured CAs resulting from minor changes in the baseline location 29 . Therefore, alternative techniques have recently been proposed to more accurately characterize ultra-slippery SHS by direct frictional force measurements 30 , 31 .

Furthermore, goniometric measurements do not explicitly reveal the plastron characteristics of submerged solid surfaces. This is because multiple wetting regimes may exist on the same surface, that is Cassie–Baxter or Wenzel, some of which are stable, while others are metastable. More specifically, there is no standard method for characterizing the plastron of submerged SHS that makes the comparison between various SHS often impossible. To be useful in underwater applications, SHS should be in the stable Cassie–Baxter wetting regime that allows for a meaningful lifetime of the plastron 32 , 33 , 34 . Although various engineered SHS have been developed over the past few decades, their limited underwater lifetime makes them technologically impractical for further commercialization. To date, the duration of the passive plastron on engineered SHS underwater varies from a few minutes to several weeks 20 , 35 , 36 .

We have recently developed Ti alloy superhydrophobic surfaces (Ti-SHS) with thermodynamically stable plastron 33 . To further investigate plastron longevity, Ti-SHS were immersed in water and maintained at a constant depth of 1 cm at ambient environment without any active plastron regeneration. Note that such a simple experiment can result in large fluctuations in the water temperature, which in turn translates into a notable increase in submersion depth (see “Methods”). As previously reported, plastron decays rapidly after a well-defined onset time as a function of submergence depth, transitioning from Cassie–Baxter to Wenzel wetting regimes 20 , 37 . The metastability limitation of plastron has generally been attributed to the increased diffusion of air into water. Thermodynamic theories have been established to explain the stability of plastron but these have rarely been applied to the developed SHS 20 , 32 , 38 , 39 , making this statement mostly speculative. This is because a Cassie-to-Wenzel transition may occur due to the metastability of the plastron on the developed SHS resulting from small perturbations of external stimuli such as temperature, hydrostatic pressure, mechanical vibration, and surface contamination 40 , 41 , but also due to fluid flow, chemical reactions or the consumption of air by biological processes 21 , 36 , 42 . On the contrary, our Ti-SHS exhibited 40 times longer plastron at 0.5 m depth than previously reported 20 , showing gradual degradation in certain areas that are on the edge between stable and metastable thermodynamic conditions 33 . Therefore, it is crucial to develop quantitative approaches to unambiguously determine the plastron stability to predict the long-term performance of engineered SHS in aqueous media.

This research presents a generally applicable approach for the characterization of any engineered SHS to explicitly obtain their wetting regime, as well as the stability of the plastron underwater. This is achieved by measuring (i) the dimensionless Wenzel roughness parameter, (ii) the solid–liquid area fraction, and (iii) Young’s contact angle. These measurements are then applied to the thermodynamic theories proposed by Lafuma and Quéré 38 , and Marmur 32 . The proposed approach of quantitative analysis of plastron enabled the prediction of the stability of the developed SHS immersed in aqueous media, including seawater, not only in terms of longevity but also in terms of biofouling and corrosion resistance performances, all of which cannot be obtained by the common contact angle goniometry.

Results and discussion

Figure  1a, b shows digital images of Ti-SHS after the immersion on day 0 and day 365. The experiment was terminated after one year by removing the Ti-SHS from the water (see Supplementary Movie  S1 ). While Ti-SHS are non-reflective in air (Fig.  1c, d ), the same substrates exhibit a mirror-like appearance in water due to the phenomenon of total internal reflection at the air–water interface 36 . For long-term measurements, the air bubble was injected on day 0 to visualize the loss of plastron. These bubbles would disappear, for instance, on metastable SHS, because of the shift from the Cassie–Baxter to the Wenzel wetting regime due to small perturbations from the equilibrium induced by external stimuli 40 , 41 , thus allowing easy observation of this transition (Supplementary Movie  S2 ). The harvested Ti-SHS were re-immersed in water showing a mirror-like reflection, indicating the persistence of the plastron and confirming the Cassie–Baxter wetting regime (Fig.  1e, f and Supplementary Movie  S1 ). The apparent static CAs before immersion and after the harvesting of Ti-SHS are shown in Fig.  1g, h , still demonstrating exceptionally low adhesion of water to these surfaces (see Supplementary Movie  S3 ).

a , b Digital images of Ti-SHS on day 0 ( a ) and day 365 ( b ) of water immersion. c , d Digital and optical microscopy images of the Ti-SHS samples demonstrate low reflectance in air. e , f Digital and optical microscopy images of the Ti-SHS sample demonstrate mirror-like reflectance after 1 year of immersion underwater. The optical micrograph in ( f ) shows the existence of plastron on the harvested Ti-SHS even after immersion in water for one year. The smooth, bright-gray areas are attributed to the liquid–air interface, while the darker, randomly distributed spots are pinning points, i.e., the solid–liquid interface. g , h Water contact angle on day 0 ( g ) and day 365 ( h ) of continuous immersion underwater.

But what makes Ti-SHS different from other SHS? Typical goniometric measurements could not answer this question. For Ti-SHS, we measured an average apparent CAs of 170.0° ± 8.6° and a tilt angle of 0.7° ± 0.3°. The values obtained through traditional goniometry are consistent with the state-of-the-art SHS previously reported 30 , 31 , 43 , 44 , 45 . Thus, alternative approaches are needed to estimate the plastron stability and to compare them with the state-of-the-art SHS.

Here, we propose a method for characterizing SHS, particularly those in the Cassie–Baxter wetting regime for underwater applications. It is crucial to characterize plastron on solid surfaces underwater in terms of surface roughness, solid–liquid area fraction, and Young’s CA:

The dimensionless surface roughness parameter ( r ) as defined by Wenzel is calculated by dividing the actual surface area by the projected area 46 . To obtain this, atomic force or optical microscopy measurements could be used at a resolution equal to or higher than the smallest features on the developed rough surface (Fig.  2a ).

a A typical atomic force microscopy image used to calculate roughness parameter ( r min ). b A typical bright-field optical reflectance microscopy image of Ti - SHS underwater used to calculate the solid–liquid area fraction ( φ s ). The inset image represents the same Ti-SHS measured by bright-field optical reflectance microscopy in air. c The advancing and receding CAs measured on the smooth substrate with the same hydrophobic origin were used to estimate the most stable CA. The image is obtained by overlapping images for the advancing and receding CAs. d The Lafuma and Quéré diagram is used to calculate the critical CA to determine the stability of the wetting regime of the developed Ti-SHS on day 0 (black dashed line) and on day 365 (dark yellow dashed line). Here, θ is the CAs measured on a smooth surface coated by the fluorinated surfactant, θ* is the apparent CA measured on Ti-SHS, φ s 0 and φ s 365 are the solid–liquid area fraction on day 0 and on day 365. The inset is the increased area of the apparent CA change before and after one year of immersion. e The Marmur diagram is used to calculate whether the developed Ti-SHS has a stable or metastable plastron. The area shaded in yellow represents the stability of the plastron based on the advancing and receding CAs measured on a flat surface coated by the same hydrophobic molecule and roughness parameter of SHS. The most stable, advancing, and receding CAs and dimensionless roughness parameter were measured on N   =  3 independent samples, while the data represent the measured average value and the s.d.

The solid-to-liquid area fraction ( φ s ) represents the portion of the projected surface area, where water is in contact with the solid substrate. This can be measured, for instance, by optical reflectance microscopy, while the SHS are immersed in water (see Figs.  1 f and 2b ). The smooth, bright-gray areas in such images represent the liquid–air (plastron) interface. The darker points, which are randomly distributed, correspond to the solid–liquid (pinning) points, i.e., where the liquid is actually in contact with the solid substrate. These plastron measurements do not provide the thickness of the plastron, but its existence and lateral distribution on a millimeter length scale and are more sensitive than either macroscopic images obtained with a digital still camera (as discussed in the results below) 20 , 47 , or confocal microscopy cross-sectional images obtained on a micrometer length scale 20 , 48 . Note that the parameter should be measured at equilibrium, as the plastron shape and surface coverage can potentially change after the immersion in liquid as described in the results below. In theory, such equilibrium can be achieved anywhere from sub-seconds to minutes, and even longer. Thus, it is important to monitor the submerged surface and the plastron to ensure that the latter has reached equilibrium over an appropriate period.

The Young’s CA value is estimated by the MSCA 25 . The latter is measured by the goniometer on as smooth as possible surface with the same hydrophobic coating as in developed SHS. However, there is no generally accepted technique for precisely determining the MSCA. Suggested alternatives for measuring the MSCA include either a tilted (rotational) or vibrating (e.g., either mechanical or acoustic) stage, i.e., to overcome the energy barriers between the metastable states to reach the lowest Gibbs energy values, so that the Young’s CA value can be estimated 25 , 49 . However, it is often impossible to achieve a sufficiently smooth surface from the same bulk material, such as metals, or chemically homogeneous coating applied to a smooth surface but of a different origin. Nevertheless, the MSCA is located between the advancing and receding CAs, thus the receding CA is a lower bound for the MSCA (Fig.  2c ).

By measuring these three parameters, we can apply the thermodynamic theories described by Lafuma and Quéré, and/or Marmur to determine the wetting regime of the developed SHS, either stable or metastable Cassie–Baxter wetting regime, which predicts the longevity of the plastron. Even though both theories are well-established, they have rarely been applied to determine plastron stability underwater on engineered SHS due to the difficulties in obtaining all required parameters.

In the case of Lafuma and Quéré 38 , the critical contact angle ( θ c ) is calculated according to Eq. ( 1 ):

A comparison between the interfacial energies associated with Wenzel and Cassie–Baxter wetting regimes according to Eq. ( 1 ) confirms that plastron should be favored only if the Young’s CA ( θ Y ), represented by the MSCA ( θ ), is larger than the critical CA ( θ c ) 50 , 51 . By obtaining all three parameters, it is possible to draw a diagram, where the apparent CA ( θ * ) is shown as a function of the MSCA (Fig.  2d ). Here, the stable Cassie–Baxter and Wenzel wetting regimes are represented by a solid line, while the dashed line represents the metastable Cassie–Baxter wetting at a moderate hydrophobicity (90° <  θ  <  θ c ).

Marmur theoretically analyzed the stability of plastron on SHS underwater 32 . He formulated thermodynamic equilibrium and stability conditions to minimize the solid–liquid contact area. According to calculations, underwater superhydrophobicity might be feasible producing thermodynamically stable plastron such that the liquid–air surface is at the top of the rough asperities. This thermodynamically stable plastron requires a minimum roughness ratio ( r min ), which depends on Young’s CA and the solid–liquid area fraction according to the following equation:

Here, θ is the Young CA (estimated with e.g., the MSCA), r is the dimensionless roughness, and φ s is the solid–liquid area fraction. r min is the minimum required value of the roughness ratio to achieve stable superhydrophobicity at given φ s . Figure  2e depicts the typical relationship between r and θ . However, all three parameters must be known to accurately predict whether the developed surface is in a stable plastron regime.

The theories of Lafuma and Quéré, Eq. ( 1 ) and Marmur, Eq. ( 2 ) allowed us to predict the long-term stability of the SH systems underwater as in the case of Ti-SHS. We measured the roughness parameter of r  = 2.48 ± 0.44 formed by randomly distributed protrusions (the average value was obtained using atomic force microscopy, optical profilometry, and laser confocal microscopy) 33 . Note that it is still challenging to achieve surface roughness with high precision on such hierarchically micro/nano-rough structures. The solid–liquid area fraction of φ s  = 0.0054  ±  0.0047 was measured by the optical reflectance microscopy on day 0, and the MSCA ( θ MS  = 109.8° ± 3.9°) was estimated by the average of the advancing ( θ Adv  = 122.6°  ±  1.4°) and receding ( θ Rec  = 97.0°  ±  3.6°) CAs measured on the 100-nm-thick SiO 2 film deposited on Si wafer and coated by the fluorinated surfactant (FS) 33 . It is noteworthy that although the MSCA was proposed to be approximated as the mean cosine or arithmetic mean of the advancing and receding CAs 28 , the global minimum free energy of the system may differ from this value. Thus, the thermodynamic stability criteria were estimated using the entire range between the advancing and receding CAs. Considering the limitation of the MSCA, these values predict the possibility of a stable Cassie–Baxter wetting regime and plastron underwater based on Eq. ( 1 ) (Fig. 2d ) and Eq. ( 2 ) (Fig.  2e ).

The harvested Ti-SHS specimens were used to further recalculate the critical CA ( θ c 365 ) using Eq. ( 1 ) with the following parameters: (i) the advancing and receding CAs and, thus, the MSCA (which is an intrinsic property of a hydrophobic coating) remain unchanged, (ii) the dimensionless roughness parameter is constant, (iii) the apparent CA decreases to 171.3° (Fig.  1h ), and (iv) the solid–liquid area fraction increases to 0.29 ± 0.10 (see Fig.  1f ), resulting in a critical CA of 109.6° (Fig.  2d ). According to the calculations, the harvested Ti-SHS maintain a Cassie–Baxter wetting regime even after one year of continuous immersion under water, which explains the high reflectivity of these samples underwater (Fig.  1e ).

Given the above considerations, identifying the specific factors that govern the stability of the plastron and the resulting underwater performance of the SHS is a formidable challenge. This is due to the large variety of designs present in both natural and man-made SHS as well as the lack of standardized measurement protocols and equipment. However, it is crucial to anticipate the performance of SHS underwater through simple and widely available methods. This can be achieved by characterizing specific sets of features that are responsible for performance differences of SHS underwater for closely related treatment systems using a reflectance microscopy technique as a first (rough) approximation. To demonstrate the general applicability of the method, two sets of SHS with plastron were prepared: (i) the same hydrophobic molecule but different anodized Ti surface morphologies, designated Ti-SHS 1 -FS and Ti-SHS 2 -FS (Supplementary Fig.  S1 and Supplementary Table  S1 ), and (ii) the same anodized Ti surface morphology but different hydrophobic coatings, designated Ti-SHS 1 -FS and Ti-SHS 1 -Sil (Supplementary Table  S2 ). Plastron stability and surface coverage were then evaluated over time by immersing the SHS in water (Fig.  3 ). The optical reflectance microscopy measurements provide the change in plastron shape and surface coverage over a millimeter scale range, while plastron instability can be easily obtained within minutes (Fig.  3 ).

a – i Plastron stability and j corresponding solid–liquid area fraction change as measured using optical reflectance microscopy imaging for Ti-SHS 1 -Sil ( a – c ), Ti-SHS 2 -FS ( d – f ), Ti-SHS 1 -FS ( g – i ). The samples were immersed in water, and the images were captured immediately. Inset images in ( a , d , g ) represent the apparent CAs measured on the corresponding samples at time 0. k – m Marmur diagrams for the Ti-SHS 1 -Sil ( k ), Ti-SHS 2 -FS ( l ), and Ti-SHS 1 -FS ( m ) samples. The solid–liquid area fraction in ( k ) is shown for the time zero. Inset in ( l ) is the 3D reconstruction AFM image of the Ti-SHS 2 -FS sample. The yellow area in ( k – m ) covers all configurations of plastron based on the advancing and receding CAs measured on a flat surface and the roughness parameter of the corresponding SHS system. The most stable, advancing, and receding CAs and dimensionless roughness parameter were measured on N   =  3 independent samples, while the data represent the measured average value and the s.d. n Mean mussel adhesion strength on Ti-SHS 1 -Sil, Ti-SHS 2 -FS, Ti-SHS 1 -FS, and polyurethane (PU) control samples. The green star indicates that the mussels failed to adhere to the coating surface. The black numbers indicate the number of mussels that adhere to the coating surface. Error bars show s.d.; N   =  6. o Mean adult barnacle adhesion to Ti-SHS 1 -Sil, Ti-SHS 2 -FS, Ti-SHS 1 -FS, and PU control samples. The red numbers indicate the barnacle shell and/or base plate broke during the test and remained on the coating surface, indicating a coating failure. The black number indicates that the barnacles adhere to the coating surface. Error bars show s.d.; N   =  6.

In the case of Ti-SHS 1 -Sil, the basic condition is not fulfilled (Fig.  3a–c, j, k ). The MSCA measured on the 100-nm-thick SiO 2 deposited on the Si wafer and functionalized with the Laureth-4 phosphate (Sil) molecule shows significantly lower values as compared to the fluorinated surfactant (FS), indicating insufficient hydrophobicity of the coating (Figs.  2 e and 3k ). Despite having a similar roughness parameter as Ti-SHS 1 -FS, but a substantially lower MSCA, Ti-SHS 1 -Sil always remain in the metastable plastron region even at the lowest values of solid–liquid area fraction (Fig.  3j ). The latter explains the fact that the plastron on the Ti-SHS 1 -Sil samples degrades continuously with time, eventually reaching homogeneous (Wenzel) wetting after 2 h of immersion (Fig.  3c and Supplementary Movie  S4 ).

In the case of Ti-SHS 2 -FS (Supplementary Fig.  S1b, d ), the air bubbles, which formed spontaneously on the surface during the immersion process, disappeared within minutes (Supplementary Fig.  S2 ). The plastron undergoes gradual decay for ~60 min before reaching a state of near stability (Fig.  3d–f, j, l and Supplementary Movie  S5 ). After 2 h, the plastron exhibits an irregular broken pattern surrounded by wet regions (Fig.  3f , dark regions). Such plastron performance is attributed to the partial fulfillment of thermodynamic conditions at the micro/nano-rough protrusions but not at the flat surrounding areas (Fig.  3l , inset image and Supplementary Fig.  S1b, d ). At the same time, Ti-SHS 1 -FS exhibit stable plastron for more than 2 h with minimal changes, indicating the fulfillment of thermodynamic stability conditions on the Ti-SHS 1 -FS surfaces (Fig.  3g–i, j, m and Supplementary Movie  S6 ). The suggested metric can assess plastron stability within a reasonable timeframe, and thus, can be used even before measurements with more complex parameters such as roughness, the MSCA, and plastron thickness.

Biofouling is a natural process of colonization by aquatic micro/macro-organisms on any surface that is in continuous contact with water. The process can accelerate the corrosion of metals, degrade and damage infrastructure, and reduce the efficiency of marine systems, leading to enhanced fuel consumption, water pollution, and greenhouse gas emissions. As biocidal mitigation approaches come more under increasing regulatory restrictions due to their apparent non-specific impact on aquatic life, fouling-release, and fouling-prevention treatments have been explored as non-toxic alternatives 52 . The role that SHS might play in the field of marine biofouling prevention has been unclear 51 , particularly due to the short lifespan of plastron underwater 37 . Only recently we have demonstrated that thermodynamically stable plastrons with an extended lifespan can effectively reduce the adhesion of bacteria and marine organisms 33 .

Here, the role of plastron stability was further investigated by exposing Ti-SHS 1 -FS, Ti-SHS 2 -FS, and Ti-SHS 1 -Sil to marine model organisms, namely mussels and barnacles. It is known that mussels attach firmly to wet surfaces through secreting mussel foot proteins 53 , whereas barnacles secrete a multi-protein complex known as biocement that solidifies at the adhesion site and is insoluble in water 54 . As shown in Fig.  3n , mussel ( Geukensia demissa ) adhesion readily occurred on non-stable Ti-SHS 1 -Sil and partially stable Ti-SHS 2 -FS surfaces but was completely prevented by Ti-SHS 1 -FS with stable plastron. The latter demonstrates not only that the Ti-SHS 1 -FS plastron was stable under submersion in a seawater medium containing live mussels throughout the duration of the experiment (3 days), but was also able to resist the deposition of mussel plugs, either by providing a detectable barrier that “confused” the mussel preventing it from depositing the adhesion proteins or by resisting the deposition of the proteins entirely 55 , 56 . Importantly, as our data show, the inability of mussels to adhere is not just a function of a single specific material used but requires the combination and synergy between material, surface structuring, and hydrophobic functionalization that results in a stable plastron regime (Fig.  3g–i ).

Barnacle ( Amphibalanus amphitrite ) re-adhesion, which is considered a much stronger predictor of marine biofouling performance, followed a similar trend 57 . A. amphitrite adhered to all treatments, but the adhesion strength was significantly lower on Ti-SHS 1 -FS with stable plastron underwater compared to controls, non-stable Ti-SHS 1 -Sil, and partially stable Ti-SHS 2 -FS (Fig.  3o ). It is noteworthy that there was no detectable fouling-preventive effect of the partially stable SHS treatment (Ti-SHS 2 -FS) in either the mussel adhesion or barnacle re-adhesion experiments, indicating that only a stable plastron regime can provide a substantial degree of biofouling prevention performance. The biofouling results demonstrate the beneficial role of thermodynamically stable plastron in preventing biofilm development on SHS, indicating that this information is essential for research, development, and further application of SHS underwater.

To further prove the general applicability of the proposed characterization methodology, it was applied to SHS made from aluminum (Al). The micro-nanostructures were fabricated first by (i) chemical etching (E-Al) followed by (ii) electrochemical anodization (EA-Al) (Fig.  4a 1-2 ). These samples were coated with FS, termed E-Al/FS and EA-Al/FS for the etched and etched/anodized specimens, respectively (Fig.  4b ). The static CAs were measured and found to be 171.4° ± 7.6° and 169.8° ± 9.0° for E-Al/FS and EA-Al/FS, respectively (Fig.  4c 1-2 , inset images). Both types of Al-SHS exhibit a Cassie–Baxter wetting regime with comparable advancing and receding CAs resulting in the landed drops rolling off instantly (Supplementary Fig.  S3a, b and Supplementary Movie  S7 ). The roughness parameter was measured by atomic force microscopy yielding a value of r  = 3.44 ± 0.07 for EA-Al/FS and r  = 1.65 ± 0.19 for E-Al/FS (Fig.  4d ). As discussed previously, AFM imaging yielded the lowest roughness parameter among the available alternatives 33 . The plastron shape and coverage were estimated using digital still imaging and bright-field optical reflectance microscopy on the submerged samples. Both E-Al/FS and EA-Al/FS exhibit highly reflective surfaces underwater due to plastrons that cover the entire specimen area (Supplementary Fig.  S3c, d ). In contrast, the bright-field optical reflectance microscopy images reveal a completely different plastron shape and solid–liquid area fraction. While the plastron on EA-Al/FS was continuous with randomly distributed round pinning points and a solid–liquid area fraction of φ s  = 0.16 ± 0.08 (Fig.  4c 2 ), the E-Al/FS demonstrated an irregular shape with a solid–liquid area fraction of only φ s  = 0.75 ± 0.03 (Fig.  4c 1 ). The latter is due to the deficiency of oxide/hydroxide groups resulting in the low FS coverage, which fails to form a thermodynamically stable plastron, i.e., with the liquid–air interface at the top of the asperities (Fig.  4b , Supplementary Figs.  S4 and S5 , Supplementary Table  S3 , and Supplementary Section  S4 ). Finally, the MSCA ( θ Si MS ) was previously obtained for Ti-SHS and compared to the advancing ( θ Al Adv  = 121.9° ± 3.4°) and receding ( θ Al Rec  = 74.9° ± 5.7°) CAs on the FS-coated polished Al samples. While the advancing CAs on both surfaces are similar, the receding CA on the polished Al is much lower due to the higher surface roughness on Al 58 . With the measured solid–liquid area fraction and roughness parameter, the critical CA was calculated according to Eq. ( 1 ) and was found to be θ C  = 93.5° for EA-Al/FS. By comparing the MSCA and critical CA, we predict that EA-Al/FS are in a stable Cassie–Baxter wetting regime (Fig.  4e ). Using Eq. ( 2 ), the stability of plastron underwater was estimated on EA-Al/FS, also predicting stable plastron (Fig.  4f ). Our preliminary results indicated that the mechanical characteristics of the E-Al/FS and EA-Al/FS specimens, determined by the nanoindentation technique, reveal values of hardness comparable to those of the bare Al and an elastic modulus within the gigapascal (GPa) range.

a Scanning electron microscopy images of the E-Al/FS ( a 1 ) and EA-Al/FS ( a 2 ) samples. b Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) measurements of the bare, E-Al/FS, and EA-Al/FS samples. c Optical reflectance microscopy image of the E-Al/FS ( c 1 ) and EA-Al/FS ( c 2 ) samples immersed underwater to assess air plastron shape and surface coverage. Inset images are the apparent water CA measured on the E-Al/FS and EA-Al/FS surfaces. d 3D reconstruction AFM image of EA-Al/FS. e Lafuma and Quéré diagram demonstrates the stability of the Cassie–Baxter wetting regime on the EA-Al/FS samples. f Marmur diagram calculated for bare and EA-Al/FS samples using the solid–liquid area fraction values as shown in ( c ). g – h  Digital images showing the bare Al ( g ) and EA-Al/FS ( h ) samples were recorded on day 0 and on day 234 of immersion in artificial seawater. The bottom images were captured at a grazing angle to prove the existence of plastron on the EA-Al/FS samples by their high reflectivity, in contrast to the bare Al samples that were severely corroded. The most stable, advancing and receding CAs and dimensionless roughness parameter were measured on N   =  3 independent samples, while the data represent the measured average value and the s.d.

To evaluate our hypothesis of plastron stability, the corrosion resistance of the developed Al-SHS was examined. It is well known that Al is susceptible to corrosion in marine environments due to aggressive chloride ions. We anticipate that the plastron, serving as a dielectric barrier, will improve the corrosion resistance of Al. Electrochemical measurements in an aqueous 3.5 wt.% NaCl electrolyte confirmed the remarkable corrosion protection of EA-Al/FS, while all other surfaces, spanning from superhydrophilic to superhydrophobic, showed only marginal improvements (Supplementary Fig.  S6 ). Yet, such plastron will be useful if SHS exhibit a stable, long-lasting wetting-repellent performance. Therefore, the E-Al/FS, EA-Al/FS, and bare (B-Al, control) samples were immersed in artificial seawater. The bare Al samples corrode within 3 weeks (Fig.  4g and Supplementary Fig.  S7 ), while the E-Al/FS exhibit pronounced corrosion products already after one day of immersion due to the loss of plastron and exposing high surface area substrates to a corrosive medium (Supplementary Fig.  S8 ). At the same time, the EA-Al/FS exhibit corrosion-free performance even after ~8 months (234 days) of continuous immersion in seawater still demonstrating a highly reflective plastron (Fig.  4h and Supplementary Figs.  S7 and S8d–f ). The EA-Al/FS substrates demonstrate 4 times longer infinite passive air trapping in highly corrosive seawater 39 . This long-term immersion test provides evidence to support our hypothesis of corrosion protection for SHS due to (i) the stable and continuous plastron that eliminates contact of the highly corrosive media with the Al surface (Fig.  4h , bottom image), and (ii) the FS coating delays the onset of corrosion at the pinning points 59 . At the same time, the wetting-repellent resistance of SHS with a metastable plastron is short-lived, corroding rapidly due to their high surface area. This is distinct from goniometric measurements, which are unable to predict the corrosion performance of SHS based on the apparent CA as shown in Supplementary Fig.  S9 .

Conclusions

This research breaks through the “wall of plastron metastability” and proves that stable (passive) air entrapping underwater is feasible. The proposed methodology facilitates the quantification of plastron, thus resulting in the projection of the superhydrophobic coating’s protective capability over months and even years of continuous immersion underwater. However, challenges remain in accurately predicting the stability of plastron in a real-world environment. The solubility of oxygen and nitrogen in water on SHS with stable plastron requires in-depth analysis regarding immersion depth, temperature, and pH, among others. The presence of various ions and molecules in water can negatively affect plastron or react with solids. Accurate methods are urgently needed to measure the MSCA in terms of devices and smooth surfaces with homogeneous hydrophobic chemistry. Also, obtaining surface roughness with high precision remains a challenge with the available techniques. Finally, the ability to rapidly self-heal surface defects, coupled with a mechanically robust approach and a thermodynamically stable plastron, will make superhydrophobic technology valuable for practical applications.

Titanium alloy (Ti-6A-l4V, grade 5) sheets of various thicknesses (0.25, 0.4, and 0.8 mm) were purchased from Titanwerk, Germany. Aluminum (99.5%, 1000-grade) was purchased from Advent Research Materials, UK. Phosphate ester of the mixed length of fluorinated alkyl chains surfactant ((CF 3 -(CF 2 ) 5-9 -(CH 2 ) 2 -O) 2 -POOH, FS-100, abbreviated here as FS) was acquired from Chemguard, USA. Poly(oxy-1,2-ethanediyl), α -dodecyl- ω -hydroxy-, phosphate ((C 2 H 4 O) 4 C 12 H 25 O 4 P, laureth-4 phosphate, Silaphos MDE 12, abbreviated here as Sil) was bought from Schill & Seilacher GmbH, Germany. Sodium hydroxide, hydrogen peroxide, hydrochloric acid, oxalic acid, acetone, and ethanol were purchased from Carl Roth, Germany. Potassium hydroxide and potassium phosphate were purchased from Sigma-Aldrich, USA. All chemicals were analytical-grade reagents and used as received. DI water (18.2 MΩ cm) was used in all experiments (ELGA, Purelab Ultra, UK).

Titanium electrochemical anodization

Ti alloy sheets were cut to the following sizes: 25 × 25 mm. Before anodization, the substrates were cleaned ultrasonically in acetone and ethanol for 10 min to remove contamination. The electrochemical cell consists of a stainless steel (316 grade) counter electrode of comparable size as a Ti alloy sheet, a Ti alloy sheet was used as a working electrode, and a 1.5 M NaOH aqueous solution as electrolyte. In total, 1 vol.% H 2 O 2 was added to the NaOH electrolyte just before anodization. The counter and working electrodes were placed 20 mm away from each other. Anodization was carried out at an applied potential of 15 V for 30 min. Note that when using larger samples, the cell should be kept in a big reservoir of water at room temperature. As-anodized samples were then removed from the electrolyte, rinsed with DI water, and dried under a stream of N 2 .

Ti alloy sheets were cut to 25 × 25 mm size. Before anodization, the substrates were cleaned ultrasonically in acetone and ethanol for 10 min to remove contamination. The electrochemical cell consists of a stainless steel (316 grade) counter electrode of comparable size as a Ti alloy sheet, a Ti alloy sheet was used as a working electrode, and a 0.11 M KOH/0.02 M K 3 PO 4 aqueous solution as electrolyte. The counter and working electrodes were placed 10 mm away from each other. Anodization was carried out at an applied potential of 30 V for 30 min. Note that when using larger samples, the cell should be kept in a big reservoir of water at room temperature. As-anodized samples were then removed from the electrolyte, rinsed with DI water, and dried under a stream of N 2 .

Aluminum etching/anodization processes

Aluminum sheets were cut into 20 × 20 × 1 mm samples and used as substrates. The substrates were first ground with SiC grinding paper up to 1200 grit. The substrates were then ultrasonically degreased in acetone and ethanol for 10 min each and dried under a stream of N 2 . The ground Al samples were pretreated in an aqueous solution of 1 M NaOH for 1 min, followed by a desmutting treatment in an aqueous solution of 1 M HNO 3 for 1 min at room temperature under stirring conditions 60 , then rinsed with DI water and dried under a stream of N 2 . These Al samples were etched in an aqueous solution of 3 M hydrochloric acid, first at 40 °C for 2 min, followed by a second etching step at 80 °C for 1 min under stirring conditions, rinsed with DI water, and then dried under a stream of N 2 . The etched Al samples were then electrochemically anodized in an aqueous solution of 0.3 M oxalic acid maintained at 1 °C for 1 min under an applied voltage of 60 V to form a nano-rough Al oxide layer. A two-electrode cell was used with Pt foil as the counter electrode. The distance between the counter electrode and the working electrode was kept at about 10 mm. After anodization, the substrates were rinsed with DI water and then dried under a stream of N 2 .

Low-surface-energy coating

The surfactant, either phosphate ester with mixed length of fluorinated alkyl chains (FS-100, γ  = 15.31 ± 0.33 mN m −1 ) or Laureth-4 phosphate (Silaphos MDE 12, γ  = 23.03 ± 0.08 mN m −1 ) (10 g) was dissolved in 1 L of 95:5 vol.% ethanol: H 2 O by ultrasonication and then kept in a closed container under ambient conditions. As-anodized samples were immersed in the appropriate surface modifier solution. A plastic cover to prevent ethanol evaporation was used to seal the surfactant container. A container with the high surface roughness samples was placed in a preheated to +60 °C muffle furnace for 30 min. The low surface-energy metallic substrates were then removed from the surface modifier solution, rinsed with ethanol, and dried under a stream of N 2 . To obtain the most stable CA, the bare samples were ground with SiC grinding paper (up to 1200 grit), and then polished with up to 1 µm diamond suspension. After polishing, the samples were cleaned in an ultrasonic bath with acetone and ethanol. The polished Ti samples were anodized for 5 s at an applied potential of 15 V in NaOH/H 2 O 2 electrolyte to form a thin dense TiO 2 layer followed by the standard FS-modification procedure. The surface tension of either FS-100 or Silaphos MDA 12 was measured by the pendant drop method using a KRÜSS DSA25 contact angle goniometer (KRÜSS, Germany).

Characterization techniques

Wetting characterization.

Water contact angle (WCA) . The apparent water contact angle measurements, when possible, for SHS were carried out using an Attension Theta contact angle goniometer (Biolin Scientific, Finland). A small drop was deposited on the surface, and its volume was increased to ~10 μL, and the water contact angle was measured. The WCA was calculated using Laplace–Young’s method of sessile drop. An error of ±5° was added to the obtained standard deviation values to include the measurement inaccuracies based on a model, where the droplet baseline is deviated by ±1 pixel level 24 . For roll-off measurements, the drop volume was 10 μL. The tilting speed was 10° per min, and the image recording was performed at 2.3 fps. All values specified in the text were averaged from at least three independent measurements. Most stable contact angle (MSCA) . The most stable WCA measurements were performed using polished (mirror-like) metallic surfaces coated by the FS-modification. Since there is no common methodology to determine the most stable CA, advancing and receding CAs were measured, which are the maximum and minimum apparent CA values, respectively. An apparent CA could then be any value between these two limiting values 5 . The advancing and receding WCAs were measured using the DSA100 contact angle goniometer (KRÜSS, Germany) as follows: the drop of 40 μL volume was infused on the FS-coated polished samples at a rate of 0.05 μL s −1 , the drop of 40 μL was withdrawn on the FS-coated polished samples at a rate of 0.05 μL s −1 , and the image recording was performed. The shape of a sessile drop was calculated using the Ellipse method (Tangent-1) by KRÜSS Drop Shape Analysis software. All values specified in the text were averaged from at least three independent measurements. The adhesiveness of water drops to SHS . The adhesiveness of water drops on the developed SHS were measured using the DSA25 contact angle goniometer (KRÜSS, Germany) as follows: the drop of 20  μ L volume was infused and withdrawn at a rate of 0.05 μL s −1 , and the image recording was performed. The shape of a sessile drop was calculated using the Ellipse method (Tangent-1) by KRÜSS Drop Shape Analysis software. All values specified in the text were averaged from at least three independent measurements.

Long-term immersion of Ti-SHS underwater

Ti-SHS samples were immersed in a polystyrene Petri dish filled with DI water to a depth of 1 cm. The dish was then covered with a non-hermetic polystyrene lid. To visualize the Cassie-to-Wenzel transition, a 1 mL air bubble was injected using a fine pipette. A digital still camera was used to capture images of these bubbles approximately every two months. The Petri dish was kept at ambient conditions in a non-air-conditioned laboratory throughout all four seasons, with the water level monitored and replenished as needed. The temperature in the laboratory was altered from ~+10 °C during the winter period to > +30 °C during the summer period. Note that the stability of gas layers underwater is related to the saturation of dissolved gases in water, which is a function of temperature 61 . This, in turn, affects the solubility of air in the water that can be translated into immersion depth as follows: ΔP = Air solubility change · P atm /( d water · g ). For instance, the dissolved air saturation in water at 20 °C is ~ 4% greater than at 22 °C, which is equivalent to ~0.40 m. Considering the reduction in temperature from +20 °C to +10 °C, this leads to an equivalent difference of ~3.40 m.

Morphology and physicochemical characterization

For morphological characterization, a field-emission scanning electron microscope (Hitachi FE-SEM S4800) equipped with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDAX Genesis) was used.

Surface roughness measurements

A Park NX20 atomic force microscope (AFM, Park Systems Suwon) was used to calculate the roughness parameter of the samples. Measurements were performed in contact mode using CONTSCR contact cantilevers with low resonant frequency (25 kHz) and low spring constant (0.2 N m −1 ). All images were acquired at a resolution of 1024 × 1024 pixels, a scan rate of 0.10 Hz, and a scan range of 50 µm 2 . The AFM images were analyzed using Gwyddion 2.61 software and the dimensionless roughness parameters were calculated from the height values using the triangulation method provided by the software. Statistical analysis of the roughness parameter of SHS was determined from at least three spots.

Solid–liquid area fraction measurements

A polystyrene Petri dish was filled with DI water to a height of ~1 cm. The SHS samples were then immersed underwater forcing them to sink to the bottom. The solid–liquid area fraction was obtained using a Nikon Eclipse LV 150 with the E Plan 5×/0.1 objective (WD 20) microscope equipped with a Nikon DS-Fi1 camera in bright-field reflectance mode.

Long-term corrosion tests

Long-term corrosion resistance measurements were carried out by immersing the bare and Al-SHS substrates in an artificial seawater medium, in a Petri dish within an ambient atmosphere. Supplementary Table  S4 provides the composition of artificial seawater. Digital images, from both top view and grazing angles, were taken weekly during the immersion process.

Barnacle re-attachment and adhesion

The Ti-SHS 1 -FS, Ti-SHS 2 -FS, Ti-SHS 1 -Sil, and polyurethane (PU, NDSU prepared polyurethane standard) were used to assess re-attachment and adhesion of barnacles. Five adult barnacles ( Amphibalanus amphitrite ) of testable size (>5 mm basal diameter) were dislodged from the glass panels coated with Silastic T2 and placed on coated 10 × 20 cm Ti-SHS, and polyurethane (PU) control plates. Immobilization templates were then applied to each panel to anchor barnacles to the coated surfaces and then transferred to an artificial saltwater aquarium tank system. The re-attached barnacles were fed daily with freshly hatched brine shrimp nauplii ( Artemia sp .). After 14 days of re-attachment in the aquarium system, the samples were removed, and the re-attached barnacles were removed in shear mounted to a semi-automated push-off device to measure the peak force at release. The area of barnacle base plates was measured using a SigmaScan Pro software package (SigmaScan Pro 5.0, Systat Software, Inc., Richmond, CA). The adhesion strength was calculated by normalizing detachment shear force to basal area. Barnacle adhesion for each coating was reported as the mean value of the total number of barnacles that had a measurable detachment force. Barnacles that had no measurable force for detachment were counted as “not attached” and not included in adhesion calculations.

Marine mussel attachment and adhesion

Freshly collected adults of the ribbed mussel Geukensia demissa (3–5 cm in size) were obtained from Duke University Marine Laboratory in Beaufort, North Carolina, USA, and housed in an ASW aquarium tank system with continuous monitoring and maintenance at pH (8.0–8.2) and salinity (35 ppt). Prior to attachment studies, a 4 cm section of acetal plastic rod (product# 98873A105, McMaster-Carr) was adhered to the shell of each mussel, perpendicular to the ventral edge, using a 3 M acrylic adhesive (product# 7467A135, McMaster-Carr). Custom-designed templates fabricated from PVC sheets were then used to immobilize six mussels onto each coated 10 × 20 cm Ti-SHS and PU control plates, using setscrews to firmly secure the adhered, plastic rods. The samples were placed in the ASW aquarium system, and the mussels were fed daily with live marine phytoplankton (DTs Premium Reef Blend Phytoplankton). After three days of immersion, the mussels were removed from the ASW aquarium tank system, and the total number of mussels exhibiting attachment of byssus threads was recorded for each surface. The rod of each attached mussel was then secured to an individual 5 N load cell of a custom-built, tensile force gauge outfitted with six loads of cells to enable simultaneous measurements of all attached mussels. The total force required to detach the byssus threads for each mussel was recorded (1 mm s −1 pull rate), and the average pull-off force value (in Newtons) for all attached mussels was calculated for each coating surface.

Data availability

All data are available in the main text or Supplementary Information . All relevant data are available from the corresponding authors upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

A.B.T. thanks the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) (award number 540989797) for financial support. A.B.T., W.H.G., and B.F. thank the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) (award number 442826449) for financial support. H.A.N., B.K., and R.H.A.R. acknowledge funding from the Academy of Finland Center of Excellence Program (2022 − 2029) in Life-Inspired Hybrid Materials (LIBER, project number 346109). S.S. acknowledges funding from the Office of Naval Research, U.S. Department of Defense Grant N00014-17-1-2153. S.K. and J.A. acknowledge funding from the Office of Naval Research, U.S. Department of Defense grants: N00014-15-1-2323, N00014-17-1-2913, and the Department of Energy (Award DE-SC0005247). I.d.B.S. and S.C. were supported by the European Union’s H2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement AIMed ID: 861138. G.S., I.E., and S.C. acknowledge the financial support from the European Union within the research projects 4D + nanoSCOPE ID: 810316, LRI ID: C10, STOP ID: 101057961, from the German Research Foundation (DFG) within the research project UNPLOK ID: 523847126, and from the “Freistaat Bayern” and European Union within the project Analytiktechnikum für Gesundheits- und Umweltforschung AGEUM, StMWi-43-6623-22/1/3. The authors thank Prof. S. Virtanen and Prof. P. Schmuki for providing laboratory space for measurements. W.H.G. and A.B.T. are indebted to Liz Nicholson (MA) for proofreading the manuscript.

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Stefan Kolle

Present address: Coral Reef Ecophysiology & Engineering, Department of NanoEngineering, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA

Authors and Affiliations

Department of Physics, Biophysics Group, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen, Germany

Alexander B. Tesler, Ben Fabry & Wolfgang H. Goldmann

Department of Applied Physics, School of Science, Centre of Excellence in Life-Inspired Hybrid Materials (LIBER), Aalto University, Espoo, Finland

Heikki A. Nurmi, Bhuvaneshwari Karunakaran & Robin H. A. Ras

John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA

Stefan Kolle, Jack Alvarenga & Joanna Aizenberg

Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Institute for Surface Science and Corrosion, Faculty of Engineering, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen, Germany

Lucia H. Prado & Anca Mazare

Institute for Nanotechnology and Correlative Microscopy eV INAM, Fraunhofer Institute, Forchheim, Germany

Ina Erceg, George Sarau & Silke Christiansen

Institute of Optics, Information and Photonics, Chair of Experimental Physics, Friedrich–Alexander University Erlangen–Nürnberg, Erlangen, Germany

Íris de Brito Soares

Fraunhofer Institute for Ceramic Technologies and Systems IKTS, Forchheim, Germany

George Sarau & Silke Christiansen

Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light, Erlangen, Germany

George Sarau

Institute for Experimental Physics, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany

Silke Christiansen

Department of Coatings and Polymeric Materials, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND, USA

Shane Stafslien

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Contributions

A.B.T. conceived the original idea for the project, developed the etching and anodization method to form highly rough aerophilic Ti and Al substrates with hierarchical structures, and analyzed the formation mechanisms. A.B.T and H.A.N. discussed the theoretical modeling and characterization methodology. A.B.T., L.H.P., and S.K. screened and down-selected different coating compositions and fabrication methods, discovering the most promising designs for further study. A.B.T. performed the plastron and plastron longevity characterizations. A.M. performed XPS characterizations. A.B.T., I.E., I.d.B.S., G.S., and S.C. performed roughness measurements. A.B.T., L.H.P., B.K., H.A.N., and R.H.A.R. performed the wetting characterization and analyzed the experimental data. A.B.T., B.F., and W.H.G. performed the SEM, EDX, and optical microscopy characterizations. S.K., Ja.A., S.S., and Jo.A. developed the Ti-SHS 2 anodized process and performed the marine anti-biofouling characterization. A.B.T., H.A.N., S.K., R.H.A.R., and W.H.G. wrote the manuscript. A.B.T., H.A.N., S.K., L.H.P, B.K., A.M., I.E., I.d.B.S., G.S., S.C., S.S., Ja.A., Jo.A., B.F., R.H.A.R., and W.H.G. discussed the results. All authors contributed to the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Alexander B. Tesler , Robin H. A. Ras or Wolfgang H. Goldmann .

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Tesler, A.B., Nurmi, H.A., Kolle, S. et al. Predicting plastron thermodynamic stability for underwater superhydrophobicity. Commun Mater 5 , 112 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43246-024-00555-8

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