Examines laws, systems and rules approaches to theory using generality and necessity as the criteria for viability. (MH)

Contends that naturalistic inquiry differs in function and form from objective inquiry in the positivist tradition and suggests that objective and naturalistic procedures are complementary in both science and communication processes. (MH)

The current development of a communication theory known as coordinated management of meaning is presented in this report. The communication process is modeled as an open system; human actors constitute component subsystems with the ability to organize their cognitions into constitutive and regulative rules. The conjoining of individuals' rule sets…

Recurrent claims of ineffable experience and their importance for communication theory are analyzed in this paper. Four positions are identified: (1) the "complete effability/complete communicability" position is historically identified with Western culture but repudiated by modern thought; (2) the "complete ineffability/complete communicability"…

Communication between persons who trust each other differs from that between those who do not. A new conceptualization of trust is offered, drawing from game theory, credibility research, sensitivity/encounter groups, and studies of generalized expectations of trustworthiness, which makes an important distinction between the cognitive state of…