ABSTRACT
Communication researchers must establish perspectives for studying new communication technologies that extend theory and results beyond the boundaries of any particular technology or implementation. In his chapter, Rice proposes a framework for organizing multidisciplinary research on uses and implications of computer mediated communication systems (CMCS). He focuses on classifying the research rather than the systems. I concur that there is a need to integrate research across disciplines and media systems. I see Rice’s chapter as a very useful reminder of the illusion of objectivity and as an important step toward classification dimensions for mediated communication systems research. It would be useful if every methods section addressed the kinds of issues he raises. I contend, however, that detailed specification of the particular mediated communication system under study is even more crucial to generalizing across studies than is classification of the research project.
