ABSTRACT
The last decade of the development of communication theory and research is indicated by several attempts to “recreate the past” in the field and, particularly, to (re)examine the relationship between theoretical knowledge about communication and the media, empirical research, and social practice. The centrality of this debate can best be illustrated by a number of dissertations on dominant “paradigms,” “tradi- tions” and “schools” in communication studies, particularly those concentrated on the dichotomies between empirical versus theoretical, administrative versus critical, or quantitative versus qualitative research.
