Building Grounded Practical Theory in Applied Communication Research: Introduction to the Special Issue

This special issue of the Journal of Applied Communication Research presents five studies, each using principles and methods of grounded practical theory (GPT) to investigate a topic in applied communication. GPT is a metatheoretical and methodological framework for developing empirically grounded, normative theoretical reconstructions of particular communication practices with regard to their problems, techniques, and situated ideals. GPT uses qualitative methods, especially action-implicative discourse analysis (AIDA). In the traditions of Aristotelian practical philosophy and Deweyan pragmatism, GPT is distinguished from empirical scientific theory, which does not advance normative claims, and philosophical normative theory, which may lack empirical relevance. GPT potentially complements several related approaches including constructivist grounded theory, critical discourse analysis, and other forms of practical theory, especially communication as design (CAD). Problems and challenges of GPT include managing tensions inherent to the approach (descriptive-normative, theoretical-applied, and positioning-universalizing), expanding the technical repertoire, and questioning assumptions about agency. The studies comprising this special issue extend and adapt GPT methodology, while contributing normative theory and applied recommendations for: (1) physician-patient exchanges regarding the need to move to daily injections for diabetes, (2) language selection choices in international healthcare teams, (3) managing disagreement in deliberation groups, (4) citizen testimony in public hearings, and (5) instructor-facilitated college classroom discussions.