ing the development of heuristic communication theory that is relevant
in a wide range of social contexts. It is hoped that this book will act as a
catalyst for such conjoint activities.

As editors of this book, we have been involved in various forms of
applied communication research for several years. Although we had not
collaborated on anything of import prior to this project, our shared inter-
ests in applied communication theory and research was keen and we
recognized the need for a book on this topic. The original impetus for the
project came when Dan O'Hair received a call from Dale Leathers, then
editor of Southern Speech Communication Journal (SSCJ), asking him to
become guest editor for a special issue of the journal on the topic of
"Relational Communication in Applied Contexts." Gary Kreps, one of the
contributors to the SSCJ special issue, and Dan O'Hair agreed that the
next logical step after the SSCJ issue was a book enlarging the topic to
all applied communication contexts. Through the brilliant assistance of
Teri Thompson, Jennings Bryant, and Jack Burton, Lawrence Erlbaum.
Associates sponsored the work that appears in this book. The book has a
number of strengths that are directly attributable to the contributing
authors, each being experts in the applied communication areas that they
write about. The greatest shortcoming of this book is its comprehensive-
ness. We were not able to include a number of applied communication
areas that are notable and exciting due to space limitations. More than
anything else, this book provides a sampling of topics for applied communi-
cation inquiry and serves as a "teaser" for others who view applied commu-
nication theory and research as integral components of the communication
discipline. Certainly we have not done justice to the extant area of applied
communication theory and research nor was that the goal. The field of
communication was in need of a primary source that promoted the cause
of applied work in communication. We hope that applied communication
researchers, as well as basic researchers with occasional applied interests,
will benefit from the thoughts contained in this volume. It is those individ-
uals to whom this book is dedicated, as well as to our respective families,
who patiently supported our work on this project.

Dan O'Hair

Gary Kreps

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