Structuration Theory as an Ontology for Communication Research

Abstract

A persistent complaint by communication scholars points to the fragmentation of the field and the lack of dominant theoretical paradigms. In response to this call, structuration theory as developed by Anthony Giddens is advocated as a foundational set of ontological principles for the grounding of communication research and theorizing. An interpretation of Giddens’s work and a review of communication research programs that have used structuration theory yield two major difficulties— the en passant problem and the metatheory fallacy. These issues are addressed as problematics, and the corrective of treating structuration as an ontology of potentials is then illustrated by a brief description of the authors’ ongoing project to study talk and power in institutional settings.