Pandemic as boundary condition in service to communication theory building

ABSTRACT

The coronavirus pandemic is a unique context that can allow researchers to address boundary conditions. This essay details four different types of boundary conditions and emphasizes they are not created equal. A review of pandemic-related research published in nine communication journals reveals a relative dearth of studies exploring moderation-based effects, with even fewer of the proposed conditional relationships stemming from pandemic-driven rationales. A series of pandemic-as-boundary condition arguments are offered for three theories or models used within the field’s extant pandemic-related research. The proposed insights offered by a pandemic-as-boundary-condition approach are shown to be unique accompaniments to the field’s dominant research agendas. The essay closes with a call for a more systematic approach to identifying, testing, and assessing boundary conditions .

KEYWORDS:

• Theory building
• boundary condition
• pandemic
• moderation

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Correction

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Correction Statement

This article was originally published with errors, which have now been corrected in the online version. Please see Correction (https://doi.org/10.1080/23808985.2022.2185387)