Originally published in 1983. The conventions, institutions and practices of communication today are issues of great concern to all. Using a dual approach, this book evaluates communication today in all its facets. On the one hand, an investigation of communication can be viewed as an intellectual task -thus emphasizing basic issues of the human condition; on the other hand, communication can be examined in a practical manner, in the context of current social problems, operational decisions, and questions currently facing researchers. This text brings these two together so that the practical issues of communication can be viewed as they relate to the human condition itself.