The relationship between communication theory and media research must be reciprocal. Without some acknowledgement of a commonality with specific aspects of communication theory, media research efforts will continue to stagnate and produce uninterpretable or extremely limited observations. On the other hand, media researchers' commitment to the artificial constraints imposed by particular disciplines or applied fields has failed to produce the consistency, generality, and commonality needed for the development of a comprehensive instructional communication model. Such a model would of necessity be eclectic--an extrapolation from a broad spectrum of models, paradigms, classification systems, and hierarchies. Proceeding within such a theoretical framework, research integration of a statistical nature presents an opportunity to cross the artificial boundaries of disciplines and applied fields to produce information of greater generalizability. It also has the advantage of upgrading the vague summaries generic to many narrative reviews. It seems reasonable to assume that such integrations of communication research in the behaviorial sciences could result in one or more axiomatic theories for instruction. Until these tasks have been accomplished, however, research on instructional media will still be based largely on "implusive reckoning." (FL)