Listening research spans the last half-century of American scientific study. Many methodologies overlap to define this complex subject of interactive communication: the Neopositivist, Systems, Gestaltist, Rules, Phenomenological, Hermeneutical, Critical, Ethnomethodological, Coordinated Management of Meaning, and others. Several theories and methods within each of the Neopositivist, Systems, and Phenomenological methodologies are exemplified, and one theory/model from each is critiqued for use in multimethod research. Four basic research method types are discussed with recommendations for theory specificity and merging processes. Appendixes present two listening comprehension models and the Vicary/Steil comparison chart. Contains 62 references and 2 tables of data. (Author)