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Once considered ground-breaking, public participation has made the leap to themainstream of environmental communication programs. Agencies often rely on publicparticipation programs to help shape environmental mitigation, gain acceptance ofenvironmental analyses and demonstrate an overall commitment to their environmentalmissions. In its growing acceptance, however, the practice of public participation has gottenahead of the development of a solid, research-based foundation. Public participation is justone example of this phenomenon. The communication field abounds with edicts and "bestmanagement practices" developed without the benefit of solid research. This paper discusseshow theories derived from qualitative research can and should be tested before applying toprescriptive practices. An example is presented from a study initiated in late 2002 andcompleted in June 2003 testing concepts of effective public participation through an 800-personrandom digit dial telephone survey. The study debunks one of the most commonly heldprinciples of effective public participation. In doing so, the study shows that however intuitivelysatisfying and commonly accepted a concept may be, it cannot be considered valid until testedthrough a scientifically rigorous research model. Suggestions are made about applyingthe model used in the example to other commonly held beliefs about environmentalcommunication. Finally, ideas are presented for gaining access to cost-effectivequantitative research for the purpose of expanding the body of knowledge in the field ofcommunication. Includes 16 references, tables, figures.

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Edition: Vol. - No. Published: 06/17/2004 Number of Pages: 19File Size: 1 file , 380 KB