There is nothing as ‘practical’ as a good (normative) theory!!

There is one thing that Bill Huey said, however, that represents a typical misunderstanding of what a normative theory is. I realize that people read these blogs entries for some time, however, and I would like to set the record straight. Bill said:

“Thank you, Dr. Grunig, for clarifying the fact that your generic principles are normative and not descriptive. As such, they are useful for comparative purposes and agenda setting but not much else, I’m afraid.”

Bill seems to have suggested that a normative theory is completely hypothetical and not actually practiced. A good normative theory is descriptive as well as prescriptive. That is, the best normative theory is one that is accompanied by actual examples of its being practiced according to the normative principles and evidence of its effectiveness. Typically, such a normative theory is called a theory of best practices in the management literature. Public relations textbooks also are filled with normative theories. Public relations educators teach normative theories–i.e., what they think are the best ways to practice public relations. Few would advocate practicing public relations in an ineffective or unethical way, even though that is how public relations might be practiced most often.

The generic principles that make up our global theory of generic principles and specific applications are supported with numerous examples of their effectiveness in actual practice. They originally came from the Excellence study, which provided both statistical evidence from a survey of over 300 organizations as well as case study evidence from 25 organizations. Evidence supporting the generic principles has been found in studies throughout the world. Thus, in contrast to what Bill said, a normative theory of public relations is of great use: It describes, and prescribes, how to practice public relations to be most effective.