The author's main concern is to provide a research format which will supply a unitary conception of communication. The wide range of complex topics and variety of concepts embraced by communication theory and the rather disparate set of phenomena encompassed by communication research create this need for a unitary study approach capable of linking all levels of analysis. The author proposes a cybernetic model which will allow for the exact specification of the rules and structures of the elements in the whole system. In support of this approach, the author notes that interpersonal, small group, organizational, and mass communication can be viewed productively as systems utilizing the cybernetic model. He concludes that the overriding concerns of cybernetics--regulation and control--are the most interesting and fruitful areas for research in communication systems. (LG)