If you wanted to test a strategy for communicating effectively, you would be conducting applied research. Applied research is any research testing communication tools or seeking useful communication strategies for real world use. We can know a good tool or strategy without really understanding in detail why it works, of course. Asprin, for example, works, although we do not know why. So applied research examines communication and its effect, but does not necessarily seek an explanation.
Explanations are the territory of theory or basic research.
Field Research Field research is conducted in natural settings , such as in an actual organization or group. In natural settings, all the natural complexity of communication is retained. Field research can be particularly useful to understand particular situations, and so is often descriptive, or focused on rich details of situations, rather than on testing theories. It can be used, however, to test or to develop complex theories. Whereas field research takes place in natural settings, experimental research takes place in a controlled setting.