Purpose: The aim of this study is to investigate how educational researchers work together with practitioners in practical research projects. Design/methodology/approach: Mixed-method. Findings: Our findings suggest that researchers recognize their own limitations as well as those of practitioners and policy makers and learn from collaboration,…

Social networks play an important role in creating positive outcomes for members of social structures, for example, highly networked individuals experience increased performance, productivity, and scholarly outputs in academia. Social network analysis (SNA) provides researchers with an effective method to evaluate the functionality of teams and,…

Changes in higher education institutions characteristic of a knowledge society are strongly affecting academic life, scientists' working conditions and the social dynamics of scientific groups. In such situations, it is important to understand the different ways in which these groups are tackling the structural dilemmas posed by the changes…

This article describes an evaluative project with normal high school students undertaken to measure what lasting changes a single weekend of "leaderless" encounter groups might produce. The training effected significant changes demonstrable a year later. (Author)

Three experiments explored the effects of variation in room illumination and in seating distance between members of a small group on moods, evaluations, attraction, and opinion expression. The results indicate that interaction distance is not per se a very powerful variable. (Author)

The influence of group size and training duration on the development of empathic understanding in beginning counseling procedures students was examined. Nine-five master's level students grouped into four groups representing long and short duration, large and small size, were evaluated on the basis of taped counseling sessions. A team of expert…

This study reports on four possible feedback sequences to be used in groups. The acceptance and desirability of the feedback, as well as subjects' endorsement of group attractiveness, are compared for various feedback conditions. (Author)

An increase in the formation of growth-oriented groups has accompanied a rising interest in self-knowledge and consciousness-raising. The study described in this article suggests that the behaviors, perceptions, and emotional experiences of group members may vary with the sexual makeup of the group itself. (Author)

Subjects (N=240) participated in brief encounter group experiences that varied the amount of physical contact in the structured exercises. These included no-touch, moderate-touch, and high-touch conditions. Results on the scales were consistent with behavioral data in showing the positive effects of increased physical contact. (Author)

The relative power of cooperative and trusting patterns of behavior versus those of exploitation and distrust in affecting the results of group decision-making processes was investigated. The outcome of a study using the Prisoner's Dilemma Game seems to suggest the disproportionate influence of competitive people in these settings. (Author)

This paper defines a personality construct, the "others-concept," as "a person's general expectancies or perceptions about other people along a positive-negative continuum." This construct helps conceptualize how predictions and assumptions about possible social interactions are made when the amount of information concerning…

This study examines the effects of short term group interaction on self-esteem levels of the group members. (Author)

College students (N=27) were assigned to a time-extended or a marathon group or a control condition to evaluate the effects of encounter experiences on self-perception and interpersonal behavior. Both experimental groups showed significantly greater changes in self-perceptions from pretest to posttest than the control group. (Author)

Ego-identity has an effect on interpersonal conflict resolution. Group members with strong ego-identity employ more successful conflict resolutions than weaker ego-identity members. This may explain why group members may not all get down to tasks before them. (Author/MFD)

This research looks at the effects of laboratory training on self concept. The gestalt and encounter approaches are employed to test the amount of self concept change possible in group experiences. (YRJ)