The nominal group technique (NGT), a needs assessment methodology that can be effective in many situations related to marketing education, is used to identify and collect information in a small group setting. It is a special purpose group process appropriate for identifying elements of a problem situation, identifying elements of a solution…

Noting that the concept of convention as a rule procedure in a formal analysis of interpersonal communication applies to the mass communication practice known as the "convention" or annual professional meeting of an academic discipline, this paper illustrates the ideological consequence of this eidetic connection. The paper characterizes…

Although leadership has been a major research topic for decades, the study of women in leadership positions is a recent phenomenon. To examine the effects of selection agent expertise and various gender factors upon the influence and perceived expertise of male and female leaders, and upon group cohesiveness, both male (N=69) and female (N=80)…

Two studies were conducted to test the situational theory of communication while at the same time using the theory to determine the nature of different environmental publics, the cognitive strategies they use to resolve environmental issues, and their demographic characteristics. One study identified and examined urban environmental publics, while…

Replicating Success, a school improvement program in Philadelphia, is designed to raise the achievement level of all students in 30 selected, racially isolated, low achieving schools. Each school undertakes an extensive needs assessment process and then develops an individualized schoolwide plan which takes into account the characteristics of…

Conditions in schools that reduce the effectiveness and perceived value of instructional supervision can be diagnosed and corrected through a cyclical process called "organizational learning." Rather than merely responding to symptoms, this method focuses on eliminating or mitigating the underlying causes of "organizational…

A cross-sectional sample of 704 adults was interviewed in a study examining the processes that relate demographic predictors to media use and effects. It was hypothesized that primary groups influence what an individual should attend to and know about public affairs, and that the individual perceives the primary group to "prescribe" the…

Describes how a social worker made a group treatment program a permanent part of a small, rural, junior high school in order to aid students with behavioral problems. (Author/ED)

Small group discussions can implement learning in courses comprised of very large numbers of students. Six significant components of a learning group are listed along with training suggestions for implementing a format for a free discussion type of group. (DS)

The Riverside Center in New York offers a persuasive argument that group infant care is an important step for sound child development and parental involvement. (CS)

The subjects using either the consensus model or the participative decisionmaking model had more correct decisions on the assigned task than did the same individuals deciding alone. (Author)

Through a comparative analysis of nine urban school improvement projects, it illustrates the association between patterns of constituent collaboration in the design of intervention projects and problem solving strategies and the degree of mutual adaptation, incorporation, and sustained project effectiveness. Many of the barriers to school…

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 is a report on a study of two junior high schools in a small Midwestern city called "Avon". This industrial community serves an agricultural region. This study was undertaken as a complement to a study of two other junior high schools in a much less ordinary community and school system ("Canton") which had been previously studied. This report…

This training packet is intended to aid educators in planning and effecting positive change within the learning environment through a group problem-solving intervention process. It primarily addresses the concept of "change agentry" and how it can be used to improve the climate for learning, focusing on the role of the change agent and the…