The potential for being asked to supply information that is not legally useable in the employment decision-making process is a factor that can dramatically increase stress during the selection interview. Research suggests that both employers and students are often unaware of what constitutes an illegal question. Treatment of illegal questioning in…

Research indicates that the role of information can be ambiguous in the decision-making process. Because relevance can be a problem with respect to information used in decision making, organizations should strive to achieve a linkage between flows of information and the making of specific decisions. Information flow between organizations and their…

A study explored the self-reported nonverbal stress behaviors perceived by men and women in management positions in both Japan and the United States who were required to give public speeches as part of their employment or daily lives. The sample included 136 subjects from the United States (60 males, 76 females) and 99 Japanese subjects (86 males,…

Symbolic interactionism, or the interactional perspective, provides the broadest overview of the major theoretical divisions in the field of speech communication. It is neither too abstract nor overly concrete and is directly linked to communicative behavior, and thus does not impose an inappropriate mechanism on the discipline in order to create…

A study was conducted to investigate ministers' interpersonal communicative skills from the viewpoint of their parishioners and to compare the perceptions of restoration tradition ministers (Churches of Christ) with those of other denominations. A 28-item survey investigating a variety of interpersonal communicative skills unique to ministers…

A study was conducted to determine the relationship between management communication style and communication satisfaction during performance appraisal interviews. Generating a 50% response rate, 83 staff employees (47 supervisors and 36 subordinates) at a large midwestern university returned a questionnaire survey assessing communication during…

A study examined the relationship between participation and performance in groups to determine whether increased communicative activity brought about through participation in groups resulted in the acquisition of specific types of organizational knowledge and increased motivation which positively affected performance. Subjects for the study were…

This study was conducted to compare the social style of Japanese and Americans. Participants included 241 Japanese students from Otsuma Women's University and Nihon University (Tokyo, Japan) and 252 American students from West Virginia University (United States). Each completed the Richmond-McCroskey Assertiveness-Responsiveness Measure (which…

Noting that communication apprehension (CA) is a pattern of anxiety that can profoundly affect oral communication, social skills, and self-esteem, this digest examines some causes and consequences of CA and ways in which it can be diminished. Following an introduction, the digest defines CA and some of its characteristics. Next, the digest looks…

As it is difficult to know how much damage negative publicity can cause or how an organization should react to it, the best measures are seen as preventive. Advocacy or issue advertising, which attempts to tackle controversial subjects and present facts and arguments that will project the sponsor in a positive light, is one such measure which…

One of a series of semiannual reports, this publication contains 14 articles which report the status and progress of studies on the nature of speech, instrumentation for its investigation, and practical applications. The titles of the articles and their authors are as follows: "Gestural Structure and Phonological Patterns" (Catherine P.…

A study was conducted to determine (1) which actions municipal employees consider important to a city's overall public relations effort, (2) the attitudes of city employees toward public service activities, (3) the relationship between attitude and job satisfaction, and (4) ways to improve employee attitudes and, perhaps, public service…

A study investigated the relationship of trait emotion to Communication Apprehension (CA). It was hypothesized that (1) persons with high CA scores will have lower trait pleasure, arousal, dominance, and arousal seeking tendencies; and (2) a regression equation could be produced in which communication apprehension scores may be explained in terms…

The purpose of this study was to measure fathers' and mothers' linguistic involvements with the development of communication between young siblings. A total of 39 2-parent families with 2 children were videotaped in semi-structured activities in a laboratory setting. The older sibling was from 18- to 26-months-old and the younger was from 4- to…

To bring educational research into focus with tested classroom practice, this booklet provides an introduction to small group discussion. The theory and research section discusses the importance of small group discussion, characteristics of small group discussions, group attraction based on Maslow's hierarchy of basic human needs, group decision…