Arguing that by identifying rules, researchers can understand and explain behavioral and communicative processes in specific contexts, this paper outlines a formal method for conducting a rules analysis of a conflict case. The first section of the paper defines and summarizes the basic concepts relating to conflict, organizational groups, and…

A 5-week study was conducted to examine the acquainting process--changes that occur as a relationship between two strangers develops. Fifty subjects were paired in same sex dyads and were asked to talk to one another once a week for half-hour periods. The unstructured conversations were tape-recorded and questionnaires were administered to the…

This is an examination of beginning teachers' acquisition of the structures of classroom discourse. Teachers were compared at the beginning and at the end of their first teaching year using a discourse analysis system. Thirty-three hours of audiotapes from 11 teachers were transcribed an coded. Teacher initiations during informing, eliciting, and…

The article presents some arguments for using behavior classification systems, defines the categories and behaviors relevant to vocational education learning situations, gives detailed instructions of coding procedures, and describes rating scales. (Author/BP)

A study investigated the degree of association between supervisor and subordinate perceptions of the supervisor's leadership style, use of power, and conflict management style. Subjects were 87 supervisors and 432 subordinates from five service-oriented, publicly supported organizations. The supervisors completed measures of leadership style, use…

In a study to seek an alternative methodological approach to collective bargaining research, an interaction model based upon a systems approach to small group communication was used to observe, record, and quantify the communication behavior of teacher/school board negotiators. Specifically, the study sought to determine whether the interaction…

The exploration of movement as it reveals the subconscious and subjective side of individuals is described to illustrate a method of psychological inquiry known as phenomenology. Spontaneous, improvised dance performed by two different couples was video-taped and analyzed. The couples, a man and woman in a courting relationship and two women in a…

An exploratory study was conducted of the ways people accommodate television in social interaction in contrast to the way they accommodate other individuals. Videotapes were made of five dyads--composed of members of a college speech course--who were told to wait in a small room before they were needed for a study. Each dyad was subjected to four…

A study of formal communication in 30 families each with a schizophrenic son and 28 families, each with a "normal" son was conducted in Germany. By means of factor analysis four types of formal speech behavior were identified using musical terminology: "staccato," a highly fragmented flow of conversation with high turnover rate; "solo" in which…

This paper presents a system designed to measure group role behavior and the direction and degree of subgroup interaction during small group meetings. The system utilizes file classifications of role behavior subdivided into 11 behavior categories. Data are collected in sample observations using live recorders or VTR equipment. Data analysis…

While the traditional role of television has been to transmit messages to mass audiences, more recent uses of television which allow face-to-face interaction may lead to new kinds of behavior by the parties involved. In an interactive situation, an individual's two types of tasks are presentational (presenting his own "line" or image)…

The "diffusion of responsibility" hypothesis as an explanation of helping behavior (or lack of same) is qualified by suggesting that the hypothesis applies only in non-interacting situations. It is hypothesized that interacting groups who are aware of a help-demanding situation actually focus the responsibility and, therefore, take action as a…

This study focuses on the systematic study of verbal behavior patterns of college elementary education student teaching supervisors in dyadic conferences with student teachers and cooperating teachers. The major research problem of the study concerned the possible differences in the verbal behavior patterns of college supervisors while interacting…

It is proposed that changes in the classroom aimed at effective teaching be based on analysis, theory, and the gathering of data from systematic and controlled observational surveys, laboratory studies and controlled field experiments in the classroom. (Author/JB)

Investigated the impact of sexual composition and competitive/cooperative orientation on interaction patterns in same-sex and mixed-sex dyads. Found that the competitive or cooperative orientation of the interactants exerts a far greater impact on the communication behavior of dyads than does their sexual composition. (PD)