THIS STUDY OBSERVED AND ANALYZED THE INTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS OF A RESEARCH CENTER. THE GOAL WAS TO DETERMINE WHO SENDS WHAT MESSAGES, TO WHOM, OVER WHICH CHANNELS. FROM THE DATA THAT WAS GATHERED THROUGH INTERVIEWS THAT AVERAGED 3 HOURS EACH, IT WAS FOUND THAT THE MEMBERS OF THE GROUP GENERALLY PERCEIVED DISCRETE STATUSES RATHER THAN STATUS-SETS. THE STUDY THEN GROUPED THE INDIVIDUAL MEMBERS OF THE CENTER IN TERMS OF THEIR SHARED STATUSES. MOST COMMUNICATION TAKES PLACE WITHIN THESE GROUPS, AND LITTLE TAKES PLACE ACROSS GROUP BOUNDARIES. THESE DIVISIONS AND GROUPINGS REGULATE COMMUNICATION WITHIN THE CENTER. AS THE CENTER HAS GROWN AND BECOME BUREAUCRATIZED, IT HAS DEVELOPED MORE AND MORE DISTINCTIONS OF RANK AND DIVISIONS OF LABOR. THESE HIERARCHIES AND SPECIALTIES ERECT SOME BARRIERS TO THE FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION, BUT THEY ALSO PROVIDE SHIELDING AND PREVENT JAMMING IN THE COMMUNICATION NETWORK. THE STUDY ALSO FOUND THAT MANY OF THE COMMUNICATION PRACTICES OF THE CENTER CAN BE ANALYZED IN TERMS OF TWO OVERALL STATUS CATEGORIES--THE ORGANIZATION MAN AND THE RESEARCH MAN. THESE STATUS-SETS CUT ACROSS THE OFFICIALLY ESTABLISHED RANKS AND FUNCTIONAL DIVISIONS OF THE CENTER. AN EMPHASIS ON THE ORGANIZATION AND AN EMPHASIS ON RESEARCH REFLECTS A BASIC DIVISION WITHIN THE CENTER. THIS PUBLICATION IS AVAILABLE FROM THE CENTER FOR THE ADVANCED STUDY OF EDUCATIONAL ADMINISTRATION, UNIVERSITY OF OREGON, EUGENE, OREGON, 58 PAGES. (TC)