THROUGH UNIVERSITY LABORATORY EXPERIMENTS, FIELD OBSERVATIONS IN INDUSTRIAL, COMMUNITY, AND EDUCATIONAL SETTINGS, AND EXPERIENCES IN CLASSES IN GROUP DYNAMICS, THE PARTICIPATIVE ACTION METHOD OF GROUP TRAINING FOR MORE EFFECTIVE PROBLEM SOLVING AND DECISION MAKING WAS DEVELOPED. IT IS BASED ON 8 PRINCIPLES--PHYSICAL REGROUPING, REDUCTION OF INTERPERSONAL TENSIONS, INFORMALITY OF PROCEDURE, FREEDOM OF CHOICE, DISTRIBUTIVE LEADERSHIP, EXPLICIT GOAL FORMATION, SKILL TRAINING, AND CONTINUAL EVALUATION. THIS HANDBOOK, A SERIES OF STUDY GUIDES AND TRAINING PROCEDURES, CAN BE USED AS A MANUAL FOR COLLEGE CLASSES IN GROUP DYNAMICS AND HUMAN RELATIONS TRAINING, AS A REFERENCE BOOK FOR STAFFS AND COMMITTEES, AND AS A SOURCE BOOK AND DISCUSSION GUIDE FOR SEMINARS AND STUDY GROUPS. METHODS OF GROUP ACTION, THE ROLE OF THE GROUP MEMBER AND TRAINER, SUGGESTIONS FOR WORKSHOPS AND CONFERENCES, APPLICATIONS TO EDUCATIONAL, INDUSTRIAL, RELIGIOUS, MILITARY, AND ADULT EDUCATION PROGRAMS, AND A SELECTED, CLASSIFIED LIST OF 102 REFERENCES ARE INCLUDED. (AJ)