Predicting Employee Turnover from Friendship Networks

Employees (n=40) at a fast-food restaurant were surveyed about characteristics of their position and their level of satisfaction. Employees were then asked to report with whom they regularly communicated inside and outside the workplace and to indicate how close they were to employees with whom they were linked. Employee turnover was measured after three months had elapsed. A goal of the research was to replicate a model of employee turnover that predicts employees more central in their social network to be less likely to leave, and to test a social support explanation of the centrality model. The results indicated that employees who reported a greater number of out-degree links with friends were less likely to leave. The number of in-degree links with friends did not significantly predict turnover, and neither did network links with peers. Friendship prestige, measured by the number of in-degree links, was strongly correlated with relational closeness and amount of time spent with employees outside the workplace.     

Classroom Behavior,Intelligence, and Achievement

In general terms, the problem under investigation is that of determining whether selected teacher characteristics can be used as predictors for the commitment of teachers to a certain approach to the teaching of high school chemistry (Chemical Bond Approach). Teachers attending a summer institute were initially surveyed to determine these characteristics; included in this group were expectations of role related groups, innovativenes characteristics, and personal characteristics. At the completion of the institute, the participants were tested regarding their attitudes toward and their willingness to use the approach. Employing the stepwise regression technique of analysis, two characteristics (perceived disposition of reference group and innovativeness) were found as strong predictors. Pre-institute characteristics were also shown to account for a significant portion of the commitment of teachers to the approach.     

Longitudinal Analyses of Classroom Behavior and School Achievement

Third-, sixth-, and ninth-grade teachers in a Wisconsin county nominated 982 children as consistently displaying socially approved behavior and 568 as consistently displaying aggressive-disruptive behavior in the classroom. Five years after the original nominations teacher grades in English, science, mathematics, and social studies; rank in graduating class for original ninth graders; and STEP scores were obtained. Analyses of covariance (ANACOVA) were made with IQ as the covariate and behavior, grade, sex, and home location as the independent variables. The results indicate clearly that the children whose behavior was aggressive and disruptive in the classroom achieved at significantly lower levels than their socially approved peers.     

AN EXPERIMENT IN ADOLESCENT WORSHIP

The purpose of this column is to keep religious educators abreast of the relevant significant research in the general field of psychology. Its implications for methods and materials in religious education are clear. Religious educators may well take advantage of every new finding in scientific research.

Each abstract or group is preceded by an evaluation and interpretative comment, which aims to guide the reader in understanding the research reported.

All of these abstracts are from PSYCHOLOGICAL ABSTRACTS, and used by permission of that periodical. The abstract number is Volume 29, Number 3, June, 1955.     

SECURING FIRST‐HAND DATA AS TO THE RELIGIOUS DEVELOPMENT OF CHILDREN

Ritual theorist Ronald Grimes notes a lack of rites of passage in Western society, yet a parallel longing for them. Although Grimes hesitates to invent new rites, such invention is the interest of this article. Building on research that juxtaposes ritual theory and Evangelical values, this work narrates the invention and implementation of a rite of passage into womanhood for undergraduates. It is based on Grimes’ markers of effectiveness and four relationships that form the essence of an Evangelical woman. Qualitative markers of its efficacy suggest that this is a viable method of encouraging Christian maturity in women.     

The project of the other: developing inclusive learning communities in schools

This paper considers the possible nature and membership of learning communities in schools and what evidence there may be of middle leaders trying to develop and sustain learning communities with their colleagues, even though these communities encompass asymmetrical power relationships between members. Although it is argued that students and support staff are part of these learning communities, not apart from them, the limited evidence from this study does not support this. How power is used and distributed to construct collaborative cultures, and the part played by middle leaders, is central to the development of a learning community. The promotion of dialogue and consultation amongst members helps them to generate a sense of community which, in turn, enables them to tackle effectively the tasks and dilemmas facing them. Empirical evidence from a small scale study in England indicates the ways in which some middle leaders have tried to build learning communities, and their colleagues’ views on their efforts, while negotiating the value‐laden tensions and dilemmas inherent in all middle management posts in educational organisations.