Amount of communication as a symptom of distressed marriages based on reports of divorced individuals

Recent research on married couples has indicated that dramatically reduced communication between married partners may be an indication of a marriage under stress and may indicate an increased likelihood of divorce. The present study compared amount of communication in marriage reported by divorced individuals with that reported by married individuals who reported low to moderate levels of marital satisfaction. The results indicate these reports are highly similar. It is recommended that reduced communication be considered as a marker variable for marriages under stress and future research seek to identify the cause(s) of the observed relationships.     

Willingness to communicate and employee success in U.S. organizations

This article presents a view of the influence and effects of individuals’ willingness to communicate in an organizational setting. Definitional explanations of the willingness to communicate construct are provided along with an extensive review of the relevant research and theory in this area. Communication apprehension is explicated and considered in context of willingness to communicate. The manner in which low willingness to communicate affects individuals and fosters specific organizational outcomes is explored. In general, research indicates negative results from low willingness to communicate, both on individual and organizational levels. Appropriate organizational responses to “at risk individuals”; are explored in terms of diagnosis and remediation.     

Central states outstanding teacher award winners a teaching philosophy

The Eagleton phenomenon consists of a series of inter‐related responses by the major participants in the Democratic presidential campaign of 1972, resulting in a significant paradox centered on the theme of integrity. The substance and strategy of the rhetoric involved in that paradox is best understood by examining the initial and subsequent exigencies to which the participants responded, the influence of dominant ideas and values derived from personal experience and cultural context, and the way in which initial exigencies were transformed into ultimate perceptions.     

Demonstrating Value in Federal Medical Center Libraries

Abstract

Librarians in the federal sector, like librarians in other medical center libraries, increasingly find it necessary to prove their worth to administrators of their facilities in order to keep their libraries open. The Federal Libraries Section of the Medical Library Association developed a survey for use by federal librarians to help them quantify the value of library reference services provided. Using this survey, these librarians gathered statistics to show the library’s effect on patient care, education, and administrative questions.     

Training Paraprofessionals to Support Students with Disabilities: A Literature Review

The purpose of this literature review is to describe intervention research studies in which paraprofessionals received training applicable to student with disabilities. Thirty studies were systematically reviewed to identify (a) characteristics of study participants and settings, (b) characteristics of paraprofessional training and paraprofessional-implemented intervention evaluated within these studies, (c) quality of the studies, and (d) implications for practice and areas for future research. Overall, paraprofessional training and subsequent intervention with students yielded positive outcomes. Training sessions typically were delivered by workshops, lectures, or classes and classroom-based training. However, numerous studies failed to demonstrate characteristics of study quality.     

Changing Contexts in the Professoriate

The current reform movement in higher education involves efforts to alter the missions of universities and the forms of scholarship necessq to accomplish these missions. The authors explore the changing contexts in the professoriate based on this redefinition of scholarship and cite the impact of changes on faculty roles and responsibilities, faculty socialization, and faculty evaluation. They indicate that the current reform movement will lead to significant changes in the way faculty work Department faculty will be given the autonomy to determine the mission of the department, the kinds of scholarship needed to fulfill that mission, and how to evaluate scholarship in their discipline. Formalized, structured socialization processes will be needed to provide consistent formal and informal messages to faculty regarding their changing roles and responsibilities, especially since individual faculty may have very different roles and responsibilities. Faculty will work in interdisciplinary, collaborative groups to bring together the knowledge bases needed to solve current societal problems.     

Managing the primary curriculum: policy into practice in England

This paper reports on research into how effective non‐statutory guidance has been in managing the primary science curriculum in England. A small‐scale qualitative study was used to elicit the views of teachers, local education authority advisors, an Ofsted inspector and a policy‐maker. The findings indicate that the guidance is influencing the management of primary science teaching at both national and local level. The use of this guidance has been supported nationally and individual schools have found it supportive. The effect of this policy on pupil learning has still to be investigated by further classroom observational studies. It is also hypothesised that the long‐term effect of this guidance could be stagnation and a lack of creativity and this needs further study. Has this guidance reached the end of its useful life? Does it need replacing or are primary science teachers now in a position of not needing such support?     

The psychometric properties of the Bem sex‐role inventory: Questions concerning reliability and validity

This investigation examined criticisms of the Bem Sex‐Role Inventory, a measure of gender orientation, and further examined its reliability and validity. Study 1 produced a two factor solution which was similar to other analyses. Study 2 demonstrated what adjectives best described males and females in American society. From the two studies, a revision of the Bem Sex‐Role Inventory was proposed with 10 items each measuring masculinity and femininity.     

Applying organizational orientations theory to employees of profit and non-profit organizations

Organizational orientations theory posits three traits (upward mobile, ambivalent, and indifferent) of employees in organizations that are associated with communication traits, temperament, and perceptions of supervisor source credibility. All of these are hypothesized to be associated with organizational communication behavior and organizational outcomes such as employee job satisfaction and motivation. Previous research employing undergraduate student participants has provided support for this theory. Results of the present research indicate that this theory can be applied to typical full-time employees in profit and nonprofit organizations. All studied relationships were found to generate statistically significant results, accounting for substantial variance in each relationship. These results indicate this theory can be applied to employees in a wide variety of organizations. Suggestions for broadening this theory and its application are provided.     

It’s very different here: practice-based academic staff induction and retention

The sociologist, Max Weber (1864–1920), suggested that few could withstand the frustrations of academic life. As the strategic management of human resources begins to differentiate higher education institutions (HEIs) in league tables, the costs of voluntary staff turnover (attrition) become more significant. In this paper, we consider links between induction (orientation) and retention for academic staff. We report on a qualitative study of thirty academic staff in five United Kingdom HEIs who were recruited on the basis of their professional experience. Their practice-based knowledge lends our participants particular insight into their HEI induction experience which, where found wanting, led in several cases to resignation. We analyse the induction experiences of our participants to glean explanations for these perceived shortcomings. Since induction interventions are thought to lead to improved retention, we recommend policy and practice changes to induction, which may benefit all academic staff.