The desirability of incorporative environmental variation into research designs has often been pointed out, but few procedures for doing so have been developed. Attempts to operationalize the concept of «organizational climate» in studies of organizational behavior provide a number of methods for assessing environmental variation, and yield data relevant to hypotheses regarding the interaction of persons and environments. Methods for observing climate variation include field studies, assessments of participant’s perceptions, observations of objective indices, and experimental control of organizational variables. Conditions may affect behavior by determining stimuli, by restraining freedom of response, and by rewarding and punishing bebavior. Illustrative of the organizational properties meriting further study are size, structure, systems complexity, leadership pattern, and goal directions. Selected bibliography of 104 titles indicates how studies of organizations make possibie the variation of both person and climate variables.

Environmental variation in studies of organizational behavior

The types of roles played by members of small groups have been describedfrom a number of different perspectives. Most of the research has been based on laboratory or therapy-like groups in their "t...

Types of Roles in Small Groups A Bit of History and a Current Perspective

Methods for personality assessment

All social workers in America are keenly aware of the continuing thrust towards de-institutionalizalion. They are equally familiar with the promotion of the community's responsibility for the so-called deviant populations in our society. Many may not be so aware, however, of a paradoxical trend that is occurring simultaneously. The use made by these populations of a great variety of residential facilities is on the increase. Nevertheless, indications are that these facilities are being used differently to achieve quite different aims now than in the past. For example, periods of admission to institutions are shorter and more frequent. Temporary admissions for many are often arranged to give some relief to their family members or other caregivers. Further, two different types of institutionalized populations are emerging as: (a) those who become socialized to the institution because of repeated or long-term admissions, and (b) those who become dependent on the institutions almost immediately upon their adm...

The group-in-institution as the unit of attention: recapturing and refining a social work tradition

Most task-group structures are hierarchical, but what kind would people create if they had a choice? Our hypothesis was that structures built by group members in dealing with conflict and decision ...

Frank Friedlander

Papers

Life Styles and Conflict-Coping Structures.