EXPRESSED SATISFACTION WITH THE NOMINAL GROUP TECHNIQUE AMONG CHANGE AGENTS

Expressed Satisfaction with the Nominal Group Technique Among Change Agents. (December 1986) Jon Neal Gresham The purpose of this study was to determine whether or not policymakers and change agents with differing professional backgrounds and responsibilities, who participated in the structured process of a nominal group in the setting of diverse decision-making and problem-solving conferences, would express satisfaction with the technique used. "Satisfaction" was defined as "the adequate fulfilling of a need," as expressed by participants in nominal group activities. Four conferences at Texas A&M University involving training and decision-making were used to examine the expressed satisfaction of participants with the Nominal Group Technique (NGT) as a tool for identifying and solving problems. They were an international food and water policy conference, a Texas Agricultural Extension Service conference, an English language curriculum conference, and a school principals' conference. The conferences were held between May 1985 and July 1986. The 206 participants were surveyed for expressed satisfaction with the nominal group activities. Analyses of the data concerned with the independent variables were: 1. Previous use of NGT 2. Understanding of the purpose of the NGT 3. Background and profession of participants 4. Participation in other group activities. The dependent variables were the items on the instrument reflecting levels of satisfaction with various aspects of involvement in nominal groups. These "attitude items" were grouped into three theoretical constructs to facilitate comparison of data among the conferences. The constructs were usefulness of the NGT, personal involvement in the NGT, and comparison of nominal groups with other previously used, non-NGT group activities. Phi, Pearson, and Point Bi-Serial correlations were performed on the discrete data to test expressed satisfaction with NGT as affected by the independent variables, as well as by interactions with dependent variables. Participants in all four conferences expressed general satisfaction with the nominal group technique with respect to their personal involvement, the usefulness of nominal groups, and with the nominal group technique as compared with other previously used, non-NGT group activities

Homogeneity in Social Groups of Iraq

Homogeneity in Social Groups of Iraqis Jon Gresham, Farouk Saleh, Shara Majid June 2006 With appreciation to the Royal Institute for Inter-Faith Studies for initiating the Second World Congress for Middle Eastern Studies, this paper summarizes findings on homogeneity in community-level social groups derived from inter-ethnic research conducted during 2005 among Iraqi Arabs and Kurds living in the city of Basra, Iraq, and in the Netherlands. We found that perceptions towards out-groups were not based on religion, ethnicity, class, or location as in traditional individual-focused social networks. Patterns of perception towards out-groups seemed to be rooted in homogeneous social sub-groups with combinations of these factors. This research project used a 192-item survey of two hundred Iraqi business owners and managers in Iraq and in the Netherlands. It measured homogeneity of social group memberships. Survey elements included items drawn from the World Values Surveys (Inglehart), the Social Capital Community Benchmark Survey (Roper Center), and the Social Capital Inventory (Narayan and Cassidy). Homogeneity, relationship segregation, social trust, and community influence in social networks were estimated through indices reflecting components of social relationships in priority in-groups emerging from factor analysis of survey responses. Other indices included civic participation (socialization), perceptions of threat from out-groups, ethnic and religious identity, social trust, personal security, and contribution to community-based resources. Uniformity of responses to certain items about out-groups corresponded to findings by other authors on segregation and membership in social networks (Burt 1997, Buskins 2005, Inglehart 2004, Narayan and Cassidy 2001, Putnam 1995). This work was an expansion on a study on perceptions of threat from out-groups among Iraqis in five locations conducted in 2003 (Gresham 2004). This paper presents the following major sections: I. Introduction II. Purpose III. Background IV. Methodology V. Results VI. Reporting Process VII. Conclusions VIII. Further Work IX. Appendix X. End Notes *Jon Gresham, European Research Centre On Migration & Ethnic Relations, University of Utrecht, Netherlands Farouk Saleh, University of Tilburg, Netherlands Shara Majid, Erasmus University, Netherlands See other reports at: http://www.CivilSocietyIraq.seedwiki.co