Applied sport psychology consultation is a relatively new phenomenon with limited empirical underpinnings. The purpose of the study was to evaluate three applied sport psychology consultant personal and professional characteristics within Strong's social influence model that have been suggested to impact consultants' effectiveness in working directly with athletes and their performance problems. The three consultant characteristics were academic training, past athletic experience, and interpersonal skill. Division I female athletes (N = 187) read written preconsultation information and watched a 10- minute vignette between a consultant and an athlete. Participants completed the Counselor Rating Form-Short (CRFS), the Sport Psychology Consultant Evaluation Form (CEF), and questions concerning willingness to work with the consultant. The data from the dependent measures were analyzed by a 2 (level of consultant academic training) X 2 (level of consultant past athletic experience) X 2 (level of consultant interpersonal skill) MANOVA. Results indicated that applied sport psychology consultants' academic training and past athletic experience had only limited influence on the participants' perceptions about the consultants. The Division I female athletes unambiguously rated consultants with positive interpersonal skills more favorably on all dependent measures regardless of the consultants' level of academic training or past athletic experience. Directions for future research and implication of the findings on training and certification in applied sport psychology are discussed.

This study investigates the effect of Witkin's cognitive-style variable on training success in two different orientations to counseling. Field-dependent individuals exhibit more social orientation, social compliance, and emotional warmth than field-independent individuals. Conversely, field-independent individuals exhibit more internal directedness, achievement orientation, emotional distance, and analytical task orientation than field-dependent individuals. Traits associated with field dependence appeared more complementary to an interpersonal-skills counseling approach, while traits associated with field independence appeared more complementary to behavior-modification techniques. Thus it was hypothesized that field-dependent individuals would be significantly more successful and satisfied with interpersonal skills training than would field-independent individuals, and that field-independent individuals would be more successful and satisfied with behavior modification training.

In recent decades, psychologists have increasingly turned to evidence-based practice (EBP) to guide their treatments with clients. Practice-based evidence (PBE) is one type of EBP that allows clinicians to treat their clients in a flexible, but effective way. PBE treatments are those that use information gathered about the client through measures or questionnaires to inform the clinical decisions therapists make in the process of treating the client. The use of PBE in group psychotherapy is increasing and there are many measures that can potentially be used to aid therapists by gathering client information or feedback in the areas of group selection and pre-group preparation, group process, and outcome. The Group Readiness Questionnaire (GRQ) is one measure that was created in the hopes that it could predict which potential group members would benefit from group psychotherapy. The GRQ was designed to capture a potential group member's expectations regarding the helpfulness of group therapy as well as positive and negative interpersonal skills that could affect process within the group. This study tests the ability of the GRQ to predict group process and outcome during the early, middle, and late stages of group while taking the interdependent nature of group data into account through multilevel analysis in an effort to establish the GRQ as a PBE measure. Clients who perceived themselves to be less inclined to participate actively in group settings felt less connected to their groups during the early stage of group, but began to feel more bonded to other group members during the middle stage of group. Group members who had lower expectations of group therapy being helpful to them initially felt less connected to their groups and perceived more conflict within their groups after the initial session. Group members who were less prepared in general for group therapy tended to feel more gradually connected to other group members during the middle stage of group. Group members who were less inclined to participate and self-disclose in group settings as well as ones who were overall less prepared for group tended to be experiencing greater initial distress before starting group therapy. Implications of these findings as well as directions for future research are discussed.

The focus of this study was a problem identified by human resources directors and managers in a medium sized community in the southeast of the United States. The problem was that some college graduates are not equipped with the necessary soft skills to be successful in the workforce. Executive directors and human resources managers brought this problem to the attention of the career center directors in the community. Goleman's theory of emotional intelligence was the theoretical framework to ground this study. This study involved purposeful sampling to select 9 human resources directors from local companies. To investigate soft skills in college graduates, these 9 human resources directors and managers responded to a semi structured interview with questions focusing on the problem of the study. Once the interviews were transcribed, the information was analyzed by using manual coding and computer-assisted coding. Among the 6 themes that emerged from the data analysis, participants most often pointed out communications as the most important soft skill and the foundation for other skills. From the perspective of human resources directors and managers, soft skills were found to be lacking in some college graduates. There was a consensus among the participants of the study that higher education leaders need to incorporate different approaches to teach skills; therefore, a 24-hour professional development program for faculty was developed as a solution for improving the learning of soft skills of college students. The social change expected from having well-equipped college graduates with soft skills will be more successful professionals with better opportunities to have upward mobility, and more meaningful careers that will benefit their families and their organizations.

<p>Project Management is multidisciplinary in nature; it involves a number of activities and requires the project manager to possess a wide variety of competences. This thesis aims to investigate which competences organizations currently require from project managers. In particular the focus of this research is to examine and contrast the “soft” (interpersonal) and “hard” (technical) competences required by the job market and to find out if organizations recognize the importance of both of them or if they pay special attention to one of them. A total of 50 online job advertisements from different industries and countries were analyzed using content analysis in order to determine what competences are valued by employers. Furthermore, 9 semi-structured interviews were conducted with project management academics and practitioners in order to provide a more in depth study and to allow triangulation between the findings. The results indicate that some competences are more valued than others. Communication, project integration management and scope management are the top three competences required by employers. The results also suggest that employers, academics and practitioners are aware of the need to balance hard and soft competences.</p>

Project Management is multidisciplinary in nature; it involves a number of activities and requires the project manager to possess a wide variety of competences. This thesis aims to investigate which competences organizations currently require from project managers. In particular the focus of this research is to examine and contrast the “soft” (interpersonal) and “hard” (technical) competences required by the job market and to find out if organizations recognize the importance of both of them or if they pay special attention to one of them. A total of 50 online job advertisements from different industries and countries were analyzed using content analysis in order to determine what competences are valued by employers. Furthermore, 9 semi-structured interviews were conducted with project management academics and practitioners in order to provide a more in depth study and to allow triangulation between the findings. The results indicate that some competences are more valued than others. Communication, project integration management and scope management are the top three competences required by employers. The results also suggest that employers, academics and practitioners are aware of the need to balance hard and soft competences.

International agricultural development institutions previously hired employees based on their technical expertise, and, with little to no formal training in development, were sent to live abroad with one goal: implement the project. Since the development of the Millennium Development Goals in 2000, a spotlight has been placed on the development industry as a whole, and calls for world-wide accountability. The purpose of this study was to identify the desired competencies of project employees on international agricultural development projects as determined by experienced project managers. The population (N=8) for this study were all current or past project managers of international agricultural development projects. The participants engaged in an interview with the researcher, or chose to complete a questionnaire via email or standard mail. The same questions were presented in both situations. The researcher analyzed the data using the constant comparative qualitative method. The finding of this study identified competencies and categorized them into the following domains: cultural awareness, technical training, communication and interpersonal skills, attitudes and behaviors, experience, and organizational skills. The implications this study affect the curriculum development and content of higher education institutions, the hiring and evaluation process of international agricultural development institutions, and self-competency evaluation of potential employees of international agricultural development projects. It is the recommendation of the researcher that further studies be conducted to determine if the value of these competencies differ as per the location of the development project. It is also recommended that institutions of higher education, development institutions, and beneficiaries collaborate to provide opportunities for practical application of knowledge to future and current employees of international agricultural development.

The intention of this research was to describe behaviors and characteristics of General Chemistry I peer leaders using a pedagogical reform method referred to as Peer-led Guided Inquiry (PLGI), and to discuss the ways in which these peer leaders created productive whole-class discussions. This reform technique engaged students to work on guided inquiry activities while working cooperatively in small groups, led by undergraduate peer leaders. These sessions were video recorded and transcribed. The data was evaluated using grounded theory methods of analysis. This study examined the dialog between students and peer leaders, paying specific attention to question types and observed patterns of interactions. The research took shape by examining the kinds of questions asked by peer leaders and the purposes these questions served. In addition to looking at questions, different kinds of behaviors displayed by peer leaders during their small group sessions were also observed. A close examination of peer leader questions and behaviors aided in developing an answer to the overall research question regarding what factors are associated with productive whole-class discussions. Five major categories of peer leader behaviors evolved from the data and provided a means to compare and contrast productive whole-class discussions. While no category single-handedly determined if a discussion was good or bad, there was a tendency for peer leaders who exhibited positive traits in at least three of the following categories to have consistently better whole-class discussions: Procedural Practices, Supervisory Qualities, Questioning Techniques, Feedback/Responses, and Interpersonal Skills. Furthermore, each of the major categories is tied directly to Interpersonal, Communication, and Leadership skills and their interactions with each other. This study also addressed applications that each of these categories has on instructional practices and their need in peer leader training. In addition, a scale was developed for rating the relative effectiveness of whole-class discussions in terms of student participation. This study provides a tool for measuring productive whole-class discussions, as well as practical applications for peer leader (or teacher) training.

Group therapy has been demonstrated to be effective through a number of factors. Group theorists and researchers have attempted to identify client characteristics that would enable the clinician to determine a client's appropriateness for group therapy. Reviews of research have identified client expectancies and positive and negative interpersonal skills as promising predictors of group process, outcome, and attrition. The Group Selection Questionnaire (GSQ) was created to provide clinicians with a short and useful tool to aid them in identifying potential members for therapy groups, and has shown positive preliminary results in the past. This study presents tentative support for the factor structure of the GSQ and compares the GSQ and the Group Therapy Questionnaire (GTQ), another well established pre-group selection measure. Convergent validity of the GSQ is generally supported. GSQ Demeanor, Expectancy and Total scale scores correlate significantly with the GTQ Expectations about Group scale. In addition, GSQ Participation, Expectancy and Total scale scores correlate with GTQ Interpersonal Problems, with more interpersonal problems indicating fewer positive interpersonal skills, better expectancies for group, and stronger overall group readiness. Implications of these findings are discussed as well as future research directions.

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