Personal event narratives and fictional stories are narrative genres which emerge early and undergo further development throughout the preschool and early elementary school years. This study compares personal event and fictional narratives across two language-ability groups using episodic analysis. Thirty-six normal children (aged 4 to 8 years) were divided into high and low language-ability groups using Developmental Sentence Scoring (DSS). Three fictional stories and three personal event narratives were gathered from each subject and were scored for length in communication units, total types of structures found within the narrative, and structure of the whole narrative. Narrative genre differences significantly influenced narrative structure for both language-ability groups and narrative length for the high language-ability group. Personal events were told with more reactive sequences and complete episodes than fictional stories, while fictional stories were told with more action sequences and multiple-episode structures. Compared to the episodic story structure of fictional stories, where a prototypical ‘good” story is a multiple-episode structure, a reactive sequence and/or a single complete episode structure may be an alternate, involving mature narrative forms for relating personal events. These findings suggest that narrative structures for personal event narratives and fictional stories may follow different developmental paths. Finally, differences in productive language abilities contributed to the distinctions in narrative structure between fictional stories and personal event narratives. As compared to children in the low group, children in the high group told narratives with greater numbers of complete and multiple episodes, and their fictional stories were longer than their personal event narratives.

The present study performed a content analysis on 157 electronic mail files received over the course of several months by a middle level manager in a computer services department of a large organization. The mail was coded and analyzed according to the direction of the communication through the hierarchy of the organization, the communication function of the mail, and whether or not the mail contained a redundant signature. Significant differences were found (chi-square=45.40, p< .001) in the communication function according to the direction of the communication. Vertical mail was more restricted in function than horizontally directed mail and was used primarily to exchange information. The presence or absence of a signature in the mail reflected the direction mail was sent through the organizational hierarchy. Subordinates and others signed mail signiftcantly more often than superiors (chi-square=18.62, p<.001).The present results describe the communication functions and paralanguage found in electronic mail in one organization. Based on these results, the impact of electronic mail use upon the organizational communication system is discussed.

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Scant research has examined the role of information and communication technologies (ICTs) for team learning across time. Drawing on theories of team learning, group development, and technological affordances, we provide a multi-method case analysis of emails and interviews that explores how and when team learning occurs. We analyze 468 emails and 20 interviews collected from a team in a large Swedish insurance company over the course of a 44-week project, from start to completion. The analysis reveals that the affordances of email (asynchronicity, editability, persistence, and replicability) and perceptions of time (time for face-to-face interaction [FtF] and time management) drive three nonlinear cycles of knowledge sharing, co-construction, and constructive conflict across the 44-week life span of the project. The findings challenge existing framings of team learning grounded in FtF contexts and highlight the increasing importance of team learning through ICTs.

Past research on the ethical decision making of nurses has used Kohlberg's model of moral reasoning, which does not adequately ad-dress issues of caring. The present study builds on the work of Gilligan, Brown, and colleagues to describe issues of moral concern, including justice, care, and integrated concerns. Nurses in the present study articulated justice concerns for fairness, patients' rights, and autonomy. They also stated care concerns for a patient's needs, pain, emotional support, and relationship. Beyond these, nurses expressed concerns that integrated a principled approach (justice) to caring for patients (care) in dealing with issues of deceit and trust, advocacy, and patient dignity in dying. Whereas many earlier studies reported low moral reasoning scores for nurses, the present analysis shows nurses involved in complex and sophisticated ethical considerations and decisions. The analysis also reveals professional constraints on those ethical decisions.

The optimal matching and social capital perspectives frame present research expectations and interpretations of the network, esteem, informational, and emotional support communication of 3 computer-mediated communication social support groups, each having a different health-promoting purpose. Past research has shown differences in the support communication provided by different groups but has offered little explanation for these differences. The present study uses a comparative analysis of optimal matching and social capital influences to compare and analyze differences in the support communication provided by Alcoholics Anonymous, cancer caregivers, and transgender identity support groups. Results show different patterns of support communication enacted in each. These results provide support for optimal matching and social capital predictions, indicating that the life stressor and group structure affect the social support provided. However, results also demonstrate a need for greater refinement in interpreting the effects of these influences. Each group communicates network, esteem, informational, and emotional support somewhat differently in response to the life stressor and in enacting bridging and bonding social capital. The present comparisons provide a fuller analysis of the optimal matching and social capital influences upon the support communicated in groups than afforded by past research studies and suggests research opportunities for future research.