WEAKNESSES OF RESEARCH METHODS IN EXPERIENTIAL AND SIMULATION STUDIES Experiential Learning Enters the Eighties, Volume 7, 1980 217 WEAKNESSES OF RESEARCH METHODS IN EXPERIENTIAL AND SIMULATION STUDIES Chairman: Lane Kelley, University of Hawaii co-author of Personnel Management in Action Participants: Wayne DeLozier, University of South Carolina editor of the Journal of Experiential Learning and Simulation Alfred Edge, University of Hawaii co-author of the Multinational Management Game John Slocum, Southern Methodist University editor of the Academy of Management Journal ABSTRACT Al Edge: Research Methodology in Business Gaming: A critical Review Simulation implies chat a realistic model is devised which can be used to test reality. The business simulation (or game), while simple in comparison to an actual firm, appears to provide a complex task suitable for experimental use in the study of variables related to management research. However, review of the literature indicates that much of the research in this area is still in a primitive stage of development. These studies are characterized by limited methodology, general observation by the game administrator, and opinion surveys of participants. Some studies have attempted to develop a wider range of experimental conditions and better controls over variables. Some examples include the use of fixed decision rules, individual vs. group type of feedback, group structure, speed of decisions, etc. These studies are at least beginning to identify constraints and the influence of variables and hopefully will lead to creative application of design methodology to the questions being investigated. John Slocum: Methodological Issues in Management Education The amount of rhetoric concerning evaluation methodology including information on criterion development, evaluation designs, and problems of performing evaluation in management education has exploded. Efforts at evaluation appear to be evolving through a series of stages. In the most primitive stage, appropriate methodology is ignored and decisions are based upon anecdotal reactions. In the next stage, which is just as unproductive in providing information, the research strategy is dependent upon strict adherence to the basic experimental methodologies used in psychological laboratories. This stage is characterized by designs that do not recognize the constraints imposed by the environment or the influence of the multitude of organizational variables. The third stage is when methodologies are matched to the constraints of the environment. It is characterized by careful consideration of threats to validity, and the creative application of design methodology to the questions being investigated. This session will focus on criterion problems associated with this third stage. Table of Contents Volume 7, 1980 Symbol Recognition and Correlation for Evaluating Decision Making in Computer Aided Business Simulations Polanal: An Experiential Approach to Decision Support The Use of Time Contracts in Formal Education Indexing Simulation Model Response for Gaming Flexibility Moving Toward A Theory of the Use of Simulation Games and Experiential Exercises Use of Simulation Administration to Achieve Pedagogical Objectives Experiential Learning on the Job - A Business Internship Program Toward the Ultimate Experiential Exercise A Learning Through Managing Program Workshop Using Experiential Materials in Industry Training Sponsored Experiential Learning - An Opportunity Problems and Pitfalls of Externally Sponsored Field Research Projects Viewed form an Experiential Learning Perspective A Modular Approach to Experiential Learning: Classroom & Consulting Using Simulation & Experiential Learning In Industrial Settings Terminations: An Experiential Review Agenda Items -- Board of Supervisors' Meeting - Town of Jori The Objective-Setting Interview in MBO: An Experiential Approach The All-Star World Series Team Exercise: an Experiential Learning Exercise Dealing with Various Organizational Behavior Issues Progress Report on global, A Rich Multinational Gaming Environment Computer Simulation: A Tool to Teach Queuing Theory New Technology for Business Games Technological Frontiers in Computer Simulations for Business Education Simulating the Product Life Cycle on Interactive Terminals On Compensatory Demand Functions in Marketing Simulations The Use of Games at Different Levels in a Single Marketing Course to Increase Game Participation Sun Airlines: A Heterogeneous Consumer demand exercise Incorporating a Group Selection Test An Organization Development Approach to Teaching Organization Behavior CBID: Cognitive, Behavioral, and Interpersonal Development - A Skill Development/Social Learning Approach to Management Development Using a Live Case Via Video Tape A Town and gown Approach Development of Student Generated Cases Using Computerized Text Editing and Database Technology Interdisciplinary Approached to Problems in Utilizing Experiential Techniques To Use or Not To Use Experiential Techniques, That's is the Question Forming Participant Teams in Simulation Gaming The Problems of Motivating Students and Clients in Live-Case Projects Problems of Teaching Leadership Skills Through Experiential Techniques Conflict Style Measurement: Antecedent to Change - A Proposal for an Experiential Exercise Demonstration Fundamentals of Simulation for Newcomers An M.B.A. Orientation Simulation for Managing Time and the Areas of One's Life SimNet Workshop: The International Simulation Network Demonstrates Three New Business Games The Use of a Simulation Model in the Planning and Evaluation of Commercial Bank Operations Probability Assessment and Performance in Business Game Simulations WageSim: A Wage and Salary Administration Simulation Grading as a Teaching and Feedback Mechanism: Modifying Student's Self-Perceptions of Performance Can Business Games Effectively Teach Business Concepts? Development of Multiple Value Orientations in Conflict Resolution Behavior: An Experiential Teaching Paradigm in Labor-Management Relations Course Designing a Competency-Based Peer Assessment Scale for the Evaluation fo Teaching in Higher Education A Method for Evaluating Information for the Equipment Replacement Decision: An Application of Monte Carlo Simulation Simulation: A Method of Appraising Communication Networks in Managerial Decision Making An Evaluation of In-Class Student Involvement Evaluation of the SBI Program from an Experiential Viewpoint: Focus on the Student Differential Predictors of Academic Performance for White and Non-White Samples The Manager's Dilemma: An Unobtrusive Measure of the managerial Sex-Role Stereotype Are Computer Simulations Sexist? The Effect of Group Size on Attitudes Toward the Simulation Associations Between Individual Cognitive Processing Variables and Business Game Performance and Play Students' Perceptions on Managerial Functions After Exposure to Either the Case Method or a Simulation What Business Students Learn from Finance Simulations Attitude Toward Experiential Exercises, The Student-Teacher Relationship, Student Psychological Types, and Performance An Example of How to Design a Research-Based and Classroom-Effective Organizational behavior Exercise Some Issues in Game Design Untested Hypotheses: An Approach to Experiential Learning Evaluation of Simulation Games: A Critical Look at Past Efforts and Future Needs Is Self-Perception Predictable? - Some Laboratory Results An Exercise in Conflict-Handling Behavior The Relationship Between Group Size and the Learning Curve Effect in a Gaming Environment Learning About Organizational Management Through Organizational Management: Closing the Gap Strategies, Managerial Approaches, and Decision Making in a General Management Simulation A Comparison and Evaluation of Similar and Dissimilar Group Scenarios Generated Using Manual Simulation Games Weaknesses of Research Methods in Experiential and Simulation Studies