Survey of Organizational Communication 
          Thank you for giving about 10 minutes to fill out this survey. 
       Your views are very important in the study of
 organizational communication as well as communication at SIU. 
Instructions: This survey investigates a phenomenon in organizational communication
and how this phenomenon impacts organizational health. In this phenomenon people
express their opinions and knowledge about their organization informally (for
example, with colleagues, friends, and family), but they do not (have opportunities
to) do so formally (for example, with their bosses or at public meetings). As a
result, much information concerning the organization that is known in the informal
context may remain absent in the formal context. As a further result, such
information may not be incorporated in the formulation of organizational policies
and plans. For the ease of wording, let's tentatively label this phenomenon "public
secrets," that is, public knowledge in one context is secret in another context.
This study has obtained human subjects approval (A copy of the approval form is
available at request). The informed consent form is available here. Your responses
are sent to the researcher through the Geocities WebMonitor which completely blocks
your e-mail address/identification (You can view a sample response by clicking here).
Please do not indicate your name in your responses. THANKS!
Section 1: The practice of "public secrets"
1. Do you express and exchange frank opinions (what is intended in conscious 
   privacy) about SIU with colleagues, friends, and/or family, but not with
   administrators?
   yes            No          sometimes     do not know
2. Do you express and exchange frank opinions about SIU privately, but not publicly
   (e.g., at meetings)?
   yes            No          sometimes     do not know
3. How often do you express frank opinions about SIU (SIU as a whole and affilliated
   departments and units within SIU) informally, but not formally?
   always                        more than twice a day
   more than twice a week        more than twice a month
   occasionally                  never
4. With whom do you express your frank opinions about SIU? (Please also make an
   indication of frequency under all applicable groups of people.)
   a. With family
      always                        more than twice a day
      more than twice a week        more than twice a month
      occasionally                  never
   b. With friends
      always                        more than twice a day
      more than twice a week        more than twice a month
      occasionally                  never
   c. With colleagues
      always                        more than twice a day
      more than twice a week        more than twice a month
      occasionally                  never
   d. With low level administrators (associate dean and lower, including dept. chairs)
      always                        more than twice a day
      more than twice a week        more than twice a month
      occasionally                  never
   e. With high level administrators (dean and higher)
      always                        more than twice a day
      more than twice a week        more than twice a month
      occasionally                  never
5. With whom do you AVOID expressing frank opinions about SIU? (Please also make
   an indication of frequency under all applicable groups of people. "AVOID" here
   includes, when an idea comes up in your mind: (a) you intentionally refrain from
   expressing it; (b) you lack an opportunity to express it to the targeted audience;
   and (c) you feel too nonchalant to express it because you believe such expression
   results in nothing.)
   a. With family
      always                        more than twice a day
      more than twice a week        more than twice a month
      occasionally                  never
   b. With friends
      always                        more than twice a day
      more than twice a week        more than twice a month
      occasionally                  never
   c. With colleagues
      always                        more than twice a day
      more than twice a week        more than twice a month
      occasionally                  never
   d. With low level administrators (associate dean and lower, including dept. chairs)
      always                        more than twice a day
      more than twice a week        more than twice a month
      occasionally                  never
   e. With high level administrators (dean and higher)
      always                        more than twice a day
      more than twice a week        more than twice a month
      occasionally                  never
Other comments on this section if above questions and scale of choices do not
accommodate your case well:

Section 2: Causes of "public secrets" (People may express views more freely in
           one context than in another for a variety of reasons. How important
           do you think each of the following reasons is in influencing YOUR
           expression of views? Please respond to all those "causes" that you
           believe are applicable.)
 6. a. Fear of losing your job
       Not important  Somewhat important  Important  Very important
    b. Fear of penalty from administration
       Not important  Somewhat important  Important  Very important
    c. Suggestions not acknowledged with actions
       Not important  Somewhat important  Important  Very important
    d. The culture of secrecy
       Not important  Somewhat important  Important  Very important
    e. Hierarchy and/or social stratification
       Not important  Somewhat important  Important  Very important
    f. Social desirability
       Not important  Somewhat important  Important  Very important
    g. Lack of opportunities to interact, personally or otherwise, with people to whom
       you wish to express your ideas
       Not important  Somewhat important  Important  Very important
Other comments on this section if above questions and scale of choices do not
accommodate your case well:

Section 3: Consequences of an organizational culture that contains a high
           level of "public secrets" (Restraints on free expression may vary
           from mere discretion to an atmosphere of terror--potentially
           resulting in severe problems for the organization. Consider each
           of the possible negative consequences below and indicate degree
           of severity of all applicable consequences?)
7. a. Negative feelings on your part about SIU
      Not severe     Somewhat severe     Severe         Very severe
   b. Low morale on your part to contribute extra efforts for SIU
      Not severe     Somewhat severe     Severe         Very severe
   c. Negative impact on your quality of work
      Not severe     Somewhat severe     Severe         Very severe
   d. Bad communication climate at SIU
      Not severe     Somewhat severe     Severe         Very severe
   e. Consideration of locating a new job somewhere else
      Not severe   Somewhat severe     Severe         Very severe
Other comments on this section if above questions and scale of choices do not
accommodate your case well:

Section 4: Topics you AVOID discussing formally (with administrators or at public meetings)
           (Please indicate how often you avoid discussion of all those applicable topics.
           Definition of "avoid" mentioned in question 5 also applies here.)
8. a. Administration practices
      always                        more than twice a day
      more than twice a week        more than twice a month
      occasionally                  never
   b. Problems at SIU
      always                        more than twice a day
      more than twice a week        more than twice a month
      occasionally                  never
   c. Suggestions for improvement of SIU
      always                        more than twice a day
      more than twice a week        more than twice a month
      occasionally                  never
   d. Colleague performance
      always                        more than twice a day
      more than twice a week        more than twice a month
      occasionally                  never
   e. Compensation and benefits
      always                        more than twice a day
      more than twice a week        more than twice a month
      occasionally                  never
   f. Well-accepted assumptions that do not work toward the health of SIU
      always                        more than twice a day
      more than twice a week        more than twice a month
      occasionally                  never
Other comments on this section if above questions and scale of choices do not
accommodate your case well:

Section 5: Strategies to increase free expression (Assuming that a more
           free expression of views is valuable in promoting organizational health,
           consider each of the following strategies and indicate the degree to which
           it would be effective in promoting free expression of views.)
9. a. Suggestion box
            Not effective  Somewhat effective   Effective   Very effective
   b. Reward of active voices
            Not effective  Somewhat effective   Effective   Very effective
   c. Free-discussion channels through computer network
            Not effective  Somewhat effective   Effective   Very effective
   d. Discussion of the "undiscussables" initiated by administration
            Not effective  Somewhat effective   Effective   Very effective
   e. Joint meeting participated by both faculty and administration
            Not effective  Somewhat effective   Effective   Very effective
   f. Acknowledgement of suggestions with actions as well as with words
      Not effective  Somewhat effective  Effective  Very effective
Other comments on this section if above questions and scale of choices do not
accommodate your case well:
        
Section 6: Please inform me a bit about yourself. 
10. Sex: 
    Male
    Female
11. Total years of your work experience at SIU (including experience as a TA):
    years 
12. Your race/ethnicity (optional): 
    
13. Your annual salary range (optional):
    under 40,000
    40,000 - 60,000
    over 60,000
14. Are you tenured or untenured?
    tenured
    untenured
15. Your academic rank?
    lecturer
    assistant professor
    associate professor
    full professor
16. Your academic unit?
    College of Agriculture
    College of Applied Sciences and Arts
    College of Business and Administration
    College of Education
    College of Engineering
    College of Liberal Arts
    College of Mass Communication and Media Arts
    College of Science
    School of Law
    School of Medicine
Final comments:

J THANK YOU VERY MUCH! 
                       
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