Russell Wood, a communications doctoral candidate student at the University of Utah is conducting a research project and is looking for attorney volunteers to assist in the research. As part of his research he is looking for attorneys that would be willing to participate in a research study to better understand what occurs during negotiation. Much of the available information on negotiation is based on subjective statements of opinion or reports of practice. Academic research attempts to develop a more objective understanding of negotiation. This study proposes to consider negotiation from a relational communication perspective with the intent of offering new insights into negotiation practices.
Participation would include about an hour of time (including travel) where you would negotiate a mock case with another lawyer for about 20 minutes. The communication between the two lawyers (not the outcome of the negotiation) would be studied and analyzed by the researcher after you are gone. The researchers anticipate that the information developed in the study (and subsequent academic publications) will help professionals, and people in general, to have a better understanding of negotiation. Hopefully, for many people that will lead to an improved negotiating experience, better skills, and more productive outcomes from negotiation.
If you are interested please contact Russ Wood directly at: (801) 943-3316 (home) or 913-8544 (cell) or Russ.Wood@utah.edu