| Summary: | Investigation into group problem-solving performance in video versus face-to-face meeting conditions indicated that no research had been conducted to determine if there is a significant difference in the ability of a group to solve a complex problem when employing these two media. Past research was also inconclusive as to whether subjects' initial attitudes toward these two media are significantly different from their attitudes toward these two media after experiencing them. === The purpose of this study was to review and synthesize past research on video teleconferencing; to measure quantitatively the effectiveness of participants using two-way video teleconferencing versus participants in face-to-face meetings involving a complex group problem-solving task; and to measure the attitudes of first-time users toward video teleconferencing and face-to-face meetings before and after their experiences with both media. === The primary hypotheses--stated in the null--were: (1) No significant difference will exist in the quality of a solution arrived at by participants using the two media (face-to-face and video) when a complex problem-solving task is used. (2) No significant difference between the attitudes of subjects toward using video teleconferencing and face-to-face meetings to solve a complex task will exist before and after contact with these two media. === Two complex group problem-solving tasks were used to measure group problem-solving ability in both media. An attitude questionnaire, developed by the researcher, was used to examine subjects' attitudes prior to and after experiencing both media. The subjects were 160 undergraduate communication and business students attending the Florida State University. === A pilot study was conducted to test the experimental procedures and instruments. The Cronbach Alpha Reliability Test and Kruskal-Wallis One-Way Anova were used for the pilot's data analysis. A Wilcoxon Matched Pairs Test was used to test for significance in the main study. === Analysis of the data showed that the performance in video was significantly better than in face-to-face and that subjects' attitudes did not significantly change from initial attitudes in favor of face-to-face over video. === Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 44-07, Section: A, page: 1959. === Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1983.
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