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A theory that attempts to bring order to the chaotic variety of conflict usually begins by distinguishing types of conflict and formulating general explanatory principles that relate and integrate them. In contrast to traditional methods, this book describes and explores the structural aspects of different types of conflicts, and discusses the important implications involved for both choosing and achieving methods for resolving conflict. Two important facets of conflict structure are recognized: the individuals involved and the behavioral principles that govern them; and the existence of optio

An island-wide fertility survey in Taiwan, 1973, of 5,588 married women aged 20-40 included 6 items on attitude toward abortion which engendered a substantial number of "don't know" (DK) responses. These provide the data for a study of the DK response as a function of item ambiguity (the fault is with the item) or response uncertainty (the individual cannot discriminate on which side of the cut point between alternatives he is). There are 3 analyses: (1) the cumulative scale patterns associated with Guttman scalogram analysis using individuals who made no DK response to any item, (2) a proximity scale analysis using only individuals who made at least 1 DK response, & (3) analysis which demonstrates that the DK response is a transitional response between the "pro-" & the "anti"-attitudes when item ambiguity is eliminated. It is clear that both item ambiguity & response uncertainty are major factors in generating DK responses. DK responses due to the former reduce the quality of a scale; those due to the latter are scale dependent responses & hence informative, & can be given intermediate scale values. Item ambiguity can be reduced by preliminary scalogram analysis; response uncertainty can be reduced by using fewer alternatives to items, which also simplifies the weighting of DK responses in scoring response patterns. 6 Tables, 2 Figures. AA.