Go to Reading Guides
| Go to Syllabus
| Go to Course
Schedule
Go to Assignments
| Go to Irwin's Main Page | E-Mail Irwin
COM 520, Spring 2007 – Reading Guide Questions for January 29
Remember that we're starting with Ch.
10 from Burtis & Turman, which we didn't get to last time. So
please bring last week's reading guide questions and your copy of
Burtis & Turman to tonight's class.
For Griffin (2003a):
1. pp. 232-235: Explain the four functions in your own
words. Think of a decision that had to be made recently by a
group you belong to. How might the four functions have played out
in that decision making process? Do you suspect the decision you
made would have been different had you followed that process? How?
2. Now please answer question 2 on page 242 of the reading.
3. pp. 237-238: What are the obstacles Gouran and Hirokawa
identify that can get in the way of group decision making? How
were these problematic in the decision making process you discussed in
your answer to question 1 above? What are the three ways some
researchers classify messages to analyze group interaction? What
is the critique of this type of analysis? Do you agree?
4. Now please answer question 3 on page 242 of the reading.
5. In the first full paragraph of p. 240, what are offered as reasons
groups abandon the functional approach? Has this happened in
group decision making efforts in which you've participated? Was
the decision you arrived at better or worse as a result? On the
top p. p. 241, what is the suggestion Gouran and Hirokawa give to bring
the discussion back on a rational path when a powerful member tries to
veer it away? Would it work in groups you've belonged to?
6. p. 241: In your own words, what is Stohl and Holmes's critique of
the functional perspective? Based on your experience with groups,
do you agree with them? And on p. 242, what other factors play a
role in successful group decision making? How do you reconcile
these with the purely rational nature of the four functions?
For Propp and Nelson:
1. The authors begin the article by saying that too much small group
research is done using “zero-history groups.” What do they mean
by
that term? Why are “zero-history groups” problematic? Why
do
you suppose they’re attractive to researchers?
2. So tell me in English:
a) What was this study trying to find out?
b) How did they try to find it out?
3. Which of their five hypotheses were supported and which
weren’t?
For each:
a) How do the authors account for the result in the “Discussion”
section?
b) Does their analysis make sense? Why or why not?
For Bourhis:
1. Please skim Ch. 1 to get a sense of materials used in COM
research.
2. Please read Ch. 2. What do you need to do to meet each of
the five general guidelines for evaluating sources when writing a
research paper? Have you committed any of the common errors they
identify on p. 23?
3. Now please read pp. 27-32 so you'll be familiar with the
requirements for annotated bibliographies, research critiques, and
literature reviews.
Go to Reading Guides
| Go to Syllabus
| Go to Course
Schedule
Go to Assignments
| Go to Irwin's Main Page | E-Mail Irwin
Copyright ©
2007 Irwin Mallin
Last Updated: 23
January
2007
URL:
http://users.ipfw.edu/mallini/520rdg20070129.html