Description
CMST 1320
Introduction to Communication
Group Analysis Project
(110pts. of each students overall grade)
For the next few weeks, you will be w
orking on a thorough analysis of a specific group of your
choosing that you are a member of (or were a former member of).
The project will include a detailed analysis of the chosen group focusing on specific group
elements that have been observed throughout the course of your membership. The finished
product will be an essay that sufficiently presents your analysis.
Once you have settled on a group that you would like to analyze, you will explore the
connections between the group communication concepts we have discussed this semester and
your lived experiences within the group. Below is a list of the items that need to be addressed
within your essay.
Your essay should include the following parts (the guideline I offer pertaining to length is such:
provide as much information as it takes for you to clearly articulate how your group is
influenced and affected by the following items):
?
An introduction that gets the audience’s attention and broadly reveals the group you
have chosen, and previews the topics that will discussed.
?
Before you begin to analyze the group, an overview of the group and your place within
that group is necessary. Focus on the 5Ws (who-how many people?; what-team, work
group, social?; where?;when- for how long?;why-if not abundantly obvious) to help the
reader better understand how you became a member of this group and how the group
came to be. By providing a solid foundation of understanding at the beginning it makes
your analysis much easier to write.
?
A thoughtful analysis of the group communication concepts that are in play throughout
your participation within the group. This analysis should overlap several course
concepts (not limited to group communication) simultaneously. This analysis can
describe what is present as well as offer solutions to what would make the group
function better. The numbers in parentheses represent where these items can be found
within the chapter slides; the first numbers the chapter, the second number is the slide.
?
This analysis should include:
o
The Goals of the group (13; 8)
?
An overview of your individual goals (task and social)
?
An overview of the group goals (task and social)
?
Hidden agendas that are present that affect group performance
o
Roles (14; 9-14)
?
Your formal role
?
The informal roles you commonly fill (with brief examples that support
your analysis)
?
Task
?
Maintenance (aka social/relational)
?
Negative roles
That is the rubric to follow for the project.