Description

CMST 1320

Introduction to Communication

Group Analysis Project

(110pts. of each student’s 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.