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PLEASE NOTE: This book is currently in draft form; material is not final.
“[C]reating a new theory is not like destroying an old barn and erecting a skyscraper in its place. It is rather like climbing a mountain, gaining new and wider views, discovering unexpected connections between our starting point and its rich environment. But the point from which we started out still exists, and can be seen, although it appears smaller and forms a tiny part of our broad view gained by the mastery of the obstacles on our adventurous way up.”
Albert Einstein
“In making theories, always keep a window open so that you can throw one out if necessary.”Einstein, A., & Infeld, L. (1938). The Evolution of Physics. New York: Simon and Schuster.
Béla Schick
Theory helps us to bear our ignorance of facts.
George Santayana in The Sense of Beauty
What can theories about group communication do for us? Like all theories, they can help us explain, postdict, and predict behavior. Specifically, theory can help us deal with group communicationHahn, L.K., Lipper, L., & Paynton, S.T. (2011). Survey of Communication Study. http://bit.ly/ImokVO. in four ways.
First, these theories can help us interpret and understand what happens when we communicate in groups. For example, a person from a culture such as Japan’s may be taken by surprise when someone from mainstream US culture expresses anger openly in a formal meeting. If we’re familiar with a theory which describes and identifies “high” versus “low-context” cultures, we can make better sense of interactions like this with people from cultures other than our own.
Second, the theories can help us choose what elements of our experience in groups to pay attention to. As Einstein wrote, “It is theory that decides what can be observed.” If we know that cultures can be “high-” or “low-context,” then when we interact with people from diverse cultural backgrounds we’ll watch for behaviors which we believe are associated with each of those categories. For example, if people are from high-context cultures they may tend to avoid explicit explanations and questions.
Third, the theories can enlarge our understanding. Theories strengthen as they’re examined and tested in the light of people’s experience. Students, scholars, and citizens can all broaden their knowledge by discussing and explaining theories. Reflecting on questions and other reactions they receive in response can also refine theories and make them more useful.
Fourth, the theories may impel us to challenge prevailing cultural, social, and political practices. Most of the ways that people behave in groups are products of habit, custom, and learning. They aren’t, in other words, innate. By applying theoretical perspectives to how groups operate, we may be able to identify fairer and more just approaches.
“It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data.”
Arthur Conan Doyle (via Sherlock Holmes in “A Scandal in Bohemia,” 1891)
To develop group communication theories, people generally follow a three-step process which parallels what Western science calls “the scientific method.”Littlejohn, S. W., & Foss, K. A. (2005). Theories of Human Communication (8th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
You may want to go on line and look at a journal devoted to group communication topics, such as “Small Group Research.” If you do, you’ll see that the titles of its articles refer often to existing theories and that the articles themselves describe experiments with groups which have tested and elaborated upon those theories.
Groups of theories may compose theoretical paradigmsA collection of concepts, values, assumptions, and practices that constitute a way of viewing reality., which are collections of concepts, values, assumptions, and practices that constitute a way of viewing reality for a community that shares them.Hahn, L.K., Lipper, L., & Paynton, S.T. (2011). Survey of Communication Study. http://bit.ly/ImokVO Group communication theories tend to cluster around the following five paradigms:
No single theoretical paradigm is accepted by everyone who studies group communication. Whether a description or prediction concerning people’s behavior in groups is found to be accurate or not will depend on which viewpoint we come from and which kinds of groups we observe.
If they are properly developed, theories of group communication can help group members understand and influence group processes.
Read about groups and teams on the business website 1000 Ventures. http://www.1000ventures.com/business_guide/crosscuttings/team_main.html
Learn more about Tuckman’s Linear Model. http://www.infed.org/thinkers/tuckman.htm
Learn more about Dewey’s sequence of group problem solving on this site from Manatee Community College in Florida. http://faculty.mccfl.edu/frithl/SPC1600/handouts/Dewey.htm
Read a hands-on article about how to conduct productive meetings. http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/How-To-Conduct-Productive-Meetings-/132050
Visit this WikiHow site to learn how to use VOIP. http://www.wikihow.com/Use-VoIP
Watch a YouTube video on cloud computing. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PNuQHUiV3Q
Read about groups and teams, and contribute to a wiki about them, on Wikibooks. http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Managing_Groups_and_Teams
How did Twitter get started? Find out. http://twitter.com/about
Take a (nonscientific) quiz to identify your leadership style. http://psychologyabout.com/library/quiz/bl-leadershipquiz.htm
PLEASE NOTE: This book is currently in draft form; material is not final.