"The editors have done a good job of updating the volume while at the same time retaining the best essays
from earlier editions. The Eighth Edition is a balanced and coherent set of readings that will give students an
excellent overall perspective on group communication."
--Dennis S. Gouran, Pennsylvania State University
Roxbury Web Site, October, 2003
Summary
The long-awaited Eighth Edition of Hirokawa, Cathcart, Samovar, and Henman's Small Group Communication: Theory
and Practice (An Anthology) presents a collection of readings on small group communication from the most well-known
researchers and practitioners in the field. This comprehensive anthology spans a broad range of topics in communication
theory, research, and practice. These include contemporary views of small groups, theories of group communication,
group development and organization, group communication processes, group and team performance, group leadership,
culture and diversity in groups, and methods for analyzing group communication.
New to the Eighth Edition
New lead coeditor, Randy Hirokawa (University of Iowa) brings a strong background in small group communication
to the new edition, which features 14 new and three updated chapters. New topics include:
The bona fide group perspective.
The functional perspective.
Symbolic convergence theory.
Multiple sequence models of group development.
Virtual group communication.
New communication technologies.
Social influence processes in groups.
Counteractive influence and group leadership.
Characteristics of effective health care teams.
Sex, gender, and communication in groups.
Narrative analysis of group communication.
Methods for evaluating group communication.
Two new sections have been added: "Theories of Group Communication" and "Observing Group Communication,"
with three new chapters in each section. Thought-provoking introductions to each section provide internal cohesiveness
and structure to the book.
Importantly, each reading offers its own individual introduction--alerting readers to key points and integrating
the selection into the larger themes of the section. These introductions serve as a "road map" as students
travel through the ongoing intellectual developments, diverse views, and continuing debates that make the study
of small group communication an exciting adventure.
Table of Contents
PART I: NATURE OF GROUPS
Introduction
1. Groups as Systems
Linda D. Henman
Henman identifies the fundamental characteristics of a small group as viewed from a systems perspective.
2. Rethinking the Nature of Groups: A Bona Fide Group Perspective
Linda L. Putnam
Putnam discusses the characteristics of small groups when they are viewed as subsets of larger groups.
3. Distinguishing Characteristics of Virtual Groups
Robyn E. Parker
Parker discusses the unique characteristics of "virtual" groups--collections of individuals who interact
and function as a small group without being in the same place at the same time.
PART II: THEORIES OF GROUP COMMUNICATION
Introduction
4. Effective Decision-making and Problem-solving in Groups: A Functional Perspective
Dennis S. Gouran & Randy Y. Hirokawa
Gouran and Hirokawa explain how group communication influences group decision-making and problem-solving performance.
5. Symbolic Convergence Theory
Ernest G. Bormann
Bormann explains how and why group members come to share a common understanding for symbols and their accompanying
meanings.
6. Group Communication and the Structuring Process
Marshall Scott Poole
Poole presents the major concepts and propositions of Structuration Theory and illustrates how they account for
the emergence of structure in small groups.
PART III: ORGANIZATION OF GROUPS
Introduction
7. Time and Transition in Work Teams: Toward a New Model of Group Development
Connie J. G. Gersick
Gersick discusses a model of group development that characterizes the group development process as periods of stable
routines that are disrupted by transition periods where abrupt and often dramatic changes occur.
8. Multiple Sequence Model of Group Development
Marshall Scott Poole
Poole explains why traditional unitary sequence models are inadequate for understanding group development, then
proposes an alternative multiple sequence model that presents group development as a process consisting of continuously
evolving tracks of group activities that intertwine over time.
PART IV: GROUP PROCESSES
Introduction
9. Spatial Relationships in Small Groups
Judee K. Burgoon
Burgoon explains how the spatial arrangement of group members influences comfort, status, leadership, interaction
patterns, relational communication, and spatial deviancy in small groups.
10. Feedback Processes in Task Groups
Beth Bonniwell Haslett & John R. Ogilvie
Haslett and Ogilvie review what is known about the relationship between feedback and group performance, then examine
some of the major factors that influence feedback in small groups.
11. Influencing Others in Group Interaction: Individual, Subgroup, Group, and Intergroup Processes
Renee A. Meyers & Dale E. Brashers
Meyers and Brashers provide an overview of prominent theories, models, and research studies concerning influence
processes in small groups.
PART V: GROUPS AND TEAMS
Introduction
12. Communication and Group Decision-making Efficacy
Randy Y. Hirokawa
Hirokawa discusses the role that group communication plays in group decision-making effectiveness.
13. New Communication Technologies and Teams
Craig Scott
Scott summarizes research on team-based new communication technologies (NCTs) in three contexts: education, organizations,
and research laboratories.
14. Characteristics of Effective Health Care Teams
Randy Y. Hirokawa, Daniel DeGooyer, Jr., & Kathleen Valde
Hirokawa, DeGooyer, and Valde discuss five factors that influence the performance of health care teams: external
support, member attributes, relationships, organization, and process.
15. Teaming with Emotions: The Impact of Emotionality on Work-Team Collaboration
Carolyn C. Clark & Richard W. Sline
Clark and Sline report a study that examines the role of emotions in group and team performance.
PART VI: LEADERSHIP IN GROUPS
Introduction
16. Leadership as the Art of Counteractive Influence in Decision-making and Problem-solving Groups
Dennis S. Gouran
Gouran portrays group leadership as the art of getting a group back onto its "goal path" when the interaction
of its members takes it astray of that path.
17. Leadership and Gender: Challenging Assumptions and Recognizing Resources
Susan B. Shimanoff & Mercilee M. Jenkins
Shimanoff and Jenkins present a comprehensive review of research devoted to differences and similarities of women
and men in group leadership roles.
18. Leadership as Organizing
J. Kevin Barge
Barge examines the research on group leadership and argues that group leadership is best viewed as a form of organizing.
PART VII: DIVERSITY IN GROUPS
Introduction
19. Sex, Gender, and Communication in Small Groups
Nina M. Reich & Julia T. Wood
Reich and Wood examine the influence of biological sex and gender on patterns of communication in small groups.
20. Communication in the Multicultural Group
Richard E. Porter & Larry A. Samovar
Porter and Samovar discuss various dimensions of culture that condition how we send and receive messages in small
groups.
21. Cross-Cultural and Intercultural Work Group Communication
John G. Oetzel, Mary Meares, & Akiko Fukumoto
Oetzel, Meares, and Fukumoto compare how Americans and Japanese communicate in task-oriented groups.
PART VIII: ANALYZING GROUP COMMUNICATION
Introduction
22. Observing Group Interaction
Joann Keyton
Keyton provides an overview of the observational method called interaction process analysis.
23. Narrative Analysis of Group Communication
Randy Y. Hirokawa, Kathleen Clauson, & Juliann Dahlberg
Hirokawa, Clauson, and Dahlberg discuss the utility of using narrative analysis to study small group communication.
24. Evaluating Group Discussion
Steven A. Beebe & J. Kevin Barge
Beebe and Barge describe the Competent Group Communication Evaluation Form--an assessment instrument used to help
group members determine whether their group is communicating effectively.
