COM 223 Midterm Exam Study Guide
Chapter 1 Questions
What’s the meaning of “communication as transactional”?
We send and receive messages simultaneously.
How do individuals use symbols to communicate?
Individuals use symbols verbally and non-verbally; posture, gesture, letters
Name three common goals for group meetings.
1) Information needs to be shared 2) Issues need to be discussed 3) Action
needs to be taken.
What are the characteristics of an effective meeting leader?
What characteristics do teams and small groups have in common? What are some of the
differences between small groups and teams?
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Team goals are clear and specific
Teams have well-defined team-member responsibilities, such as
positions on a sports team.
The rules for and expectations about how the team operates are
spelled out, sports team competitions usually have a referee to enforce
the rules of the game.
Teams usually develop a clear way of coordinating their efforts;
sports teams discuss and practice how to work together.
How can members of a team increase team effectiveness?
 Recognize “the big picture”
 Be a problem solver
 Be open & supportive
 Stay positive
 Listen to others
What are some guidelines for effective meeting structure?
 Determine goals
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“At the end of this meeting we will…”
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Share information
COM 223 Midterm Exam Study Guide

Discuss issues
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Take action
 Frame meeting around goals
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Time allotments
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Priority
What are some strategies for effectively managing team meetings?
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Be a Gatekeeper
Focus on the goal
Monitor Time
Structure Interaction
List and briefly describe three advantages and three disadvantages of working in groups
and teams.
Advantage:
Groups have more Info
Groups are often more creative
Group work improves learning
Disadvantage:
Group members may pressure other members to conform.
Groups could be dominated by one person.
Group work takes more time than working individually.
What is the difference between primary and secondary groups and provide an example of
each.
Primary Groups meet primary human needs, to enjoy one another’s company.
Secondary Groups exist to accomplish a task or achieve a goal.
Describe the difference between media lean and media rich channels of communication.
When is it most appropriate to use each?
Rich Media has more feedback, more cues that the channel can convey and that can
be interpreted by a receiver. The variety of language that the communicators use,
and has the most potential for expressing emotions and feelings.
COM 223 Midterm Exam Study Guide
Chapter 1 and 2 Terms
Groupthink: The illusion of agreement exhibited by a group members who to try to
minimize conflict and reach consensus without critically testing, analyzing and
evaluating ideas.
Ad hoc groups: Short term groups that disband after task is complete
Synchronous communication: Communication occurs at the same time as the message
is sent.
Asynchronous communication: Message is received later, not instantly.
Communication competence: Be able to explain yourself or issues.
Variable(s):
Channel: The means or pathway by which a communication message is sent to a
receiver.
Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC): email, Skype, Facebook etc.
Media-Rich: Face-to-Face, has more feedback, cues, expresses emotions and feeling
Media-Lean: flyers, memo, less feedback, low cues, difficulty in expressing emotions
Gatekeepers: Encourages less-talkative members to participate and tries to limit
lengthy contributions by other group members.
Leading vs. Participating in meetings
Quorum: The minimum number of people who must be present to conduct business.
Parliamentary procedure: A comprehensive set of rules that prescribe how to take
action on specific issues that come before a group. Provides order and structure,
recommended for large groups 20+.
Metatheory vs. Theory: Theory about theory
Notion of Normal Science: There is a controlling paradigm, belief of scientific
investigation at any particular time.
Scientific Revolutions: When enough anomalies occurs to cause new scientist
to throw out the old science.
Metatheoretical considerations (Ontology, Epistemology, & Axiology):
Ontology: Reality
Epistemology: Knowledge
Axiology: Values.
COM 223 Midterm Exam Study Guide
Social exchange theory (Rewards vs. Costs): As long as there are rewards that
outweigh the cost, people will continue to be in the group.
Symbolic Convergence theory: How certain types of communication shape a group’s
identity and culture, which in turn influence other dynamics such as norms, roles,
and decision making.
Fantasy theme: Dramatizing message that ignites group interaction ( pun,
story, analogy, figure of speech, etc)
Fantasy chain: Chaining-out leads to group fantasy.
Fantasy type: Consist of the common or related content of the stories the
group tells.
Rhetorical vision:
Systems theory
Openness to environment: Members are affected by interactions with its
environment.
Interdependence: Loss or addition of group members.
Input Variables: Includes members, group resources, funds, tools, knowledge,
purpose, relationships to other groups/ organizations and the physical environment.
Process Variables: Procedure that the group follows to reach its goals.
Output Variables: The outcome of the group, ranges from solutions and
decisions to personal growth and satisfaction.
Synergy: Whole > Sum of parts
Entropy: Devay
Equifinality: Multiple paths
Structuration Theory: Explains how people structure their groups by making active
use of rules and resources. The theory focuses attention on individuals’ behaviors in
groups rather than on dynamics of groups per se.
Agency
Reflexivity
Dialectic of control
Structures: Methods used to keep a group discussion focused and on task.
Rules: A set of acceptable behavior.
COM 223 Midterm Exam Study Guide
Resources
Functional Theories: Communication in groups functions to promote sound
reasoning, prevent errors, and build productive relationships among members.
Bona fide group theory: Groups are rarely well-defined; has fluid boundaries; alters
its’ environment; dynamic, shifting, and permeable boundaries; multiple contexts; shifting
membership; highly interdependent
Panel: An unrehearsed discussion that takes place before an audience to inform,
solve a problem or make a decision.
Symposium: A series of short speeches unified by a central theme or issue.
Forum: A discussion that frequently follows a panel or symposium presentation and
allows audience members to respond.
Chapter 2 Questions
What does Thomas Kuhn say about theory?
Theory enables us to think about things we might not have thought of otherwise,
but can also put blinders on us.
What are the three ontological stances one can take? Be able to name and describe each.
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Realist: An ontological position that assumes that there is an objective
reality, independent from human beings’ cognition.
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Nominalist: An ontological position that assumes there is no reality apart
from the names and labels developed and applied by human beings.
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Social Construction: An ontological position that assumes that social reality
is (re)created through the intersubjective interactions of human beings.
COM 223 Midterm Exam Study Guide
Name and describe the two epistemological positions one may hold.
Objectivist:
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(1) it is possible to understand and explain (social) reality and that
explanations accumulate through the work of a community of
scholars
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(2) regularities and causal relationships in the social world can best be
discovered if there is a separation between the investigator and the
subject of investigation
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(3) this separation between knower and known can be guaranteed
through the use of the scientific method
Subjective:
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(1) the explanation of the (social) world is relativistic and depends
upon the investigator’s perspective
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(2) inquiry needs to occur through the use of methods in which
understandings of motives and contexts are favored over causal and
law-like explanations
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(3) local understandings that emerge through situated research should
be preferred over understanding gained through the scientific
method.
How are values treated within the three axiological perspectives one can have?
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Values exist in the stages of discovery or in the motivating interest behind the
topic of research.
Values form the lens through which we view the social world and conduct
research.
We cannot (and should not) separate values from research. Scholars have an
obligation to participate in social change and justice (research is a political
act).
Name and describe the three paradigmatic approaches to theory building.
 Post-Positivism: interested in/has goal of Generalization, study groups to generalize
to others, looks for causes and effects
 Interpretivism: specific understanding of a particular group of people and their
communication practices, local knowledge, not interested in generalizing,
COM 223 Midterm Exam Study Guide
 Critical:goal is social reform, dramatic and widespread changes in society,
feminism, usually social constructionist and realist, realist in sense that social
structures are out there and independent of human interpretation, social
constructionist in sense that we can change reality by how we communicate about it
(can change reality through communication)
Name and describe the three functions of theory.
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Explanation: An abstract account of why a phenomenon occurs.
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Prediction: An account of what will happen in a specific situation (based on
knowledge of similar situations).
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Control: An attempt to manipulate the occurrence of future events.
What are the variables involved in group theory?
 Communication
 Roles
 Leadership
 Cohesiveness
 Goals
 Norms
 Situation
In functional theory, describe the four functional problems facing a small group.
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Four functional problems facing a small group
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a. adaptation
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b. instrumental control
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c. expression
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d. integration
Chapter 3 Questions
COM 223 Midterm Exam Study Guide
Define mutuality of concern.
The degree to which members share the same level of commitment to the
group or team.
How do hidden agendas affect a group’s goals?
An individuals interested is above the group’s interest. Can make it difficult for the
group to work.
Describe the 4 categories of interpersonal attraction.
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Similarity
Complimentarily
Proximity, Contact and Interaction: Personal space,
Physical Attraction
What are the 3 factors in group attraction?
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Group Activities
Group Goals
Group Membership
Explain “forming-storming-norming-performing”
The four stages of a group.
Forming: Uncertainty about belong and cautious behavior
Storming: Group members try to satisfy their individual needs, competition,
individuality.
Norming: negotiating clear guidelines for the group
Performing: Cooperation and productive work.
The longer term the group is, the more emphasis on new members. Organizations
with low turnover has low socialization and vice versa.
Chapter 3 Terms
Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs
1) Physiological Needs (base of pyramid) 2) Safety needs 3) Belongingness needs 4)
Esteem needs 5) Self-Actualization needs (peak of pyramid)
A group could help fulfil all these needs. Almost everyone wants to be part of a
group because of belongings.
COM 223 Midterm Exam Study Guide
Virtual communication: Communication that occurs while group members are not
together in same physical location. Electronic. Virtual communication is approximate faceto-face interaction as closely as possible.
Homogeneity vs. Diversity
Homogenous groups are similar on whatever trait is specified. Diverse group are
different in one of those aspects (trait). Each one can have shallow or deep
diversity/homogeneity
Productivity: Favors Diversity
Creativity: Favors Diversity
Cohesion: Homogenous
Satisfaction: Short term-Homogenous, Long term- Diversity
Schutz’s theory of needs (inclusion, control, & affection)
Individuals have three basic needs; inclusion=recognized, control=to be controlled
or control others and affection=giving and receiving emotional support. Individuals needs
vary, but groups often provide setting in which such needs cam be satisfied. This occurs
through cycles, more like a helix.
Chapter 4 Key terms:
Agenda: A planner that makes the group more efficient and organized.
Attitude: A learned predisposition to respond to a person, object, idea in a favorable,
neutral or unfavorable way.
Belief : What someone considers to be true or false
Value: What you believe to be right or wrong.
Reasoning: The process of drawing conclusions from information.
Inductive reasoning: Small to large
Deductive reasoning: Large to small
Causal reasoning: X causes Y.
Evidence types
COM 223 Midterm Exam Study Guide
Facts: True or False statements
Examples: “John did such and such…..”
Opinions: “I think…..”
Statistics: 58%......
NOT EVERYONE IS PERSUADED BY THE SAME EVIDENCE
Syllogism
Major/minor premise/conclusion: Ex: All birds fly (major), A flamingo is a bird
(minor), therefore a Flamingo flies (conclusion).
Discussion question types
Questions of fact: Questions of fact can be measure or answered. True or False.
Questions of prediction: Follow if-then statements
Questions of value: Ask whether something is right or wrong
Questions of policy: Ask about a course of action or a change in a procedure or
behavior.
Information triage
Logical Fallacies: A flaw in reasoning
Causal Fallacy: X cause Y
Either/or Fallacy (false alternatives or false dichotomy): America, love it or leave it…
Bandwagon Fallacy (appeal to people): Everyone is doing it….
Hasty generalization: Not taking enough data into consideration before making a
decision.
Attacking a person (ad hominem): You are from the south, therefore you don’t know
about the cold weather.
Red Herring: Distracting away from the main topic
Straw-person: You build up the opponent’s argument in a weak way, and then
decimate it.
Slippery Slope: Domino effect, once on falls everyone else will follow.
COM 223 Midterm Exam Study Guide
Invalid Analogy: Comparing Apples to Oranges, bad analogy.
Non Sequitur: Does not follow, random, unrelated
Appeal to Tradition: Because it’s traditional.
Begging the Question: Assume one question is answered, before asking the next.
Extra material (not in textbook):
Enthymemes: One part of the syllogism is missing, Aristotle recommended
Valence
Expectancy Violation Theory: If you are going to violate someone’s expectations, do it
in a positive way. Surprise them with something positive.
Positive vs. negative violations
Diffusion of Innovations Theory: A successful innovation will have early and late
adopters. Opinion leaders will make it take off, in the form of an S shape.
S-curve: A diagram
Early vs. late adopters:
Opinion Leaders: Very influential, network people
Agenda Setting Theory: The press/media tells us about what to think about
1st wave: What to think about
2nd wave: How to think about
Spiral of Silence Theory: People will generally not say opposing majority opinion.
Fear of isolation: We assess climate of opinions, don’t want to isolate
themselves.
Climate of opinion: We conceal contrary opinions
COM 223 Midterm Exam Study Guide
Chapter 4 Questions:
What should you keep in mind when reasoning inductively and deductively?
Deductive: Big to small
Inductive: Small to large
List and explain the 3 criteria that a policy questions should adhere to.
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A policy question should imply that a specific problem exits and must be solved
A policy question should be limited in scope
A policy question should be controversial
List and explain the 4 steps involved in evaluating questions of prediction.
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Develop if-then statements
Analyze the problem
Use evidence
Evaluate the quality of the evidence
Identify the three work-group goals.
What questions are important to consider when evaluating the usefulness of opinions?
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Is the source reliable?
Is the source unbiased?
Are the figures recent?
How were the statistics drawn?
What questions are important to consider when evaluating the usefulness of statistics?
Some stats are used unethical.
What criteria should be used when evaluating information retrieved from the web?
What technical skills should critical thinkers develop?
What ethical obligations should you consider when preparing for a group discussion?
Chapter 5 Questions
Explain the difference between gender and biological sex.
COM 223 Midterm Exam Study Guide
Gender is feminine or masculinity, biological sex is male or female.
What would Ernest Bormann say about the function of roles in groups?
The group’s fantasy create roles and norms.
What is the main difference between an opinion seeker and an information seeker?
According to structuration theory, what is the function of norms in a group?
How do group norms develop?
They are developed as the group interacts through time.
What are group task roles?
These are roles you fulfil to complete a task, this is a positive role category.
What are group-building and maintenance roles?
Roles that care for the well-being of the group.
What are individual roles?
These are bad roles, negative effect on the group.
How are group roles developed through symbolic convergence?
Does status indicate power, or vice versa? Why or why not?
Status is individual, Power is the ability to influence other.
How do you develop trust within a group?
Trust develops over time, over time Self-disclosure helps establish trust. There is
appropriate and inappropriate self-disclosure.
What is culture?
Norms that are shaped by the environment you are from and shape your values and
beliefs.
How can gender influence communication in groups?
What are some important things to consider about conversational style when working in
groups?
Role fixation is when you think you have to play a specific role.
Role conflict is one individual trying to play two roles.
COM 223 Midterm Exam Study Guide
Chapter 5 Terms
Self-concept
Be familiar with Group-Role inventory sheet (p. 100)
High vs. low status
Status & Power
Power Bases:
Legitimate
Referent
Expert
Reward
Coercive
Uncertainty Reduction Theory
Talk to people in group to reduce uncertainty about the group.
Primary Tension vs. Secondary Tension
Individualism vs. Collectivism
High vs. Low-Context: High Individualistic are low context./ monochromic
High vs. Low-Contact: High Individualist are low on contact/monocronic
Monochronic vs. Polychronic Time
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YOU ALWAYS HAVE POWER; according to Giddens. Foucault disagrees.
Chapter 6 Questions
What do R.D. Laing and Jon Hess say about disconfirmation?
Know the different categories of confirming and disconfirming responses.
What is “least group size”?
What’s the right size for a group?
How does group size affect opportunities for interaction?
What size group reduces equal participation?
COM 223 Midterm Exam Study Guide
Chapter 6 Terms
Communication Networks & Interaction Diagrams
Group Cohesiveness
Group Productivity
Dependence