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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

2012

Communication

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Interpersonal and Small Group Communication

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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Contextual Influences On Small Group Decision-Making: A Field Investigation, Sarah Kathryn Chorley Aug 2012

Contextual Influences On Small Group Decision-Making: A Field Investigation, Sarah Kathryn Chorley

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines small group decision-making among groups of educators in an elementary school through the Bona Fide Group Perspective, which focuses on a group and its relationships to elements in its context. Twenty-six faculty members were interviewed and 26 meetings were recorded; these were analyzed using thematic analysis. The results indicated contextual, relational, and discursive factors influenced the decision-making process. Most critically, power, status, overlapping group memberships, and competing Discourses shaped the group decision-making process.