An Examination of the Coherence of Group Discussions

Pavitt, Charles; Johnson, Kelly Kline

doi:10.1177/009365099026003002

Cited by 30 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 26 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Pavitt and Johnson (1999) offer topical coherence as one indicator of group-level behavior, demonstrating that, at both the individual and group level, teams sustain topical coherence. It seems likely that if groups maintain topical similarity, they are also functionally coherent.…”

Section: Functional Approaches To Group Communicationmentioning

confidence: 98%

Examining Functional Communication as Egocentric or Group-Centric: Application of a Latent Group Model

Bonito¹,

Meyers

2011

Communication Monographs

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Functional communication in small groups is generally treated as a medium (i.e., reflecting and explained by individual proclivities) or as constitutive (i.e., interaction has independent effects on outcomes). Rather than approach the problem as either/or, we assume that functional communication consists of both processes. To explore this assumption, we applied two models that offer contrasting views on this debate*Hewes's (1986, 1996, 2009) socio-egocentric model and Gonzalez and Griffin's (2002) latent group model*to four published group interaction datasets to examine the extent to which communication has individual-and group-level characteristics. Analyzed individually, the data exhibited a large proportion of egocentricity but very little grouplevel connections. An analysis of the combined and recoded data, however, revealed that discussion consists of both egocentric and group speech, but that the patterns differ. We then discuss the theoretical implications for observed patterns at different levels of analysis in the data.

show abstract

Section: Functional Approaches To Group Communicationmentioning

confidence: 98%

Examining Functional Communication as Egocentric or Group-Centric: Application of a Latent Group Model

Bonito¹,

Meyers

2011

Communication Monographs

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Hardy and Scheufele (2009) also find that, although interaction size and statistical significance vary by campaign events, any tendency toward interactions is in the direction of news effects being weaker (not greater) in the presence of discussion. We therefore ask: Is the effect of news use on factual knowledge and KSD moderated by discussion of the news (RQ1)?The content of discussion and the nature of the interpersonal interaction may be at least as important as the existence or frequency of discussion itself (Eveland, Morey, & Hutchens, 2011;Southwell & Yzer, 2007), and group-level factors are important in understanding discussion effects (Bonito, 2001;Pavitt & Johnson, 1999). Unfortunately, most current experimental research is limited by a lack of information about the nature of political discussion that takes place.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Communication Content and Knowledge Content Matters: Integrating Manipulation and Observation in Studying News and Discussion Learning Effects

Eveland

Schmitt

2014

J Commun

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The present study reviews problems in the political learning literature, including ambiguous causality and a lack of specificity in linking communication content to learning outcomes. As a partial solution, our study of media and discussion influence incorporates both manipulated and observed aspects of mass and interpersonal communication. Results indicate that beyond (and often more important than) experimental manipulations, selection processes in news use and variations in the content of political discussions within exposure conditions matter for political knowledge. However, findings vary in predictable ways depending on the form of knowledge-overall factual knowledge, issue-specific knowledge, or knowledge structure density. These results suggest that the process of political learning via communication is more complex than it is often treated empirically.Keywords: Political Conversation, Deliberation, Political Knowledge, Structural Knowledge, News Use, Diversity, Talk. doi:10.1111/jcom.12138 Given that individuals' direct experience with major political events and policy debates are rather limited, researchers have assumed that news media use is a primary source of political information. Therefore, political communication scholars have devoted substantial research to confirm a positive relationship between news exposure and political knowledge. And very early in the history of research on political communication, studies demonstrated that personal interactions may also be relevant channels of political information. Reviews of the research suggest that news use and political discussion are important predictors of political knowledgeCorresponding author: William P. Eveland; e-mail: eveland.6@osu.edu (see Eveland & Garrett, 2014;Schmitt-Beck & Lup, 2013), and that they should be considered to work in tandem in many cases (Southwell & Yzer, 2007).Despite the valuable insights provided by prior scholarship on the effects of news use and political discussion on political knowledge, much of the research suffers from multiple limitations related to design and measurement (see Slater, 2004;Southwell & Yzer, 2007). We begin by reviewing the evidence on communication's relationship with political knowledge, paying particular attention to the methodological limitations of typical political knowledge studies. We then introduce this study, whose design addresses some of the problems with prior research by employing experimental manipulations of news exposure and public affairs discussion in small group settings in which some members have, and some have not, had exposure to relevant news prior to discussion. Just as importantly, the study goes beyond standard experimental and survey procedures by incorporating detailed observational data-content analysis of face-to-face conversation transcripts and computer tracking of online news use-to provide a more precise understanding of the specific aspects of news use and discussion that produce both content and structural aspects of public affairs knowledge. Thus, as advoca...

show abstract

“…In other words, negotiators take up each other's arguments and respond in a consecutive way, thus following a communicative thread throughout the negotiation process. Coherence represents the professional level of communication (Pavitt and Johnson 1999). The specifics of coherence in business negotiations and their importance for effective negotiation processes have been demonstrated by Kohne et al (2005).…”

Section: Operationalisationmentioning

confidence: 97%

Communication Quality in Business Negotiations

2008

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The quality of a business negotiation process is usually assessed by its economic outcome, e.g. in terms of Pareto efficiency or distance to Nash equilibrium. We argue that this assessment method is insufficient in that it fails to provide a comprehensive analysis of business negotiations. Negotiators engage in highly complex communication tasks, and these communication processes should be analysed along with the outcome in the overall evaluation of a business negotiation. To this end, we will introduce Communication Quality as a new construct for analyzing the negotiation process. Furthermore, it will be argued that Communication Quality itself can affect economic negotiation outcomes both short-and long-term. We will present relevant aspects of Communication Quality, outline a scheme for its operationalisation and measurement, and discuss its probable impacts on business negotiations.

show abstract

An Examination of the Coherence of Group Discussions

Cited by 30 publications

References 26 publications

Examining Functional Communication as Egocentric or Group-Centric: Application of a Latent Group Model

Examining Functional Communication as Egocentric or Group-Centric: Application of a Latent Group Model

Communication Content and Knowledge Content Matters: Integrating Manipulation and Observation in Studying News and Discussion Learning Effects

Communication Quality in Business Negotiations

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About