Select any secondary group you are familiar with, or have participated in. First, discuss its size and how this affects communication within the group. Then, describe the group's informal and formal norms. How do these norms affect the group's performance?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

- Student examples will vary but must reference a group that is primarily secondary. Response should also reference many of the following key points related to size and norms:
* Group size refers to the number of participants and has important ramifications for the group's effectiveness. Although a group has no perfect number of members, groups of certain sizes seem appropriate for certain kinds of tasks. For example, five-member groups are the most effective for dealing with intellectual tasks; coordinating, analyzing, and evaluating information; and making administrative decisions. Many small group experts recommend that groups have no fewer than three and no more than nine members. They also advise an odd number of participants. An odd number of members helps to ensure fewer stalemates and thus a lower likelihood that voting will end in a tie.
* A group that is too small can limit the information and ideas generated, whereas a group that is too large can limit the contribution each person can make.
* The expected and shared ways group members behave are called norms. Both informal and formal guidelines determine which behaviors are acceptable and which are not.
* In most group situations, the norms are informal and unwritten.
* For a group to function effectively, its members must agree on how things are to be done. Therefore, no matter what their size or task, groups establish norms.
* In formal situations, to increase efficiency and order, many groups use preestablished rules to guide their interaction.