Group Decision Making

Now that we have considered the formation and structure of working groups, it is time to turn to study of these groups in action, when they are doing the work that they have been formed to accomplish. We will begin our discussion in this chapter by outlining how social scientists study the performance of groups and how they compare group performance to individual performance. We will also consider how to classify the tasks that groups perform. We will then focus in on a common type of group task-group decision making. In chapter 9 we will investigate another type of group performance-how groups work together to create tangible products.