Day: January 7, 2020

Course Project Description
Local Australian Fair committee

The purpose of this course project is for the student to integrate knowledge and experience.  This will be done by observing a small group in action and evaluating the groups performance by applying the theories and concepts studied in the course.  The small group you choose to observe should range from three to fifteen members. Written verification is required.

You must make sure that the group you choose to observe meets the definition of small group communication.  In other words, your group must be comprised of 3 or more people who interact with each other, are interdependent, and are working together in pursuit of a common goal.  This would generally exclude social groups and/or family groups.

Some possible groups to observe might include employee staff meetings, faculty meetings, PTA meetings, committee meetings, city council or church council meetings, club meetings, etc.  Virtually any group meeting in which at least three people interact, are interdependent, and are working toward a common purpose or to accomplish a task will be appropriate.  Please contact me if you are unsure that your group meets the proper criteria.

You should arrange to observe the group for at least 3-5 hours (cumulative, not necessarily all at once).  You will be responsible for writing a paper which analyzes your observations on at least five of the following small group characteristics:

        cohesiveness         

        nonverbals

        conflict

        groupthink

        reciprocity

        structure

        leadership

        self-disclosure

        gatekeeping

        norms

        roles

        group decision making

        any other topics discussed in our textbook but not listed here.

Your paper should have a clear introductory paragraph and concluding paragraph and must indicate to the reader that you have carefully applied small group communication theory and evaluated the groups performance.   

Your introduction should be an overview of the purpose of the assignment.  Be sure to define what is meant by group.  The introduction should include a description of the group you observed and briefly list which of the group characteristics will be discussed in the paper.

The main body of the paper should focus on your observations and your evaluation of the groups functioning. For each characteristic that you choose to write about you should define the concept (using our text as a reference), explain what the concept means (as you understand it) and then describe how you observed this concept at work in the group you observed providing evidence to support your observations (for example, if you observed conflict in your group, describe the behaviors you saw that lead you to believe conflict existed within the group). 

Once you have defined, described and have given evidence for your observations you should evaluate the groups functioning.  Based on the text descriptions and your observations, how well is the group functioning within the characteristic youve chosen to write about?  For example, if you observe conflict in the group, how well is the group handling it?  If you observe leadership, is it positive or negative? Does it hinder or help the group meet its goals?  If you write about norms, what kind did you observe? Are the norms constructive for the group or counterproductive? In other words, evaluate the groups functioning for each of the characteristics you choose to write about. Try to be as specific as possible.

Your conclusion should be a summary of your groups functioning.  Overall, based on what youve learned about groups from the course and based on your observations, how healthy is the group?  Is this a functional or dysfunctional group?  As an outside observer, what recommendations or advice would you give to the group?

The paper must be typed or computer printed with standard font (10 to 12 point), have margin sizes of 1 inch, Times New Roman font and should be 6-7 pages in length.  Your paper will be evaluated according to the degree of clarity of thought, detailed description, and insight, as well as correctness in spelling, grammar, and punctuation that is consistent with college-level writing.

Although outside sources are not required, the course material should be properly referenced when applying group communication terms, definitions and concepts.  Any outside sources should also be properly referenced. Either MLA or APA format should be followed.

Submit the group below that you feel you will be observing.

Steve (Slick) Willy, 45, just got out of jail. As a reformed citizen on parole, Slick decides to go into business for himself. He starts a collections company to help companies collect debts. The terms of his parole stipulate that he pay restitution payments to the federal government of $400 a month, or 10 percent of his income, whichever is greater. As his parole officer, you notice that after a year out of jail, Slick makes some interesting purchases. First, he buys a new Jaguar, which he drives to parole meetings.

Second, he moves into an expensive neighborhood on the north side of town and takes a cruise to Jamaica with his 19-year-old girlfriend. Yet, he has never been late making his $400 monthly payments to the federal government. After obtaining a subpoena for his bank records, you notice that he has only $1,000 in his account. About this time, you receive a call from a man who is making payments to Slicks collection company. He states that Slick is threatening to break his legs and hurt his family if he doesnt pay Slicks company. The man says Slick demands the checks be made out to a woman, not a company.

This complaint convinces you to investigate Mr. Willy and his girlfriend. A search of UCC filings in the county shows that Slicks girlfriend owns three cars costing a total of $85,000, a $360,000 house, and a company called TakIt From You. You check her bank account and see that more than $45,000 is moving through the account each month. You decide to dig through Slick and his girlfriends trash a few times each month. In these searches, you find evidence that supports the following: three car payments totaling $2,000 per month; a $2,600 monthly mortgage payment; a credit card balance of $6,500, with $200 monthly payments; a balance of $13,500 owed to Home Shopping Network, with $600 monthly payments; $350 food payments during the past two weeks; and a $3,650 payment to Jamaican Cruise Lines. After searching the girlfriends trash, you talk to her neighbors, friends, and co-workers and determine that she and Slick spend between $1,500 and $2,500 a month on miscellaneous items and trips. One neighbor tells you that Slick just gave his girlfriend a diamond ring that cost $4,500. Slicks girlfriend works as a waitress at a small restaurant and makes only $16,500 a year. (Note: Assume that both Slick and his girlfriends net worth last year were zero.)

Question: Use this information to prepare a net worth analysis of Slicks girlfriend. (Ignore interest in your calculations.)

Field Study Assignment and Final Paper
FIELD NOTES DUE IN MODULE 5.  (25 points)

FINAL PAPER DUE AS THE FINAL EXAM.  (100 points)

For the first part of this assignment, you will conduct a brief field study of TWO “public” sporting events or sports media events. The events should not require any type of membership to attend. This can include anything from attending a football game to watching an Extreme Sports broadcast at a local sports bar to participating in a free community yoga class.

The only requirements are:

1)      The events/activities must involve both sports and media (although it will be up to you to describe how, when and why the two relate),

2)      There must be a social dimension to the event (so that you’ll be able to observe the participants).

You will then conduct a field study of your selected events/activities, which will involve either passive or participant observation (see below for details). You will attend the event in person** and record your personal observations of each event based on the following:

        The event itself:  What is the event/activity? Where does it take place (venue)? How long does it last and how often does it occur? What is involved?

        The participants: What is your general impression of the people who attend this event? Who participates in the construction of the event (spectators, athletes, corporate sponsors, organizations, advertisers, etc.)

        Media:  Is media part of the event? In what way? Where does media (technology or content) appear, when and how often? Is media consumption necessary part of participating in the event as a spectator? As a player?

THESE NOTES ARE DUE IN ROUGH FORM IN MODULE 5  (these will not be graded for grammar or spelling or sentence structure they are notes). This should be no longer than 1-2 pages.

FOR THE FINAL PAPER, you will construct a 4-5 page paper based on your field study notes (double spaced, using APA style for any references you might need, such as our textbook).  In this paper, you will use the Strategic Sport Communication Model (page 85 of your text), to analyze your events and their relation to media/communication.

Discuss how your observations of the media/communication in the 2 events differ.  Be sure to identify examples of the components in the Strategic Sport Communication Model that exist or do not exist. You are not expected to give a detailed explanation of why these similarities and differences might exist, but are encouraged to venture a hypothesis.

Use of secondary data is permitted, especially if it consists of a text that is directly related to the event/activity that you observed (newspaper article, blog entry, advertisement, TV news segment, etc.).