Page 372 - Effective group discussion theory and practice by Adams, Katherine H. Brilhart, John K. Galanes, Gloria J

Preparing for Problem- Solving Discussions 355

4. Look for gaps.
The outline will reveal holes in the group’s information and will suggest specific
information needed.

Gather Information You Need
Now you can plan how to correct the gaps in your knowledge. Planning is important;
otherwise, your information- gathering process will be haphazard.
For complex problems, expect to have several meetings. Even if members are
familiar with the topic, they need time to think about it. The following two- step
procedure helps ensure that the group overlooks nothing important:

1. Identify and list all the major issues or topics, along with subtopics, that you
need to explore further.
These issues were suggested by the rough outline produced during step 1 above.
Add additional topics or deficiencies as they occur to you. Produce a list of all
additional information needed.
2. Assign research responsibilities to individual members.
Distribute items from the list produced in step 1 equitably to the members and
establish deadlines to complete the research. This increases individual
responsibility and involvement. Someone— the secretary or chair— should keep
track of who has agreed to undertake which research.

Ideally, two or more members examine each major source for this common
background study. This helps offset individual biases and helps prevent the group
from relying on one “specialist” for each topic. However, time constraints often
force members to work alone, which makes it especially important for each member
to be conscientious and thorough.
Ways of gathering information are suggested below. We review it only briefly
because you are likely to have learned this in other courses.

Note Taking
Information and ideas slip from memory or become distorted unless we make accu-
rate and complete notes. Saying that a key piece of information appeared “in a book
by some DNA researcher” is useless because fellow members cannot evaluate the
credibility of the information or the source. The best system of note taking is to record
each bit of information or data on a separate index card or directly into a database via
a laptop computer, along with the topic heading and the full bibliographic reference,
as shown in Table A.1.
Note cards and databases can be arranged in groups to help synthesize and
interpret the evidence collected. They can be sorted in a variety of ways and con-
sulted with ease during a discussion without the researcher’s having to leaf through
a disorganized notebook.

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