The effects of group size on the structure of interaction in problem‐solving groups

Abstract

An experiment was conducted to determine whether differences in group size affect the distributional and sequential structure of interaction in discussion groups. It was reasoned that larger groups, having greater ambiguity regarding the responsibilities for responding to communications, should experience less interaction structure than smaller groups. Results showed smaller groups to have greater sequential structure than larger groups, although the predicted differences in distributional structure due to size were not found.