Decision development in small groups II: A study of multiple sequences in decision making 1

Poole's recent study of group decision‐making processes rejected the traditional unitary sequence model of decision development in which all decision‐making groups are assumed to follow a uniform set sequence of phases. It supported a multiple sequence model, which assumed different groups may have different sequences of phases. This study attempts to build on Poole's findings by presenting a detailed analysis of multiple decision sequences in two sets of groups: student groups performing a ranking task and groups of physicians performing a program planning task. This research had three specific goals: (1) To develop and define a Multiple Sequence Descriptive System adapted to the ten groups studied and generalizable for future research; (2) To analyze developmental patterns in conflict interaction and in the evolution of ideas in the ten groups; and (3) To compare unitary sequence and multiple sequence descriptions of the same discussions, with the object of meshing the two models. Results of the study s...