The impact of group size and social presence on small-group communication: Does computer-mediated communication make a difference?

Abstract

This study evaluates the impact of varying group size and social presence on small-group communication. It compares key communication factors - faceto-face (FtF) without computer-mediated communication (CMC) support, FtF with CMC support, and virtual with CMC support - on two different small group sizes (3 and 6). Results indicate that smaller groups establish and maintain higher levels of communication quality, and FtF with CMC support groups have higher levels of communication quality than virtual with CMC support groups; however, no significant difference between traditional FtF groups and virtual groups with CMC support was found. Also, CMC minimized the impact of increased group size. Process losses that a larger FtF group might ordinarily experience can be reduced through the use of CMC. These results should help project managers plan for and deal with the difficulty of communication between project group members in virtual environments. © 2006 Sage Publications.