An example of how the quality of research on small groups could be enhanced is to develop a framework of scholarship around a series of hierarchical guiding questions concerning the functions of communication in the small group, the characteristics of the behavior and of the producers of that behavior that determine the extent to which particular functions are served, the way in which functions of communication are affected by the context in which they occur, and the interrelationships of the functions of communication in the small group. Such a structure of questions would make it possible to build a meaningful inventory of extant scholarship; would better equip researchers to respond to and overcome criticisms advanced about the field as a whole; would increase the importance of the role of theory; and would increase the potential for synthesis, comparability of research findings, meaningful criticism, and construction of methodological tools for advancing knowledge in a rigorous and systematic fashion. (TJ)