A consideration of group work processes in modern epidemiology

In the field of epidemiology, much attention has been given to the reduction of random or systematic errors in study design, analysis, and reporting. This article reviews relevant literature on group work processes. The review orients attention toward optimizing group work processes to enhance group decision making and optimize the conduct of epidemiologic work in the era of team science.

The review contrasts interactive open group work with group aggregate work. We define the latter as occurring without member to member communication. The impacts of group characteristics on process issues are examined.

Group characteristics such as purpose, modality, size, and member incentives are shown to influence the likely optimal group structure for varying tasks. Open group work allows rapid communication and interactive feedback as well as the emergence of a collective intelligence above that of the individual members. However, productivity may be limited by large open group size and the multiple dyads of communication, limiting cognitive diversity and human resource capital. Furthermore, group-level biases and bias may be introduced within the group. Little quantitative work on these issues has been conducted in the epidemiologic work setting, but recent experimental research in other areas of science and management indicates that structured protocols to support dynamic group work can improve group decisions. The merit of often highly accurate group aggregate approaches, with parallel independent individual inputs such as crowd sourcing is becoming increasingly recognized. We outline several examples in recent medical research.

We outline principles that should be explicitly considered when setting up new work groups in epidemiology and recommend that further work on these issues be conducted.