What is group discussion?
A Group discussion is a forum where people sit together and discuss the issue administrated to them with the common objective of discussing it in a wholesome way.
Types of Group Discussion
1.Topic-based group discussions
2.Case-based group discussion (also called Case Studies), and
3.Article-based group discussions
Topic-based group discussions
In topic based group discussions, the group members are given a topic to discuss. A topic is typically in the form of a statement (some times, the statement may not be complete. for example, the topic could be worded “The biggest problem faced by our country is………”). By the end of the discussion, the group should strive to arrive at a consensus on the issue that is covered by the topic.
Case-based group discussion ( Case Studies)
In case studies, a short description of a situation (called a “case”) is given to all the participants. The case will typically be a problem situation that requires a solution. The participants have to study the
case, analyze the problem and then discuss various situations to the problem.
Article-based group discussions
Article-based GD cover wide range of areas, like current affairs, politics, economics, technology etc………….
The participants are given 4-5 minutes to read the article and are then asked to hold a regular group discussion of around 10-15 minutes on the article.
The topic that are given in group discussion are of two types:
knowledge based topics
Knowledge based topics require of you some topical knowledge. An example is “India should withdraw from WTO” Here unless you know something about the WTO, what other countries have done, what India’s view are on the matter etc…., you will not be able to speak effectively . Knowledge-based topics mostly cover current economic issues as well as current non-economic issues.
knowledge-based topics fall into different categories based on the type of knowledge required. Some of the important categories of knowledge-based topics are listed below:
Economic topics
In this type of topics, you should be very strong in content. In order to exhibit good knowledge, you should be thorough with facts and figures about the national economy. You should be familiar with critical economic indicators such as GDP, the plan outlay, sectoral allocations from the budget, trade and fiscal balances, export and import items and values, banking concepts and interest rates, stock indices, etc..
Eg: “India should slow down the pace of liberalization”
“The economics of technology driven systems do not help developing nations”
Social topics
When you are discussing social topics, you should be clear about both the ‘generic’ nature of the topics and the specific ‘manifestations of the social issue.
Eg: “Dowry continues to haunt Indian brides”
“Education should become a fundamental right”
Political topic
Topics with politics as the basic content frequently feature in group discussions. These topics can easily drag the not-very-careful participant into a trap of emotional expressions.
Eg: “Coalition on politics in a poor country like India is a drain on the national economy”
“Plans to attract foreign investment”
Sports/Films related topics
Topics concerning films or sports are also common in number of GDs. Recently included tournaments like the world cup or thr Olympics games can be the subject matter for a number of GD topics.
Eg: “Should India announce a sports holiday?” ” Cricket is like opium to India masses?
IT based topics
In this era of the information technology revolution, it is natural that topics based on IT or IT enabled service like BPO feature prominently amongst the list of topics for discussion.
Eg: we need more money to Fertilize crops rather than to increase band width”
The BPO bubble will also burst the way the dot-com bubble did”
Non-knowledge based topics
Common, day-to -day knowledge is sufficient to do a good job of talking about such topics
Concrete topics
Concrete topics are those about which there can be clear-cut views among the participants of a group discussion. There will hardly be any scope for varied interpretation, unlike in case of abstract topic.
Eg: “Love marriage are better than arranged marriages”
“Girls make better children than boys”
Abstract topics
Abstract topics are those about which the interpretation itself can vary from person to person. Here you don’t need need any formal knowledge to discuss such topics and your worldly knowledge is sufficient.
Eg: “The farther we look the closer we are”
“Green is better than red”