Rumours and grapevine in institutions – UGC NET Question

Statements A, B and E are correct, whereas C, D and F are wrong and therefore form the correct set of wrong statements. Rumours do travel through informal networks, grapevine talk often mixes facts and assumptions, and its patterns can reveal organisational climate. Saying administrators should always ignore informal messages, that all informal talk can be eliminated, or that students never join grapevine communication is unrealistic. Thus the wrong statements are precisely C, D and F.

Option A:
Option A is incorrect because it marks C only as wrong and overlooks D and F, which also seriously misrepresent informal communication. It underestimates how unrealistic it is to eliminate all informal talk or to assume students are not involved. Therefore C only cannot be accepted as the full set of wrong statements.

Option B:
Option B is still incomplete as it identifies C and D only and omits F. Students often participate in grapevine exchanges, so claiming they never do is also a wrong statement. By failing to include F, C and D only does not cover all the incorrect statements provided.

Option C:
Option C is correct because it groups C, D and F, the three statements that deny the pervasiveness and complexity of informal networks. It correctly leaves A, B and E as accurate descriptions of how rumours and grapevine function. For this reason C, D and F only is the right answer.

Option D:
Option D is wrong as it adds B, a true statement about the mixed nature of grapevine messages, to the wrong set. B accurately recognises that grapevine information often combines facts and guesses. Including B among wrong statements creates a logically inconsistent option.