Studying Groups

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• Studying Groups

How do researchers test their theories and
hypotheses about groups and their dynamics?
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What Are the Three Critical Requirements of a
Scientific Study of Groups?

• Reliable and valid measurement
• Research procedures to test hypotheses about
  groups
• Theories that organize knowledge of groups

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What Methods Do Researchers Use to Measure
Individual and Group Processes?

• Observational measures observing and recording
  events
• Qualitative and quantitative (structured)
  measures
• Bales's Interaction Process Analysis (IPA)
  classifies behaviors into two categories task
  and relationship behaviors

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• Bales SYMLOG (Systematic Multiple Level
  Observation of Groups) identifies 3 key
  dimensions dominance/submissiveness,
  friendliness/unfriendliness, and acceptance of
  authority/nonacceptance of authority.

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What Methods Do Researchers Use to Measure
Individual and Group Processes?

• Self-report measures group members describe
  their perceptions and experiences
• Example Moreno's sociometry method
• Sociometric structures stars, rejected, etc.

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What Methods Do Researchers Use to Measure
Individual and Group Processes?

• Any measure, to be scientifically useful, must
  have reliability and validity.

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What Are the Key Characteristics of, and
Differences Between Case, Experimental, and
Correlational Studies of Group Processes?

• Case study
• Example Groupthink groups (Janis)
• Bona fide groups
• Experiments
• Key features
• manipulate independent variable
• measure dependent variable
• control other variables

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What Are the Key Characteristics of, and
Differences Between Case, Experimental, and
Correlational Studies of Group Processes?

• Experiments (cont.)
• Example Lewin, Lippitt, and Whites study of
  leadership
• Strength Test cause-effect relationships

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What Are the Key Characteristics of, and
Differences Between Case, Experimental, and
Correlational Studies of Group Processes?

• What are the strengths and weaknesses of case,
  experimental, and correlational designs?
• Case studies atypical of most groups,
  subjective, stimulate theory
• Experiments too artificial, not real groups,
  but clearest test of cause and effect.
• Correlational studies limited information about
  causality but precise estimates of the strength
  of relationships, less artificial, fewer ethical
  concerns
• Multilevel approaches are uniquely informative

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What Theoretical Perspectives Guide Researchers
Studies of Groups?

• Motivational models Lewin's level-of-aspiration
  theory
• Behavioral approaches Thibaut and Kelley's
  social exchange theory
• Systems theory Input-process-output models of
  performance
• Cognitive theories Berger's expectation-states
  theory
• Biological perspectives Evolutionary psychology
  (or sociobiology)