New technologies transform research specialties and potentiate new fields. Sociometers--wearable electronic sensors collecting quantitative, dynamic data about embodied social interactions at hyperfine scales--represent such a possibility for small group research. This article introduces this new method and its distinctive qualities and…

Discussions are commonly used in online teaching and have been shown to foster student learning and collaboration. This case study uses content analysis to explore the interaction patterns of student online discussions during a semester-long teacher preparation course using concepts from sociometry. Findings suggest that interaction patterns were…

Presents an exploratory taxonomy of small group interaction-coding systems. Six dimensions that characterize interaction-coding schemes are presented in a hierarchical order ranging from abstract conceptual issues to specific methodological ones. These dimensions are: philosophical perspective, conceptual and operational focus, observer inference,…

Using 144 high school physics classes as units of analysis, class means on a battery of 57 variables were factored in three different factor sets. Each set included three main factors which could be identified roughly as achievement, affect, and group structure. Results gave further credibility to Bales' work. (Author/KR)

Reviews basic sociometric tools and their analysis, provides information on computer programs to analyze sociometric data, and briefly examines considerations in conducting sociometric investigations. Looks at the social atom (significant others), constructing sociometry questions, and offers an analysis of individual status and interactional…

Presents the Grid for Processing Experiences and Events in Group Work so as to broaden the repertoire of group work leaders as they help members derive personal meaning from group experiences. Focuses on grid dimensions, levels of interaction, using the grid, application during a session, and eliciting sharing and discussion. (RJM)

Used Hill Interaction Matrix to measure content and quality of interactions in 12-hour therapy group of 12 male drug addicts and 3 therapists. Categories of therapeutic work included conventional, assertive, speculative, and confrontive; categories of content included topic, group, personal, and relationship. Group was highly confrontive; most…

The aim of this study was to observe the dynamics of a socio-psychological process, namely, cohesiveness, occurring among seven-year old pupils organised in groups of five engaged in an improvised drama activity. (Author/RK)

Focus is the measurement of power at the community level considering the social organizational context. (SE)

Student interactivity in web-based educational environments has shown to increase academic learning and motivation (Jiang, 1998; Petraglia, 1998). However, instructors often find it difficult to assess the quality of online group dynamics without visual observations of student behaviors. The purpose of this study was to investigate the use of…

Weak increases in classroom cohesion for three seventh-grade classes instructed by a mastery learning technique compared to three conventionally instructed classes are demonstrated using block analysis of variance, triadic census (balance theory), and block modelling (role theory) analytic techniques on repeated-measures sociometric rating data.…

Relationships between patterns of family interaction and child development are investigated in this study on how family environment and quality of interaction relate to an adolescent's psychological and social functioning. A sample of 99 white middle-class families participated in a 2-hour structured interview in their homes. The interview…

During the 1968-72 years, Northwestern Junior High School had the reputation of the "most racially troubled" junior high school in Battle Creek, Michigan. The BACSTOP (Better Acquisition of Cognitive Skills Through Outdoor Programming) was implemented to address some of the negative problems facing the school. BACSTOP aimed to: create a…