Chapter 3 Inclusion and Identity

1. Chapter 3Inclusion and Identity 2Studying Groups • What are the three critical requirements of a scientific approach to the study of groups? • How do researchers measure group processes? • 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 methods? • What theoretical perspectives guide researchers’ studies of groups? Just as researchers in the natural sciences use exacting procedures to study aspects of the physical environment, so do group researchers use scientific methods to further their understanding of groups. They measure as precisely as possible group processes, develop theories that provide coherent explanations for the group phenomenon they study, and collect evidence to test the adequacy of their predictions and assumptions.

2. 2 Studying Groups

3. What Are the Three Critical Requirements of a Scientific Study of Groups?

4. Measurement • Observation • William Foote White’s study of “corner boys” in Street Corner Society • Types: • Overt • Covert • Participant

5. The Nortons Doc Bill Danny Mike Long John Nutsy Angelo Frank Fred Joe Lou Carl Alec Tommy Issue: Hawthorne Effects

6. Measurement • Observation • Types: • Qualitative vs. Quantitative (structured) • Example: Robert Freed Bales Interaction Process Analysis system

7. Measurement Out In • Self-report Self-report measures: group members describe their perceptions and experiences • Example: Moreno's sociometry method A Sociogram

8. Social network analysis Long John Fred Tommy Danny Mike Carl Lou Angelo Nutsy Frank Doc Joe Alex

10. Research Methods • Case Studies Example: Irving Janis’s analysis of groupthink An in-depth analysis of one or more groups based on interviews, observation, analysis of archival documents, and so on.

11. Research Methods • Case Studies Other examples

12. Research Methods • Experiments • Key Ingredients: • Manipulate one or more independent variables • Measure one or more dependent variables • Control other variables, as much as possible Example: Lewin, Lippitt, & White’s leadership study Strength: Causal inference

13. Research Methods Example: Newcomb’s Bennington Study • Correlational Studies • Key Ingredients: • Measure two or more variables • Assess the strength of the relationship between the variables Called “correlational” studies because the findings are often expressed in the form of a correlational coefficient

14. Key Characteristics of, and Differences Between Case, Experimental, and Correlational Studies of Group Processes • 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 • Issues

15. Studying Groups

16. Theoretical Perspectives Example: Social exchange theory • Behavioral Satisfaction Level Stay? Commitment Level Quality of Alternatives Investment Size

17. Theoretical Perspectives Example: Input-Process-Output Model of Group Performance • Systems

18. Theoretical Perspectives Example: Group Referent Effect The relationship between perceptional/ inferential processes and group-level processes • Cognitive

19. Theoretical Perspectives Brain regions recruited during social rejection Biological perspectives, such as evolutionary theory, argue that some group behaviors may be rooted in physiological and neurological processes. • Biological Anterior insula

20. Chapter 2: Studying Groups