Origin: The word sociometry (coined by Jacob Levy Moreno, 1951) comes from the Latin “socius,” meaning social and the Latin “metrum,” meaning measure. The words therefore mean that sociometry is a way of measuring the degree of relatedness among people.
Author: Jacob Levy Moreno, 1951.
Definition: The mathematical study of psychological properties of
populations, the experimental technique of and the results obtained by
application of quantitative methods.
Objective: Measuring the degree of relatedness or affiliation can
not only help in evaluating the degree of cohesiveness amongst the members of
the group, work teams, class or organisations. It is a measure which helps in
evaluating how individuals associate with each other when acting as a group
toward a specified end or goal (Creswell in Moreno, 1960, p. 140).
Purpose: Sociometry serves as a powerful tool in lessening the
communication gap and reducing conflict by helping the group to analyse,
examine and evaluate its own dynamics. It can also be helpful in finding out
the relevant areas or group that requires therapy or training. It help in
bringing about positive change and required interventions.
Requirements
of Sociometry Test
- It must be conducted where people know each
other.
- At least (minimum) a group consisting of 5-6
members are asked to select or choose members of the same group based on a
specific criteria.
- The choices of respondents must not be shared
with group members.
- The test taker should be conversant with the
working style of the group.
- The experimenter must be culturally sensitive and
understand the nuances of group culture.
- The experimenter must be well versed with group
dynamics.
- The experimenter must have observation skills.
Important
components
- Star
- Mutuals
- Clique/chain
- Isolate
- Sociogram
- Sociometric matrix
Requirements
of Sociometry Test
- Sociometric Star: The person whose name is selected (liked) by
maximum members of the group is known as the sociometric star.
- Mutuals: Where two people choose each other.
- Chains or Cliques: Where person A chooses person B who chooses
person C who chooses person D and so on.
- Isolates: the person who has not been chosen (disliked) by
anyone within the group.
Sociogram: A map, of networks is called a sociogram - Sociometric Matrix: The data for the sociogram may also be displayed as a table or matrix of each person’s choices. Such a table is called a sociomatrix.
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