SOCIOMETRY

DR DEEPTI PURANIK
Sociometry
• Sociometry
• A technique for analyzing the pattern of relationships among
group members- especially hierarchies, friendship networks
and cliques
• Sociogram
• A graphic display of group members ratings of one another
• Stars (center): individuals preferred by many members
• Isolates (edges): preferred by few
• Chains: members who form cliques
• Sociometric status:
• Average rating of how much a member is liked
SOCIOMETRY- LATIN

SOCIOMETRY

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SOCIUS METRUM

SOCIAL MEASURE
DEFINITION
• MORENO DEFINED SOCIOMETRY AS ‘THE MATHEMATICAL
STUDY OF PSYCHOLOGICAL PROPERTIES OF POPULATIONS,
THE EXPERIMENTAL TECHNIQUE OF AND THE RESULTS
OBTAINED BY THE APPLICATION OF THE QUANTITATIVE
METHODS’.

• WORKING DEFINITION OF SOCIOMETRY- A METHODOLOGY

FOR TRACKING THE ENERGY VECTORS OF INTERPERSONAL
RELATIONSHIPS IN A GROUP. IT SHOWS THE PATTERNS OF
HOW INDIVIDUALS ASSOCIATE WITH EACH OTHER WHEN
ACTING AS A GROUP TOWARDS A SPECIFIC END OR GOAL.
SOCIOMETRY
Jacob Levy Moreno coined the term sociometry
and conducted the first long-range sociometric
study from 1932-38 at the New York State Training
School for Girls in Hudson, New York. As part of
this study, Moreno used sociometric techniques to
assign residents to various residential cottages.
He found that assignments on the basis of
sociometry substantially reduced the number of
runaways from the facility.
SOCIOMETRY
Moreno says, “Choices are fundamental facts in all
ongoing human relations, choices of people and
choices of things. It is immaterial whether the
motivations are known to the chooser or not; it is
immaterial whether [the choices] are inarticulate
or highly expressive, whether rational or irrational.
They do not require any special justification as
long as they are spontaneous and true to the self
of the chooser. They are facts of the first
existential order.”
SOCIOMETRY
• IT IS A POWERFUL TOOL FOR ASSESSING DYNAMICS AND
DEVELOPMENT IN GROUPS DEVOTED TO THERAPY OR
TRAINING.

• SOCIOMETRY IS BASED ON FACT THAT PEOPLE MAKES

CHOICES IN INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS.

• WHENEVER PEOPLE GATHER, THEY MAKE CHOICES – WHERE

TO SIT OT STAND; CHOICES ABOUT WHO IS PERCEIVED AS
FRIENDLY AND WHO NOT, WHO IS CENTRAL TO THE GROUP,
WHO IS REJECTED, WHO IS ISOLATED.
The importance and functions of
Sociometry
• It enables us to learn about the group dynamics
and evaluate socialization levels of students after
some social activities and their effects on
reaching the intended goal.
• It helps school administration,teachers and
counseling department by providing detailed
information about the general structure & the
social relationships of the group by preparing
social plans&programmes to develop them in a
better way and to find solutions to the problems.
• After applying these regulations,groups can be
re-constructed to increase efficiency in their
performance.
• Due to being not an analysis of an individual only,
but the analysis of a person in a whole group, this
technique gives us extensive amount of
information about a lot of people at the same
time.
• Sociometry also gives us a chance to identify the
distance/closeness of the group members with
each other and the interaction net among them.
• Additionally, it is beneficial in preventing
adaptation problems after having the application
results in the hand.
SOCIOMETRIC CRITERIAN
• Choices are always based on some basis or criterion.
• Criterion may be subjective, such as an intuitive feeling of
liking or disliking a person on first impression.
• When members of a group are asked to choose others in the
group based on a specific criteria, everyone in the group can
make choices and describe why the choices were made.
• From these choices a description emerges of the networks
inside the group. A drawing, like a map, of those networks is
called a sociogram.
• 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
 What is A Sociogram?
A sociogram is a charting of the inter-relationships
within a group. Its purpose is to discover group
structure: i.e., the basic "network" of friendship patterns
and sub-group organization.
The relations of any one child to the group as a whole
are another type of information which can be derived
from a sociogram.
A sociogram's value to a teacher is in its potential for
developing greater understanding of group behavior so
that he/she may operate more wisely in group
management and curriculum development.
Sociograms may be constructed in a variety of ways. The
methods described here re ones which teachers have
used and found not too difficult or time consuming.
THE APPLICATION OF SOCIOMETRY
KINDS OF QUESTIONS TO BE ASKED:

NAME/SURNAME: DATE: ../../….

-With which of your friend would you like to go on a trip?

-With which of your friend would you like to study and do

your homework together?

1st preferance: ………………………………………….

2nd preferance: …………………………………………
13rd preferance: ……………………………………….
Sociogram
• STARS: Many positive and few negative nominations
• REJECTED: the ones who get many negative and few positive
nominations
• Neglected: Few positive and few negative
• Isolates: Who receive no nominations at all
• Mutuals: Positive mutuals & Negative mutuals
• Gaps or Cleavages: When clusters of people have chosen each
other but have not chosen any one from other cluster.
SOME CHARACTER TYPES
OBSERVED IN SOCIMETRY
•Leaders
•Isolated ones
•Rejected ones
•Groups in-pairs
•Cliques
•Relationships in-chain
TECHNIQUES USED IN COUNSELING

•Techniques for getting to know

an individual
•Techniques based on self-
expressing
•Techniques based on others’
views
AREAS THAT SOCIOMETRY CAN BE
APPLIED
•Education
•Industry
•Service & Public Sector
•Military
Activity: Make a Sociogram
• Many TV shows are about a group of
friends of co-workers. Choose such a
show that all group members are familiar
with and make a sociogram where each
member is represented by a circle and
arrows from one circle to another
represent whether the relationship is
positive or negative (use a + or – mark).
Place individuals that are preferred by
many group members (stars) in the
center, and put those that are preferred
by few (isolates) on the edges.