Sociometry is a quantitative method for measuring social relationships. It was developed by psychotherapist Jacob L. Moreno and

Helen Hall Jennings Helen Hall Jennings (September 20, 1905 – October 4, 1966) was a social psychologist and trailblazer in the field of social networks in the early 20th century. She developed quantitative research methods used to study sociometry, a quantitative m ...

in their studies of the relationship between social structures and psychological well-being, and used during Remedial Teaching.

Definition

The term sociometry relates to its

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

etymology Etymology ()The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p. 633 "Etymology /ˌɛtɪˈmɒlədʒi/ the study of the class in words and the way their meanings have changed throughout time". is the study of the history of the Phonological chan ...

, ''socius'' meaning companion, and ''metrum'' meaning measure. Jacob Moreno defined sociometry as "the inquiry into the evolution and organization of groups and the position of individuals within them." He goes on to write "As the ...science of group organization, it attacks the problem not from the outer structure of the group, the group surface, but from the inner structure". "Sociometric explorations reveal the hidden structures that give a group its form: the alliances, the subgroups, the hidden beliefs, the forbidden agendas, the ideological agreements, the "stars" of the show." Moreno developed sociometry as one of the newly developing social sciences. He states: "The chief methodological task of sociometry has been the revision of the experimental method so that it can be applied effectively to social phenomena." (Moreno, 2012:39) The practice of the method had the focus on the outcomes established by the participants: "By making choices based on criteria, overt and energetic, Moreno hoped that individuals would be more spontaneous, and organisations and groups structures would become fresh, clear and lively." One of Moreno's innovations in sociometry was the development of the

sociogram A sociogram is a graphic representation of social links that a person has. It is a graph drawing that plots the structure of interpersonal relations in a group situation. Overview Sociograms were developed by Jacob L. Moreno to analyze choice ...

, a systematic method for graphically representing individuals as points/nodes and the relationships between them as lines/arcs. Moreno, who wrote extensively of his thinking, applications and findings, also founded a journal entitled ''Sociometry.'' Moreno Sociogram 1st Grade.png, 1st Grade Moreno Sociogram 2nd Grade.png, 2nd Grade Moreno Sociogram 3rd Grade.png, 3rd Grade Moreno Sociogram 4th Grade.png, 4th Grade Moreno Sociogram 5th Grade.png, 5th Grade Moreno Sociogram 6th Grade.png, 6th Grade Moreno Sociogram 7th Grade.png, 7th Grade Moreno Sociogram 8th Grade.png, 8th Grade Within

sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of empirical investigation an ...

, sociometry has two main branches: research sociometry, and applied sociometry. Research sociometry is action research with groups exploring the socio-emotional networks of relationships using specified criteria e.g. Who in this group do you want to sit beside you at work? Who in the group do you go to for advice on a work problem? Who in the group do you see providing satisfying leadership in the pending project? Sometimes called network explorations, research sociometry is concerned with relational patterns in small (individual and small group) and larger populations, such as organizations and neighborhoods. Applied sociometrists utilize a range of methods to assist people and groups review, expand and develop their existing psycho-social networks of relationships. Both fields of sociometry exist to produce through their application, greater spontaneity and creativity of both individuals and groups.

Moreno's criteria for sociometric tests

In ''Sociometry, Experimental Method and the Science of Society: An Approach to a New Political Orientation'' (1951), Moreno describes the depth to which a group needs to go for the method to be "sociometric". The term for him had a qualitative meaning and did not apply unless some group process criteria were met. One of these is that there is acknowledgment of the difference between process dynamics and the manifest content. To quote Moreno: "there is a deep discrepancy between the official and the secret behavior of members". Moreno advocates that before any "social program" can be proposed, the sociometrist has to "take into account the actual constitution of the group." Other criteria include the rule of adequate motivation: "Every participant should feel about the experiment that it is in his (or her) own cause ... that it is an opportunity for him (or her) to become an active agent in matters concerning his (or her) life situation." and the Rule of "gradual" inclusion of all extraneous criteria.

Anthropological applications

Given that sociometry is concerned with group allegiances and cleavages, it is not surprising that sociometric methods have been used to study ethnic relationships and way individuals identify with ethnic groups. For instance, using sociometric research, Joan Criswell investigated white-black relationships in US classrooms, Gabriel Weimann researched ethnic relationships in Israel, and James Page has investigated intra-ethnic and inter-ethnic identification within the Pacific.Page, J. 1988/9. Education and Acculturation on Malaita: An Ethnography of Intra-ethnic and Inter-ethnic Affinities. ''Journal of Intercultural Studies''. 15/16:74-81. Online: http://eprints.qut.edu.au/3566/

Other approaches and software

Other approaches were developed in last decades, such as

social network analysis Social network analysis (SNA) is the process of investigating social structures through the use of networks and graph theory. It characterizes networked structures in terms of ''nodes'' (individual actors, people, or things within the network) ...

, or

sociomapping Sociomapping is a method developed for processing and visualization of relational data (e.g. social network data). It is most commonly used for mapping the social structure within small teams (10-25 people). Sociomapping uses the landscape metaphor ...

. Freeware as well as commercial software was developed for analysis of groups and their structure, such as Gephi, Pajek, Keyhubs or InFlow. All these approaches share much of their basic principles with Sociometry.

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Mosk ...

is a

social network service A social networking service or SNS (sometimes called a social networking site) is an online platform which people use to build social networks or social relationships with other people who share similar personal or career content, interests, act ...

and website which is largely based on the sociometry of its users.

References

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External links