"A Systems Approach to Small Group Interaction" pioneered the systems approach and is the only book that integrates all important small group topics into a single comprehensive conceptual model. The text also features a unique systematic organization. Each chapter begins with a brief preview, followed by a glossary of terms, a real life case study, and then the chapter text material; next comes several experiential exercises for skill development, and finally the chapter concludes with two original readings.
"A Systems Approach to Small Group Interaction" pioneered the systems approach and is the only book that integrates all important small group topics into a single comprehensive conceptual model. The text also features a unique systematic organization. Each chapter begins with a brief preview, followed by a glossary of terms, a real life case study, and then the chapter text material; next comes several experiential exercises for skill development, and finally the chapter concludes with two original readings.
The only book for Small Group Communication that integrates all important small group topics into a single comprehensive conceptual model, this text pioneered the systems approach for the group communication course. Each chapter begins with a brief preview, followed by a glossary of terms and a real life case study; the chapter text material is followed by several experiential exercises for skill development and two original readings.
The only book that integrates all important small group communication topics into a single comprehensive conceptual model, this text pioneered the systems approach for the group communication course. Each chapter begins with a brief preview, followed by a glossary of terms and a real life case study. The text material in each chapter is followed by several experiential exercises for skill development and two original readings.
Social Interaction Systems is the culmination of a half century of work in the field of social psychology by Robert Freed Bales, a pioneer at the Department of Social Relations at Harvard University. Led by Talcott Parsons, Gordon W. Allport, Henry A. Murray, and Clyde M. Kluckhohn, the Harvard Project was intended to establish an integrative framework for social psychology, one based on the interaction process, augmented by value content analysis. Bales sees this approach as a personal involvement that goes far beyond the classical experimental approach to the study of groups. Bales developed SYMLOG, which stands for systematic multiple level observation of groups. The SYMLOG Consulting Group approach was worldwide as well as interactive. It created a data bank that made possible a search for general laws of human interaction far beyond anything thus far known. In his daring search for universal features, Bales redefines the fundamental boundaries of the field, and in so doing establishes criteria for the behavior and values of leaders and followers. Bales offers a new "field theory," an appreciation of the multiple contexts in which people live. Bales does not aim to eradicate differences, but to understand them. In this sense, the values inherent in any interaction situation permit the psychologist to appreciate the sources of polarization as they actually exist: between conservative and liberal, individualistic and authoritarian, libertarian and communitarian. Bales repeatedly emphasizes that the mental processes of individuals and their social interactions take place in systematic contexts which can be measured. Hence they permit explanation and prediction of behavior in a more exact way than in past traditions. Bales has offered a pioneering work that has the potential to move us into a new theoretical epoch no less than a new century. His work holds out the promise of synthesis and support for psychologists, sociologists, and all who work with groups and organizations of all kinds.
This Handbook provides a compendium of research methods that are essential for studying interaction and communication across the behavioral sciences. Focusing on coding of verbal and nonverbal behavior and interaction, the Handbook is organized into five parts. Part I provides an introduction and historic overview of the field. Part II presents areas in which interaction analysis is used, such as relationship research, group research, and nonverbal research. Part III focuses on development, validation, and concrete application of interaction coding schemes. Part IV presents relevant data analysis methods and statistics. Part V contains systematic descriptions of established and novel coding schemes, which allows quick comparison across instruments. Researchers can apply this methodology to their own interaction data and learn how to evaluate and select coding schemes and conduct interaction analysis. This is an essential reference for all who study communication in teams and groups.
