Sociogram
A sociogram ( Latin socius 'comrade', 'companion' and old Greek γράμμα grámma 'sign') is the graphical representation of the relationships in a group, for example in a school class or in a company. This method was developed by Jacob Levy Moreno . Based on data from a sociometric survey, relationships are symbolized, for example, by various arrows.
history
Rudolf Lochner , who is considered the (co-) founder of descriptive pedagogy in Germany , was the first to introduce the term sociogram into scientific terminology and, in 1927, to present a “sociogram of the elementary school class”. In psychology at that time there was a flood of psychograms (lists of characteristics, tables of descriptive points, questionnaires, observation schemes). This was “obviously a stimulus and a methodological model” for his description scheme, Lochner himself speaks of a “full sociogram of student observation”. However, the term sociogram can only be applied to a limited extent to Lochner's sociogram. In 167 points, Lochner's scheme contains an abundance of hints for practical surveys and observations in the class. The psychological profile of Lochner was intended as a basis of a systematic description students. According to Elbing, he wanted to systematize the description with a comprehensive scheme of viewpoints (“sociological program”). It's not so much about graphing the structure of a class. Lochner then calls the scheme, but also the description itself, a sociogram.
application
A common area of application is the analysis of the relationships between departments and individuals in a company in order to optimize work processes. As action sociogram one can group process are referred to in the course of making the members of the group identified by their actions certain statements. For example, one corner of a room can be defined as a place for representing a negative statement, and the corner lying diagonally opposite for representing a positive statement. If a question is now asked that can be answered with yes or no , the people move to the corresponding corner of the room or, in the case of indecision, to a position in between.
Case study
The survey can be carried out in a school class, for example, in that each pupil can answer questions such as: “Who would you like to sit next to?” And name three classmates. If student A would like to sit next to student B, a (black) arrow points from A to B.
The graphic representation then gives a clear overview of the data collected. For example, outsiders are immediately recognizable because few or no arrows are pointed at them. Conversely, particularly popular students can be recognized immediately by the fact that many arrows are pointed at them.
The publication of such data to those affected can be extremely problematic, as possibly existing outsiders may be pushed into this role even more than before and the objective evidence of this position can represent an additional, considerable burden for them.
A teacher can, however, draw important conclusions about the cohesion of a school class from this data and thus better take long-term corrective action. The sociogram shows who in the group is the informal group leader and who is the outsider .
Individual evidence
- ↑ JL Moreno: The basics of sociometry. Cologne 1954.
- ↑ E. Höhn, CP Schick: The sociogram. 3. Edition. Göttingen 1974, p. 32.
- ^ Rudolf Lochner: The sociogram of the school class. In: Journal of Educational Psychology, Experimental Pedagogy and Adolescent Research. Quelle & Meyer Verlag, 28th year, Leipzig 1927, p. 177.
- ^ Eberhard Elbing: The sociogram of the school class. Study books psychology in education and teaching. 5th edition. Ernst Reinhardt Verlag, Munich / Basel 1975, p. 77.
- ↑ Otto Engelmayer: The sociogram in the modern school, ways of sociographical work on the class. 2nd Edition. Chr. Kaiser Verlag, Munich 1958, p. 12.
- ^ HJ Rahn: Successful team leadership. 6th edition. Hamburg 2010, pp. 24–30.
literature
- E. Höhn, CP Schick: The sociogram. 3. Edition. Psychology Publishing House, Göttingen 1974.
- JL Moreno: The Basics of Sociometry. Westdeutscher Verlag, Cologne 1954. (Leske and Budrich, Opladen 1996, ISBN 3-8100-1488-5 .)
