Sociometry studies the quantitative indicators of interpersonal relationships and provides very interesting data on the relationships in the group. The founder of this method is Jacob Moreno.
To identify preferences in a group, you need to ask at least two questions: "With whom from your group, class, team would you like to be together all the time (at work, study)?" And the second question: "With whom from your group, class, team would you not like to constantly be together (at work, study)?"
Based on these questions posed to all members of the established team, one can judge who is in the leading position in the hierarchy, and who is an outsider, etc. Often two more questions are added to these questions: "Who from your team would you invite to your birthday?" And the second question: "Who from your team would you not invite to your birthday?"
If the first pair of questions assesses the preference in the field of working relationships, then the second pair allows you to assess personal preferences in the team.
What do we get as a result of such research? First, after processing the results, we get a diagram in the form of several concentric circles, which depicts all members of the team in accordance with the number of preferences they received. In the center are those who received the most elections, that is, the most popular, and at the edges are those who are most rejected.
Secondly, in addition to leaders, formal and informal, one can distinguish groups of those who communicate most closely in a given collective. Usually, in large groups (school classes, institute groups), several microgroups of 3-5 people are distinguished. Since the microgroups themselves are focused on their leaders, it is easy to identify the common features and direction of the microgroup if we know their leader. This can be useful in psychological work to correct unfavorable factors of interpersonal communication in a team. Outsiders and the most rejected team members also require a separate approach.
Thirdly, modern programs for processing sociometric data make it possible to assess several characteristics of a group at once. These are cohesion, conflict and other indicators of the group, by which it is already possible to compare different teams and predict, for example, success in competitions, where the result depends on the overall coherence of the group.
