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 Data Base.
The basic material from which a sociogram is constructed is collected from
group members who answer questions such as these:
Some researchers recommend the use of negative questions in order to discover interpersonal resistance. An example would be "Which three people do you like the least? This would be described as a "Fixed Negative nomination" technique. If the children were also asked to rank the individuals from "most" to "least" disliked, we would call it a "Fixed rank, Negative Nomination" technique. The study of resistance or rejection is sometimes accompanied by unfavorable emotional reaction by children. Nevertheless, negative nomination information can be quite informative to the teacher. Similar information my be obtained using Social Distance ratings which will be discussed later.
FIGURE 1 (THE DATA BASE)
| NOMINATOR'S CODE # | NOMINATOR'S NAME | 1ST CHOICE | 2ND CHOICE | 3RD CHOICE |
| 1. | ANN | DEAL (5) | NELDA (20) | JUDY(12) |
| 2. | BUD | JUSTIN (15) | NORRIS (19) | JOHN (9) |
| 3. | DIANE | DONNA (6) | LAURA (16) | JUDY (12) |
| 4. | DORIS | JUDY (12) | LAURA (16) | JUNE (13) |
| 5. | DEAL | JERRI (14) | ANN (1) | JUNE (13) |
| 6. | DICK | SOL (23) | JIM (11) | BUD (2) |
| 8. | GARY | JUNE (13) | DORIS (4) | NORRIS (19) |
| 9. | HARRY | JIM (11) | DICK (7) | BUD (2) |
| 10. | JOHN | JUSTIN (15) | BUD (2) | NORRIS (19) |
| 11. | JIM | MIKE (17) | JUSTIN (15) | BUD (2) |
| 12. | JUDY | NELDA (20) | LAURA (16) | ANN (1) |
| 13. | JUNE | DORIS (4) | LAURA (16) | JUDY (12) |
| 14. | JERRI | DEAL (5) | NELDA (20) | DICK (7) |
| 15. | JUSTIN | SOL (23) | DICK (7) | NORRIS (19) |
| 16. | LAURA | JUDY (12) | NELDA (20) | DORIS (4) |
| 17. | MIKE | JIM (11) | SOL (23) | NORRIS (19) |
| 18. | MILLARD | SAM (22) | VICTOR (24) | JIM (11) |
| 19. | NORRIS | JUSTIN (15) | NELDA (20) | JIM (11) |
| 20. | NELDA | JUDY (12) | NORRIS (19) | LAURA (16) |
| 21. | PRUDENCE | NELDA (20) | DORIS (4) | JUDY (12) |
| 22. | SAM | VICTOR (24) | MIKE (17) | JIM (11) |
| 23. | SOL | NORRIS (19) | DICK (7) | JIM (11) |
| 24. | VICTOR | SAM (22) | MIKE (17) | JIM (11) |
How to Chart a Sociogram.
STEP 1
Using a survey sheet similar to that shown in Appendix A, responses of
individual children within a group to questions such as those described above
may be cut into individual strips. Note that the child who is responding to
the question writes his/her name in the left most block, followed by his/her
three nominations in the adjacent three blocks. Thus, the block second from
the left indicates the first nomination, the second nomination is the third
block from the left, and the right most block is the third nomination. For
purposes of later explanation a compilation of children's FIXED RANKED
POSITIVE NOMINATIONS is displayed in FIGURE 1, The Data Base. The ensuing
examples all draw upon this data base.
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