User:Kelsey2000/sandbox

Sociology of small groups is a subfield of sociology that studies the action, interaction and the types of social groups that result from social relations. In social life, society is a large social group which contains many subgroups. It is a characteristic of social groups that small groups are in large groups. The sociology of small groups covers the various small groups contained in societies at the microsociological level.There is no precise number for what makes a small group. Robert F. Bales defines a small group as “any number of persons engaged in interaction with each other in a single face-to-face meeting or series of meetings.” Group is characterized by shared place, common identity, collective culture, and social relations. Within the group there are primary and secondary groups. The primary group could be family and the secondary group could be co-workers.

Definition
The definition of sociology of small groups was first introduced by the French author and sociologist Gabriel Tarde. Small groups are groups of a small number of members with intense interaction between them. The sociology of small groups has also been defined as a field research and the study of sociology of community.Tarde rejects economists’ definition of society as separate groups of individuals that act a certain way for others. Instead he believes that society is made up of individuals that  resemble and imitate each other. There are three aspects of the law of imitation: the law of close contract, the law of imitation of superiors by inferiors, and the law of insertion. The law of imitation is divided into two parts: physical and social. There are two mechanisms that can describe logical causes of imitation. The first is that imitation starts from inside the individual and is projected outward. The second is that imitation operates on the top-down principle, meaning that ideas associated with superior individuals are mirrored by those that are inferior.

Timeline
The USA has developed psychological warfare tactics based on the knowledge of sociology of small groups and social psychology against the communities belonging to different cultures that it has encountered in various countries. Johan Galtung, in his paper at a conference on international relations in 1966, put forward the idea that the sociology of small groups is useful for the study of international relations. Galtung pointed out, in particular, that not only "tangible" international relations, but also "abstract" international relations can be understood in terms of the sociology of small groups.

Research
One of the primary research interests of the sociology of small groups is how group characteristics affect decision-making. This type of research has focused on a wide variety of real groups, such as aircrew, submarine crews, protest organizers, business meetings, and juries. One of the most consistent findings of research in small groups is that the opinions of group members become even more similar over time, a process known as "choice shift". Muzafer Sherif described the research findings on small groups as "One of the most consistent findings of research on small groups is the tendency of group members' opinions to convergence (or be more similar) over time."

Robert F. Bales wrote A Set of Categories for the Analysis of Small Group Interaction. Bales describes a method called interaction process analysis which he uses to study groups. Bales created a form with twelve categories for the study. In them are six functional problems: problems of orientation, evaluation, control, decision, tension-management, and integration. Bales illustrates how to break the problems up into stages.

Field study
Cultural anthropologists provided data on groups living under different conditions. Political scientists have studied the functioning of legislative groups, pressure groups, and the impact of group membership on voting.

Small groups
Theodore M. Mills suggested that a person belongs to an average of five or six groups at a time, and that there are about four or five billion small groups that have settled. According to Mills, a person spends most of their waking hours interacting with one group or anothers. Mills defined these groups as family groups, friend groups, business partners, club groups, associations, girls club, and committees According to Mills, it's not the first time he's been some of these groups/families are relatively separate compared to boards of directors that are part of larger units. Mills defines those groups as; construction gangs, hunting parties, municipal councils, ceremonial dance teams, bomber teams, and athletics teams.

In groups, individuals are easily able to observe the actions of others. This helps members create their social identity. Groups allow for development, creation of culture, and meaning. Groups are also used to remake society. Small groups can serve as agents of social change. Members do not passively accept authority, but often try to create structural change. The success of change relies on their success in micro-level control systems. Members use money, new recruits, media, and support from elites to enact this change.

Observing
Small groups can be generalized to organizations and larger social groups. Small group research requires meso-analysis between individual agency and structural processes. Small group research is expanding in areas like gender, education, and culture.

Theodore M. Mills defined the reason for studying small groups as social psychology. Mills explained as "Since social pressures and pressures from the individual come together in a small group, it is a convenient context to observe and experiment with the interaction between these pressures. Scientific research can lead to general laws about how individuals deal with social realities".