Analysis of Social Interaction Systems: SYMLOG Research and Applications

Inspired by the research and theory of Robert Freed Bales (Professor Emeritus of Sociology at Harvard University), this collection of research and applications using SYMLOG, a system for the multi-level observation of groups, provides the most recent examples of analyzing aspects of social interaction systems. The collection shows the relationship of SYMLOG to other theoretical models, gives examples of international research, includes applications in health, education, religion, and policy analysis, and illustrates problems and solutions regarding the validity and reliability of the method. The editors provide the widest selection of articles on SYMLOG, covering theory, research, and applications in organizational development and other fields.

A. PAUL HARE is Professor of Sociology at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel. From 1973 to 1980, he was Professor of Sociology at the University of Cape Town in South Africa. He is the author of Creativity in Small Groups (1982), Social Interaction as Drama (1985), Dramaturgical Analysis of Social Interaction, with H. Blumberg (Praeger, 1988), and Small Group Research, with Blumberg, Davies, and Kent (1991). He is also the co-editor of The Symlog Practitioner, with R. Polley and P. Stone (Praeger, 1988) and eight other books, and the author of numerous journal articles.