Research Methods for Studying Groups and Teams ─ A Guide to Approaches, Tools, and Technologies

This volume provides an overview of the methodological issues and challenges inherent in the study of small groups from the perspective of seasoned researchers in communication, psychology and other fields in the behavioral and social sciences. It summarizes the current state of group methods in a format that is readable, insightful, and useful for both new and experienced group researchers. This collection of essays will inspire new and established researchers alike to look beyond their current methodological approaches, covering both traditional and new methods for studying groups and exploring the full range of groups in face-to-face and online settings.
The volume will be an important addition to graduate study on group research and will be a valuable reference for established group researchers, consultants and other practitioners. The essays in this volume when considered as a whole will be a contemporary interdisciplinary integration on group research methods.

Andrea B. Hollingshead is Professor of Communication in the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism at the University of Southern California. She has joint appointments in the Marshall School of Business and the Department of Psychology and is co-director of the Annenberg Program for Online Communities Research Initiative. Professor Hollingshead's research concerns the factors and processes that lead to effective and ineffective knowledge sharing in work groups. Her research also addresses how groups collaborate and create community using communication technologies.
Marshall Scott Poole is a Professor in the Department of Communication and Director of the Institute for Computing in the Humanities, Arts, and Social Science at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. His current research foci include team behavior in massive multiplayer online games, the use of information technology in emergency response, and integrating theories of small groups and social networks in the explanation of large, dynamically changing groups and intergroup networks.

Group Research Methods: An Introduction
Andrea B. Hollingshead, University of Southern California & Marshall Scott Poole, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Chapter 1: Designing for Drift: Planning Ethnographic Qualitative Research on Groups
Michael G. Pratt & Najung Kim, Boston College

Chapter 2: Experimental Designs for Research on Small Groups: The 4 Ps
Patrick Laughlin, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Chapter 3: Running Experiments with Groups
Gwen Wittenbaum, Michigan State University

Chapter 4: Group Research Using High Fidelity Experimental Simulations
Franziska Tschan, University of Neuchâtel; Norbert K. Semmer, University of Bern; Sabina Hunziker & Stephan U. Marsch, University Hospital of Basel, Switzerland

Chapter 5: Computer Simulation Methods for Groups: From Formula Translation to Agent-Based Modeling
James R. Larson, Jr., Loyola University Chicago
Chapter 6: Studying Global Work Groups in the Field
Pamela J. Hinds, Stanford University & Catherine Durnell Cramton, George Mason University
Chapter 7: Crossing Party Lines: Incorporating Measures of Individual Differences in Groups
Randall Peterson, London Business School

Chapter 8: Studying Team Cognition: The Good, the Bad, and the Practical
Susan Mohammed & Katherine Hamilton, The Pennsylvania State University

Chapter 9: Investigating Emotion and Affect in Groups
Janice R. Kelly, Purdue University; Eric E. Jones, Southern Illinois University

Chapter 10: Using Virtual Game Environments to Study Group Behavior
James H. Wirth, University of North Florida; Frans Feldberg, Alexander Schouten & Bart van den Hooff, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam; and Kipling D. Williams, Purdue University

Chapter 11: Interviewing Members of Online Communities: A Practical Guide to Recruiting Participants
Amy Bruckman, Georgia Institute of Technology

Chapter 12: Bona Fide Groups: A Discourse Perspective
Linda L. Putnam & Cynthia Stohl, University of California-Santa Barbara; Jane Stuart Baker, University of Alabama

Chapter 13: Understanding Group Dynamics Using Narrative Methods
SunWolf, Santa Clara University
Chapter 14: Groups and Teams in Organizations: Studying the Multilevel Dynamics of Emergence
Steve W. J. Kozlowski, Michigan State University
Chapter 15: Understanding Groups from a Network Perspective
Noshir S. Contractor, Northwestern University & Chunke Su, University of Texas at Arlington



Chapter 16: Analyzing Group Data
Deborah A. Kashy & Nao Hagiwara, Michigan State University

Chapter 17: Coding Group Interaction
Renee A. Meyers, University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee & David Seibold, University of California Santa-Barbara

Chapter 18: The Analysis of Group Interaction Processes
Dean E. Hewes, University of Minnesota & Marshall Scott Poole, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Chapter 19: Measuring Team Dynamics in the Wild
Michael A. Rosen, Booz Allen Hamilton; Jessica L. Wildman, University of Central Florida; Eduardo Salas, University of Central Florida; & Sara Rayne, Navy Personnel Research, Studies, and Technology


Chapter 20: Interventions in Groups: Methods for Facilitating Team Development
David Seibold, UC Santa Barbara & Renee Meyers, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee