Analyzing Group Interactions

Book excerpt: Analyzing Group Interactions gives a comprehensive overview of the use of different methods for the analysis of group interactions. International experts from a range of different disciplines within the social sciences illustrate their step-by-step procedures of how they analyze interactions within groups and explain what kind of data and skills are needed to get started. Each method is discussed in the same, structured manner, focusing on each method’s strengths and weaknesses, its applicability and requirements, and the precise workflow to "follow along" when analyzing group interactions with the respective method. The analyzing strategies covered in this book include ethnographical approaches, phenomenology, content analysis, documentary method, discourse analysis, grounded theory, social network analysis, quantitative ratings, and several triangulative and mixed-method research designs. This volume is recommended for researchers at all levels that need guidance with the complex task of analyzing group interactions. The unified structure throughout the book facilitates comparison across the different methods and helps with deciding on the approach to be taken.