Small Group Research

Small group research is of particularly wide interest to people working in a fairly broad variety of areas concerned with understanding conflict, especially for practitioners and researchers concerned with conflict resolution, peace, and related areas. The editors will focus on six main topical areas of small group research, which include: - Cooperation, competition, and conflict resolution - Coalitions, bargaining, and games - Group dynamics and social cognition - The group and organization - Team performance - Intergroup relations

This book provides comprehensive coverage of recent research in psychology relating to small groups. Major new work is described and thousands of studies are at least cited within a logical framework. A thorough overview of the field is provided and specialists concerned with particular kinds of groups are likely to find references to all major research in their areas. The findings of various studies contain many surprises, especially with regard to the generality and specificity of previously known principles. Particular emphasis is given to studies involving - or having fairly immediate relevance to - face-to-face social interaction.

What are groups? How do they behave? Arrow, McGrath, and Berdahl answer these questions by developing a general theory of small groups as complex systems. Basing their theory on concepts distilled from general systems theory, dynamical systems theory, and complexity and chaos theory, they explore groups as adaptive, dynamic systems that are driven by interactions among group members as well as between the group and its embedding contexts. In addition, they consider not only the group's members and their distribution of attributes, but also the group's tasks and technology in order to understand how those members, tasks, and tools are intertwined, coordinated, and adjusted. Throughout the book, the authors focus our attention on relationships among people, tools, and tasks that are activated by a combination of individual and collective purposes and goals that change and evolve as the group interacts over time.

Nearly every church is trying to help their congregants build relationships with others, grow as disciples, and/or engage in meaningful service through small groups. Many have argued that these small groups are the preferred vehicle for relationship building, disciple making, and membership assimilation in the local church, especially in large, multisite churches. Leading Small Groups That Thrive shows small group leaders, step by step, how to plan for, launch, build, sustain, and multiply highly effective, transformational, healthy small group experiences where people grow spiritually together. Based on a large-scale research study of small group pastors, leaders, and members, Leading Small Groups That Thrive gives church leaders both what they want--practical, straightforward, actual small group member voices and experiences, and compelling guidance on how to build transformational groups complemented with real-life examples and data of successful small groups--and what they need--substantial, challenging insights and a data-driven model grounded in the latest research on church small groups.

Around the world there is increasing interest in issues of small business and entrepreneurship. This book encapsulates the knowledge that can be gained from the most significant research contributions in this field. In addition it provides a historical-doctrinal review of the development of entrepreneurship and small business research, and presents some of the key pioneers that have shaped the research field.