The Study of Groups: Past, Present, and Future

TLDR

Historically, small‑group research has focused on static, controlled laboratory studies, but recent trends view groups as complex, adaptive, dynamic systems. The study proposes a theory of groups as complex systems and highlights associated methodological and conceptual issues. The authors propose a three‑pronged strategy combining theory development, computational modeling, and empirical research to illuminate dynamic processes of group complexity.

Abstract

A century of research on small groups has yielded bountiful findings about many specific features and processes in groups. Much of that work, in line with a positivist epistemology that emphasizes control and precision and favors the laboratory experiment over other data collection strategies, has also tended to treat groups as though they were simple, isolated, static entities. Recent research trends that treat groups as complex, adaptive, dynamic systems open up new approaches to studying groups. In line with those trends, a theory of groups as complex systems is offered and some methodological and conceptual issues raised by this theory are identified. A 3-pronged research strategy based on theory development, computational modeling, and empirical research that holds promise for illuminating the dynamic processes underlying the emergence of complexity and the ongoing balance of continuity and change in groups is proposed.