A DOGGEREL DIARY:
RHYMES AND SONGS OF A SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGIST
I enjoy composing doggerel … short rhymes or new lyrics to songs, that try to make a point in a light hearted way. On a number of occasions, I have been able to compose doggerel that served as a useful part of a talk or a paper. They were on various subjects … methodology, groups, time, the work of colleagues, and so on. I am going to try to bring a lot of those together here, into a "book" of doggerel. I am calling the different sets of them "Chapters", for want of a better term. For each chapter, I will indicate the context in which I first made use of those doggerel pieces, and where if at all they have been publicly available.
CHAPTER I: THE JUDGMENT CALLS FOLLIES: RESEARCH AND ALL THAT JAZZ
My first venture into a public display of my doggerel was for a conference, in the early 80s, on "Methodological innovations in organizational research". I chaired one of six task groups – our task group’s mission was titled "Judgment Calls in Research" (a kind of catch all category, as compared to most of the other task groups such as "qualitative methods" and "quantitative methods"). JoAnne Martin and Richard Kulka were my task group teammates in that venture. Since most of our initial audience was going to be other senior organizational researchers, and since we were going to be quite critical of past/current research in certain ways, I thought it might be useful to "lighten" our presentation with a bit of humor. So I composed some lyrics to some well known songs (St. Louis Blues, Alabamy Bound, Ain’t Misbehavin’, and so on) that I hoped would make the points we wanted to emphasize in a light-hearted way. Norbert Kerr made a video with the songs (performed by the group hosting the conference), and he made that video available to anyone interested for a few years. So a lot of folks have already seen these. But here are those song lyrics FYI:
The presentation was titled "The Judgment Calls Follies: Research and all that Jazz!". It was organized as if a stage production: An Overture/introduction; Act I (strategy); Act II (design); Act III (measurement); Act IV (analysis); Reprise. Those formal divisions are dropped in the presentation below but the songs are presented in that same sequence.
THE JUDGMENT CALLS FOLLIES: RESEARCH AND ALL THAT JAZZ!
[To the tune of "My favorite things" from Sound of Music)
Samples of subjects
With too much attrition
Studies with crossed
And with nested conditions;
All of the blessings that randomness brings!
These are some meth- od- o- logical things!
Self-report measures,
And archives and traces;
Complex designs
With not many cases;
All of the ways that convergence is king!
These are some meth- od- o- logical things!
Study designs with dozens of hitches!
Batches of data all covered with glitches!
Multiple methods, whose praises we sing!
These are some meth- od- o- logical things!
When the data
Isn’t great-a
And I’m feeling sad
I retreat to my meth – od – o- logical things
And then I don’t feel … so bad!
2..The Strategy Lament
[To the tune of "The Wabash Cannonball"]
There are one and seven strategies
For getting in the know!
Each one’s had its good and bad
But they’re the only ways to go!
They all have some advantages
But none is heaven sent!
And that is why researchers cry
This Strategy Lament
Behold the field researchers!
A’ naturale’ they play!
They never mean to intervene,
Unobtrusive all the way!
They measure what is handy,
All the rest they just let go.
It’s a lot of fun, but when its done
They don’t know what they know!
He’s planning to manipulate
Some rigor thus to glean.
But he wants to do his study
In a realistic scene.
So he bullds a field experiment
To get a blended brew;
But he may find he’s left behind
Both "real" and "rigor" too!
He’s built an imitation
Of the world out there that’s real.
And he captivates his subjects
For it has a real appeal.
Oh it gives him lots of leverage
His variance to tame ..
But his subjects know its all a show ..
And a game is still a game!
Observe the lab researcher
A workin’ at his trade.
He puts some press upon each S
In a setting he has made.
He measures and manipulates
Validity to yield
But, alas, his data won’t replicate-a
If he goes out to the field.
He offers sets of stimuli
And asks which one’s the best.
Then he’ll factor and he’ll cluster
And he’ll MDS the rest!
While judgments he can multiply
He may wind up in a jam
‘cause with trials galore, the task doth bore,
And the S don’t give a damn!
There’s Sam, the sample survey man
He’s linin’ up his "team";
Just to get a survey started
Really takes a lot of steam!
He has stratified, and quota-ed
And he’s sampled everywhere
But he’s staked the whole damn study on
A goddamn questionnaire!
He’s a sittin’ in his armchair
He’s a thinkin’ might strong!
With axioms, and postulates,
He’s rolling right along.
He’s trying to build a theory
That will stand the test of time.
But until it fits some data, it’s
Not worth a wooden dime!
He’s got a big computer
He runs it every day.
It formulates, and calculates,
And simulates away!
He inputs it, stochastically,
It outputs back in kind;
‘cause what it gives is what it got:
It’s the echo of his mind!
Behold! This set of strategies
Beware! They’re all we’ve got
There’s not a one that’s flawless
But each one helps a lot!
They should be used in threes and twos,
With one don’t be content;
Cause used alone, they’ll make you groan ..
This strategy lament!
3. Validity Blues (or Campbell done told me…)
[To the tune of "Blues in the Night"]
Oh, Campbell done told me
Assigning at random
Is just how a study
Must run ……
Designs that are quasi
Should cause us to pause-I
Cause when that runnin’ is done,
Some plausible rivals
Will still offer threats …
Can’t cover all bets …
Validity Blues, in the night!
History and selection
Keep you from perfection
Phooey!
Can’t tell what is true-y!
Oh Phooey, oh phooey …
You can’t know the cause
If the study’s just quas …
Validity Blues, in the night!
In lab or in survey
Or out in the field, Oh!
Whereever researchers
go!
I’ve made me some data
I’ve weighted me some betas
But there is one thing I know:
Its Randomization!
You can’t know the cause
If the study’s just quas ….
Validity Blues, in the night!
4. Mono Method Bound
[To the tune of "I’m Alabamy Bound"]
I’m mono-method bound!
Got no convergence questions hanging round!
That way all matters of Validity
Are up to me.
I’m mono-method free!!
[To the tune of "Allouetta!"]
Ask a question.
Always ask a question.
Want some data?
Use a questionnaire!
Must we use a questionnaire?
We must use a questionnaire!
Questionnaire?
Questionnaire!
Ask a question.
Always ask a question.
Want some data?
Use a questionnaire.
[To the tune of "M. O. T. H. E. R."]
M is for the Multi-Method Matrix.
E is for experiments so bold.
T is for the Times your hardware played Tricks …
H is for Hypotheses grown cold!
O means Observation … and Obtrusive!
D means Damned Designs Done Desparately!
Put them all together they spell METHOD
A word that bores the hell out of me!!!
[To the tune of "Juanita"]
ANOVA!
Let’s do an anova!
Analyze thee, two by three
ANOVA!
I love thee anova!
Two by two bythree!!
8, The Correlator’s Blues
[To the tune of "Ain’t Misbehavin’"]
I’m correlatin’
With linear R
I tried some other things
But they didn’t get me far
So I ain’t waitin’
I’m correlatin’
Away !!!
I’m correlatin’
Ain’t that enough?
I tried an Eta once
But that program’s really tough!
So I ain’t waitin’
I’m correlatin’
All day!!
[To the tune of "God brest Ye Merry, Gentlemen"]
God bless ye merry, factorers
I’m glad you’ve come our way!
Your data are so mountainous
We don’t know what they say!
We can’t rebut your Eigen cut
Nor ken your vast array!
So tell me: What, then, do all those factors mean?
What do they mean?
Oh tell me, what, then, do all those factors mean?
10. Wouldn’t it be loverly!
[To the tune of the same name, from "My Fair Lady"]
All I want is a large Chi-square
One that’s significant anywhere.
And have some theory for it.
Wouldn’t that be loverly!
All I want is a tight design
With significance the bottom line.
And then some print to share it!
Wouldn’t that be loverly! Loverly!
Wouldn’t that be loverly?
11. Tenure Tracking, or Frankie and Johnny Weren’t Tenured
[To the tune of "Frankie and Johnny Were Lovers"]
Frankie & Johnny weren’t tenured.
Oh Lordy how they did strive!
They thought that in their department
Only one of them could survive …
They each had a plan
But they was doin’ it wrong!
Johnny took off for a field site …
Clipboard and stopwatch in hand.
But before he found his way around
He had wasted seven grand ….
He had a plan …
But he was doin’ it wrong.
Frankie went gatherin’ sophomores,
Whipped out her old questionnaire.
She got ten thousand judgments
From six S’s that didn’t care …
She had a plan
But she was doin’ it wrong
Johnny went down to the archives
To see what that drawer had in store!
He tried to make sense of the evidence
But he didn’t know the score!
He had a plan
But he was doin’ it wrong.
Frankie went into her lab room
Cooked a factorial brew
She tested non-monotonics
With a classical two-by-two
She had a plan
But she was doin’ it wrong.
That’s not the end of their story …
T-contracts came amidst sobs …
But when they both complained, they promptly gained
Administrative jobs …
And when you’re an administrative woman or man …
They can’t tell if you is doin’ it wrong!
[To the tune of "New York, New York", from "On the Town"]
Research, research!
It’s a wonderful game
You don’t get money
And you don’t get fame;
But you give ideas and you get back the same!
Research! Research!
!
Research, research!
It’s a wonderful life!
It makes you happy
Or fills you with strife!
You beg for feedback; then, it cuts like a knife!
Research! Research! It’s a wonderful life
We all love
To do research
And we can tell you why!
M E T
H O D
O L O G Y!
CHAPTER II: THE BURMA SHAVE TALK
In 1986, I gave an invited address to Division 14 (Industrial and Organizational Psychology) of APA. That talk was about "lessons learned", and to make it a bit less "preachy" I decided to emphasize key points with little doggerel rhymes. When I was a kid, our rural highways were strewn with little jingles on signs – called Burma Shave signs, because they advertised a then popular shaving cream. Many of them were clever; all were short; some advertised the product, though with humor (e.g.: "Pity all the might Caesar’s; pulled each whisker out with tweezers"), but many of them made other points (e.g.: "If you don’t know whose signs these are … you can’t have driven very far"; and Drinking drivers, nothing worse; They put the quart before the hearse."), each ending with the label, "Burma Shave". I decided that it would be useful to have such eye catching little jingles on "the rocky road of research", and so I illustrated key points of my talk with such jingles (ending with Burma Shave, of course!). Here are those jingles.
Jingle 1: The Consultants
The young consultants, eager still,
Proposed, as cure, a bitter pill.
The old one, graced with cynic’s cheer,
Told them what they longed to hear.
Burma Shave
Jingle 2: The Lab Researcher
The lab researcher’s master plan
Unrolled a complex con-and-scam.
But subjects viewed it jaundicedlly,
And made the data pure puree!\
Burma Shave
Jingle 3: The Qualitative Researcher
Tell me not, with mournful numbers,
How the lives of humans go!
What is shadow, what is substance?
Only we, the anointed, know!!
Burma Shave
Jingle 4: Groups qua groups
No group has mind
Nor Id, nor soul.
But all the parts
Don’t make the whole!
Burma Shave
Jingle 5: Group Types
There are squads in sports, and armies too,
There’s the staff of an office, and a rocket’s crew,
There are juries, and families, and the gang at city hall.
So if you’ve seen one group … you sure ain’t seen ‘em all!
Burma Shave
Jingle 6: Task Types
Some groups try to solve equations,
Some make plans to thwart invasions,
Some resolve conflictful issues,
Some remove malignant tissues.
Some groups make ideas grow,
And some meet merely to say "no".
With groups, as with most any biz …
That which you do is what you is!
Burma Shave
Jingle 7: Group Processes
Roses are red.
Violets are blue.
Groups never ARE ..
They always just DO.
Burma Shave
Jingle 8: Temporal Context
Groups in life face hurdles real,
With goals to get and hurts to heal.
Groups in labs face, in the main,
No strain, no gain, no stomach pain!
Burma Shave
Jingle 9: Temporal Patterning
Clocks and calendars, tick- and tock-ing,
Mark off Gregory/Newton time.
But human life, enacting, talking,
Flows in rhythms (not just rhyme!).
Jingle 10: Time Order
Research in vivo offers gains
But tangles up our causal chains
If cause and outcome both run free
We're up an inferential tree.
Mere correlations we abhor
The cause at least must come before.
Jingle 11: Time Interval
We implement our causal con
Then measure outcome later on.
If look too soon, no impact's made;
If wait too long, then X might fade.
Dare not observe too soon or late
But how do we know how long to wait?
Jingle 12: Cycles
Observing once will not arrange
Evidence for any change
Observing twice a help "twould be
Results can now a difference see.
Observing thrice gives further yield
Non-linear forms can be revealed.
But to see a cycle, por favor,
You need to measure four or more.
Jingle 13: Time Windows
From X till outcome doth arrive
Is time when plausible rivals thrive.
Some threats increase, and some get meager
As time 'twixt X and Y gets bigger.
To measure Y too soon, you see,
Enhances reactivity.
But longer times increase the bets
That through that window flies some threats.
Jingle 14: Time Scale
The world puts on a real-time face
But labs unfold at quickened pace.
In lab-time, many things can't show:
No time to meditate, or grow,
No time to love, or stew, or sleep;
No time for rendezvous to keep.
What can we learn of human antic
From scenarios so frantic?
What can we learn of human ways
In Labs with 15-minute days?
Jingle 15: Time’s Arrow
The point, dear friends, of all this rhyme
Is just that now's the time for time!
The time to take time seriously
Not treat it so imperiously!
The time to make time's mysteries yield
In laboratory and field.
The time to make time fill our theories
E'er time's sharp arrow ends our queries!
CHAPTER III: DOGGEREL FOR EIGHT COLLEAGUES
Over the years I have been blessed with some really outstanding colleagues in social and organizational psychology. They include, in alphabetical order: Jim Davis, Fred Fiedler, Marty Fishbein, Sam Komorita, Pat Laughlin, Ivan Steiner, Harry Triandis, and Bob Wyer. Those eight are really outstanding social and organizational psychologists. I admire the work of each of them greatly. Nevertheless, even the work of outstanding colleagues deserves poking some fun at. So from time to time I composed some doggerel in their honor. I’ll leave it up to your knowledge of the research literature to recognize which is about whose work. And warning: You have to know the person’s work to really get the point of some of them!
SDS
[To the tune of "Three Blind Mice"]
S. D. S.
See how it runs!
You put it all into a matrix, D,
And permute it combinatorially,
Till you end up with two-thirds majority!
In S. D. S.
THE MIDNIGHT RIDE OF LPC
[In the rhyme scheme of "The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere"]
Oh listen, my children, while I tell thee
The wondrous tale of LPC
Twas decades ago, and far away
And hardly anyone here today
Remembers the way it came to be.
Twas late in the 50s when it arose
Out of primordial ASOs
At first, just an r of significant size
But soon, a conceptual glean in Fred’s eyes
A gleam midst the frigid midwest snows.
It made older theories seem dated and funny,
It pointed to leadership prospects quite sunny.
It gave us the key to the leading of groups
From tank crews to steel mills to basketball hoops.
And it gave us a gimmick with which to seek money!
The leader with lots of low LPC
Is the leader like old coach Lombardi would be!
And the leader whose LPC hovers at high
Is the sensitive, Donahue kind of a guy
With both of them up a contingency tree!
When conditions are good, or when they’re a fright
That’s when the low LPC guy is right.
But when things are aveage, not worst and not best,
The high LPC holds the key to success…
Depending on which one is dull, and which bright!
So, listen, my children, lend me your ears.
Old LPC gave us a lot of good years.
Its rescued some damsels, some dragons it’s slain
Hail LPC, LPC, long may it reign.
And what the hell, fellas’, its made some careers!
OLD MAN FISHBEIN HAD IT GOOD
[to the tune of "Old McDonald Had a Farm"]
Old man Fishbein had it good
ei, bi, Oh!
Measuring that Attitude
ei, bi, Oh!
With an A(act) here
And an A(act) there
And a BI, SN, everywhere an A(act)!
Old man Fishbein’s got it good!
ei, bi, Oh!
COALITION
[To the tune of "Makin’ Whoopie!]
Another game, with payoffs new,
Another chance to solve that 2 by 2
No need for waitin’
Negotiatin’
That coalition!
Another chance to allocate,
To equalize the prize or just equate!
We don’t feel free in,
But we will be in
A coalition!
Whether we play for pennies
Or if we play for naught
We know that equal excess
Must be the best we got!
And whether plain or fancy game
The bottom line is all the same
So we ain’t waitin’
Negotiatin’
That coalition!
GROUP INDUCTION
[To the tune of "My Heart Belongs to Daddy"]
He takes some folks
And to them yolks
Some groups with quite complex instruction
He bades them choose
What rule he’ll use
And he calls it group induction.
They each regard
Each playing card
And from them they build their production.
And these events
Make evidence
That he calls a group induction.
Oh, he studies groups’ induction
Yes, he asks them their knowledge to pool,
Oh, he studies group induction ….
What’s the rule, what’s the rule, what’s the rule?
Oh, he studies groups’ induction,
Tries to see what mistakes they detect
Yes, he studies group induction
And he does it with merely a deck!
PROCESS LOSSES BLUES
[To the tune of "Bye bye Blues"]
Teams, groups, crews!
Task performance blues!
Change in sizes …. Dramatizes:
Productivity declined!
Process losses thus defined!
Teams, groups, crews!
Such bad news!
Let’s try … Delphi
Process Losses Blues!
OUR HARRY FLIES OVER THE OCEAN
[To the tune of "My Bonnie lies over the ocean"]
Our Harry flies over the ocean
Oh, Harry flies over the sea
For Harry does just what we all do …
But he does it cross-culturally!
Oh, come back, come back!
Oh come back to U. I. U. C., you see!
Come back, come back,
Oh come back our Harry C. T.!
GIVE ME A COGNITIVE SCHEME!
[To the tune of "Show me the Way to go Home"]
Oh, give me a cognitive sche… ee.. mm.
And throw in a couple of "primes".
Then add a little saliance to that input array
And record some … reaction times!
Oh, whatever I en .. co .. oo .. ode
Will fit with the script and its themes!
And will fit what Experimenter wants me to know …
So hurrah for them cognitive schemes!
CHAPTER IV: DOGGEREL IN HONOR OF SOME ORGANIZATIONS AND SPECIAL TOPICS
Besides those special colleagues whose work is referenced in the previous chapter, there also are some special organizations and topics to whom I have dedicated some doggerel. The first of these is the Society for Experimental Social Psychology (SESP} of which I have been an active member for many years, and was once secretary-treasurer. The second is the Society for Psychological Study of Social Issues (SPSSI), Division 9 of APA, in which I have been a long time member, and was once editor of their journal (JSI) and president. Both of these groups were important to me, hence elicited my "doggerel instinct". I also created some doggerel for a topic area of great importance to me … feminist theory and gender issues research. Those offerings are presented in this chapter.
First, a song for the Society for Experimental Social Psychology (SESP)
THE S.E.S.P.inafore
[To the tune of the "pattersong" from "H.M.S. Pinafore" … "…an admiral in the queen’s navy…"]
When I was young, by happenstance
I came upon a finding that was not quite chance.
I took that finding carefully
And put it in the thesis for my PhD.
Oh, I polished it so carefully
That I made of it the thesis for my PhD
Oh, I polished it so carefully
That I made of it the thesis for my PhD
What that was done I had a chance
Of writing up that finding of significance.
I wrote it up quite artfully
(It sounded quite impressive to the referee)
I wrote it up so artfully
That now its in the pages of J. P. S. P.
Oh, I wrote it up so artfully
That I’m becoming famous in Psychology!
I took that finding, not by chance,
And built research for a bunch of grants.
I packaged them quite cleverly
And spread them through all the funding agencies.
I spread those grants so carefully
That now I amteh holder of some grant money.
I spread those grants so carefully
That now I am the holder of some grant money!
I took my finding, now enhanced
Because it was the finding from a bunch of grants
And published it quite frequently,
Across a lot of pages of J. E. S. P.
I published it so frequently
That now I’m on the masthead of J. E. S. P.!
Oh I published it so frequently
That I’m becoming famous in Psychology!
Those published papers brought me fame
And soon the many speaking invitations came.
They’s ask me to come give a talk
About my clever finding and my other work.
So I’d talk to them, quite boringly
About the clever finding from my PhD
I talked to them so boringly
That they made me a professor on their faculty!
My prominence soon spread quite wide
And I was not the one to let my virtues hide.
So presently I came to be
Elected to the very best society!
Oh! Prominence soon came to me
And now I am a member of S. E. S. P.
Oh prominence soon came to me
And now I am a member of S. E. S. P.
I hope my meteoric climb
Will lead to further payoff in a future time
In fact some day I hope to be
Elected to the National Academy!
I took that finding from my PhD
And polished it and published it so carefully
That I may someday get to be
A member of the National Academy!
So, to my story lead an ear
The story has a moral for your own career!
Oh never kill … no, keep alive,
Those findings that are barely at the point oh five!
Oh keep those findings, not quite chance,
And publish them as findings of significance!
And you may also come to be
A very famous member of S. E. S. P.
Yes, you may also come to be
A member of that very best society!!
Next, some songs/poems for the Society for Psychological Study of Social Issues (SPSSI): TWO SONGS TOWARD A SPSSI CHRONICLE:
SOCIAL ISSUES
[to the tune of "Makin’ Whoopee’"]
Another cause Another fight
Another chance to prove
That right is might!
The topic’s muddy
So we will study …
Social Issues.
Another time Another place
To stamp out bias
On sex or race!
Another season
For gentle reason …
On Social Issues!
We’ll base our stand on data
As soon as the data’s got.
We base our stand on data
Even when not so hot!
Another chance To air our views
To prove that one’s plus one’s
Make more than two’s!
For topics muddy
We’ve got to study ..
Social Issues!
LIFE’S A BOWL OF SOCIAL ISSUES
[to the tune of "Life is just a bowl of cherries "]
Life is full of social issues
We take them serious!
They’re deleterious!
We work, we slave, we study so
Cause you can’t solve the problem
Till ya’ know, know, know!
We’ll do research on all the issues …
The large ones, and the small
The best thing in life
Is to learn what is true,
Though often we still
Don’t know what to do!
Oh: life’s a bowl of social issues …
And SPSSI studies them all!!
The third topic for some doggerel here is: Feminism and Gender Issues. Here are
SOME SONGS FOR THE SEXIST SCHOLAR
ANGROCENTRIC BABY
[to the tune of "Melancholy Baby"]
Come to me my androcentric baby
Curse and shout but don’t you cry!
You know tears are signs of softness, maybe,
And you don’t have emotions such as I!
So: clench your teeth and growl to keep from crying
Till you fell your ulcer start to fry.
Then, When you fail to win …
You can curse and shout again!
Because you’re far too rational to cry!!
GIVE ME SOME MEN
[to the tune of "Give me some men who are stouthearted men …"]
Give me some men
Some competitive men
Who will fight
At the sight
of a prize.
Teach them to "win"
And they’ll barrel right in
To compete
on the street
till they dies!
Shoulder to shoulder
And bolder and bolder
They’ll try to
undo
their allies.
They
Will work their buns off trying,
do or dying
Why?
Why? Cause men don’t cry!
Cause they are men, just merely men.
COMPARABLE WORTH
[to the tune of "My Heart Belongs to Daddy"]
I earn my pay
As a plain RA
Yes, me and a guy work togetha’
But I can’t see
Why its always me
Who gets asked to type the letta’.
The same damn job
For Barb and Bob
Turn out not the same in the doing
When its data to do, vs coffee to brew,
Just guess who gets the brewing!
Yes, I hafta’ type the letta’
And get asked to make coffee a lot
Oh, they say we’re all togetha’
But we’re not.
No we’re not.
Oh, we’re not!
Oh they say we’re all togetha’
That our chances are equal for fame.
Yet … the shots he gets are betta’
[‘Cause the "he’s" write the rules of the game.]
CHAPTER V: SMALL GROUP RESEARCH: THAT ONCE AND FUTURE FIELD
In 1992, I gave an address to the "groups premeeting" of the annual SESP meeting titled Small group research: That once and future field--An interpretation of the past with an eye to the future. That article was later published as an article in the first volume of Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice. It examines the history of research into the dynamics of groups, and offers an overview of our recent, systems-oriented approach to both theory and research. In that earlier presentation at the preconference on small groups I supplemented my talk with some new lyrics to old songs (recorded by a volunteer group of graduate students) to punctuate key points in the talk. The lyrics to those thirteen songs are included here. [They have also been posted on the Group Dynamics journal website in connection with that article].
Here is the list of song titles and what they have reference to:
•The Kurt Lewin Blues: THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF KURT LEWIN
•Exchange Theory Serenade: THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF JOHN THIBAUT AND HAL KELLEY
•Code-a-lot: THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF R. F. BALES
•Process Loss Blues: THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF I. D. STEINER
•The Good Old Paradigm: THE DEMISE OF THE EARLY GROUP RESEARCH PARADIGMS
•Sociocognitive Things: THE "GROUPS AS INFORMATION PROCESSING SYSTEM" METAPHOR
•Gotta' Reach Consensus: THE "GROUPS AS CONSENSUS GENERATING CONFLICT MANAGING SYSTEMS" METAPHOR
•Adaptive Structuration: THE "GROUPS AS SYSTEMS FOR MOTIVTING, REGULATING, & COORDINATING MEMBER BEHAVIORS" METAPHOR
•Group Composition: THE IMPORTANCE OF STUDYING EFFECTS OF MEMBERSHIP CHARACTERISTICS
•Some Groups Meet: THE IMPORTANCE OF STUDYING EFFECTS OF TASK CHARACTERISTICS
•A Medium Built for Two: STUDYING GROUPS USING ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS SYTEMS
•As Time Goes By: THE IMPORTANCE OF STUDYING TEMPORAL FACTORS IN GROUPS
•Groups, Groups, Groups, Groups: FUTURE RESURGENCE OF INTEREST IN THEORY AND RESEARCH ON SMALL GROUPS
Here are the song lyrics:
[TO HIGHLIGHT THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF KURT LEWIN]
THE KURT LEWIN BLUES
[These lyrics fit "The St. Louis Blues"]
Kurt used to play
A group dynamics game.
In his day
Gave group dynamics name!
Now they all say
It's done lost its fame!
Groups were in fashion
But they ain't today!
Were in fashion
But they did not stay!
Cognitive now
Groups done gone astray!
Started with Lewin
That's where it all began
He gave us goals
That dynamics man!
It was Lewin
Made it seem worthwhile
Now all dat jazz
Done gone out of style!
Got da' Kurt Lewin Blues
Oh Lewin knew the score!
But now we gonna' lose
All that we had before!
Now we just sing da' blues
Ain't groups no more!
[TO HIGHLIGHT THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF JOHN THIBAUT AND HAL KELLEY]
EXCHANGE THEORY SERENADE
[These lyrics fit the song "High above Cayuga's waters"]
Hail to thee, Thibaut & Kelley
May thy theory reign!
Hail exchange! Thy theory tells me
Life's just costs and gain!
Oh each exchange,
yes each transaction
Brings rewards and sting
And payoff from
the interaction
Is the only thing!
We'd be happy
any place where,
Even though its hell,
The net payoff
we would face there
Would exceed CL!
And we would surely
swift abandon
Even Heaven's vault
If we expected
we could land in
Higher CL (Alt)!
[TO HIGHLIGHT THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF R. F. BALES]
CODE-A-LOT
[These lyrics fit "Camelot"]
Twelve codes can plot
the whole of interaction
They're nested
in symmetrical array,
So we can track
all meaningful transactions
With IPA! Bales IPA!
Each act is
Instrumental or Expressive
There's one for
any thing that one can say.
But processing the data's
quite excessive
With IPA! Bales IPA!
[TO HIGHLIGHT THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF I. D. STEINER]
PROCESS LOSSES BLUES
[These lyrics fit "Bye bye Blues"]
Teams, groups, crews!
Task performance blues!
Change in sizes ....Dramatizes:
Productivity declined!
Process losses thus defined!
Teams, groups, crews!
Such bad news!
Let's try....Delphi
Process Losses Blues!
[TO HIGHLIGHT THE DEMISE OF THE EARLY GROUP RESEARCH PARADIGMS]
THE GOOD OLD PARADIGM
[These lyrics fit "In the good old summertime"]
In the good old Paradigm
In the good old Paradigm!
I'll test your hypotheses
And baby, you test mine!
And for tools we'll use
The Tried & Trues
For that's the very best kind.
And we will both make Tenure With
The Good Old Paradigm!
[TO HIGHLIGHT WORK WITHIN THE "GROUPS AS INFORMATION PROCESSING SYSTEM" METAPHOR]
SOCIOCOGNITIVE THINGS
[These lyrics fit "My favorite things" from Sound of Music]
Group task performance
is quite interactive
And groups have a memory
that's very transactive
So when groups recall,
either structured or free,
They manage it sociocognitively!
Groups sometimes parlay
with lots of invective,
And info exchange
isn't always effective
But nevertheless,
let our battle cry ring:
A group is a sociocognitive thing!
Its collective,
Introspective,
Though I fear you'll find
When I speak of these sociocognitive things
My critics all cry:
"Group Mind!"
[TO HIGHLIGHT WORK WITHIN THE "GROUPS AS CONSENSUS GENERATING CONFLICT MANAGING SYSTEMS" METAPHOR]
GOTTA' REACH CONSENSUS
[These lyrics fit "My Heart Belongs to Daddy"]
Though conflict looms
In meeting rooms
No matter what matters may tense us
We just ain't free
To disagree
Cause we gotta' reach Consensus
We must define
A party line
This isn't a time for defenses!
We all must play
The groupthink way
Cause we gotta' reach Consensus
Oh we gotta' reach Consensus
Or researcher is
gonna' get mad!
Oh we gotta' reach Consensus
Conflict's bad,
really bad,
Bad, bad, bad!
Yes we gotta' reach Consensus
Gotta' cease and desist
all this gab!
Oh we gotta' reach Consensus
Or we'll never get
out of this lab!
[TO HIGHLIGHT WORK WITHIN THE "GROUPS AS SYSTEMS FOR MOTIVTING, REGULATING, & COORDINATING MEMBER BEHAVIORS" NETAPHOR].
ADAPTIVE STRUCTURATION [with the fringe on top!]
[These lyrics fit "The surry with the fringe on top"]
When the context shows perturbation
Groups will strain to gain information
They display
adaptive structuration
And new things create!
When groups suffer from aggravation
They may even show some frustration
Yet display
adaptive structuration
As they integrate!
Groups modify
And amplify
Mainly things they remember
Yet all the while
They gain a style
Unless there's a change
in a Member!
Groups add tools by appropriation!
Even though they lose syncopation,
Yet they may
display structuration
As they change their fate!
Oh, Adaptive structuration is the way groups create!
Yes, Adaptive Structuration is what makes groups so great!
[TO HIGHLIGHT THE IMPORTANCE OF STUDYING EFFECTS OF MEMBERSHIP CHARACTERISTICS]
GROUP COMPOSITION
[These lyrics fit "Makin' Whoopee"]
Put in some boys, A girl or two
Give them a task,
See what they do
Such re-arrangin'
Is surely changin'
Group composition!
Just vary age, Or sex or race.
Each combination wears
A different face
Homogeneity
Ain't what it used to be!
Group composition!
Each group has got
its structure
A pattern that shapes its lot
But if you add new members
Whatever it was, its not!
There's lots of change ....
That we can try
We'll cross each "t" ....
And dot each "i"
There's lots of traffic...
In demographics
Group composition.
[TO HIGHLIGHT THE IMPORTANCE OF STUDYING EFFECTS OF TASK CHARACTERISTICS]
SOME GROUPS MEET [to spawn new notions]
[These lyrics fit the song: "High above Cayuga's waters"]
Some groups meet
to spawn new notions
Some to seek what's true!
Some convene
to show devotions
Some to drink a brew!
Its fun to run
experiments to
See what we can ask.
But for our data
to make sense, you
Can't ignore group Tasks!
Some groups come
to settle issues
Some their lives to fix.
Some excise malignant tissues
Some meet just for kicks!
Its fun to run
experiments to
See what we can ask.
But for our data
to make sense, you
Can't ignore group Tasks!
[TO HIGHLIGHT THE BURGEONING BODY OF WORK STUDYING GROUPS USING ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS SYTEMS]
A MEDIUM BUILT FOR TWO
[These lyrics fit "Bicycle built for two"]
e-mail, e-mail
Can I discourse with you?
male with female
Dialogue, entre nous!
Oh please! Give me
your sign-on
And I will give
you mine on
The in-ter-net!
Safe-sex? You bet!
Technological rendezvous!
[TO HIGHLIGHT THE IMPORTANCE OF STUDYING TEMPORAL FACTORS IN GROUPS]
AS TIME GOES BY
[These lyrics fit "As Time goes by"]
We must keep this in mind:
There're groups of every kind
We must not simplify!
And groups will always
suffer change
As time goes by!
New issues they will face,
Some learning will take place
On that we can rely
And groups will always
welcome change
As time goes by!
Process and structure
never stay the same;
Each member learns to
play a different game;
And all the while
They one another tame
And habits routinize!
It makes our task demanding
Our quest for understanding
Of how groups run and why!
Cause groups will always
seem to change
As time goes by!
[TO CELEBRATE THAT FUTURE RESURGENCE OF INTEREST IN THEORY AND RESEARCH ON SMALL GROUPS]
GROUPS, GROUPS, GROUPS, GROUPS
[These lyrics fit "Sing, sing, sing, sing"]
Groups, Groups, Groups, Groups,
Everybody: Study groups!
In your labs
In the field
Information they will yield!
Groups, Groups, Groups, Groups,
Everybody: Study groups!
Some created
Some for real
And the truth we will reveal!
We'll use methods oh so sound!
We'll have data all around!
Test hypotheses so bold
And our theories all will hold!
Groups, Groups, Groups, Groups,
Everybody: Study groups!
No denial!
Been awhile!
Group research is back in style!
CHAPTER VI: TIME MATTERS IN SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY
Recently, I published a book, with Franziska Tschan, on temporal matters in social psychology. In that book, we included some rhyming, doggerel type "Afterthoughts" at the end of each chapter. I present them below; but they have already appeared in print, and the copyright on that book is held by American Psychological Association Publications.
Afterthought for Chapter One: Introduction
Why Study Time?
There's some sign of time in everything
Some facet of time in all
Each new topic leads back to time
Like summer leads to fall.
All of life is dynamic
Everything grows -- and dies
Change over time is pandemic
And all in the future lies!
Everyone thinks they know about time
But actually -- nobody knows!
So, studying time is wondrous play
Just about anything goes.
Yes, studying time is wondrous work
You can roam where your instincts guide
And besides, it gives you one wondrous perk:
Time's always on your side!
Afterthoughts for Chapter Two: On the Nature of Time
What is the Nature of Time
I always know what time is about
At least until someone asks!
But then I find I can’t define.
Time wears so many masks!
Sometimes time is simple and plain
Sometimes it’s most complex
Defining time is a wonderful game
If you don’t mind being vexed.
Time is in all, its everywhere
It stretches both aft and fore;
It marches, it flies, its here and its there,
Its our "now", and our "then", and our "yore"!.
Time is so real, yet it’s abstract too
It’s reckoned in many ways
In eons and hours, in minutes and months,
In nanoseconds and days.
Yes, time is a wondrous magical thing!
Or is it a thing at all?
Is time just a vehicle moving our spring
To summer then to fall?
Is time like matter? One can’t add any
Nor delete the time that’s there?
Or is time perhaps like beauty,
In your head, not any "where"?
Does time just go forward, an arrow that flies?
Or can we go back in time?
Is time a circle that turns on itself
Like rhythms in a rhyme?
All of these questions indeed perplex
And leave philosophers weary
Ideas of time are quite complex
They make our thoughts go bleary.
But all of these matters don’t matter a bit
For time as we live it each day.
Oh we wake and we work, and through all of it
Time goes merrily on its way.
We have time to love and time to play
Time to waste or to spend in our fashion.
We never get more than one day per day
But we never get less than our ration.
There are times we hope for and times we’ve seen
Time is writ on a tablet vast.
But every minute is trapped between
Our future and our past.
These verses on time could go on and on
‘Ere time’s glorious story is writ!
But there’s one timely thing we can count upon:
There will be an end to it!
Time and Life
Clocks and calendars, tick- and tock-ing,
Mark off Gregory/Newton times.
But human life, enacting, talking,
Flows in rhythms (just like rhymes!).
Real time flows in steady patter
But seems, at times, to oscillate.
But time in life’s a different matter
Its rhythmic flow can syncopate.
When time "stands still" it’s really going.
It never speeds and never stops.
But time as lived, in human knowing
Seems to flow in streams or drops.
So you must ever keep in view
That time as lived and time in thought
May often seem as one to you
But time and life the same are not!
Afterthoughts for Chapter Three: Temporal Aspects of Individual Behavior
Where does the Time Go?
Where does my time go? Let me count the ways
I spend each average seven days:
With 168 hours each week, I reckon,
That’s ten thousand minutes! Half a million seconds!
That seems like tons of time to spare,
Yet I can’t find spare time anywhere!
So let’s see how I spend my week,
In hope’s I find the time I seek!
There must be time for sleep each day.
That’s fifty hours gone away!
Then, forty hours of work for sure
(And often it’s a whole lot more!).
I also need, say, ten or so
For my commuting, to and fro.
And I must use at least some more
For laundry, cleaning, grocery store.
I need some time to care for me
To bathe, and eat, and reverie
That leaves, lets see … well golly gee
I’ve used more time than time there be!
Yes, I’ve accounted hours more
Than weeks are apt to hold in store.
My time use surely does amaze:
I’ve living 30 hour days!
Afterthoughts for Chapter 4: Temporal Factors Affecting Social Psychological Phenomena
Decision Time
Its easier, far, to make tough calls
when outcomes come some later day
Its harder, though, to do what’s right
if right now’s when you have to pay!
Decisions quick are often praised
as better than the ones delayed.
But sometimes quick deciding leads
to poorer choices, hasty made!
So having ample time to choose
should better choices generate.
Yet, having lots of time may make
it easy to procrastinate!
Decision time’s no simple thing
when hard-nosed choices fill our days
Heaven knows what time will bring .
Time plays its cards in curious ways!
Afterthoughts for Chapter Five: Time, Stress, and Coping Processes
Stress Episodes
Stress episodes of many kinds
Beset our lives, bemuse our minds
With each we must somehow decide
To take it on, or run and hide
Give in to it or draw the line!
Stress episodes, they come and go
Appraisal processes, we know,
Determine just what stresses us
What threatens or depresses us
What bodes to lay us low!
Stress episodes, we surely hope
Are things with which we learn to cope
Our coping actions, we expect
Will keep those stressors off our neck
But sometimes they have broader scope.
Stress episodes oft persevere
They just don’t fade away, I fear.
Their consequences carry o’er
A second day – or three or four
We never make them disappear.
And stress events, we sometimes find
Can yield results of happy kind.
Can make us better, it would seem
And even gain in self esteem.
Some stress events are in the mind!
Afterthoughts for Chapter Six: Group Development and Change
As Time Goes By
We must remember this
Groups live, not just exist,
Their needs must satisfy!
And groups will always
seem to change
As time goes by!
New projects they will face,
Some learning will take place
On that we can rely
And groups will always
welcome change
As time goes by!
Process and structure
never stay the same;
Each member learns to
play a different game;
And all the while
They one another tame
And habits routinize!
It makes our task demanding
Our quest for understanding
Of how groups run and why!
Cause groups will always
seem to change
As time goes by!
Group Types
Groups that were, and will be later,
Behave, alas, group goals to fit.
But groups that have no past or future
Hardly ever give a whit!
Task force groups with single mission
Never really play the game
Each guy thinking how to profit
Other groups from whence he came.
Crews can use their well trained skills
To do the job when things go smooth.
But if they’ve never worked together
When hell breaks loose they’re apt to lose.
Teams are often quite effective,
Synchronized, can work quite nice
But training teamwork’s damned expensive
Not everyone will pay that price!
Groups who have envisioned futures
Behave much more with goals in view
But ad hoc groups, no future pending
Care less, by far, ‘bout what they do.
Afterthoughts for Chapter Seven: Time and Collective Action
Synchronize!
Synchronize, synchronize, or we’ll never win the prize!
We must work in close accord, strife and conflict can’t afford.
When you say jump I’ll have to hop, and when I spill you’ll have to mop.
When ere’ I bungle, you jump in; and when you’re stuck then I’ll begin.
Oh we must function smooth as silk. Don’t drop the ball or spill the milk.
It will all turn out just fine, you do your job, I’ll do mine!
We’ll be fine I surely think if we can just behave in synch!
Working Cycles
Allocate resources scarce, plan the schedule, carry through,
If the acts aren’t up to muster, modify and act anew
If no actions meet objectives, change the plans, or goals review.
Yes, groups do work in cyclic patterns: These temporal matters matter, too!
Afterthoughts for Chapter Eight: Time and the Research Process
Cause-Effect Sequence
Research in vivo offers gains
But tangles up our causal chains
If cause and outcome both run free
We're up an inferential tree!
Mere correlations we abhor
The cause at least must come before.
Cause-Effect Intervals
We implement our "treatment" plan
Then measure outcome when we can.
If look too soon, no impact's made;
If wait too long, effects might fade.
Dare not observe too soon or late
But how do we know how long to wait?
Time Intervals and Threats to Validity
From cause till outcome doth arrive
Is time where plausible rivals thrive.
Some threats increase, and some get meager
As time 'twixt X and Y gets bigger.
To measure Y too soon, you see,
Enhances reactivity.
But longer times increase our bets
That into play will come some threats.
Yes, in Time’s window, with a bang,
Comes History, and all that gang!
Measuring Temporal Patterns
Observing once will not arrange
Evidence for any change
Observing twice a help "twould be
Results can now a difference see.
Observing thrice gives further yield
Non-linear forms can be revealed.
But to see a cycle, por favor,
You need to measure four or more.
Time Frames of Different Research Strategies
The world puts on a real-time face
But labs unfold at quickened pace.
In lab-time, many things can't show:
No time to meditate, or grow,
No time to eat, or sleep, or stew;
No time for lovers’ rendezvous!
What can we learn of human antic
From scenarios so frantic?
What can we learn of human ways
In Labs with 15-minute days?
Afterthoughts for Chapter Nine: Time and the Future of Social Psychology
Studying Time, Redux
The point, dear friends, of all this rhyme
Is just that now's the time for time
The time to take time seriously
Not treat it so imperiously!
The time to make time's mysteries yield
In laboratory and field.
The time to make time fill our theories
E'er time's sharp arrow ends (h)our queries!