ABSTRACT
A taxonomy of small groups is to a degree arbitrary. Small groups are the intermediate units between the individual and the larger society. The concrete examples of work-group model are those groups created for the purpose of producing an attitude or a personality change: therapy groups, therapeutic communities, or the small groups assembled for controlled experiments. The peculiarity of groups as agglomerates of individuals has made it necessary to devise specific and frequently novel techniques to combine data on several individuals, their interactions, and the characteristics that emerge as traits only from the combined action of individuals. The development of methods for studying groups has been helped as well as hindered by the peculiar position of the group in human thought. A main purpose in looking at groups following the model is to analyze the relationship between goal-oriented and emotional behavior, between action and sentiment.
