RESEARCH REPORT NO.8             "A Study of Children’s Social Relationships in the Classroom"                                                by                               Boonying Charoenying (1966)        One general proposition which seems clear from the literature is that favorable member relationshipswithin the group seem to be the consequence of high task performance and task success. Liking for otherpersons and being liked by others have significant effects upon a person’s well-being. Having friends meansincreased associations with others. Thus shaping the behavior of individuals. All these observations are ofspecial interest or significance to educational administrators, teachers and others who care for children. Purposes of The Study         The Bangkok Institute for Child Study (Behavioral Science Research Institute) attempted to study thechoices and rejections in hypothetical relationships among first grade children in two small towns. In additionto this there was a study of the choice of leader and of the expectation of being chosen by others asfriendship choices.         The purposes of the study were as follows :         a) To study how children of high and low social choice status group and children of high and low schoolachievement group are associated in the classroom.         b) To determine the criteria which children use in selecting their friends and leaders.         c) To ascertain parent’s attitudes toward their children’s interpersonal relations. Sample       In order to obtain the quantitative data on the preference of group members for associating with and forrejecting other classmates, seven questions to obtain sociometric data were administered to 112 children intwo small-town elementary schools. One was in the northeastern part of Thailand and the other in the north ofThailand. In the former school there were 47 first grade children with an average age of 7 years and 8 months.The classroom consisted of 23 boys and 24 girls. In the other school there were 66 first grade children up intotwo classrooms. One classroom consisted of 9 boys and 14 girls with an average age of 8 years and 6months, and the other classroom consisted of 21 boys and 22 girls with an average age of 7 years and 5months. Instruments Used         The following were the seven questions used in the study; 1) Suppose we are going to play a game which requires small groups and we are going to choose our playgroups according to your wishes. Whom would you like to choose to play with you in your group ? 2) Whom would you not like to choose to play with in your group ? 3) Make believe that you are allowed to change seats in this classroom : then whom would you choose to sitnear you ? 4) Whom would you not choose to sit near you ? 5) If you are allowed to make guesses, who do you guess would choose you to play with ? 6) Who would you think would be good class leader ? 7) Who do you think your teacher would choose as class leader ?     The “Guess Who”, the parent’s interview and observation were also used. Collection and Treatment of Data         Since the subjects were not able to write their friend’s names and in order to enable them to respondeffectively, the investigator interviewed them. The sociometric scores were computed into four different ranksof popularity according to the percentile rank. The paired comparison technique was used to divide thechildren into three groups on the basis of their school achievement according to their teacher’s judgements. A Brief Summary of findings         The findings of the study were as follows : 1) Children who received many sciometric choices had high rank on school acievement. (P < .05) More girlsthan boys were in the high social status group. 2) The average number of rejection choices was lower than the average number of selection choices. 3) The high sociometric choice status group was mentioned as more active, conforming, cheerful, andcooperative than other students. 4) The ratio of the play group choice to the seating group choice was greater than one, which means that thechildren were willing to designate more students as seating partners. 5) Mutual choice were highest among the high sociometric choice status group. 6) The high sociometric choice status group made more correct guesses than the low sociometric choicestatus group. 7) Parents of children receiving fewer socimetric choices did not encourage making friends as much as didparents of those highly acceptable children. 8) The qualities associated with the role of leader were very similar to those which describe the highsociometric choice status group.                              SWUHOMEPAGEBack to Behavioral Science Research Institute