MORALE AND GROUP EFFECTIVENESS 



467 



data needed in the study of morale. The 

 majority of these have been discussed in an 

 excellent review by Child (21). Here it is 

 sufficient to review them briefly and indicate 

 certain possible lines of further development. 



The Use of Questionnaires 



As was noted above, most of the studies of 

 morale reported in the literature have em- 

 ployed questionnaires or attitude scales. 

 This has been true in academic investiga- 

 tions of civilian morale (74, 42, 29), in most 

 industrial morale surveys (13), and in the 

 extensive studies of Army morale by the Re- 

 search Branch of the Information and Edu- 

 cation Division. In general these question- 

 naires have used fairly direct questions or 

 statements relating to satisfaction with vari- 

 ous aspects of group activity. They have 

 varied in other respects, such as the degree of 

 topical reference shown by their contents, 

 and the techniques and sophistication em- 

 ployed in their construction. The Gutt- 

 man-type scales (40) employed by the Army 

 for measuiing specific opinions presumably 

 indicative of morale probably represent the 

 highest standard of precision attained in 

 studies of this sort. 



It is possible that research will disclose 

 that pencil-and-paper techniques are by 

 themselves sufficient to give a comprehen- 

 sive picture of morale in a group; and this 

 result would indeed be a welcome one. Un- 

 fortunately, the necessary research has not 

 yet been carried out. It is not loiown, for 

 example, how groups that complain on paper 

 behave on the job. A somewhat more 

 guarded attitude toward these seductive de- 

 vices may therefore be in order. 



Observation and Interview Methods 



Child (21) has stressed the probable fiiiit- 

 fulness of a more clinical approach to the 

 study of morale, utilizing direct observation 

 and non-directive interviews of the sort used 

 so effectively by Roethlisberger and Dickson 

 (83). Relevant objects of observation or 

 inquiry might include : the nature and extent 

 of interpersonal contacts; characteristics of 



individual or group performance on the job; 

 verbal expressions in interviews, conversa- 

 tions, or in writing, of opinions concerning 

 the group, reactions to outside influences, 

 rumors, and the hke; leisure-time activities; 

 behavior in audience situations; and so on.. 

 The actual choice of behavior categories for 

 systematic investigation would, of course, 

 depend upon the hypotheses adopted at the 

 outset. Various techniques are available or 

 in process of development for quantifying 

 such observations through the use of ratings, 

 time-sampling, content analysis, etc. (See, 

 for example, 4, 6, 19). 



Sociometric Procedures 



The sociometric procedures of Moreno (75, 

 30), utilizing data obtained through ques- 

 tionnaires, observation or interviewing, pro- 

 vide a simple and illuminating picture of 

 interpersonal relationships within a group. 

 An interesting application of this technique 

 to aircraft carrier pilot groups has been re- 

 ported by Jenkins (53). Several methods 

 have been suggested for deriving from such 

 data a single measure of cohesiveness in a 

 group (98, 25). Advances in sociometric 

 analysis which will take into account quali- 

 tative differences in the bases for interper- 

 sonal choices may yield even more fruitful 

 information concerning the level of group 

 functioning. 



Projective Techniques 



Recent adaptations of pictorial projective 

 techniques to the study of individual atti- 

 tudes toward various groups (81, 15) suggest 

 the possibility of extending such techniques 

 to the study of morale. The individual's 

 view of his own group situation might also be 

 investigated through adaptations of verbal 

 projective devices, such as the sentence com- 

 pletion test employed by the OSS assessment 

 staff (79) in the study of individual person- 

 ality. A technique recently developed at 

 the Research Center for Group Dynamics 

 requires a small group, as a group, to evolve 

 a story about one or more test pictures; the 

 story and the protocols of its development 



