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Project Summary
| Difficulty | 8 |
| Time required | Long (a couple of weeks) |
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| * Note: This is an abbreviated project idea, without notes to start your background research or a procedure for how to do the experiment. You can identify abbreviated project ideas by the asterisk at the end of the title. If you want a project idea with full instructions, please pick one without an asterisk. |
Abstract
This project asks the question "How do friendship groups change over time?" The results may support inferences about how "people skills" develop. What types of changes would you expect to see? Do you expect friendship groups to grow larger over time? Do you expect that individuals will belong to more, less or about the same number of friendship groups as they get older? Do you think there will be more or less exclusivity among groups (and how would you measure such a concept)? Do you expect results to be similar for boys and girls? The project requires a large group of students who have been in school together for several consecutive years. Design a survey to identify past and present friendship groups. Select one or more statistical tests for each of your hypotheses. Crunch the numbers and see if the data support or reject each hypothesis. This project involves fairly sophisticated statistical analysis. Finding a mentor with expertise in group detection statistics is highly recommended. (Doherty, 2003)Bibliography
Doherty, J., 2003. "Evolution of Friendship Groups in the Fourth through Seventh Grades," California State Science Fair Project Abstract [accessed February 1, 2006] http://www.usc.edu/CSSF/History/2003/Projects/J1707.pdf.Variations
- For more science project ideas in this area of science, see Sociology Project Ideas.
Last edit date: 2007-03-07 19:49:00
Career Focus
If you like this project, you might want to think about career opportunities in
Sociology.
Any time there is more than one person in a room, there is potential for a social interaction to occur or for a group to form. Sociologists study these interactions—how and why groups and societies form, and how outside events like health issues, technology, and crime affect both the societies and the individuals. If you already like to think about how people interact as individuals and in groups, then you're thinking like a sociologist! Learn more about this career: Sociologist.
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