Sociometric Questionnaire

Criteria for Sociometric Questionnaire

Most sociometric questionnaires, like sociometric tests, follow a positive or negative criterion.

The positive criterion uses questions presented in a positive format. It involves asking participants about activities they enjoy and those they would like to spend time with doing the said activities.

For instance, the questions may be about going on a shopping spree, trip, birthday party, etc.

In contrast, the negative criterion uses questions framed negatively. It includes asking participants to select those they are least likely to enjoy spending time with under certain circumstances. This helps to establish the sociometric status of individuals in a group.

You can follow the positive, negative, or a combination of both criteria when creating sociometric assessment tests. It all depends on what you seek to measure and outline with your sociogram maker.

Who to Involve in the Process?

Involve all the members of your target group. They may be children, adolescents, or adults in different social environments.

For instance, you can administer the questionnaire to children in a classroom or a children’s camp. You may also send questionnaires to adolescents in a sports team, employees in a specific department, or the entire staff contingent.

Choose your target group carefully, and be sure to include all members of your target group in the assessment. Doing this may affect the accuracy of your results.

What to Ask in Your Sociometric Questionnaire?

The questions to ask in your sociometric questionnaire depend on:

• The social environment – are you targeting groups in schools or at work?
• What do you seek to find out – are you looking to analyze group members’ social choices? Or do you also want to examine the emotional cues behind their choices?

Overall, the questions you ask must be straightforward to receive accurate responses. Below are a few sociogram examples of common questions asked in classrooms and workplaces.

In Classrooms

Positive criterion:

• Who would you most like to sit next to during a school trip?
• Who would you most like to play with during breaks?

Negative criterion:

• Who would you least like to sit next to during a school trip?
• Who would you least like to play with during breaks

Find out how to conduct a sociometric test in the classroom on this page.

In Workplaces or the Office

Positive criterion:

• With which two colleagues would you most like to share the office?
• Who would you most like to travel with for a two-day conference?

Negative criterion:

• With which two colleagues would you least like to share the office?
• Who would you least like to travel with for a two-day conference?

Remember, the questions above reveal individuals’ social choices. To understand the emotional mechanism behind each social decision, add another criterion to every question you ask.

For example, some follow-up questions you can include under the initial criterion of ‘who would you most like to sit next to during a school trip’ are:

• Why did you make these choices? Or why do you feel these people would be the best company for you during a trip?

Other sociometric questions, like those used in the peer rating sociometric technique, ask participants to select a rating (1 to 5).

Generally, there’s no limit to the number of questions you can ask in a sociometric questionnaire. However, all questions and answers must be relevant to the target group.

Here is an example of a sociometric questionnaire combining negative and positive criteria, based on one of our Sociogram Templates.

We have created this sample using Sometics Sociogram Maker. You can add questions, set the mandatory number of responses for each question, or rank choices. It depends on your preferences.

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