THE NORMOGRAMM - A METHODOLOGICAL PROPOSA L FOR THE STUDY OF GROUPS AND ORGANIZATIONS

As the name suggests, the normogram method was developed by the author as a result of a critical engagement with sociometric techniques, to which it is proposed as an alternative. The normogram consists of a pr ocess in which groups, organizational subsystems or smaller organizati ons are induced to accertain and formulate explicitly the system's own internal norms and to classify group members according to these norma tive expectations. The normogram is thus a nonstandardized procedure w ith a strongly interventionist character which employs the internal pe rspective of a system. In this article, the presentation of the method will be augmented by the concrete empirical example of a group of man agers. The results of this case study make possible both a comparison of sociometric and normogram procedures and an evaluation of the exten t to which the normogram method introduces a new dimension to the stud y of groups and organizations on the one hand, and to the subject of n orms in general, on the other hand.