Studying Social Organization in the Local Church: A Sociometric Approach

Abstract

The study of religious group behavior has been largely neglected. This paper attempts to demonstrate how sociometry may be utilized to study informal group formations in the local church and how a knowledge of the informal structure can aid in understanding formal church structure. Members were classified sociometrically as clique members, marginals, and isolates; this distinction was supported by their attitude toward and frequency of attendance at Sunday church services. The formation of sociometric clusterings and of cliques within these clusterings was found to be based primarily upon the variables of sex, age, marital status, and length of church membership. For clique members, involvement in a particular sociometric clustering was related to variation in emphasis on different types of organizational gaols. A finding with significant implications was that, while formal church leaders seldom occupied central positions in the church's informal structure, their wives often performed an informal, integrating role. It is suggested that such role differentiation may be quite functional in certain forms of church polity.