Effective Supervision in Groups

In this study, the authors organized group supervision behaviors into categories that represent requirements of effective group supervision, to augment the conceptual and anecdotal descriptions prevalent in group supervision literature.

Abstract

In this study, the authors organized group supervision behaviors into categories that represent requirements of effective group supervision. To determine the requirements for effective supervision in groups, the authors collected reports of behaviors exhibited by a physician and a behavioral scientist acting as co‐supervisors. These reports were gathered from 84 2nd‐year medical students participating in a practicum designed to improve their patient interviewing skills. The 84 reports of effective supervisory behavior by physicians were categorized by 11 judges. The judges' categories were pooled, and principal component analysis was used to extract a single list of hypothetical latent categories. This procedure was repeated with three other sets of reports: ineffective behavior of physicians, effective behavior of behavioral scientists, and ineffective behavior of behavioral scientists. The results yielded an empirical account of group supervision to augment the conceptual and anecdotal descriptions prevalent in group supervision literature.