Book Reviews : Mental Health and Achievement: Increasing Potential and Decreasing School Dropout by E. P. Torrance and R. D. Strom. New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc. Pp. + 417:

TLDR: The field of Small Group Research is a synthesis and critique of a field which the authors fail to define as discussed by the authors, and the field involves social psychological research with small groups but apparently not all small groups, if the 250 sample studies may be taken as a guide.

Abstract: There is no question but that Small Group Research represents an extensive undertaking. The sections not reviewed here-the relationships between substantively-defined variables, and the description and critique of the field-will undoubtedly be read with interest by the small group researcher. The bibliography through 1962 should prove useful, especially if supplemented with bibliographies previously supplied by Hare, Borgatta, and Bales, and by Raven. Small Group Research is a synthesis and critique of a field which the authors fail to define. True, the field involves social psychological research with small groups, but apparently not all small groups, if the 250 sample studies may be taken as a guide: not one of these deals with the most important of all small groups-the family. EDWARD LEVONIAN