Introduction to Special Issue: Data Analytic Methods in Group Psychology and Group Psychotherapy

Objective: This article introduces the special issue on data analytic methods in group psychology and group psychotherapy. Method: A call was issued for a special issue on data analytic methods in small group research, inviting both quantitative and qualitative methodologies. The focus was to be specifically on conceptual issues that are addressed by the data analytic method and on its practical applications. Results: The resulting special issue contains five articles on group data analytic methods at the forefront of group psychology and group psychotherapy research. Articles in this issue cover a broad range of data analytic techniques that take into account the complex nature of group data, including polynomial regression and response surface methodology, the driver-empath model, Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC), and the use of a three-level location-scale model. Conclusion: The articles in this special issue aim to further small group research and introduce group researchers to innovative techniques for understanding the complex nature of groups.