Table of Contents
Definition of Reference Group
(noun) A group to which an individual is compared or compares themselves.
Reference Group Pronunciation
Syllabification: ref·er·ence group
Audio Pronunciation
Phonetic Spelling
- American English – /rEf-ruhns grOOp/
- British English – /rE-fuh-ruhns grOOp/
International Phonetic Alphabet
- American English – /ˈrɛfərəns grup/
- British English – /ˈrɛfrəns gruːp/
Usage Note
- Plural: reference groups
Related Video
Additional Information
- Qualitative Research Resources – Books, Journals, and Helpful Links
- Quantitative Research Resources – Books, Journals, and Helpful Links
- Word origin of “reference” and “group” – Online Etymology Dictionary: etymonline.com
- Newcomb, Theodore. 1943. Personality & Social Change: Attitude and Social Formation in a Student Community. New York: Dryden Press.
Related Terms
- analysis
- case
- control group
- crowd
- data
- demography
- empirical evidence
- method
- organization
- population
- sample
Works Consulted
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Wikipedia contributors. (N.d.) Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. (https://en.wikipedia.org/).
Cite the Definition of Reference Group
ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “reference group.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved December 14, 2024 (https://sociologydictionary.org/reference-group/).
APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)
reference group. (2013). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/reference-group/
Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “reference group.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed December 14, 2024. https://sociologydictionary.org/reference-group/.
MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)
“reference group.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2013. Web. 14 Dec. 2024. <https://sociologydictionary.org/reference-group/>.