Influence of Cliques in University: A Qualitative Study

This paper explores the influence of cliques in university classrooms using qualitative study. The study uses semi-structured interviews and thematic analysis to uncover the behaviour of cliques within the university environment. The paper discusses the impact of cliques on students' social interactions, moral reasoning, and academic performance.

Running Head: SOCS QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
SOCS QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
Students ID:
Name of the university

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Authors Note

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Introduction:
Clique can defined as a social group consisting of individuals sharing common
hobbies and interests. Closson and Watanabe (2018) mention that clique often restrict people
not sharing similar likes and dislikes, thereby operating as a ‘closed groups’ These groups
have specific norms and rules as far as exchanging as well as sharing of information are
concerned. Cliques are prevalent within the learning institutions where the members of
groups share curriculum related information. These groups owing to their restrictive
behaviour have influences on the other participants in the classroom. The paper delves into
these influences the cliques have within the classroom using qualitative study. The paper
would also take into account the semi-structured and thematic analysis to uncover the
behaviour of clique within university environment.
Purpose of the qualitative study
A qualitative study can offer a proper guidance for framing the efforts but it has
limited use in transportation. In this context, Gaggioli et al. (2015) suggested that that the use
of interviews on the focused group in understanding the behaviour of the clique and their
influence on others within the classroom. In addition to this, Closson and Watanabe (2018)
recommended that use of ethnographic for framing the gender-related behaviour involved
with the group evaluation and expectations of the group attitude.
In this context, Forbush and Foucault-Welles (2016) categorise the most general
method for measuring the interview context, analysis and cognitive mapping. However,
qualitative methods of an interview can be used to involve the credibility of model
assumptions on the suitable members of the group and to understand the expectations of

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others behaviour. The semi-structured interview and thematic analysts have been used in the
study to evaluate the clique behaviour in university. The researche
3rs observed that the individual's experience direct social isolation within their class
and friends.
Analysis of the samples
Conducting qualitative interview has been conducted in the study provided with a
series of authority's questions to dimensions of research methods that are the forefront of
developments in the social sciences. In this context, qualitative interview with seven students,
four male students and three female students. In this context, the students have interviewed in
an independent way to explore the cliques.
The evaluation has been done to ensure that the objective students in the university
have been an adventure of learning about the presence of clique in the university. The
interview helps in evaluating the culture of the university, a cultural point of view, the issues
and solution to the problem (Greene 2017). In addition to this, this also helped in
understanding the practices that are similar as well as different from another point of view
thereby helping in finding out what the students feel about the issue in the interview with
women students from University, the interview guide contained some questions other than
some brief topic. An approach has been taken in the topic that was not much a familiar one
than other issues in educational university. Recoding the interview helped the researcher to
focus on the interaction with the participant of the interview other than being distracted by
taking down the notes. Both the participant have felt completely comfortable during the
recording of the interview. In this context, the analysis of the interview data began with a set
of transcripts of the interview that has been conducted. The main purpose of the qualitative

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research was to examine the influence of students from the clique on the students within the
university.
Interview transcript’
Interview question 1:
Interview: When did you first know about the cliques in your university?
Student 1: When I saw some group of students hanging out around in-group within
the university and they were not willing to include anyone else within the group.
Student 2: When I got involved with a group of students over a science project at the
university. We all began to share our common interest and choices that form out-group into
clique within the university.
Student 3: When I joined the university for the first time, I was coming from a
different place. I saw that there were some group of people who were avoiding to make any
kind of interaction with me.
Student 4: I first recognised the presence of the clique group when I was school.
However, when I entered my university I had a group of my own where we played football
together.
Student 5: I identified the group of the clique in the university class, they are so many
groups of clique social groups who engage in conversation within each other and solve their
projects together.
Interview question 2:
Interviewee: How do you see yourself today in the presence of Clique group in your
university?

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Student 1: I had encountered some major problem when I first realised their presence
of hanging out in groups. However, with the passing day, I got accustoms with their
characteristics. Now when finding them, I do not have any major problem in dealing with
them. This is because I am sure that their interest in opinions and choice will not be matching
with mine.
Student 2: I have my own clique group where opinions and arguments may vary from
each other. However, we do not usually show our differences in viewpoint when we hang
around in groups. Making a group within the university has helped me to share my projects,
discussion and I get help in solving my problems.
Student 3: I still have the major problem with the clique group as they completely
deny helping any other groups present within the classroom. They do not help in solving
projects or any rather help I want. I have lately perceived that the problem also due to the
structure of the classroom and due to the cultural stereotype present within the group.
Student 4: I see myself in a comfortable place with the group of peers. They do not
affect me much, other than the fact that they are not helpful to others.
Student 5: students from another group often denies interacting with other. The fact of
clique group within the university is more about personal choice and space I think. Moreover,
I think it is an important notion of per established communities while choosing a group.
Interview question 3:
Interviewee: What do cliques mean to you?
Student 1: According to my knowledge clique, students are those that tend to focus
less on discovering their self-ideas rather they cultivate the effect of self-esteem

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Student 2: For me, they are the group of peer students who have shared idea and
perceptions about the relationship. They believe in staying in the group and share similar
ideas of interest and opinions whenever in-group.
Student 3: I think when students are in clique group they do not prefer to socialise or
communicate outside their group rather they remain inseparable from each they.
Student 4: Clique group shares a group psychology with each other where they think
that they have similar interest and they think that they belong to a similar culture where it is
easier for them to communicate with each other.
Student 5: It is a strong idea of being in an authentic group wherein other belonging to
other group is not allowed. In this group, if one of the members breaks their trust they will be
charged for betraying their group's trust.
Interview question 4
Interviewee: Can you describe any traumatic or difficult experience at your university
due to Clique?
Student 1: When I first entered my university, I tried to communicate with the group
of clique around my class. I tried to adjust with them each day, but they seemed to ignore me
in my class. When I asked them, they behaved badly.
Student 2: Did not have any traumatising and difficult experience
Student 3: They started ignoring and mocking me because I belonged to a different
culture.
Student 4: I had a group of my own when I Asked a group to play football with them
denied rudely playing with us as they belonged to another group.

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Student 5: I have been often treated and misbehaved when asking for helping me with
projects and studies. They completely denied helping me.
Discussion of interview
When the students were interviewed based on the above question it has been found
that five students among all them responded towards a different perspective on the student’s
friendship clique. As stated by Beech and Rientes (2016), it has been argued in the interview,
that there are several features among the social group clique, which influenced the students
within the classroom. It has been found from the interview that cliques emerge not only in
reply to the unique features of the students in a class, but it also emerges from the structural
and organisational features of the classroom (Novak et al. 2018). These features are
determined factors are not prepared by the students by the staffs of the university.
From the interview, reports dents, one of the women participants responded that the
characteristics if the clique that seemed to be influenced are the size grades and racial
composition and variation in achieving classroom climate. To be specific, it is the
diversification of the class, which has a positive impact on the size of the clique present
within the university. On the contrary, another student responded that they would like to form
friendship within the clique students in order to form a larger form of friendship networks
(Beattie and Thiele 2016).
Again, while interviewing another set of male student sit has been found that students
when in a clique they interact with the students outside the line because of which students
idea of unity is affected. In this context, interview with the 4 male students it has been found
that they have been highly humiliated when they approached the clique to play a game with
them. The group psychology of the clique made them think that they do not share similar
interest same as their clique group (Brooks et al. 2015).

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Therefore, from the interview, it has been found that one of the major factors that
influence the growth of the 18-21-year-old students in university; it is the group of the peer
that has a powerful impact on the students. The student's group of the peer within the
university provides a forum for the new students entering the university in sharing huge
concerns, fears and resentments that are common in at the stage of adolescent (Wölfer et al.,
2015). Graduate and undergraduate students at this age struggle with the established tasks,
issues of the peer that influence the choices of the students.
On the contrary, when three male and three female clique group were interviewed
each consisting of postgraduate students. All the participants were an interview in an
individual way to obtain knowledge about the values and operations of the clique. During the
ongoing session of the interview all, the respondents were given a form A based on the
Kohlberg’s Moral judgement interview questionnaire for evaluating their level of moral
judgements. Within the period of two weeks of the individual interview, each of the clique
was brought together for discussion the hypothetical dilemma taken from the interview
question. The participant’s level of moral was properly expressed during the individual
interview.
All the response has been compared with the responses of the other clique groups. In
addition to this, the interviews determined that setting of the clique group influenced the level
of moral judgement of the participants. The clique discussion was evaluated to demonstrate
each of the participant’s response to the impact of other social group presence within the
university. In this context, the analysis of the data shows that postgraduate students will
constantly feel at a lower stage of oral when they are placed in a group discussion with
another group of students. However, within clique possession, the highest level of moral
judgement is not a requisite features for applying clique leadership.

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It has also been found from the interview that clique position of leadership within the
group are not always held by the person with the lowest level of moral reasoning or
maintained exposure to higher moral reasoning. However, Martín Babarro et al. (2017) stated
that it is the propensity of shared interest within the groups, which acts as the major factors in
draws the students in a group of friend zone. In this context, topics and issues discussed
among them may be different or troublesome for the members of the group that generally
ignored in regular conversation in order to protect the friendship amongst the clique members
(Lodder et al. 2016).
Research in this context shows that while students arrive from their home countries to
universities that come with a belief that studying in the university will help them to get
involved with the student's community within the university premises (Davies and Brown
2015). In reality, studying in University could be different due to the presence of social
groups. As reported by Asmus et al. (2017), there is the presence of several unforeseen
factors that influence the ability to interact with another group of outsiders. Moreover, some
of the participants of the interview noted that there are several challenges that prevented the
formation of a diverse cultural relationship between students.
Students in this context have a feeling that it is easier for them to interact with
students who have similar culture and interest. It was easier for them to express their
emotions related to university issues and studies (Sekara et al. 2016). Similar findings have
led to the findings to the arguments that group of clique students occupy a liminal space on
the periphery of their interest that suits their consciousness. In this context, Nekmat et al.
(2015) argued that the word liminal is negative in relations to the outsider connotation that
eventually fails to take in to note the fact that clique or social group students themselves often
tend to develop their own complicated communities specifically while studying within the
university for long period. Here the idea that whether they truly occupy a liminal space on the

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boundaries of the student’s life (Golonka et al. 2017). It can be supported by stating that they
often create a community type of bonding with the group that cooperates almost different
from another group of students.

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