Questionnaire sur l’Ambiance du Groupe: A French-Language Instrument for Measuring Group Cohesion

Abstract

The present report provides a summary of five studies undertaken to develop a French-language instrument to assess cohesiveness in sport teams—the “Questionnaire sur l’Ambiance du Groupe” (QAG). For the initial version of the instrument, the Group Environment Questionnaire (Carron, Widmeyer, & Brawley, 1985) was translated into French using the protocol outlined by Vallerand (1989). However, psychometric analyses undertaken in Studies 1, 2, and 3 failed to yield acceptable evidence of construct validity. Items were then revised in an attempt to make them more suitable for the French culture. Subsequent analyses in Study 4 provided support for the construct validity and reliability (internal consistency and interscale equivalence) of the QAG. In Study 5, predictive validity was demonstrated. The QAG has been found to possess satisfactory psychometric properties as a measure of cohesion in sport teams.

Validation of the Child Sport Cohesion Questionnaire

“…Therefore, for this test, known-group Downloaded by [Fondren Library, Rice University ] at 12:34 18 November 2014 difference validity was not supported. This is an interesting finding, as research with older populations (e.g., Brawley, Carron, & Widmeyer, 1987;Heuzé & Fontayne, 2002) found differences in perceptions of cohesion based on sport type. This serves to highlight the importance of a cohesion inventory for children.…”

“…When Carron et al (1985) validated the GEQ, and Heuzé and Fontayne (2002) validated their French-language cohesion inventory (Questionnaire sur l'Ambiance du Groupe), they suggested that perceptions of cohesion would differ based on sport type and team tenure. Insofar as sport type was concerned, these authors predicted that cohesion would be stronger in participants from team (e.g., volleyball) versus individual (e.g., track and field) sports.…”

Exploring the Relationship between Cohesion and Collective Efficacy in Tunisian Sports Teams: Validation of the Tunisian Version of the Collective Efficacy Questionnaire for Collective Sports

“…Cohesion: We also use the Tunisian version of the Questionnaire "l'Ambiance du Groupe" (QAG; Heuzé & Fontayne, 2002, the French version of the group environment questionnaire, Carron and al., 1985). This questionnaire (QAG-T) includes 18 items evaluating four dimensions of cohesion (i.e., individual attractions to the group task (ATG-T, four items); individual attractions to the group-social (ATG-S, five items); group integration-task (GI-T, five items); group integration-social (GI-S, four items).…”

Development of a Cohesion Questionnaire for Youth: The Youth Sport Environment Questionnaire

“…Presently, researchers who desire to use the GEQ beyond the intended target population must either make a case for the appropriateness of the existing version for their specific use and/or alter items and analyses to suit as necessary. In fact, these practices have been engaged in with some degree of regularity for other activity types (e.g., exercise classes; Carron & Spink, 1993) and cultures (e.g., French sample; Heuzé & Fontayne, 2002) with varying levels of success. The age of participants (i.e., 18-30) for which the GEQ was intended has also restricted its use or forced researchers to consider alternatives to item wording as suggested by Carron, Brawley, and Widmeyer (2002).…”