Social Barometer

The Social Barometer exercise involves posing questions and asking participants to respond
by moving to a particular point along an imaginary line that represents a spectrum of potential
answers. It can serve as an opening activity at the beginning of a one-time dialogue session.
You may also find it useful at many other times in a longer dialogue program. The exercise
can be conducted very quickly or expanded to become a much more substantive activity.

Time: 5 minutes to an hour -- The length of the exercise depends on the size of the group,
the number of questions you pose, and whether or not you include supplementary activities.

Group Size: The exercise works well with small or large groups, as long as the room is large
enough for participants to move around easily.

Supplies Needed: None, although you may find a rope, string, or colored paper helpful.

Purposes:
• You can use the social barometer exercise at the beginning of a session to arrange a
large group of participants into subgroups that include people with varied perspectives.

• You can also use the exercise to determine which issues or questions are most
controversial or most interesting among the participants. The exercise can be used at
the beginning of a session to select questions to explore that day or at the end of a
session to help you choose a direction for the next meeting.

• The exercise sparks participants' thinking about the issues at hand and curiosity about
one another. A 5-minute social barometer exercise will enable each participant to learn
about the diversity of views in the room and to see how his or her perspective
compares to others. In other contexts, the activity can provide a structure for in-depth
reflection and interaction, rather than simply serving as prelude to conversation.

• If participants have been reluctant to explore differences, this exercise can help them
to bring their differences to the surface and to begin discussing them. The exercise can
also enable participants to learn quickly about aspects of each others' backgrounds or
about feelings, ideas, or assumptions that they might otherwise find difficult to discuss.

• Because the exercise involves physical movement, it can energize the participants and
help to relieve tension. This may be helpful at the beginning of a session or in the
middle of a long program.

• Like other activities that involve physical movement, this exercise may enable
participants to process and integrate their ideas and feelings more deeply than
activities that involve only speaking and listening.

• A modified version of the activity can be used to quickly gauge participants’ energy
level, evaluate an activity, or find out how ready participants feel for a new activity. See
the section of this document labeled “Variations for Other Purposes.”

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Basic Instructions (for Core Activity)

1. Set up the space so that participants can comfortably spread out along a line that
stretches from one side of the room to another. It can be helpful to have an actual line
or a rope along the floor, but you can also ask them to imagine that there is a line
running from one end to the other.

2. Ask participants to stand, and explain that you will invite them to respond to some
questions by placing themselves at a particular point along the line. Each point along
the line will represent a different answer to the question. Encourage the participants to
go through the exercise silently, without speaking about their responses to the
questions. Acknowledge that it can feel challenging to do this silently and reassure
them that they will have a chance to talk soon. In some cases, you may want to invite
the participants to speak about their views, experiences, or feelings at particular
moments during the exercise.

3. Read your questions aloud, along with the participants' choices. At one end of the line
will be people who fully agree with one response to the question, and at the other will
be people who fully agree with the opposite response. Participants can also place
themselves between the two points, depending on how close they feel to each
response, or how mixed or ambivalent they feel:

“If you agree with X, stand over there by the window, and if you agree with Y, stand on
the opposite side of the room over there. If you're somewhere in between, if you feel
pulled to both sides of the room, or if you switch back and forth, you can place yourself
anywhere along the line you would like.”

4. It is often helpful to begin with a warm-up question or two. Some examples:

• Are you a morning person or a night person?

• Do you prefer summer or winter?
• Do you prefer latkes or hamentashen?

5. Then ask one or more serious questions. The specific questions you choose--along
with the number of questions and the sequence--will depend on your goals for the
exercise. Here is an example of a series of two questions that we have posed when we
needed to arrange participants into break-out groups:

a. Do you feel very hopeful about achieving peace, or do you feel

hopeless?

b. Do you often find yourself defending the Israeli government's policies and
actions, criticizing the Israeli government, or both?

The first question is less polarizing than the second; therefore, participants have an
opportunity to learn something significant about each others' feelings before engaging
with differences that may feel more challenging.

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 6. Rather than posing “either/or” questions, you may instead want to pose some
statements and ask participants to indicate how much they agree or disagree with
them: “If you completely agree with this statement, stand over there by the door. If you
completely disagree, then stand on the other side of the room by the bookshelf. Or if
you are somewhere in between, place yourself at whatever point along the line feels
right to you.”

You can mix and match “either/or” questions and “agree/disagree” statements as
needed. At the end of this document, you will find a list of 99 additional statements that
you can draw on. You may also create questions or statements of your own.

7. After you pose each question and each participant has found a place to stand, invite
the participants to look around the room and notice where they are standing in relation
to others. If you wish to encourage deeper reflection and have sufficient time, you can
encourage participants to consider some follow-up questions as they look around:
What do they find most surprising or interesting about their own responses to the
question? What do they find most surprising or interesting about other people's
responses? You may invite participants to reflect silently or to share their responses.
(See the 3rd optional activity listed in the “Variations” section below.)

Additional Instructions:
1. You may also want to assure the participants that you are not asking them to describe
their feelings or define their views in a precise or conclusive way. You are simply
asking them to give other participants a sense of how they are feeling and thinking at
this moment. If you asked the same questions on another day, each person might
respond differently. No one will be held to the views that they express here.

2. If participants ask for clarification about the meaning of a question, you can rephrase it
or explain the purpose behind the question. Participants may also express that it is
hard to choose a response and ask for your guidance. In those cases, we generally
encourage them to interpret the question for themselves and to respond in any way
that makes sense to them.

3. Some facilitators find it helpful to set up brightly colored signs at either of the room,
which display the two choices that participants are directly to consider, or that say
“agree” and “disagree.” These signs can liven up the room and make the activity more
visually engaging.

4. Other facilitators have asked participants to hold up a rope that stretches across the
room after they find their places. When participants hold up a rope together, the activity
may be more physically engaging, and the participants may gain a stronger feeling of
cooperation.

Variations: Depending on your purposes for using this exercise, you may want to add one of
the following components to your plan, or use one of the following variations.

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1. Use the exercise to arrange the participants into sub-groups that include people
with varied perspectives. Pose one or two warm-up statements, and then one or two
serious statements. After posing a statement that brings out participants' differences in
a way that will enable you to divide them into groups, ask them to count off. The
numbers that participants will use when counting will depend on the number of groups
you plan to create. For example, if you wish to create 3 small groups, the participants
should count 1, 2, 3; 1, 2, 3.... If you wish to create 4 small groups, the participants
should count 1, 2, 3, 4; 1, 2, 3, 4.... Everyone who says “1,” will be in the first group,
everyone who says “2” will be in the second group, etc..

2. Use the exercise to determine which issues are most controversial or interesting
among the participants. Jewish Dialogue Group facilitators have occasionally led
dialogues without knowing ahead of time which issue the participants would like to
focus on. We have prepared a list of several issues and then asked the participants to
respond to them one at a time at the beginning of the program using the social
barometer method. This has allowed us to quickly ascertain which issues produce the
most diverse and most passionate responses.

3. Invite participants to speak about their views during the exercise or to share
their reactions to the exercise. After you have posed a statement and participants
have found their place, invite them to look around and notice where they stand in
relation to others. Then ask one or more follow-up questions. You can ask the
participants to share their reflections while standing or invite them to sit down first.
Some questions you may find helpful include:

• How did you decide to stand where you are standing? What are your thoughts
about this question? What feels simple to you, and what feels complicated?
• What is it like to stand where you are standing? What feelings or thoughts come
up for you when you notice where you stand in relation to others?
• What is most surprising or interesting to you about your own response?
• What is most surprising or interesting about other people's responses?
• What feels challenging about responding to this question?
• What do you think other people might assume about you based on where you
are standing?

Select the follow-up questions that you think will most effectively spark participants'
thinking and help them to learn about each other. You may want to invite all of the
participants to comment or invite one or two participants who stood near each other to
respond. If you invite two people from each part of the room to respond, participants
may see that people who choose to stand in similar places may do so for different
reasons. This can help to reduce polarization and bring forth greater complexity in the
conversation.

Make sure to give participants some time to think before you invite them to respond. In
many cases, you may want to ask participants to speak only for themselves without
responding to one another.

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 Used in this way, the social barometer exercise can provide a structure that guides
more extended reflection and interaction, rather than serving only as a brief prelude to
a conversation. Depending on your goals, you may want to pose just one question or
several questions.

4. Invite participants to pose their own statements or questions. After posing some
initial statements yourself, ask the participants to think about what they would like to
learn about each others' views, experiences, or feelings. Then invite them to take turns
posing “either/or” questions and “agree/disagree” statements for the group. Encourage
them to make sure that the questions or statements they pose are based upon real
curiosity and not designed to prove a point.

Variations for Other Purposes: You can also use an abbreviated form of the social
barometer activity, or a step-into-the-circle activity that works in a similar way, to gather
information about participants’ needs and interests quickly and efficiently during a dialogue
program. This activity can enable you to:

• Gauge participants’ energy level -- ask participants to line up to indicate how much
energy they have at that moment. Are they completely alert and engaged, or are they
exhausted?
• Evaluate an activity -- ask participants to line up to indicate how much they learned
from or valued a particular exercise or conversation
• Assess participants’ readiness for a particular conversation or activity, or find out how
certain or uncertain they feel about a particular issue

Rather than asking participants to form a line, you may want to ask participants to form a
circle and then to step into the circle to indicate how much they agree with the statements that
you pose. For example: “Step all the way towards the center if you feel very energetic, take a
small step if have some energy, and stay where you are if you feel exhausted.”

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Other Statements for This Activity
Here are some additional statements you can draw on when using the social barometer
exercise. The statements are grouped loosely by theme. You may want to use some of them
exactly as they are written, modify them to address your participants' specific needs, or just
use them as source of inspiration to create your own.

As we formulated this list, we thought about themes and questions that have come up in our
dialogue sessions over the years, and we brainstormed social barometer statements that
might have helped participants to connect with each other and go deeper in their
conversations. We have used a few of these statements in dialogue programs, but most have
not yet been tested.

In the coming months, we hope to refine the list. We would greatly value your feedback!
Please let us know if you have any suggestions for additions or revisions by emailing
info@jewishdialogue.org.

1. I feel connected to people in Israel.

2. I feel that my actions can have a significant effect on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
3. I consider myself to be politically active around issues related to Israel.
4. I consider myself to be politically active around other issues.
5. I feel a sense of obligation to fellow Jews.
6. I feel a sense of obligation to Israelis.
7. I feel a sense of obligation to Palestinians.
8. I believe I have an obligation to work for justice.
9. I believe I have an obligation to work for peace.
10. I feel personally responsible for Israel's actions / for what happens in Israel.
11. I have a responsibility to engage with the conflict because my government plays an
important role / because of my government's involvement.
12. I believe that I have to choose between supporting Israeli Jews and supporting
Palestinians.
13. I would like to know more about Israeli perspectives on the conflict.
14. I would like to know more about Palestinian perspectives on the conflict.
15. I trust Israeli government officials.
16. I trust the Israeli people.
17. I feel a sense of trust in Palestinian leaders.
18. I feel a sense of trust in Palestinian people.
19. I trust the U.S. officials who set our foreign policies.
20. I trust organizations in the U.S. that criticize Israeli government policies.
21. I trust organizations in the U.S. that defend Israeli government policies.
22. I worry about the safety of people in Israel.
23. The safety of Israel's people requires strong defense policies.
24. The safety of Israel's people depends on making peace with Palestinians.
25. Israel needs the support of the United States in order to survive.
26. I feel frustrated by Israeli government policies and actions.
27. I see the potential for a win/win solution.
28. I have changed my mind in significant ways about this issue.
29. I feel I have enough information to make good decisions related to the conflict.
30. I feel proud of Israel's accomplishments.

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31. I feel inspired by Israel.
32. I feel ashamed / angry / heartbroken about some of Israel’s actions.
33. I feel a connection with Land of Israel.
34. I feel a connection with the State of Israel.
35. I feel a connection with the People of Israel.
36. I feel a connection with the Jewish people of Israel.
37. I feel a religious connection with the Land of Israel.
38. I feel a strong connection with Jerusalem.
39. I feel a connection with Palestinians.
40. I feel a connection with Arab Israelis / Palestinian citizens of Israel.
41. I have personal connections with Palestinians.
42. I have personal connections with Arab Americans.
43. I have personal connections with Muslims.
44. It is important to me that Israel have a Jewish majority.
45. I believe the Israeli government is doing everything possible to make peace.
46. I believe the Jewish population of Israel faces a threat of annihilation.
47. I believe the Israeli government is doing everything possible to make peace.
48. I think the Israeli government's concessions have caused harm to people in Israel.
49. I believe the Israeli government’s intransigence causes harm people in Israel.
50. I believe that the Israeli government acts toward Palestinians in ways that are unjust.
51. I disagree with Israeli government policies and see an alternative course of action that
could lead to safety and justice for Jews and Palestinians.
52. I believe that Israel is pressured unfairly by the United States.
53. I would like the United States government to exert more pressure on Israel to make
peace.
54. I disagree with some Israeli government policies or actions but believe that public
criticism of Israel is often harmful.
55. I feel empathy for Palestinians.
56. I sympathize with the struggle of the Palestinian people.
57. I believe that hostility to Israel is rooted in anti-Jewish hatred.
58. I believe that Palestinians are justified in being angry at Israel.
59. I feel I have been targeted by anti-Jewish prejudice.
60. My family has suffered because of anti-Semitism.
61. I feel that my safety is threatened by anti-Semitism.
62. I have a responsibility to challenge anti-Semitism.
63. I know people who have been harmed by terrorism.
64. I feel safe and accepted in the world as Jew.
65. I feel unsafe or unaccepted in the world as a Jew.
66. I feel safer in the world because of Israel.
67. I believe that Jewish and non-Jewish Israelis should have equal rights.
68. I support a two-state solution.
69. I believe a two-state solution is possible.
70. I feel a sense of loss when I consider the possibility of Israel withdrawing from the
West Bank.
71. I feel a sense of loss when I consider the possibility of Israel withdrawing from parts of
the West Bank.
72. I would like to see Israeli settlements in the West Bank/Jewish communities in Judea
and Samaria continue to grow.

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73. I believe that Israel's settlement policies in the West Bank are unethical.
74. I believe that Israeli's settlement policies in the West Bank are self-destructive.
75. I believe further territorial withdrawals would be harmful to Israelis' safety.
76. I would like to see Palestinians who hold refugee status to be able to return to live
within Israel.
77. I would like to see the creation of a binational state that includes all of Israel, the West
Bank, and Gaza.
78. I would like to see Jews and Palestinians live together in a single state.
79. I believe that a one-state solution is possible.
80. I would like to see the State of Israel to have sovereignty over the entire Land of Israel.
81. Ideally, Palestinians would make their homes somewhere outside the Land of Israel.
82. I feel uneasy when I hear people use the word “Palestine.”
83. I feel uneasy when I hear people use the phrase “anti-Israel.”
84. I feel uneasy when I hear people use the word “Occupation.”
85. I feel easy when I hear people use the word “colonialism” in relation to this issue.
86. I feel uneasy when I hear people criticize Islam.
87. I believe the history of the conflict provides clear lessons that can guide our actions
now.
88. I have an obligation to defend Israel from unfair criticism.
89. I believe that it is important to criticize the Israeli government when it acts unjustly.
90. I believe that Israel is often held to a double standard.
91. Israel is an important part of my Jewish identity.
92. Working for justice is an important part of my Jewish identity.
93. My religious beliefs / commitments shape how I respond to the conflict.
94. I believe that Israel’s policies (mostly) reflect my values.
95. I believe that Israel can be a Jewish state and democratic state at the same time.
96. I prefer to talk about these issues with people who share my basic point of view.
97. I enjoy arguing.
98. I feel frustrated by arguments.
99. I feel hopeful about talking with people whose perspectives are very different from
mine.

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