The Development and Adaptation of the Innovative Moments Coding System for Groups (IMCS-G)

Previous researches have attempted to adapt the Innovative Moments Coding System (IMCS) to the group setting by identifying new IM categories able to detect meaningful interactions between group members. This study aims to develop a further adaptation of the IMCS by tracking the categories emerging from previous group coding schemes and analyzing if other types of IM categories emerged in the transcripts of three counseling groups addressed at underachieving university students. Results showed that seven IM categories (Self-directed, Other-directed, Explicit Mirroring, Prompting Change, Reinforcing Change, Collective, and Voice of Group) emerged in the current study, five of which resulting from the findings of previous researches and two obtained in this study through a data-driven method based on the coders’ agreement. The previous and emerging IM categories were illustrated, and agreement and reliability of the IM categories were calculated. Overall, this study refined and integrated the previous group coding schemes and proposed the development of a new coding system, the Innovative Moments Coding System for Groups (IMCS-G), which showed to be a reliable method that allows the detection of markers of change within the group setting.