scholarly journals Qualitative Methods and Visualizations in the Study of Friendship Networks

2016 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 198-216 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elisa Bellotti
Keyword(s):  
Social Network ◽  
Social Network Analysis ◽  
Network Analysis ◽  
Social Relationships ◽  
Mixed Method ◽  
Social Structures ◽  
Personal Networks ◽  
Friendship Networks ◽  
Depth Interviews ◽  
Method Approach

One of the most powerful aspects of social network data is the fact that they can reproduce social relationships in a formal and comparable way. Relational matrices abstract from the hustle and bustle of everyday interaction, and systematise information in terms of presence or absence of ties expressing them in a directed or undirected, binary or valued form. While the formal approach represents an advantage of social network analysis, as it allows bracketing off the idiosyncratic and subjective content of social structures, the mathematization of the complex nature of social relationships has also been criticised for the lack of engagement with the subjective meaning and context of relationships. Such stream of critique has called for an increase of use of qualitative methods in social network research. The first goal of the paper is to address these critiques by rebalancing the argument and showing how social network analysis has always engaged with both formal and contextual aspects of social structures. The paper reviews some theoretical perspectives that discuss and systematise a mixed method approach, and explores the methodological advantages of using network visualizations together with qualitative interviews in the collection, analysis and interpretation of personal networks. The advantages of adopting a mixed method approach are illustrated over some examples of friendship networks of 23 single male and female people collected in Milan, Italy, in 2005. A classic name generator is used to reconstruct their egonets of friends, and the visualization is adopted as the input for in-depth interviews with specific attention devoted to the meaning of friendship relationships, the kind of resources they offer, the conflicts and constrains they entail, and how they have developed and evolved over time. By comparing information obtained respectively with name generators and in-depth interviews, the paper shows how the mix of data improves and specify the understanding of personal networks.

scholarly journals Exploring Social Relationships in “a Mixed Way”: Mixed Structural Analysis

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dominik Emanuel Froehlich
Keyword(s):  
Social Network ◽  
Social Network Analysis ◽  
Structural Analysis ◽  
Network Analysis ◽  
Social Relationships ◽  
Mixed Method ◽  
Research Designs ◽  
Additional Input

While the concept of mixed method social network analysis (MMSNA) is gaining in popularity, there is a notable lack of specific mixed research designs that guide the implementation of MMSNA. In this chapter, I draw from qualitative social network analysis, specifically, qualitative structural analysis, and expand it towards a mixed research design. This change, which requires relatively little additional input, fulfills several important purposes at the same time, and hence may be conducive in increasing the overall quality of a study.

scholarly journals Worlds, Fields and Networks: Becker, Bourdieu and the Structures of Social Relations

2011 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 99-119 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wendy Bottero ◽  
Nick Crossley
Keyword(s):  
Social Network ◽  
Social Network Analysis ◽  
Network Analysis ◽  
Social Relationships ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
Cultural Production ◽  
Social Space ◽  
Social Structures ◽  
Field Analysis ◽  
Music Scenes

This paper reflects upon Bourdieu’s concept of cultural fields, Becker’s concept of ‘art worlds’ and the concept of networks as developed in social network analysis. We challenge the distinction that Bourdieu makes between the objective ‘relations’ and ‘positions’ constitutive of ‘social space’ and visible social relationships. In contrast, we maintain that interaction is generative of social spaces and positions and should be integral to any account of them. Becker’s position is better from this perspective, but while Becker refers repeatedly to social networks, he fails to develop the concept or exploit its potential as a means of exploring social structures. Both Becker and Bourdieu have an underdeveloped conception of social connection which weakens their respective conceptions of the space of cultural production. Our proposed remedy is to use social network analysis to derive ‘positions’ and ‘relations’ between ‘positions’, as prioritized by Bourdieu, from data on concrete interactions and relations. This allows ‘world’ analysis to speak to the issues of field analysis without sacrificing its strengths. We illustrate our case by way of an analysis of two UK music scenes from the late 1970s.

Social Network Analysis in Marketing

E-Marketing ◽  
2012 ◽  
pp. 185-197
Author(s):  
Przemyslaw Kazienko ◽  
Piotr Doskocz ◽  
Tomasz Kajdanowicz
Keyword(s):  
Social Network ◽  
Social Network Analysis ◽  
Network Analysis ◽  
Social Relationships ◽  
Network Data ◽  
Social Network Data ◽  
The Social ◽  
Targeted Marketing ◽  
Potential Customers ◽  
Demographic Features

The chapter describes a method how to perform a classification task without any demographic features and based only on the social network data. The concept of such collective classification facilitates to identify potential customers by means of services used or products purchased by the current customers, i.e. classes they belong to as well as using social relationships between the known and potential customers. As a result, a personalized offer can be prepared for the new clients. This innovative marketing method can boost targeted marketing campaigns.

Web Mining and Social Network Analysis

Data Mining ◽  
2013 ◽  
pp. 326-335
Author(s):  
Roberto Marmo
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Social Network ◽  
Social Network Analysis ◽  
Network Analysis ◽  
Social Relationships ◽  
Web Mining ◽  
Social Network Mining ◽  
Data Mining Algorithms ◽  
Instant Messenger ◽  
Mining Algorithms

Research on social networks has advanced significantly due to wide variety of on-line social websites and very popular Web 2.0 application. Social network analysis views social relationships in terms of network and graph theory about nodes (individual actors within the network) and ties (relationships between the actors). Using web mining techniques and social networks analysis it is possible to process and analyze large amount of social data (such as blogtagging, online game playing, instant messenger etc.) and by this to discover valuable information from data. In this way, we can understand the social structure, social relationships and social behaviors. This new approach is also denoted as social network mining. These algorithms differ from established set of data mining algorithms developed to analyze individual records, because social network datasets are called relational due to centrality of relations among entities. This chapter also sets out a process to apply web mining.

Social Network Analysis in Marketing

2011 ◽  
pp. 271-283
Author(s):  
Przemyslaw Kazienko ◽  
Piotr Doskocz ◽  
Tomasz Kajdanowicz
Keyword(s):  
Social Network ◽  
Social Network Analysis ◽  
Network Analysis ◽  
Social Relationships ◽  
Network Data ◽  
Social Network Data ◽  
The Social ◽  
Targeted Marketing ◽  
Potential Customers ◽  
Demographic Features

The chapter describes a method how to perform a classification task without any demographic features and based only on the social network data. The concept of such collective classification facilitates to identify potential customers by means of services used or products purchased by the current customers, i.e. classes they belong to as well as using social relationships between the known and potential customers. As a result, a personalized offer can be prepared for the new clients. This innovative marketing method can boost targeted marketing campaigns.

scholarly journals Strengths and weaknesses of the Net-Map tool for participatory social network analysis in resource management: Experience from case studies conducted on four continents

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 205979911878775 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara Schröter ◽  
Claudia Sattler ◽  
Frieder Graef ◽  
Cheng Chen ◽  
Estephania Delgadillo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Network ◽  
Social Network Analysis ◽  
Network Analysis ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Directed Information ◽  
Management Experience ◽  
Participatory Network ◽  
Network Mapping ◽  
Depth Interviews

For researchers, conducting face-to-face interviews is always a challenge as it often turns into a one-way directed information retrieval. Therefore, interviewees not always are very motivated, enthusiastic and cooperative in responding to the questions. In the end, this has implications for the quality of the interview data. To improve the interview setting and the resulting data, in several projects the Net-Map tool was used to conduct participatory social network analysis. The tool is a combination of in-depth interviews and participatory network mapping. During the interviews, the interviewee draws the network of relevant actors, notes down their motivations and evaluates and displays the actors’ influence and benefits by building towers using any kind of stacks. In this research note, we present the strengths and weaknesses of the method against the experiences with applying the Net-Map tool on four different continents and give ideas for improvements and further research.

scholarly journals Lengthy leader male tenure delays male offspring dispersal in a primate multilevel society

Behaviour ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 156 (13-14) ◽  
pp. 1371-1391
Author(s):  
Gu Fang ◽  
Xiao-Min Gao ◽  
Dong Zhang ◽  
Derek Dunn ◽  
Ruliang Pan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Network ◽  
Social Network Analysis ◽  
Network Analysis ◽  
Social Relationships ◽  
Kin Selection ◽  
World Monkey ◽  
Male Offspring ◽  
Monkey Species ◽  
Male Dispersal ◽  
Multilevel Society

Abstract Natal dispersals are male-biased in most Old World monkey species, especially those that are polygynous. We examined patterns of male dispersal in golden snub-nosed monkeys, in which male offspring mainly disperse as juveniles from their natal one-male units (OMUs) to a bachelor group. However, out of a total of 112 male dispersals from 2001–2016, we documented six cases in which male offspring remained in their natal OMU until sub-adulthood. Based on monitoring of dispersal dynamics, we found that male offspring were more likely to delay dispersal if the tenure of leader males was lengthy. Social network analysis showed male offspring who delayed dispersal exhibited strong social relationships with each other and their OMU leader male but not with the females of their OMU. Our results suggest that the length of leader male tenure may affect natal male dispersal due to benefits to leader males accrued via intrasexual competition and kin selection.

Social Network Analysis in Egyptology: Benefits, Methods and Limits

2019 ◽  
Vol 105 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-96
Author(s):  
Vincent Chollier
Keyword(s):  
Social Network ◽  
Social Network Analysis ◽  
Network Analysis ◽  
Social Relationships ◽  
Empirical Method ◽  
Ancient Egypt ◽  
Centrality Measures ◽  
Defining Relations ◽  
The Family ◽  
Kinship Terminology

This article aims at presenting a methodology for Social Network Analysis (SNA) applied to Egyptology and ancient societies studies, with its benefits and issues. One of the big issues dealing with social relationships in ancient Egypt lies in the use of kinship terminology defining relations outside the family. In that sense, SNA allows researchers to partially set aside links values contrary to traditional genealogical studies, especially for the graphical projection. Thus, biological and social brothers do not have to be distinguished using this method, although this distinction is often impossible to do. It then presents an empirical method developed using this branch of sociology on an Egyptological dataset dating back from the New Kingdom. With the help of centrality measures, SNA enabled attention to be drawn to secondary role characters at the first sight of the hieroglyphic documentation. However, studying such a type of documentation requires a cautious approach, especially regarding the nature and aim of the sources available.

scholarly journals Linking Quantitative and Qualitative Network Approaches: A Review of Mixed Methods Social Network Analysis in Education Research

2020 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 244-268 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dominik E. Froehlich ◽  
Sara Van Waes ◽  
Hannah Schäfer
Keyword(s):  
Education Research ◽  
Social Network ◽  
Mixed Methods ◽  
Social Network Analysis ◽  
Network Analysis ◽  
Social Relationships ◽  
Mixed Methods Research ◽  
Qualitative Approaches ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
Network Approaches

Social network analysis (SNA) is becoming a prevalent method in education research and practice. But criticism has been voiced against the heavy reliance on quantification within SNA. Recent work suggests combining quantitative and qualitative approaches in SNA—mixed methods social network analysis (MMSNA)—as a remedy. MMSNA is helpful for addressing research questions related to the formal or structural side of relationships and networks, but it also attends to more qualitative questions such as the meaning of interactions or the variability of social relationships. In this chapter, we describe how researchers have applied and presented MMSNA in publications from the perspective of general mixed methods research. Based on a systematic review, we summarize the different applications within the field of education and learning research, point to potential shortcomings of the methods and its presentation, and develop an agenda to support researchers in conducting future MMSNA research.

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