Social Network Research: an Introduction Security at the Margins Workshop: 17‐19 February 2016 Gil Viry ‐ gil.viry@ed.ac.uk
Outline 1) Thinking in terms of networks rather than groups 2) Key principles of social network research 3) Designing social network research
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Thinking in terms of networks rather than groups Small, local, clearly bounded, tightly knit groups (household, community, work group, club)
(Potentially) large, far‐flung, diverse, fluid and changing, less overlapping and more personal social networks
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Networked individuals ‘The individual – and not the household, kinship group, or work group – is the primary unit of connectivity … people must actively network to thrive or even to survive comfortably. More passive or unskilled people may lose out, as the group (village, neighbourhood, household) is no longer taking care of things for them’ (Wellman et al. 2006: 164‐165).’
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Example: a post‐divorce family 4.10
5.76
4.10 4.10
4.10
0 0
4.10
14.08 3.07
Emotional support ties Source: Stepout project 2010 5
33.66 0
215.30
3.07
Cities function more as hubs of SNs and less as clusters of people and industries
Mobility networks in Europe. Left: airport network; Right: commuting network source: http://www.gleamviz.org/gleam‐in‐detail/ 6
Modernity and the intersection of social circles Country Community Relatives Family Ego
Club members Georg Simmel (1858‐1918)
Concentric integration
Ego
Friends
Co‐workers Segmented integration
Family
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Networked individuals beyond the ‘individual vs. group’ dichotomy • Tendency to see the social world either as (institutionalized) groups or as (autonomous) individuals. • The patterns of ties in which individuals are embedded (i.e. networks) generate constraints and opportunities for actions, and shape both who we are and how we think. • ‘Glocalized’ networks = both local embeddedness and global outreach. 8
Society is what happens between people, in interactions and relations • Society exists where a number of individuals enter into interaction. (Simmel 1971, 23) • Society has for its substratum the mass of associated individuals. The system which they form by uniting together ... their channels of communication [are] the basis from which social life is raised. (Durkheim 1974, 24) • Society does not consist of individuals, but expresses the sum of interrelations, the relations within which these individual stand. (Marx 1973, 265) But our research methods often collect and analyse information about individuals: Where do relations fit in? 9
What is a network? • A network is simply a set of relationships b/w objects. • These objects can be people, organisations, but also many other things like genes, brain cells, cities, webpages, items found in a google search. • Relationships of knowledge, friendship, support, love, power and influence, exchange, conflict, co‐ authorship, etc. • It can be represented visually (a graph or sociogram). 10
Map of scientific co-authorship in Europe from 2005 to 2009 Source: http://flowingdata.com/2011/01/27/map-of-scientific-collaboration-between-researchers/
Three basic types of networks: whole networks • centred upon a defined population (e.g. organisation school).
Source: CEC De Staël High school study, Geneva, 2009
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Ego‐centred networks (or personal networks) My LinkedIn network: centred upon one source individual (ego)
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Two/multi mode networks (or affiliation network) • Two (or more) types of nodes, each of which can only have relations with the other type.
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What is Social Network Analysis? The main goal of SNA is detecting and interpreting patterns (or structures) of social ties among actors. These patterns are complex and largely hidden, but follow some rules (e.g. reciprocity, transitivity, homophily), which can be revealed empirically.
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SNA often looks at ‘actual’ social ties • SNA often looks at actual relationships existing between actors rather than relationships based on institutional definitions or common attributes such as: living in the same household or country (methodological nationalism), working in the same company, having the same religion, belonging to the same social class.
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Organisation chart shows how authority ties should look…
SOURCE: Brandes, Raab and Wagner (2001) cited in Knoke’s SNA course, 2009 17
… but the directed network of actual advice‐seeking …
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… can be restructured to reveal the ‘real’ hierarchy!
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Individual or social attributes = different patterns of social ties Example with social class Friendship network in a secondary school in Switzerland (aged 16‐19) with two different pathways: • Full‐time students enrolled in a general degree programme, usually progressing into higher education • Part‐time students enrolled in a work‐study programme (vocational education), usually progressing into an apprenticeship or work 20
Source: CEC De Staël study, Geneva, 2009
Double embeddedness of social networks and institutions SNs are embedded within a system of formal institutions, which in turn are embedded in a system of SNs (Kadushin 2012). Constant feedback mechanism b/w networks and institutions. Formal and informal interactions within organisations continuously co‐exist.
HP Labs’ email communication (grey) mapped onto the organisational hierarchy (black) Source: Tyler et al. (2005) cited in Adamic & Adar (2005)
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SNA allows us to identify network properties at different levels The whole
dyads The individual
triads A sub‐group 22
SNA focuses on patterns of ties in the belief that these patterns matter Creativity: Are densely knit networks more creative than sparsely connected ones? (network level) Success: Are well‐connected workers more successful than marginalised ones? (individual level) Happiness: Are people having happy friends happy? (individual level) Support: Are friendship relationships less intimate when friends are far apart? (dyadic level) 23
People’s connections shape their possibilities and constraints • Brian Huzzi and Jarrett Spiro (2005) studied the collaboration networks of 2,092 creative artists who made original Broadway musicals 1945‐1989. • The network structure affected the financial and artistic performance of the musicals they produced.
Success
• Connectivity do benefit creativity, but only up to a threshold, after which the positive effect of connectivity reverses. 24
Connectivity
Social relationships are analysed as global patterns • The parent‐child bond tends to be supportive when the entire family has a culture of supportiveness. • Elisabeth Bott’s conjugal networks Source: Bott, E. (1957). Family and Social Networks. London, Tavistock.
Recent study supporting Bott’s hypothesis: Giudici, F. Widmer, E. (2015). Gendered Occupational Shifts in the Transition to Parenthood: The Influence of Personal Networks. Sociology.
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Do your friends make you happy? Cluster of happy people
Happiness clusters People are more likely to be happy if they have close ties with happy people – up to three degrees of separation. Cluster of unhappy people
Source: Christakis and Fowler (2010)
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Do your friends make you fat? Longitudinal study (Christakis & Fowler 2007) with repeated measures from 1971 to 2003 examined whether the weight gains of people are associated with weight gains of their friends, siblings, partners and neighbours. Obesity clusters extended to ‘three degrees of separation’! If one of your friends is obese there is a 45% higher chance that you are obese; 25% if a friend of your friend is obese and 10% if your friend’s friend’s friend is obese. If your friend gained weight, there is a 57% higher chance that you would gain weight in the future. Source: http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMsa066082
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Causes of similarity and clustering
Influence
Homophily (or social selection) Context Homophily Social connections
Similar attributes Influence
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Network‐actors interaction (structure‐agency duality) • The patterns of social ties are contexts that shape how people think and behave (top‐down effect). • In turn, people (= social actors) shape the structure and nature of social ties by their behaviours (bottom‐up effect). • Constant feedback mechanism b/w individuals and networks. Examples: Risk‐taking behaviours (e.g. smoking, drug addiction, delinquency, eating disorder). 29
Early days of sociometry: Moreno and the school classes
Source: Moreno, Jakob (1934). Who Shall Survive? Foundations of Sociometry, Group Psychotherapy and Sociodrama. Beacon House, Inc. Beacon New York. 1953. 30
Networks have a history and change over time and space • Networks must be analysed as dynamic processes. Duffy
Scanlon SHanley
Postman
Riley
Crookes
Crookes Postman Riley
Garrity
KCaroll
Rowland
Pawlett
McGann
Rossi
Rossi
Pawlett
McGann
Rossi2
Barret Burns
MESmith Witts
Grantham
MESmith Mitchell
Friel
Hannett
Tabac
Wilks
Nance
Wilks
Curtis Kadmon Hook
Morley
Erasmus Sumner Savile
Brotherdale
Boon
Standley
Hook
Morley
Wilson StantheMan
Savage Devoto
Brotherdale
O'Hara Gilbert
1976
Erasmus Sumner
Smythe
Shelley Diggle
Cassidy
Wiggin CooperClarke
Devoto Garret
Hannett Morris
Mason
Boon
Savage
Mitchell Tabac
Mulvey
Curtis Kadmon
Gretton
Morris
Mason
Grey
Reily
Example: Birth of the post punk music scene in Manchester (Crossley 2009)
Cummins
Witts Friel
Nance
Day Bates
TJDavison Burns
Bramah
Gretton
Cummins
Mulvey
Baines
Grey
Reily
Bramah
Rossi2
Barret
Day Bates
TJDavison
Garrity
Rowland
Grantham
Baines
Morrissey Faal
Tomanov
SHanley
Faal
Tomanov
KCaroll
Duffy
Scanlon
Morrissey
Garret O'Hara
1980
Standley
Wilson
Savile
Diggle Shelley
Cassidy
Wiggin CooperClarke
StantheMan Smythe
Gilbert
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Limitations and pitfalls of SNA • Mainly exploratory analysis (no specific hypotheses about the patterns of social ties beforehand). • Hypothesis testing and estimation techniques in SNA are possible, but somewhat technically complex. • Difficulties in network data collection (network boundaries, time‐consuming interviews, confidentiality, high sensitivity to missing data). • Individuals are embbeded in multiple networks, with multiplex ties. How to capture and operationalise this multiplexity? 32
Common social network research questions • How does the social network affect individual outcomes? • How do individuals in certain network positions differ in their individual outcomes? • How do individuals affect network structure? • On what basis do individuals choose network members or network positions? • How does network structure come into being? • How do individual outcomes and/or network structure co‐ evolve over time? • What are the global outcomes for a particular network structure? What makes a networked social system effective or responsive? 33
Adapted from Robins (2015: 41)
SNAS (Social Network Analysis in Scotland) Research Group • SNAS home page: http://www.socialpolicy.ed.ac.uk/research/research _groups/social_network_analysis_project • Bring together academic staff, PG students and practitioners engaging with SNA across Scotland and beyond. • SNAS meets every last Tuesday of the month at 4pm. 34