Prismatic effects of negative ties
Publication date: Available online 11 August 2019Source: Social NetworksAuthor(s): Daniel S. Halgin, Stephen P. Borgatti, Zhi HuangAbstractResearch on negative ties has focused primarily on the harm they do. In this paper, we show that negative ties can also have beneficial effects. We argue that, like positive ties, negative ties can link actors together in the minds of observers. As a result, we theorize that negative ties with high-status actors can benefit a focal actor, whereas negative ties with low-status actors can harm the focal actor. This prismatic effect depends on the existing status of the focal actor: a foca...
Source: Social Networks - August 11, 2019 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
Substantive implications of unobserved heterogeneity: Testing the frailty approach to exponential random graph models
Publication date: October 2019Source: Social Networks, Volume 59Author(s): Janet M. Box-Steffensmeier, Benjamin W. Campbell, Dino P. Christenson, Jason W. MorganAbstractExponential Random Graph Models (ERGMs) are an increasingly common tool for inferential network analysis. However, a potential problem for these models is the assumption of correct model specification. Through six substantive applications (Mesa High, Florentine Marriage, Military Alliances, Militarized Interstate Disputes, Regional Planning, Brain Complexity), we illustrate how unobserved heterogeneity and confounding leads to degenerate model specification...
Source: Social Networks - August 8, 2019 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
Evaluating sampling biases from third-party reporting as a method for improving survey measures of sensitive behaviors
Publication date: October 2019Source: Social Networks, Volume 59Author(s): Stéphane Helleringer, jimi adams, Sara Yeatman, James MkandawireAbstractSurvey participants often misreport their sensitive behaviors (e.g., smoking, drinking, having sex) during interviews. Several studies have suggested that asking respondents to report the sensitive behaviors of their friends or confidants, rather than their own, might help address this problem. This is so because the “third-party reporting” (TPR) approach creates a surrogate sample of alters that may be less subject to social desirability biases. However, estimates of the p...
Source: Social Networks - July 30, 2019 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
The presentation of the networked self: Ethics and epistemology in social network analysis
Publication date: Available online 24 July 2019Source: Social NetworksAuthor(s): Alessio D’Angelo, Louise RyanAbstractDrawing on the seminal work of Goffman, Krackhardt and others, this paper argues that there is a crucial step in between participants’ perceptions and the collection and visualisation of data – i.e. what we call the presentation of the networked self. We employ examples from our own empirical work in the UK to argue that presentation of the networked self requires researchers to adopt a highly reflexive approach. Framing our analysis within the context of contemporary society – including the impact ...
Source: Social Networks - July 26, 2019 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
Community detection in civil society online networks: Theoretical guide and empirical assessment
Publication date: October 2019Source: Social Networks, Volume 59Author(s): Daniela Stoltenberg, Daniel Maier, Annie WaldherrAbstractCommunity detection is a fundamental challenge in the analysis of online networks. However, there is a lack of consensus regarding how to accomplish this task in a manner that acknowledges domain-specific, substantive social theory. We develop a typology of what social phenomena communities of hyperlinked actors may signify—topical similarities, ideological associations, strategic alliances, and potential user traffic—and offer recommendations for community detection grounded in these conc...
Source: Social Networks - July 20, 2019 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
Multilevel network data facilitate statistical inference for curved ERGMs with geometrically weighted terms
Publication date: October 2019Source: Social Networks, Volume 59Author(s): Jonathan Stewart, Michael Schweinberger, Michal Bojanowski, Martina MorrisAbstractMultilevel network data provide two important benefits for ERG modeling. First, they facilitate estimation of the decay parameters in geometrically weighted terms for degree and triad distributions. Estimating decay parameters from a single network is challenging, so in practice they are typically fixed rather than estimated. Multilevel network data overcome that challenge by leveraging replication. Second, such data make it possible to assess out-of-sample performance...
Source: Social Networks - June 29, 2019 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
Limits to inferring status from friendship relations
Publication date: October 2019Source: Social Networks, Volume 59Author(s): András Vörös, Per Block, Zsófia BodaAbstractInformal status in communities is a relational phenomenon, it is attributed by others, and can be analysed using social network measures. However, many studies measure a single network relation – friendship – and interpret it related to status hierarchies: the number of friends is assumed to indicate status and asymmetric friendships are assumed to indicate status difference. While this practice is grounded in theoretical models of group structure, its assumptions have not been tested thoroughly an...
Source: Social Networks - June 25, 2019 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
Modeling influence on posting engagement in online social networks: Beyond neighborhood effects
Publication date: October 2019Source: Social Networks, Volume 59Author(s): Alon Bartal, Nava Pliskin, Gilad RavidAbstractIn many online social networks (OSN), Member A can observe the online participation of Member B and thus may be exposed to a shift in the online participation of B. Such exposure is often modeled by a neighbor-to-neighbor spreading process that can lead to local influence. In other words, exposure to participation shifts of Neighbor B can exert local influence on A’s posting engagement. Since many posts nowadays are public rather than private, exposure to participation shifts of non-neighbors outside A...
Source: Social Networks - June 14, 2019 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
What types of brokerage bridge the research-practice gap? The case of public school educators
Publication date: October 2019Source: Social Networks, Volume 59Author(s): Jennifer Watling Neal, Zachary P. Neal, Kristen J. Mills, Jennifer A. Lawlor, Kathryn McAlindonAbstractThe presence of a research-practice gap is recognized across multiple fields including education, psychology, and public health. In this paper, we examine which of five structural types of brokerage are most and least effective in bridging this research-practice gap in the context of education. Using a small world survey design, we tracked how a statewide random sample of 247 K-12 principals and superintendents in Michigan seek information about so...
Source: Social Networks - June 6, 2019 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
International production and trade in a high-tech industry: A multilevel network analysis
We present a novel application of a multilevel Exponential Random Graph Model to a multilevel network of firms linked by ownership at the micro level, countries linked by trade at the macro level, and a firm-county affiliation network linking the two in a high-tech industry. The results from the multilevel ERGM reveal a complex interplay between firm-level activity and international trade patterns. The approach can be extended to other industries to improve understanding of the international organisation of production, to map global value chains and to compare industries. (Source: Social Networks)
Source: Social Networks - June 6, 2019 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
Peer, school, and country variations in adolescents’ health behaviour: A multilevel analysis of binary response variables in six European cities
Publication date: October 2019Source: Social Networks, Volume 59Author(s): Vincent Lorant, Mark TranmerAbstractAdolescents often display similar health behaviour to their peers. Peer effects on health behaviour may be influenced by the school context, and by the country of residence. According to the complex contagion theory, these effects for risky health behaviour may be different from protective health behaviour. This paper combines social network analysis and multilevel analysis to estimate the relative share of variation of risky and protective health behaviours at different levels of the population structure: individ...
Source: Social Networks - June 6, 2019 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
Elder mistreatment and social network composition: an exploratory study
This study explores network composition change following elder mistreatment in order to assess the viability of leveraging network members in future intervention efforts. Multiply imputed linear regression models show associations between elder mistreatment and small increases in net change and the number of specific network additions. No association between elder mistreatment and network member losses or network density were found. These findings highlight the complexity of social network change in older adulthood and point to a need for future research considering the influence of Adult Protective Service intervention as...
Source: Social Networks - June 4, 2019 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
Does it take three to dance the Tango? Organizational design, triadic structures and boundary spanning across subunits
Publication date: October 2019Source: Social Networks, Volume 59Author(s): Stefano Tasselli, Alberto CaimoAbstractIn this paper, we investigate the processes of boundary spanning across subunits within organizational networks. We hypothesize that patterns of advice across organizational subunits are explained by different triadic mechanisms depending on the organizational design of the intra-organizational network. In organizational networks characterized by limited hierarchical differentiation among members and horizontal coordination, we found triadic cyclic closure to be positively associated to boundary spanning across...
Source: Social Networks - May 31, 2019 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
The emergence of properties of the Japanese production network: How do listed firms choose their partners?
Publication date: October 2019Source: Social Networks, Volume 59Author(s): Hazem Krichene, Yoshi Fujiwara, Abhijit Chakraborty, Yoshiyuki Arata, Hiroyasu Inoue, Masaaki TeraiAbstractThis paper investigates the mechanisms behind the formation of links between suppliers and customers in the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) production network. The supplier-customer network of listed firms in Japan is estimated by the so-called exponential random graph model (ERGM). We estimate 4 models to understand how endogenous and exogenous attributes contribute to the emergence of the TSE production network. In terms of endogenous attributes, ...
Source: Social Networks - May 26, 2019 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
Who is fighting with whom? How ethnic origin shapes friendship, dislike, and physical violence relations in German secondary schools
This study examines the role of ethnic background for friendship, dislike, and violence networks in secondary school. We analyze data on multiple networks from a large-scale study of more than 2500 seventh-graders in Germany. In addition to ethnic homophily in friendship networks, our results reveal a tendency among students to dislike ethnic outgroup members (ethnic heterophobia). However, students are more likely to engage in violence towards same-ethnic peers than outgroup members. This is partly due to the greater prevalence of violence among students who are close in the friendship network and students who spend time ...
Source: Social Networks - May 22, 2019 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
