The social networks and distinctive experiences of intensively involved online gamers: A novel mixed methods approach

2018 ◽  
Vol 80 ◽  
pp. 229-242 ◽  
Author(s):  
H.J. François Dengah ◽  
Jeffrey G. Snodgrass ◽  
Robert J. Else ◽  
Evan R. Polzer
2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 437-457 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karla D. Wagner ◽  
Jennifer L. Syvertsen ◽  
Silvia R. Verdugo ◽  
Jose Luis Molina ◽  
Steffanie A. Strathdee

Female sex workers (FSWs) are at risk for multiple health harms, including HIV. This article describes a mixed methods study of the social support networks of 19 FSWs and their primary male sex partners in Tijuana, Mexico. We collected quantitative and qualitative social network data, including quantitative network measures, qualitative narratives, and network visualizations. Methodologically, we illustrate how a convergent mixed methods approach to studying personal social support networks of FSWs can yield a more holistic understanding of network composition and role. From a health-related perspective, we show how migration/deportation and stigma shape social networks and might be leveraged to support HIV prevention interventions. We believe others can benefit from a mixed methods approach to studying social networks.


Author(s):  
Ismael Puga

Using a mixed-methods approach based on discussion focus groups and panel surveys of the Longitudinal Social Study of Chile, this chapter demonstrates that Chilean’s neoliberal economic order is not legitimized by the vast majority of the population. Instead, the author argues that social norms are in serious conflict with the prevailing socioeconomic order. Within Chilean society, both citizens and social analysts are prone to agree with the existence of a “neoliberal consensus” due to the strategic adaptation of social practices that take place within a socioeconomic order that most individuals accept as a given. As a consequence, a “fantasy consensus” emerges in Chilean society in order to stabilize the social economic order, thus avoiding collective mobilization and social change. In this scenario, the protest waves that Chilean society has faced since 2011 offer additional proof that the “fantasy consensus” has experienced serious fissures, thus opening a window of opportunity to delegitimize Chile’s neoliberal order in the country.


Field Methods ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 274-290
Author(s):  
Alberto Cottica ◽  
Amelia Hassoun ◽  
Marco Manca ◽  
Jason Vallet ◽  
Guy Melançon

We propose a mixed methods approach to digital ethnographic research. Treating online conversational environments as communities that ethnographers engage with as in traditional fieldwork, we represent those conversations and the codes made by researchers thereon in network form. We call these networks “semantic social networks” (SSNs), as they incorporate information on social interaction and their meaning as perceived by informants as a group and use methods from network science to visualize these ethnographic data. We present an application of this method to a large online conversation about community provision of health and social care and discuss its potential for mobilizing collective intelligence.


Author(s):  
Britta Wittner ◽  
Luisa Barthauer ◽  
Simone Kauffeld

Social support is a crucial factor for first-generation students’ (FGS) integration at university and their educational success. FGS are often assumed to lack social support and integration, but research shows mixed results. By means of a mixed-methods approach (combination of interviews and online survey), we aimed to shed light on the characteristics in FGS social networks that classify them as high-quality networks in order to obtain a deeper understanding of the structure and setup of the social contexts from which FGS receive support. Using these characteristics, we constructed types of socially supported students and related them to academic success. For that, we conducted N = 40 semi-structured interviews linked to Qualitative Social Network Analysis at an urban German University. Prior to the interviews, the interviewees filled out an online survey (1) consisting of demographic variables and psychological scales. During the interviews (2), we followed a problem-centred interview approach for the first part and then (3) asked about the FGS’s support networks during the beginning of their bachelor’s degrees. All the interviews were coded by applying content analysis. Network maps were analysed using qualitative structural analysis (QSA). Both maps and codes were used to build three types of support as received by the students. These types were in turn connected to the results of the support forms in content analysis and the psychometric scales to estimate how students perceive different structures in their networks as supportive. The results revealed three types: small and dense bijou networks, medium networks with emotionally close alters (close-knit networks), and large and diverse networks (have-it-all networks). The types show different results for university success and perceived support for their networks.


Author(s):  
H. Kay Banks

Using a mixed-methods approach, this chapter examines the use of the social and cultural capital questionnaire to measure capital, combined with student narrative experiences to gauge student persistence. An analysis of the interviews from the participants' experiences provided four themes: faculty/professors, family, self-motivation, and finances. In this study, social capital was more positively related to school success as a factor of persistence than cultural capital. The findings of this research study contributes to this growing body of literature by providing a unique survey instrument designed to assess the influence of social and cultural capital.


2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. e8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Hales ◽  
Gabrielle Turner-McGrievy ◽  
Arjang Fahim ◽  
Andrew Freix ◽  
Sara Wilcox ◽  
...  

AMBIO ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Takahiro Kubo ◽  
Diogo Veríssimo ◽  
Shinya Uryu ◽  
Taro Mieno ◽  
Douglas MacMillan

AbstractOnline crowdfunding can help address the perennial financial shortfalls in environmental conservation and management. Although many online crowdfunding campaigns fail to collect any funds due to not achieving their targets, little is known about what drives success. To address this knowledge gap, we applied a mixed-methods approach to data from 473 successful and failed campaigns hosted on the online crowdfunding platform Readyfor. We found that fundraising performance varied by topic, with campaigns on pet animal management outperforming those focussed on landscape management and sustainable use. We also found that marketing strategies associated with online findability and increased reach through social networks, increased fundraising success. However, the existence of other environmental campaigns running simultaneously, reduced the chance of success, which implies that the selecting popular topics does not always increase the likelihood of success due to increased competition. Wider applications of marketing could enhance the ability of environmental crowdfunding campaigns to raise funds.


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