scholarly journals Measuring project performance by applying social network analyses

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 35-55
Author(s):  
Marco Nunes ◽  
António Abreu ◽  
Jelena Bagnjuk ◽  
Jörn Tiedtke
Keyword(s):  
Social Network ◽  
Project Performance ◽  
Network Analyses ◽  
Social Network Analyses

scholarly journals Experimental evidence for delayed contingent cooperation among wild dwarf mongooses

2018 ◽  
Vol 115 (24) ◽  
pp. 6255-6260 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julie M. Kern ◽  
Andrew N. Radford
Keyword(s):  
Social Network ◽  
Experimental Evidence ◽  
Causal Link ◽  
Temporal Delay ◽  
Biological Markets ◽  
Network Analyses ◽  
Group Members ◽  
Access To Food ◽  
Social Network Analyses ◽  
Social Network Position

Many animals participate in biological markets, with strong evidence existing for immediate cooperative trades. In particular, grooming is often exchanged for itself or other commodities, such as coalitionary support or access to food and mates. More contentious is the possibility that nonhuman animals can rely on memories of recent events, providing contingent cooperation even when there is a temporal delay between two cooperative acts. Here we provide experimental evidence of delayed cross-commodity grooming exchange in wild dwarf mongooses (Helogale parvula). First, we use natural observations and social-network analyses to demonstrate a positive link between grooming and sentinel behavior (acting as a raised guard). Group members who contributed more to sentinel behavior received more grooming and had a better social-network position. We then used a field-based playback experiment to test a causal link between contributions to sentinel behavior and grooming received later in the day. During 3-h trial sessions, the perceived sentinel contributions of a focal individual were either up-regulated (playback of its surveillance calls, which are given naturally during sentinel bouts) or unmanipulated (playback of its foraging close calls as a control). On returning to the sleeping refuge at the end of the day, focal individuals received more grooming following surveillance-call playback than control-call playback and more grooming than a matched individual whose sentinel contributions were not up-regulated. We believe our study therefore provides experimental evidence of delayed contingent cooperation in a wild nonprimate species.

scholarly journals Comment on "Why and When 'Flawed' Social Network Analyses Still Yield Valid Tests of no Contagion"

2012 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Cosma Rohilla Shalizi
Keyword(s):  
Social Network ◽  
Observational Data ◽  
Network Analyses ◽  
Social Network Analyses

VanderWeele et al.'s paper is a useful contribution to the on-going scientific conversation about the detection of contagion from purely observational data. It is especially helpful as a corrective to some of the more extreme statements of Lyons (2011). Unfortunately, this paper, too, goes too far in some places, and so needs some correction itself.

scholarly journals Predicting behavior change from persuasive messages using neural representational similarity and social network analyses

NeuroImage ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 157 ◽  
pp. 118-128 ◽  
Author(s):  
Teresa K. Pegors ◽  
Steven Tompson ◽  
Matthew Brook O’Donnell ◽  
Emily B. Falk
Keyword(s):  
Social Network ◽  
Behavior Change ◽  
Persuasive Messages ◽  
Network Analyses ◽  
Predicting Behavior ◽  
Social Network Analyses

scholarly journals How does individual variation in sociality influence fitness in prairie voles?

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne C. Sabol ◽  
Connor T. Lambert ◽  
Brian Keane ◽  
Nancy G. Solomon ◽  
Ben Dantzer
Keyword(s):  
Social Network ◽  
Social Behavior ◽  
Individual Variation ◽  
Mating Success ◽  
Social Connections ◽  
Prairie Voles ◽  
Network Analyses ◽  
Fitness Consequences ◽  
Opposite Sex ◽  
Social Network Analyses

AbstractComparative studies aid in our understanding of specific conditions favoring the initial evolution of different types of social behaviors, yet there is much unexplained intraspecific variation in the expression of social behavior that comparative studies have not yet addressed. The proximate causes of this individual variation in social behavior within a species have been examined in some species but its fitness consequences have been less frequently investigated. In this study, we quantified the fitness consequences of variation in the sociality of prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster). We characterized sociality of voles in semi-natural enclosures using an automated behavioral tracking system paired with social network analyses to quantify the degree of spatial and temporal co-occurrence of different voles. We then assessed the relationship between sociality with mating success (number of different conspecifics with which an individual produced offspring) and reproductive success (total number of offspring surviving to first capture). We measured the number of social connections each individual had with all voles and only with opposite-sex voles by calculating unweighted degree through social network analyses. Both female and male voles varied in the number of social connections they had with all conspecifics and with opposite-sex conspecifics. Voles with an intermediate number of social connections with voles of both sexes had higher mating success overall. In our analyses that considered all social connections with voles of both sexes, voles with an intermediate number of social connections produced more offspring. Males with a very high or low number of social connections also had the lowest average body mass. Overall, our results suggest some limit on the fitness benefits of sociality. Although there was substantial individual-variation in our measure of vole social behavior, intermediate levels of social connections may be most favorable.

scholarly journals Why and When "Flawed" Social Network Analyses Still Yield Valid Tests of no Contagion

2012 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tyler J. VanderWeele ◽  
Elizabeth L. Ogburn ◽  
Eric J. Tchetgen Tchetgen
Keyword(s):  
Social Network ◽  
Social Influence ◽  
Confidence Intervals ◽  
Social Contagion ◽  
Statistical Dependence ◽  
Network Analyses ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Network Analyses

Lyons (2011) offered several critiques of the social network analyses of Christakis and Fowler, including issues of confounding, model inconsistency, and statistical dependence in networks. Here we show that in some settings, social network analyses of the type employed by Christakis and Fowler will still yield valid tests of the null of no social contagion, even though estimates and confidence intervals may not be valid. In particular, we show that if the alter's state is lagged by an additional period, then under the null of no contagion, the problems of model inconsistency and statistical dependence effectively disappear which allow for testing for contagion. Our results clarify the setting in which even "flawed" social network analyses are still useful for assessing social contagion and social influence.

COVID-19 Misinformation and Polarization on Twitter

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-36
Author(s):  
Rebecca Godard ◽  
Susan Holtzman
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Social Network ◽  
Health Interventions ◽  
Public Health Interventions ◽  
Conspiracy Theories ◽  
Connected Network ◽  
Network Analyses ◽  
The Stability ◽  
Social Network Analyses ◽  
Over Time

This study investigated polarization on Twitter related to the COVID-19 pandemic by examining tweets containing #Plandemic (suggests the pandemic is a hoax) or #StayHome (encourages compliance with health recommendations). Over 35,000 tweets from over 25,000 users were collected in April 2020 and examined using sentiment and social network analyses. Compared to #StayHome tweets, #Plandemic tweets came from a more tightly connected network, were higher in negative emotional content, and could be sub-divided into specific categories of misinformation and conspiracy theories. To evaluate the stability of users' COVID-related perspectives, the prevalence of pro- and anti-mask sentiment was measured in same users' tweets approximately four months later. Results revealed substantial stability over time, with 40% of #Plandemic users tweeting anti-mask hashtags compared to just 2% of #StayHome users. Findings demonstrate COVID-related polarization on Twitter and have implications for public health interventions to quell the propagation of misinformation.

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