A model for the dynamics of face-to-face interactions in social groups

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (S1) ◽  
pp. S4-S25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marion Hoffman ◽  
Per Block ◽  
Timon Elmer ◽  
Christoph Stadtfeld
Keyword(s):  
Social Network ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Social Contexts ◽  
Dyadic Interaction ◽  
Interpersonal Interaction ◽  
Interaction Patterns ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Social Lives ◽  
Group Settings ◽  
Network Studies

AbstractFace-to-face interactions in social groups are a central aspect of human social lives. Although the composition of such groups has received ample attention in various fields—e.g., sociology, social psychology, management, and educational science—their micro-level dynamics are rarely analyzed empirically. In this article, we present a new statistical network model (DyNAM-i) that can represent the dynamics of conversation groups and interpersonal interaction in different social contexts. Taking an actor-oriented perspective, this model can be applied to test how individuals’ interaction patterns differ and how they choose and change their interaction groups. It moves beyond dyadic interaction mechanisms and translates central social network mechanisms—such as homophily, transitivity, and popularity—to the context of interactions in group settings. The utility and practical applicability of the new model are illustrated in two social network studies that investigate face-to-face interactions in a small party and an office setting.

scholarly journals Social Network Analysis to Examine Interaction Patterns in Knowledge Building Communities

2010 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald N. Philip
Keyword(s):  
Social Network ◽  
Social Network Analysis ◽  
Network Analysis ◽  
Knowledge Building ◽  
Group Processes ◽  
Interaction Patterns ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Grade 5 ◽  
Teachers And Students ◽  
Building Community

This paper describes use of social network analysis to examine student interaction patterns in a Grade 5/6 Knowledge Building class. The analysis included face-to-face interactions and interactions in the Knowledge Forum® Knowledge Building environment. It is argued that sociogram data are useful to reveal group processes; in sociological terms, the community lies in the connections among the group. A classroom of unconnected individuals is unlikely to form as a Knowledge Building community; data analyses reported in this study show promise in understanding the dynamics of Knowledge Building in a consistent and measurable way. The strength of the work is not in particular patterns demonstrated but in new forms of assessment and their potential to inform work as it proceeds. The research reported shows that teachers and students are finding social network analysis useful and that through their engagement research-practitioner-engineer teams are better positioned to develop tools to advance Knowledge Building pedagogy.

Interaction

2020 ◽  
pp. 98-120
Author(s):  
Shaun Gallagher
Keyword(s):  
Social Cognition ◽  
Cultural Practices ◽  
Social Roles ◽  
Social Contexts ◽  
Dyadic Interaction ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Joint Actions ◽  
Motor Abilities ◽  
Sensory Motor ◽  
Account Interaction

In contrast to standard accounts of social cognition I offer an alternative account—interaction theory. According to this approach we understand other people primarily by means of a diverse set of embodied, social, and cultural practices governed by social norms. Our understanding of someone’s action is frequently shaped by shared pragmatic contexts and in terms of social roles. Developmentally this interaction account builds on three sets of processes or abilities: primary intersubjectivity, a set of sensory-motor abilities and action-oriented perceptual capacities involved in face-to-face dyadic interaction; secondary intersubjectivity, a set of abilities involving joint attention and joint actions with others in shared pragmatic and social contexts; and communicative and narrative competencies that explain more advanced aspects of understanding others. This chapter explores the meaning of and the science behind primary and secondary intersubjectivity.

Overdoing Democracy

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert B. Talisse
Keyword(s):  
Social Contexts ◽  
Good Thing ◽  
Democratic Legitimacy ◽  
The Political ◽  
Crowding Out ◽  
Social Spaces ◽  
Democratic Ideal ◽  
Empirical Results ◽  
Social Lives ◽  
Social Goods

Democracy is an extremely important social political good. Nonetheless, there is such a thing as having too much of a good thing. When we overdo democracy, we allow the categories, allegiances, and struggles of politics to overwhelm our social lives. This has the effect of undermining and crowding out many of the most important correlated social goods that democracy is meant to deliver. What’s more, in overdoing democracy, we spoil certain social goods that democracy needs in order to flourish. Thus overdoing democracy is democracy’s undoing. A thriving democracy needs citizens to reserve space in their shared social lives for collective activities and cooperative projects that are not structured by political allegiances; they must work together in social contexts where political affiliations and party loyalties are not merely suppressed, but utterly beside the point. Combining conceptual analyses of democratic legitimacy and responsible citizenship with empirical results regarding the political infiltration of social spaces and citizens’ vulnerabilities to polarization, this book provides a diagnosis of current democratic ills and a novel prescription for addressing them. Arguing that overdoing democracy is the result of certain tendencies internal to the democratic ideal itself, the book demonstrates that even in a democracy, politics must be put in its place.

scholarly journals Perceived Intimacy Differences of Daily Online and Offline Interactions in People’s Social Network

Societies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 13
Author(s):  
Emmelyn A. J. Croes ◽  
Marjolijn L. Antheunis
Keyword(s):  
Information Processing ◽  
Social Network ◽  
Social Information Processing ◽  
Media Use ◽  
Tie Strength ◽  
Information Processing Theory ◽  
Strong Ties ◽  
Social Information Processing Theory ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Processing Theory

This study examined which media people use on a day-to-day basis to communicate and whether tie strength influenced this media use. Furthermore, we analyzed whether online and offline interactions differ in perceived intimacy and whether tie strength impacts perceived interaction intimacy: 347 real interactions of 9 participants (3 male, 6 female) were analyzed; 172 online (WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, email, SMS interactions) and 175 offline (recorded phone and face-to-face conversations). The results revealed that the participants communicated most frequently face-to-face or via WhatsApp, especially with strong ties. Furthermore, participants rated their interactions with strong ties as more intimate compared to weak-tie interactions. Our findings have implications for Social Information Processing theory, as our findings show that people are equally able to communicate intimate messages online and offline.

scholarly journals The switching mechanisms of social network densification

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Teruyoshi Kobayashi ◽  
Mathieu Génois
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Social Network ◽  
Social Context ◽  
Social Interactions ◽  
Regime Switching ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
The Social ◽  
Switching Property ◽  
Distinctive Type ◽  
Insight Into

AbstractDensification and sparsification of social networks are attributed to two fundamental mechanisms: a change in the population in the system, and/or a change in the chances that people in the system are connected. In theory, each of these mechanisms generates a distinctive type of densification scaling, but in reality both types are generally mixed. Here, we develop a Bayesian statistical method to identify the extent to which each of these mechanisms is at play at a given point in time, taking the mixed densification scaling as input. We apply the method to networks of face-to-face interactions of individuals and reveal that the main mechanism that causes densification and sparsification occasionally switches, the frequency of which depending on the social context. The proposed method uncovers an inherent regime-switching property of network dynamics, which will provide a new insight into the mechanics behind evolving social interactions.

scholarly journals Social Networks and Loneliness During the COVID-19 Pandemic

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 237802312098525
Author(s):  
Balazs Kovacs ◽  
Nicholas Caplan ◽  
Samuel Grob ◽  
Marissa King
Keyword(s):  
Social Network ◽  
Social Isolation ◽  
Close Relationships ◽  
Network Size ◽  
Global Network ◽  
Network Data ◽  
Network Characteristics ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Social Network Data ◽  
Social Network Size

We utilize longitudinal social network data collected pre–COVID-19 in June 2019 and compare them with data collected in the midst of COVID in June 2020. We find significant decreases in network density and global network size following a period of profound social isolation. While there is an overall increase in loneliness during this era, certain social network characteristics of individuals are associated with smaller increases in loneliness. Specifically, we find that people with fewer than five “very close” relationships report increases in loneliness. We further find that face-to-face interactions, as well as the duration and frequency of interactions with very close ties, are associated with smaller increases in loneliness during the pandemic. We also report on factors that do not moderate the effect of social isolation on perceived loneliness, such as gender, age, or overall social network size.

‘Story of one’s life and a tree of friends’ – understanding millennials’ information behaviour in social networks

2012 ◽  
Vol 38 (5) ◽  
pp. 489-497 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pam Read ◽  
Chirag Shah ◽  
Lupita S-O’Brien ◽  
Jaqueline Woolcott
Keyword(s):  
Social Relationships ◽  
Social Space ◽  
New Technology ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Social Value ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Comprehensive Literature Review ◽  
The Social ◽  
Rich Data ◽  
Work Supports

Exploring ways in which new technology impacts adolescents’ information behaviours and creates a social space requires holistic investigation. A qualitative study of 21 seniors in an upper-middle-class suburban high school revealed highly individualized use of Facebook and its features. These included: (i) Friends groups of 50—3700 members, with even the largest groups representative primarily of face-to-face connections, and (ii) a clear articulation within those groups of various categories, each with its own distinct communicative channel and style. A meaningful connection was found between the social value of various social network (SN)-mediated relationships and the communicative modes used to maintain and enhance them. Through a comprehensive literature review and clearly grounded analysis of rich data, this work supports the contention that adolescent social groups in which SNs are embedded form a distinct domain, and establishes a rationale for further investigation of adolescents’ contextualized use of SNs within social relationships.

Teacher-pupil-parent triads: A typology of interpersonal interaction in the context of learning a musical instrument

2009 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 387-413 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Creech
Keyword(s):  
Musical Instrument ◽  
Third Party ◽  
Interpersonal Interaction ◽  
Interaction Patterns ◽  
Cluster Membership ◽  
Empowering Teachers ◽  
Interaction Types ◽  
Context Of Learning ◽  
Depth Interviews ◽  
Measuring Control

The main objective of this research was to create a typology of teacher-pupil-parent interpersonal interaction in the context of learning a musical instrument. Three hundred and thirty-seven teacher-pupil-parent triads participated in the research, completing a survey measuring “control” and “responsiveness”. Factor analysis revealed a number of underlying interpersonal dimensions. A cluster analysis was carried out, using control and responsiveness factors as predictors of cluster membership. A model of six distinct interaction types was revealed and validated with in-depth interviews with teacher-pupil-parent triads representing each cluster. Clusters 1, 2 and 3 were each conceptualised as a primary dyad plus a third party, while Cluster 4 was represented as two primary dyads connected by one common member. Cluster 5 was characterized by very little communication between any two of the three individuals, while Cluster 6 was characterized by reciprocity amongst all three participants. This model of interaction types provides a framework within which teachers may interpret their own teacher-parent and teacher-pupil experience, potentially empowering teachers to alter their interaction patterns when migration from one cluster type to another is deemed to be appropriate in terms of enhancing learning or teaching outcomes.

scholarly journals Research questions should drive edge definitions in social network studies

2015 ◽  
Vol 104 ◽  
pp. e7-e11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alecia J. Carter ◽  
Alexander E.G. Lee ◽  
Harry H. Marshall
Keyword(s):  
Social Network ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
Network Studies
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