scholarly journals Education in times of global crisis: How private actors in Germany gain power through Twitter

2021 ◽  
Vol 29 ◽  
pp. 161
Author(s):  
Johannes Schuster ◽  
Nina Kolleck
Keyword(s):  
Network Theory ◽  
Daily Life ◽  
Digital Learning ◽  
Policy Network ◽  
School Closures ◽  
Societal Changes ◽  
Policy Content ◽  
Low Levels ◽  
Network Approaches ◽  
Private Actors

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic led to enormous societal changes worldwide and touched many different areas of daily life. One of the most serious restrictions to contain the pandemic was the closure of schools and kindergartens. Particularly in countries with comparatively low levels of digitalization in schools, this situation opened up opportunities for private actors to gain importance and influence in the education sector. For this article, we draw on policy network approaches and network theory to analyze Twitter discussions around digital learning and homeschooling during the period of school closures in Germany due to the COVID-19 crisis. We use social network analysis to identify the actors involved and their influences in the issue-specific Twitter communication network. In recent years, Twitter has been increasingly used for exchanges on education policy content, mainly by political and civil society actors. Our study shows that with respect to digital learning and homeschooling, it was primarily individual experts and consultants as well as corporations which influenced the discourse. In particular, it appears that Twitter is used as a forum to promote corporations’ own products and platforms, including by globally operating corporations such as Microsoft and YouTube, while public actors remain barely visible.

scholarly journals Comparing Discourse and Policy Network Approaches: Evidence from Water Policy on Micropollutants

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 184-199 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon Schaub ◽  
Florence Metz
Keyword(s):  
Survey Data ◽  
Water Policy ◽  
Policy Networks ◽  
Data Sources ◽  
Policy Preferences ◽  
Policy Network ◽  
Network Approach ◽  
Coalition Structures ◽  
Network Approaches ◽  
Policy Proposals

To understand how actors make collective policy decisions, scholars use policy and discourse network approaches to analyze interdependencies among actors. While policy networks often build on survey data, discourse networks typically use media data to capture the beliefs or policy preferences shared by actors. One of the reasons for the variety of data sources is that discourse data can be more accessible to researchers than survey data (or vice versa). In order to make an informed decision on valid data sources, researchers need to understand how differences in data sources may affect results. As this remains largely unexplored, we analyze the differences and similarities between policy and discourse networks. We systematically compare policy networks with discourse networks in respect of the types of actors participating in them, the policy proposals actors advocate and their coalition structures. For the policy field of micropollutants in surface waters in Germany, we observe only small differences between the results obtained using the policy and discourse network approaches. We find that the discourse network approach particularly emphasizes certain actor types, i.e., expanders who seek to change the policy status quo. The policy network approach particularly reflects electoral interests, since preferences for policies targeting voters are less visible. Finally, different observation periods reveal some smaller differences in the coalition structures within the discourse network. Beyond these small differences, both approaches come to largely congruent results with regards to actor types, policy preferences and coalition structures. In our case, the use of discourse and policy network approaches lead to similar conclusions regarding the study of policy processes.

scholarly journals The issues and outlook of the network approach to policy analysis: development of the theory and methods or the frustrated search for the ‘golden calf’?

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
A.S. Sherstobitov ◽  
V.A. Osipov ◽  
N.A. Zaripov
Keyword(s):  
Network Theory ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Policy Networks ◽  
Russian Language ◽  
Policy Network ◽  
Public Governance ◽  
Theoretical Contribution ◽  
Business Entities ◽  
Network Studies

The paper is devoted to the critical reconstruction of the policy network theory in contemporary political science. The number of issues that are still lacking in consensus among researchers are found in Russian policy network studies: the broad understanding of the terminology, limitations to theoretical and methodological grounds in application to Russian area of research, dominance of theoretical articles rather than empirical studies. The authors develop the definition that resolves the opaque understanding of the policy network term in Russian language. They define it as the formats of predominantly horizontal collaboration involving public bodies, private business entities, NGOs and/or uninstitutionalized citizens’ communities that participate in public governance procedures. The limitations of the policy network methodology that is caused by the crisis trends in positivist approach are also argued in the paper. The results of the meta-analysis of the policy network studies (N=37) are represented in the second part of the paper. The authors highlight three logics of the policy networks research: (1) the studies of the specific policy networks and focus on the concrete policies; (2) development of the methods of policy network analysis and their empirical tests; (3) focus on theoretical contribution to the policy network theory based on the empirical and comparative studies. Besides, the conceptualization of the approaches that may help the researchers to overcome theoretical and methodological limitations of the policy network theory is given.

scholarly journals A Narrative Review of Network Studies in Depression: What Different Methodological Approaches Tell Us About Depression

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marieke Wichers ◽  
Harriëtte Riese ◽  
Taylor M. Hodges ◽  
Evelien Snippe ◽  
Fionneke M. Bos
Keyword(s):  
Mental Disorders ◽  
Network Theory ◽  
Narrative Review ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Underlying Structure ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Micro Level ◽  
Methodological Approaches ◽  
Network Approaches ◽  
Network Studies

The network theory of psychopathology proposes that mental disorders arise from direct interactions between symptoms. This theory provides a promising framework to understand the development and maintenance of mental disorders such as depression. In this narrative review, we summarize the literature on network studies in the field of depression. Four methodological network approaches are distinguished: (i) studies focusing on symptoms at the macro-level vs. (ii) on momentary states at the micro-level, and (iii) studies based on cross-sectional vs. (iv) time-series (dynamic) data. Fifty-six studies were identified. We found that different methodological approaches to network theory yielded largely inconsistent findings on depression. Centrality is a notable exception: the majority of studies identified either positive affect or anhedonia as central nodes. To aid future research in this field, we outline a novel complementary network theory, the momentary affect dynamics (MAD) network theory, to understand the development of depression. Furthermore, we provide directions for future research and discuss if and how networks might be used in clinical practice. We conclude that more empirical network studies are needed to determine whether the network theory of psychopathology can indeed enhance our understanding of the underlying structure of depression and advance clinical treatment.

scholarly journals Primary Students’ Experiences of Remote Learning during COVID-19 School Closures: A Case Study of Finland

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 560
Author(s):  
Anni Loukomies ◽  
Kalle Juuti
Keyword(s):  
Primary Students ◽  
Digital Learning ◽  
School Students ◽  
School Closures ◽  
Fifth Grade Students ◽  
The Future ◽  
Students First ◽  
Returning To School ◽  
Negative Feelings ◽  
Remote Learning

The remote learning period that took place due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in the spring of 2020 was a novel experience for many students, teachers and guardians in Finland and globally. To be prepared for similar occasions in the future and to support all students appropriately, it is important to be aware of students’ experiences. In this study, instant video blogging (IVB) was used to collect primary school students’ first-hand reports of their emotions in remote learning situations. Through an experience sampling method, 23 Finnish fifth-grade students (aged 11–12 years) took part in IVB during the remote learning period 18 March 2020–13 May 2020. Students’ expressions related to negative emotional experiences were more diverse than those related to positive ones. Nice was the most often reported positive evaluation related to studying. The most often reported negative feelings were bored and irritated, and the most often reported negative aspects related to learning were difficult tasks or not having learned anything. Towards the end of the research period, positive mentions about returning to school increased. The IVB method offered direct insight into how primary students experienced the remote learning period, which can support preparation for exceptional periods in the future and the development of digital learning solutions.

Networks, Kin, and Social Support

2020 ◽  
pp. 466-479
Author(s):  
G. Robin Gauthier
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
Life Course ◽  
Family Structure ◽  
Family Relationships ◽  
Network Theory ◽  
Potential Solution ◽  
New Approach ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Network Approaches ◽  
The Life Course

Family relationships and the emotional and instrumental exchanges embedded within them are among the most important sources of social support available to individuals throughout the life course. This chapter provides an overview of three approaches to family research that conceptualize families as networks. The basic idea throughout the chapter is that family structure is not a sufficient proxy for a person’s access to social support, but network approaches offer a potential solution. First, the chapter discusses approaches that render the language of families as systems into configurations of network structures, with a focus on how to measure the capacity for social support embedded within them. The discussion then turns to research that employs a more inclusive understanding of family, widening the definition of what “counts” as kin. The chapter ends with a discussion of a new approach to measuring family relationships rooted in a network theory of social roles.

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