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.

scholarly journals I Explain, You Collaborate, He Cheats: An Empirical Study with Social Network Analysis of Study Groups in a Computer Programming Subject

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (19) ◽  
pp. 9328
Author(s):  
Beatriz Barros ◽  
Ricardo Conejo ◽  
Amparo Ruiz-Sepulveda ◽  
Francisco Triguero-Ruiz
Keyword(s):  
Social Network ◽  
Similarity Measures ◽  
Study Groups ◽  
Plagiarism Detection ◽  
Network Analyses ◽  
The Social ◽  
Similar Content ◽  
Successful Students ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Social Network Analyses

Students interact with each other in order to solve computer science programming assignments. Group work is encouraged because it has been proven to be beneficial to the learning process. However, sometimes, collaboration might be confused with dishonest behaviours. This article aimed to quantitatively discern between both cases. We collected code similarity measures from students over four academic years and analysed them using statistical and social network analyses. Three studies were carried out: an analysis of the knowledge flow to identify dishonest behaviour, an analysis of the structure of the social organisation of study groups and an assessment of the relationship between successful students and social behaviour. Continuous dishonest behaviour in students is not as alarming as many studies suggest, probably due to the strict control, automatic plagiarism detection and high penalties for unethical behaviour. The boundary between both is given by the amount of similar content and regularity along the course. Three types of study groups were identified. We also found that the best performing groups were not made up of the best individual students but of students with different levels of knowledge and stronger relationships. The best students were usually the central nodes of those groups.

scholarly journals A ‘Different Class’? Homophily and Heterophily in the Social Class Networks of Britpop

2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 318-336 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Millward ◽  
Paul Widdop ◽  
Michael Halpin
Keyword(s):  
Social Network ◽  
Social Class ◽  
Social Location ◽  
Working Relationships ◽  
Network Analyses ◽  
Music Scenes ◽  
The Social ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Indie Music ◽  
Social Network Analyses

Social network analysis is increasingly recognised as a useful way to explore music scenes. In this article we examine the individuals who were the cultural workforce that comprised the ‘Britpop’ music scene of the 1990s. The focus of our analysis is homophily and heterophily to determine whether the clusters of friendships and working relationships of those who were ‘best connected’ in the scene were patterned by original social class position. We find that Britpop’s ‘whole network’ is heterophilic but that its ‘sub-networks’ are more likely to be social class homophilic. The sub-networks that remain heterophilic are likely to be united by other common experiences that brought individuals in the network to the same social spaces. We suggest that our findings on Britpop might be generalised to the composition of other music scenes, cultural workforces and aggregations of young people. Our study differs from research on, first, British ‘indie music’ and social class which focuses upon the construction, representation and performance of social location rather than the relationships it might shape and second, the pioneering social network analyses of music scenes which currently lack explicit emphasis on social class.

Using Social Network Analysis in the Classroom: An Experiential Activity and Tool to Enhance a Sense of Community

2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 204-218
Author(s):  
Mary B. Dunn
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Social Networks ◽  
Social Network ◽  
Social Network Analysis ◽  
Network Analysis ◽  
Sense Of Community ◽  
Network Analyses ◽  
Social Network Data ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Network Analyses

This article presents an experiential exercise where students learn the basics of social network analysis, relate social networks to social capital, and analyze their own networks in the classroom. Instructors of all types of courses at both the undergraduate and graduate levels can use this activity to teach students about social networks and build a greater sense of community in the classroom. This article provides instructions for collecting students’ social network data, teaching students about social networks as the basis for social capital, guiding students through basic social network analyses, and facilitating a discussion about ways to increase social capital for individuals and collectives. While engaging in this activity, students have opportunities to interact with other students and build high-quality relationships. In doing so, this exercise can facilitate a greater sense of community in the classroom, enrich the social capital for the collective, and promote students’ learning.

scholarly journals Social learning and networks in Nestor parrots

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Daniel Donoghue
Keyword(s):  
Social Network ◽  
Social Learning ◽  
Tool Use ◽  
Social Information ◽  
Habitat Modification ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Video Playback ◽  
Food Aversion ◽  
Network Analyses ◽  
The Social

<p>Social learning and network analyses are theorised to be of great utility in the context of behavioural conservation. For example, harnessing a species’ capacity for social learning may allow researchers to seed useful information into populations, while network analyses could provide a useful tool to monitor community stability, and predict pathways of pathogen transfer. Thus, an understanding of how individuals learn and the nature of the social networks within a population could enable the development of new behavioural based conservation interventions for species facing rapid environmental change, such as human-induced habitat modification. Parrots, the most threatened avian order worldwide, are notably underrepresented in the social learning and social network literature. This thesis addresses this knowledge gap by exploring social learning and networks using two endangered species of parrot; kākā (Nestor meridionalis) and kea (Nestor notabilis). The first study explores social learning of tool use in captive kea, using a trained kea demonstrator. The results from this experiment indicate that both social learning and play behaviour facilitated the uptake of tool use, and suggests that kea are highly sensitive to social information even when presented with complex tasks. The second study assesses whether wild kākā can socially learn novel string-pulling and food aversion behaviours from video playbacks of conspecific demonstrators. Although there was no evidence to indicate that kākā learn socially, these individuals also show no notable reaction to video playback of a familiar predator. Therefore, these results are likely due to difficulties in interpreting information on the screens, and not necessarily a reflection of their ability to perceive social information. In the final study, social network analysis (SNA) was performed to map social connectivity within wellington’s urban kākā population. SNA indicates that kākā form non-random social bonds, selectively associating with some individuals more than others, and also show high levels of dissimilarity in community composition at different feeding sites. Taken together, these results provide rare empirical evidence of social learning in a parrot species and suggest that even complicated seeded behaviours can quickly spread to other individuals. These findings may also be indicative of the difficulties in conducting video playback experiments in wild conditions, which is an area in need of future research. Overall, these findings contribute to the very limited body of research on social learning and networks in parrots, and provide information of potential value in the management of these species.</p>

scholarly journals Social learning and networks in Nestor parrots

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Donoghue
Keyword(s):  
Social Network ◽  
Social Learning ◽  
Tool Use ◽  
Social Information ◽  
Habitat Modification ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Video Playback ◽  
Food Aversion ◽  
Network Analyses ◽  
The Social

<p>Social learning and network analyses are theorised to be of great utility in the context of behavioural conservation. For example, harnessing a species’ capacity for social learning may allow researchers to seed useful information into populations, while network analyses could provide a useful tool to monitor community stability, and predict pathways of pathogen transfer. Thus, an understanding of how individuals learn and the nature of the social networks within a population could enable the development of new behavioural based conservation interventions for species facing rapid environmental change, such as human-induced habitat modification. Parrots, the most threatened avian order worldwide, are notably underrepresented in the social learning and social network literature. This thesis addresses this knowledge gap by exploring social learning and networks using two endangered species of parrot; kākā (Nestor meridionalis) and kea (Nestor notabilis). The first study explores social learning of tool use in captive kea, using a trained kea demonstrator. The results from this experiment indicate that both social learning and play behaviour facilitated the uptake of tool use, and suggests that kea are highly sensitive to social information even when presented with complex tasks. The second study assesses whether wild kākā can socially learn novel string-pulling and food aversion behaviours from video playbacks of conspecific demonstrators. Although there was no evidence to indicate that kākā learn socially, these individuals also show no notable reaction to video playback of a familiar predator. Therefore, these results are likely due to difficulties in interpreting information on the screens, and not necessarily a reflection of their ability to perceive social information. In the final study, social network analysis (SNA) was performed to map social connectivity within wellington’s urban kākā population. SNA indicates that kākā form non-random social bonds, selectively associating with some individuals more than others, and also show high levels of dissimilarity in community composition at different feeding sites. Taken together, these results provide rare empirical evidence of social learning in a parrot species and suggest that even complicated seeded behaviours can quickly spread to other individuals. These findings may also be indicative of the difficulties in conducting video playback experiments in wild conditions, which is an area in need of future research. Overall, these findings contribute to the very limited body of research on social learning and networks in parrots, and provide information of potential value in the management of these species.</p>

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.

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