scholarly journals Applications of Social Network Analysis in Evaluation: Challenges, Suggestions, and Opportunities for the Future

2018 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Joanne Genova Carman ◽  
Kimberly A Fredericks
Keyword(s):  
Social Network ◽  
Social Network Analysis ◽  
Network Analysis ◽  
Nous Avons ◽  
Added Value ◽  
Data Coding ◽  
Réseaux Sociaux ◽  
Reseaux Sociaux ◽  
Specific Project ◽  
Evaluation Work

As the use of social network analysis in evaluation continues to increase, it is important to understand how, when, and under what conditions social network analysis can add value to evaluation work. In this article, we describe how we have used social network analysis in various evaluation projects. Using the experience of one specific project, we highlight, in greater detail, some challenges we encountered in doing this work, relating to the need for stakeholders to understand the added value of social network analysis, the intricacies of data coding and cleaning, and how changes in the size and scope of the project can have great implications. Finally, we offer some practical suggestions for evaluators considering incorporating social network analysis into their work today, and identify opportunities where evaluators might use social network analysis in the future.Avec la croissance de l’utilisation, en évaluation, de l’analyse des réseaux sociaux, il est important de comprendre quand, comment, et dans quelles conditions l’analyse des réseaux sociaux apporte une valeur ajoutée. Dans le présent article, nous décrivons la façon dont nous avons utilisé l’analyse des réseaux sociaux dans le cadre de divers projets d’évaluation. À partir de l’expérience d’un projet particulier, nous décrivons, de façon détaillée, certains des défis auxquels nous avons fait face, notamment en ce qui concerne la nécessité, pour les parties prenantes, de comprendre la valeur ajoutée de l’analyse des réseaux sociaux, les complexités du codage et du nettoyage des données et les implications des changements dans la taille et la portée du projet. Finalement, nous faisons quelques suggestions pratiques pour les évaluateurs qui pensent inclure l’analyse des réseaux sociaux dans leurs travaux actuels et nous identifions des pistes, pour les évaluateurs, pour l’utilisation future de ce type d’analyse.

Sources et données pour l’analyse des réseaux sociaux

2021 ◽  
Vol 152 (1) ◽  
pp. 10-51
Author(s):  
Marie-Pierre Bès ◽  
Guillaume Favre ◽  
Claire Lemercier
Keyword(s):  
Social Network ◽  
Social Network Analysis ◽  
Network Analysis ◽  
Social Economic ◽  
Network Data ◽  
Réseaux Sociaux ◽  
Scientific Disciplines ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Reseaux Sociaux ◽  
Data Visualizations

Sources and data for social network analysis. Social network analysis (SNA) is becoming more and more widespread in several scientific disciplines as a method for processing social, economic, geographic, historical, digital, etc. data. Visualizations of graphs, communities and other ties are multiplying. However, there is a risk that SNA users may lose sight of the conditions under which their data are produced and thereby over-interpret or under-interpret the results. This article provides a guide to the different types of sources of network data, and the pitfalls and choices encountered in the process of producing network data. The first part provides an overview of these pitfalls and choices, and the second part focuses on the specifics of each source of data. Based on the authors’ experience in training network researchers, the article proposes a review of controlled ways of producing network data from this array of sources.

Fuelling the Subsidized Public

2021 ◽  
Vol 46 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Neubauer ◽  
Nicholas Graham
Keyword(s):  
Social Network ◽  
Social Network Analysis ◽  
Network Analysis ◽  
Political Action ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Advocacy Organizations ◽  
Réseaux Sociaux ◽  
Echo Chamber ◽  
Discourse Coalitions ◽  
Networked Publics

Background: This article explores the Facebook communications of Canadian oil and gas advocacy organizations, including industry-funded and nominally independent groups.  Analysis: These groups are analyzed as producers of “subsidized publics,” with elites providing supporters with resources that enable them to take political action on industry’s behalf. A social network analysis maps how they link supporters with information from diverse sources, constructing networked publics whose members can recirculate pro-industry talking points. Conclusions and implications: These communications enact powerful forms of network-making power, programming an interconnected echo chamber that interfaces supporters with material from neoliberal extractivist discourse coalitions—networks of industry advocates that industry has itself helped cultivate over decades. Contexte : Cet article explore les communications sur Facebook faites par des organismes soutenant l’industrie pétrolière au Canada, y compris des groupes financés par l’industrie elle-même et des groupes prétendument indépendants. Analyse : L’article analyse ces groupes en tant qu’engendreurs de « publics subventionnés », où une élite accorde des ressources à des partisans de l’industrie afin qu’ils s’engagent politiquement pour le compte de celle-ci. Une analyse des réseaux sociaux montre comment ces partisans fournissent de l’information provenant de sources différentes à un public favorable à l’industrie pétrolière, créant ainsi des réseaux dont les membres peuvent à leur tour rediffuser des éléments de langage appuyant l’industrie. Conclusions and implications: Les communications de ces partisans sont puissantes dans leur capacité à former des réseaux, encourageant des échanges en vase clos qui exposent les participants à des informations provenant de coalitions d’extractivistes néolibéraux. Quant à ces derniers, c’est l’industrie elle-même qui a cultivé leurs opinions pendant des décennies.  

scholarly journals A mixed methods analysis of Mozambique’s HPV vaccine delivery network actors.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caroline Soi ◽  
Jessica Shearer ◽  
Baltazar Chilundo ◽  
Vasco Muchanga ◽  
Luisa Matsinhe ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Network ◽  
Mixed Methods ◽  
Social Network Analysis ◽  
Network Analysis ◽  
Hpv Vaccine ◽  
Hpv Vaccination ◽  
Scale Up ◽  
Added Value ◽  
Country Ownership ◽  
Outcome Scores

Abstract Background: Global health partnerships have expanded exponentially in the last two decades with Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance considered the model’s pioneer and leader because of its vaccination programs’ implementation mechanism. Gavi, relies on diverse domestic and international partners to carry out the programs in low- and middle-income countries under a partnership engagement framework (PEF). In this study, we utilized mixed methods to examine Mozambique’s Gavi driven partnership network which delivered human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine during the demonstration phase.Methods: Qualitative tools gauged contextual factors, prerequisites, partner performance and practices while a social network analysis (SNA) survey measured the partnership structure and perceived added value in terms of effectiveness, efficiency and country ownership. 40 key informants who were interviewed included frontline Ministry of Health workers, Ministry of Education staff and supporting partner organization members, of whom 34 participated in the social network analysis survey.Results: Partnership structure SNA connectivity measurement scores of reachability (100%) and average distance (2.5), were high, revealing a network of very well-connected HPV vaccination implementation collaborators. Such high scores reflect a network structure favorable for rapid and widespread diffusion of information, features necessary for engaging and handling multiple implementation scales. High SNA effectiveness and efficiency measures for structural holes (85%) and low redundancy (30%) coupled with high mean perceived effectiveness (97.6%) and efficiency (79.5%) network outcome scores were observed. Additionally, the tie strength average score of 4.1 on a scale of 5 denoted high professional trust. These are all markers of a collaborative partnership environment in which disparate institutions and organizations leveraged each entity’s comparative advantage. Lower perceived outcome scores for country ownership (24%) were found, with participants citing the prominent role of several out-of-country partner organizations as a major obstacle.Conclusions: While there is room for improvement on the country ownership aspects of the partnership, the expanded, diverse and inclusive collaboration of institutions and organizations that implemented the Mozambique HPV vaccine demonstration project was effective and efficient. We recommend that the country adapt a similar model during national scale up of HPV vaccination.

scholarly journals Seven Decades of Chemotherapy Clinical Trials: A Pan-Cancer Social Network Analysis

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xuanyi Li ◽  
Elizabeth A. Sigworth ◽  
Adrianne H. Wu ◽  
Jess Behrens ◽  
Shervin A. Etemad ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Trials ◽  
Social Network ◽  
Social Network Analysis ◽  
Network Analysis ◽  
Medical Oncology ◽  
Added Value ◽  
Precision Oncology ◽  
Cancer Type ◽  
Dynamic Social Network ◽  
The Social

AbstractBackgroundClinical trials establish the standard of care for cancer and other diseases. While social network analysis has been applied to basic sciences, the social component of clinical trial research is not well characterized. We examined the social network of cancer clinical trialists and its dynamic development over more than 70 years, including the roles of subspecialization and gender in relation to traditional and network-based metrics of productivity.MethodsWe conducted a social network analysis of authors publishing chemotherapy-based prospective trials from 1946-2018, based on the curated knowledge base HemOnc.org, examining: 1) network density; 2) modularity; 3) assortativity; 4) betweenness centrality; 5) PageRank; and 6) the proportion of co-authors sharing the same primary cancer subspecialty designation. Individual author impact and productive period were analyzed as a function of gender and subspecialty.FindingsFrom 1946-2018, the network grew to 29,197 authors and 697,084 co-authors. While 99.4% of authors were directly or indirectly connected as of 2018, the network had very few connections and was very siloed by cancer subspecialty. Small numbers of individuals were highly connected and had disproportionate impact (scale-free effects). Women were under-represented and likelier to have lower impact, shorter productive periods (P<0.001 for both comparisons), less centrality, and a greater proportion of co-authors in their same subspecialty. The past 30 years were characterized by a trend towards increased authorship by women, with new author parity anticipated in 2032. However, women remain a distinct minority of first/last authors, with parity not anticipated for 50+ years.InterpretationThe network of cancer clinical trialists is best characterized as a strategic or “mixed-motive” network, with cooperative and competitive elements influencing its appearance.Network effects e.g., low centrality, which may limit access to high-profile individuals, likely contribute to ongoing disparities.FundingVanderbilt Initiative for Interdisciplinary Research; National Institutes of Health; National Science FoundationResearch in contextEvidence before this studyWe reviewed the literature on social networks from the 1800’s to 2018. Additionally, MEDLINE was searched for (“Social Networking”[Mesh] OR “Social Network Analysis”) AND (“Clinical Trials as Topic”[Mesh] OR “Hematology”[Mesh] OR “Medical Oncology”[Mesh]) without date restriction. The MEDLINE search yielded 43 results, of which 8 were relevant; none considered gender nor temporality in their analyses. To our knowledge, there has not been any similar study of the dynamic social network of clinical trialists from the inception of the fields of medical oncology and hematology to the present.Added value of this studyThis is the first dynamic social network analysis of cancer clinical trialists. We found that the network was sparse and siloed with a small number of authors having disproportionate impact and influence as measured by network metrics such as PageRank; these metrics have become more disproportionate over time. Women were under-represented and likelier to have lower impact, shorter productive periods, less network centrality, and a greater proportion of co-authors in their same cancer subspecialty.Implications of all the available evidenceWhile gender disparities have been demonstrated in many fields including hematology/oncology, our analysis is the first to show that network factors themselves are significantly implicated in gender disparity. The increasing coalescence of the network by traditional cancer type and around a small number of high-impact individuals implies challenges when the field pivots from traditionally disease-oriented subspecialties to a precision oncology paradigm. New mechanisms are needed to ensure diversity of clinical trialists.

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