A Methodological Approach for Blended Communities

2011 ◽  
pp. 103-121 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Annese ◽  
Marta Traetta
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
Social Network ◽  
Social Network Analysis ◽  
Network Analysis ◽  
Quantitative Methods ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
Qualitative And Quantitative Methods ◽  
Mixed Approach ◽  
Methodological Reflection

The current diffusion of blended communities, characterized by the integration of online and offline interactions, has made necessary a methodological reflection about the suitable approaches to explore psychosocial dynamics in virtual and real communities. In this chapter we propose a mixed approach that ‘blends’ qualitative and quantitative methods: by combining qualitative content analysis with Social Network Analysis we investigate participation dynamics and by employing this methodological combination in an original way we create an innovative method, called Positioning Network Analysis, to examine identity dynamics. We will describe the characteristics of this methodological device, providing some examples in order to show the manifold use of these original tools.

scholarly journals A case study of university student networks and the COVID-19 pandemic using a social network analysis approach in halls of residence

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
José Alberto Benítez-Andrades ◽  
Tania Fernández-Villa ◽  
Carmen Benavides ◽  
Andrea Gayubo-Serrenes ◽  
Vicente Martín ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Network ◽  
Social Network Analysis ◽  
Network Analysis ◽  
University Students ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
Centrality Measures ◽  
Structural Behaviour ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Depth Analysis ◽  
The University

AbstractThe COVID-19 pandemic has meant that young university students have had to adapt their learning and have a reduced relational context. Adversity contexts build models of human behaviour based on relationships. However, there is a lack of studies that analyse the behaviour of university students based on their social structure in the context of a pandemic. This information could be useful in making decisions on how to plan collective responses to adversities. The Social Network Analysis (SNA) method has been chosen to address this structural perspective. The aim of our research is to describe the structural behaviour of students in university residences during the COVID-19 pandemic with a more in-depth analysis of student leaders. A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out at one Spanish Public University, León, from 23th October 2020 to 20th November 2020. The participation was of 93 students, from four halls of residence. The data were collected from a database created specifically at the university to "track" contacts in the COVID-19 pandemic, SiVeUle. We applied the SNA for the analysis of the data. The leadership on the university residence was measured using centrality measures. The top leaders were analyzed using the Egonetwork and an assessment of the key players. Students with higher social reputations experience higher levels of pandemic contagion in relation to COVID-19 infection. The results were statistically significant between the centrality in the network and the results of the COVID-19 infection. The most leading students showed a high degree of Betweenness, and three students had the key player structure in the network. Networking behaviour of university students in halls of residence could be related to contagion in the COVID-19 pandemic. This could be described on the basis of aspects of similarities between students, and even leaders connecting the cohabitation sub-networks. In this context, Social Network Analysis could be considered as a methodological approach for future network studies in health emergency contexts.

Social network analysis applications in sustainable construction and built environment management: a review

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nandun Madhusanka Hewa Welege ◽  
Wei Pan ◽  
Mohan Kumaraswamy
Keyword(s):  
Social Network ◽  
Social Network Analysis ◽  
Network Analysis ◽  
Built Environment ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
Relevant Literature ◽  
Sustainable Construction ◽  
Centrality Measures ◽  
Environment Management ◽  
Content Type

PurposeApplications of social network analysis (SNA) are evidently popular amongst scholars for mapping stakeholder and other relational networks in improving the sustainability of construction activities and the resulting built environment. Nevertheless, the literature reveals a lack of thorough understanding of optimal SNA applications in this field. Therefore, this paper aims to convey a comprehensive critical review of past applications of SNA in this field.Design/methodology/approach95 relevant journal papers were initially identified from the “Web of Science” database and a bibliometric analysis was carried out using the “VOS Viewer” software. The subsequent in-depth review of the SNA methods, focussed on 24 specifically relevant papers selected from these aforesaid 95 papers.FindingsA significant growth of publications in this field was identified after 2014, especially related to topics on stakeholder management. “Journal of Cleaner Production”, “International Journal of Project Management” and “Sustainability” were identified as the most productive sources in this field, with the majority of publications from China. Interviews and questionnaires were the popular data collection methods while SNA “Centrality” measures were utilised in over 70% of the studies. Furthermore, potential areas were noted, to improve the mapping and thereby provide useful information to managers who could influence relevant networks and consequentially better sustainability outcomes, including those enhanced by collaborative networks.Originality/valueCloser collaboration has been found to help enhance sustainability in construction and built environment, hence attracting research interest amongst scholars on how best to enable this. SNA is established as a significant methodological approach to analysing interrelationships and collaborative potential in general. In a pioneering application here, this paper initiates the drawing together of findings from relevant literature to provide useful insights for future researchers to comprehensively identify, compare and contrast the applications of SNA techniques in construction and built environment management from a sustainability viewpoint.

scholarly journals Scientific collaboration network ammong Brazilian universities

2013 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Isabel Escalona-Fernandez ◽  
Antonio Pulgarin-Guerrero ◽  
Ely Francina Tannuri de Oliveira ◽  
Maria Cláudia Cabrini Gracio
Keyword(s):  
Social Network ◽  
Social Network Analysis ◽  
Network Analysis ◽  
Scientific Collaboration ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
Scientific Production ◽  
Collaboration Network ◽  
Network Data ◽  
New Knowledge

This paper analyses the scientific collaboration network formed by the Brazilian universities that investigate in dentistry area. The constructed network is based on the published documents in the Scopus (Elsevier) database covering a period of 10 (ten) years. It is used social network analysis as the best methodological approach to visualize the capacity for collaboration, dissemination and transmission of new knowledge among universities. Cohesion and density of the collaboration network is analyzed, as well as the centrality of the universities as key-actors and the occurrence of subgroups within the network. Data were analyzed using the software UCINET and NetDraw. The number of documents published by each university was used as an indicator of its scientific production.

scholarly journals Gossip at one’s fingertips: Predictors of celebrity news on Twitter

Journalism ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 21 (5) ◽  
pp. 707-726
Author(s):  
Yan Yan ◽  
Wanjiang Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
Social Network ◽  
Social Network Analysis ◽  
Network Analysis ◽  
News Coverage ◽  
Capitalist Society ◽  
Twitter Account ◽  
Celebrity News

The present study collected 2223 tweets of news about the Top 100 celebrities from People Magazine’s Twitter account during the year 2016. A combination of content analysis and social network analysis was used to examine celebrity attributes, news features, and the relationships between celebrities and news topics. Results indicated that news agendas and audiences’ responses were highly different. News coverage was primarily determined by news features, yet audiences cared only about big stars. Regular topics centered on the themes of celebrity news. The celebrity-by-topic network was topic-driven rather than human-driven, demonstrating the nature of the celebrity industry as an embodiment of capitalist society.

Using Social Network Analysis (SNA) to Study Members and Activists of Political Parties

2020 ◽  
Vol 147-148 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 13-48
Author(s):  
Emilien Paulis
Keyword(s):  
Social Network ◽  
Social Network Analysis ◽  
Network Analysis ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Political Party ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
Network Data ◽  
Party Member ◽  
Party Membership ◽  
Local Party

This article explores the development of my PhD dissertation’s methodological approach, based on Social Network Analysis (SNA), or the collection and analysis of network data, in order to deal with political parties and their members (party membership). I extensively relied on this alternative, growing methodological background in three extents. First (1), SNA was used to analyze bibliographic references related to my dissertation topic, i.e. party membership studies, and identify the most central authors, thereby illustrating the literature review while describing their key contributions. Second (2), SNA was employed to collect and analyze network data likely to better grasp how interpersonal networks affect the probability for a random citizen to turn into party member, assuming that social influence matters in the process of joining a political party. Third (3), I further capitalized on SNA to deal with the question of party activism and why some members become active whereas others remain passive, arguing theoretically and showing empirically that part of the answer lies in members’ position within their local party branch’s social network. Each of these three applications is discussed in the light of the main methodological developments, the empirical findings and their interpretation, while shortcomings and research opportunities are more systematically highlighted at the end.

Peer Assistance and Interaction in an Online Forum

2011 ◽  
pp. 118-130
Author(s):  
Ugur Kale
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
Instructional Design ◽  
Social Network ◽  
Social Network Analysis ◽  
Network Analysis ◽  
Peer Interaction ◽  
Graduate Level ◽  
Online Forum ◽  
Peer Assistance ◽  
To Receive

This study examines peer interaction and peer assistance observed in on an online forum, part of a graduate level instructional design course during the 2008 spring academic term. It incorporates both content analysis and social network analysis techniques. The content analysis results showed that the four types of peer assistance adopted from an existing framework were adequate to categorize the peer assistance that the students received during the study. Students tended to receive more Reflective assistance from their peers if their reading reflections provided high relevance to the course projects. Social network analysis results revealed that while 70% of the students provided peer assistance to one another, they were less likely to go beyond the course requirement of posting toward to end of the semester. Also, a further analysis demonstrated how SNA approach may help examine the influences of actor attributes on their observed communication.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document