Social Networks and Communities

2011 ◽  
pp. 1-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesca Odella
Keyword(s):  
Social Impact ◽  
Social Research ◽  
Research Strategies ◽  
Rural Villages ◽  
Theoretical Approaches ◽  
The Social ◽  
Economic Exchanges ◽  
Network Studies ◽  
Relational Contexts ◽  
Detection Strategies

The concept of community has been used in social sciences to describe several types of relatively stable relations among individuals, in a variety of contexts, from small rural villages to metropolitan and multicultural cities and for different forms of interaction from economic exchanges to leisure and political expression. Emerging outcomes of communitarian relations such as cohesion and cooperation, exchange of resources and communication efficiency have fostered and stimulated theory advancements and investigation of these relational contexts. The following chapter focuses on the concept of community in social network studies and describes the main theoretical approaches and research strategies adopted by network analysts to study social groupings. The review surveys classical network studies and the theoretical debate that involved the concept of community during the last century, exploring the perspective of contemporary research on communities. The theoretical implications of the study of communitarian relations and social participation will be addressed describing main community detection strategies and the debate on social capital. The third section of the chapter depicts network studies that deal with the social impact of new forms of societal communication and special types of communities in the virtual world. In the conclusions, the text outlines the challenges that social research on virtual and natural communities is expected to face in the next decade. The complete list of references is provided at the end of the chapter.

scholarly journals A Citizen’s Claim: Science With and for Society

2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (8-9) ◽  
pp. 943-947 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marta Soler ◽  
Aitor Gómez
Keyword(s):  
Social Science ◽  
Social Impact ◽  
Social Research ◽  
Social Science Research ◽  
Qualitative Evaluation ◽  
Science Research ◽  
Science Inquiry ◽  
Vulnerable Groups ◽  
The Social ◽  
Qualitative Methodologies

Social science research has been attacked by neoliberal thinkers who allege that such research lacks economic objectives. In the face of neoliberal and positivist criteria for evaluating the social impact of social science inquiry, social science researchers are developing qualitative evaluation methodologies through which we can have direct contact with citizens. These qualitative methodologies declare our social responsibility as social researchers in addressing relevant problems, especially those affecting the most vulnerable people. From these qualitative methodologies, the most vulnerable groups are included in the assessment of the social impacts of social research. Some examples of people who have participated in this qualitative evaluation include women, youth, immigrants, and Roma organizations. Participants perceived social science researchers as being far from their social reality, but in this research, they began to overcome their skepticism that social science research can help to solve those problems affecting their everyday lives.

E. Digby Baltzell: Moral Rhetoric and Research Methodology

1998 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 149-171 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel Z. Klausner
Keyword(s):  
Social Research ◽  
Value Relevance ◽  
Frame Of Reference ◽  
Research Strategies ◽  
Value Analysis ◽  
Social Actors ◽  
Moral Rhetoric ◽  
A Value ◽  
The Social ◽  
Empirical Generalizations

The ways in which values are assimilated to social research differ according to the theoretical frame of reference informing the research. An example from the writings of E. Digby Baltzell illustrates how a moral commitment shaped his assumptions about the nature of the social matrix and his research strategies. A Western moral rhetoric fares well if the researcher chooses a methodologically individualist framework. The framework assists a moral rhetoric by providing it with concrete rather than abstract social actors and with a basis for explanation in terms of motive rather than situational forces. Along the way moral statements can appear in the form of empirical generalizations and historical laws. Should sociologists deem ethically neutral social research desirable, this study suggests that concentration on scientific method, without exploring the value bases for selecting a frame of reference, is not a promising approach. A value analysis, especially around Weber's “value relevance,” may function propaedeuticly.

scholarly journals Voices from the last mile: The place of emotions in the social impact analysis of access to communication

Plaridel ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Josephine Dionisio ◽  
John Andrew Evangelista ◽  
Kurtis Heimerl ◽  
Cedric Angelo M. Festin
Keyword(s):  
Social Impact ◽  
Impact Analysis ◽  
End Users ◽  
Base Station ◽  
Careful Consideration ◽  
Rural Villages ◽  
Last Mile ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Village ◽  
Cellular Technology

While cellular technology has become ubiquitous and effective in bridging the digital divide, billions of households around the world remain unconnected and unserved. Increasing income and effective participation in governance are the gold standard in establishing the positive social impact of innovations that seek to provide access to communication in last mile areas, which are usually geographically isolated rural villages. Results from the social impact analysis of the Village Base Station Project (VBTS), using culturally-sensitive oral history, reveal that end-users use emotional terms, such as ginhawa and perhuwisyo in assessing how access to cellular networks affected their everyday life and social relationships. This article contributes to the scholarly discussions on the social impact of cellular technology by understanding end-users’ emotional responses as indicators of social impact. We argue that a more human-centered framework for social impact assessment requires a careful consideration of emotional evaluative statements from silenced communities, or of voices from the last mile.

Who Supports the Sunflower Movement? An Examination of Nationalist Sentiments

2016 ◽  
Vol 52 (8) ◽  
pp. 1193-1212 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fang-Yu Chen ◽  
Wei-Ting Yen
Keyword(s):  
Social Impact ◽  
The Other ◽  
Three Dimensions ◽  
Legislative Yuan ◽  
The Social ◽  
Economic Exchanges ◽  
History Of ◽  
National Attachment ◽  
Original Survey ◽  
The Impact

The Sunflower Movement—an occupation of the Legislative Yuan (the Congress) for 24 days—was an unprecedented moment in the history of Taiwan. We examine the social foundation of the Movement and explore an important factor that has long been missing in the literature of Taiwanese politics: nationalism. We divide nationalism into three dimensions: national attachment, national chauvinism, and feelings toward other countries. Using original survey data collected six months after the Movement, we find that national attachment (being proud of Taiwan) and anti-China feelings are unique dimensions and both lead to a higher level of support for the Sunflower Movement. National chauvinism, on the other hand, is not associated with supports for the Movement. Furthermore, the impact of nationalism is contingent on sociotropic views. People who express higher levels of nationalism are more responsive to the issue of rising income inequality when evaluating the Movement. The underlying logic is when people are more nationalistic they care more about the potential social impact of expanding socio-economic exchanges with another country. These results point to it being necessary to disentangle various components of nationalism and further investigate their effects on individuals’ political behaviors.

scholarly journals Constraints, Compromises and Choice: Comparing Three Qualitative Research Studies

2001 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia Connell ◽  
Colin Lynch ◽  
Peter Waring
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Social Research ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Research Strategies ◽  
Social Phenomena ◽  
Research Experiences ◽  
Advantages And Disadvantages ◽  
The Social ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
Research Studies

Although a number of texts explore social research strategies and methods, most are limited to a basic discussion of such methods and their associated advantages and disadvantages. Few if any, evaluate and compare methods in the context of actual research experiences. This paper endeavours to bridge that gap by reporting the experiences of three researchers working on three separate qualitative studies. All three studies were concerned with investigating the social milieu within organizations. While the research questions were different in each case, all the researchers shared a common goal - to develop explanations for complex social phenomena manifest both internally and externally to each organization. The research strategies, methods and data analyses employed are assessed through the personal evaluations of the researchers. Thus, a singular opportunity is offered for other researchers to benefit from the practical insights and lessons learned. The collective experiences of all three researchers suggest that the contextual conditions and constraints of each study force certain compromises, but which importantly, do not compromise qualitative research studies.

Continuity through change: State social research and sociology in Portugal

2020 ◽  
pp. 095269512092209
Author(s):  
Frederico Ágoas
Keyword(s):  
Research Methods ◽  
Social Research ◽  
Research Programme ◽  
Historical Sociology ◽  
Sociological Research ◽  
Industrial Workers ◽  
Theoretical Approaches ◽  
The Social ◽  
Change State ◽  
The One

This article examines the development of empirical social research in Portugal over about a century and its relation to the early institutionalization of sociology at the tail end of that period. Relying on new empirical data, coupled with a critical reading of the main sources on the topic, it brings to light some epistemic invariants in a disparate body of research, acknowledging the initial persistence of Le Play-inspired as well as properly Le Playsian research methods. Furthermore, it identifies the general continuation of a substantial concern with the (physical and then moral) condition of rural and industrial workers, leading to a disclosure of the political-economic and governmental roots of the social research in question. From a historical sociology perspective, the article explores the relation between state governmentalization and authoritarian rule, on the one hand, and the development of the social sciences, on the other. From a history of science perspective, it acknowledges the continuous use of the same research methods to carry out seemingly incommensurable social research programmes and the later pursuit of a properly sociological research programme that fell back on conflicting methodological and theoretical approaches. In broader terms, the article aims to put forward a historical sociology of theoretical approaches, research methods, and scientific concepts that will hopefully contribute to a clearer understanding of their respective fields of application.

Development Problems of Social Entrepreneurship in Kazakhstan

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 1186
Author(s):  
Maira Sh. BAUER ◽  
Raushan S. MUSSINA ◽  
Nelly A. BENCHEVA ◽  
Tatyana V. OVCHINNIKOVA ◽  
Indira K. AMERKHANOVA
Keyword(s):  
Social Entrepreneurship ◽  
Social Impact ◽  
Social Problems ◽  
Public Information ◽  
The State ◽  
Social Entrepreneurs ◽  
Dual Nature ◽  
Theoretical Approaches ◽  
The Social ◽  
Wide Range

Currently, the development dynamics of the market and socio-economic relations require creating hybrid forms of organizations, able to fill the market niches and to intervene when the state cannot fulfill its obligations. In this sense, social entrepreneurship is a popular term that encompasses a wide range of structures and organizations, running the business in order to achieve certain social impact. It should be understood that social entrepreneurship is not a project, but business, business of dual nature: entrepreneurship with strong social impact. The stages of development of the theoretical approaches to social entrepreneurship are presented in this article. Some issues of the formation of social entrepreneurship in Kazakhstan are considered. The main obstacles to the development of social entrepreneurship in Kazakhstan are the disparity of information on social entrepreneurship, the lack of consulting services, criteria and support mechanisms, public information on state tenders and contact details. Meanwhile, the development of social entrepreneurship in Kazakhstan is becoming an important activity for all stakeholders - the entrepreneurs, the state, and the society. Social entrepreneurs can become reliable partners of the state in solving the social problems in the country. They will be able to solve the social problems of the population in a qualitative way, simultaneously saving the budget funds allocated for the social sphere.

scholarly journals Social Research about Online Crime: Global Range of Topics and a Systematic Analysis of Research in Lithuania

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. 8-46
Author(s):  
Maryja Šupa
Keyword(s):  
Law Enforcement ◽  
Social Research ◽  
Public Perceptions ◽  
Systematic Analysis ◽  
Theoretical Approaches ◽  
The Social ◽  
Disciplinary Field ◽  
Crime Types ◽  
Social Scientific ◽  
Topic Map

 Social research about online crime is a multi-disciplinary field addressing a wide array of topics since its inception in the 1980s. Based on a broad review of state-of-the-art literature and gaps identified in review publications (Holt, Bossler 2014; Stratton, Powell, Cameron 2017; Maimon, Louderback 2019, and others), in this paper I outline 41 key topic in social research about online crime, classified into four broad categories: 1) research focusing on specific types of online crime, 2) research about perpetrators, victims, and law enforcement, 3) research about online crime discourses and public perceptions, 4) research putting the local and global specifics of online crime into perspective. Based on the topic map, I undertook a systematic review of literature on research about online crime published in Lithuania from the empirical social scientific perspective. The results show that very few such studies are carried out in Lithuania. From 2004 to 2020, 26 publications have been found in total. 10 of them were theoretical briefs, while 16 were based on empirical data. Out of the 41 key topic, 14 were covered in the publications, while 29 or roughly two thirds remained unaddressed. The dominant contributors were legal scholars writing about the social aspects of online crime across a variety of topics, and mostly focusing on specific crime types. The most developed topic was cyberbullying, with contributions by scholars mostly from the fields of psychology and education. To fill in these glaring gaps, it is vital to develop this field of research with an emphasis on both wider and deeper research agendas, complex, valid and reliable research data and critical theoretical approaches, inviting systematic contributions from criminology, sociology, communication and media studies, and political science.

Public Policy as Social Innovation

2019 ◽  
pp. 300-338
Author(s):  
Alex Nicholls ◽  
Daniel Edmiston
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
Welfare Reform ◽  
Social Impact ◽  
Social Innovation ◽  
Policy Actors ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Theoretical Approaches ◽  
Improved Outcomes ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Impact Bonds

This chapter explores in detail the evolution of social impact bonds (SIBs) in the United Kingdom as an example of social policy as social innovation. Specifically, it presents new analysis of three empirical cases in the United Kingdom. The chapter examines some key claims made by policy actors concerning SIBs as social innovation and welfare reform, specifically that they offer improved outcomes by means of innovating hybrid collaboration. The relevance of such claims in the context of addressing sites of marginalization is also discussed with reference to theoretical approaches from the Social Grid model.

scholarly journals Badania partycypacyjne jako odpowiedź na założenia społecznego modelu niepełnosprawności?

2018 ◽  
pp. 165-177 ◽  
Author(s):  
Agnieszka Wołowicz
Keyword(s):  
Social Research ◽  
Research Process ◽  
Social Model ◽  
Research Subjects ◽  
Research Strategies ◽  
Persons With Disabilities ◽  
Social Model Of Disability ◽  
The Social ◽  
New Research ◽  
Participation Research

Participation research as the answer to the assumptions of the social model of disability? The social model of disability, the requirement for the subjective treatment of participants in social research and the availability of research subjects to the research process, resulting from the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, put researchers before the need to seek new research strategies that grasp the world of meanings of the respondents. The model of participatory research, which seems also appropriate for capturing the intersectionality of the gender and disability, seems to meet these challenges. Key words: women with intellectual disabilities, qualitative research, inclusive research

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document