Showing papers on "Social network published in 1998"

Social Capital: Its Origins and Applications in Modern Sociology

Abstract: This paper reviews the origins and definitions of social capital in the writings of Bourdieu, Loury, and Coleman, among other authors. It distinguishes four sources of social capital and examines their dynamics. Applications of the concept in the sociological literature emphasize its role in social control, in family support, and in benefits mediated by extrafamilial networks. I provide examples of each of these positive functions. Negative consequences of the same processes also deserve attention for a balanced picture of the forces at play. I review four such consequences and illustrate them with relevant examples. Recent writings on social capital have extended the concept from an individual asset to a feature of communities and even nations. The final sections describe this conceptual stretch and examine its limitations. I argue that, as shorthand for the positive consequences of sociability, social capital has a definite place in sociological theory. However, excessive extensions of the concept may j...

Alliances and networks

Abstract: This paper introduces a social network perspective to the study of strategic alliances. It extends prior research, which has primarily considered alliances as dyadic exchanges and paid less attention to the fact that key precursors, processes, and outcomes associated with alliances can be defined and shaped in important ways by the social networks within which most firms are embedded. It identifies five key issues for the study of alliances: (1) the formation of alliances, (2) the choice of governance structure, (3) the dynamic evolution of alliances, (4) the performance of alliances, and (5) the performance consequences for firms entering alliances. For each of these issues, this paper outlines some of the current research and debates at the firm and dyad level and then discusses some of the new and important insights that result from introducing a network perspective. It highlights current network research on alliances and suggests an agenda for future research. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

DIFFUSION IN ORGANIZATIONS AND SOCIAL MOVEMENTS: From Hybrid Corn to Poison Pills

Abstract: There has been rapid growth in the study of diffusion across organizations and social movements in recent years, fueled by interest in institutional arguments and in network and dynamic analysis. This research develops a sociologically grounded account of change emphasizing the channels along which practices flow. Our review focuses on characteristic lines of argument, emphasizing the structural and cultural logic of diffusion processes. We argue for closer theoretical attention to why practices diffuse at different rates and via different pathways in different settings. Three strategies for further development are proposed: broader comparative research designs, closer inspection of the content of social relations between collective actors, and more attention to diffusion industries run by the media and communities of experts.

Network Forms of Organization

Abstract: Initial sociological interest in network forms of organization was motivated in part by a critique of economic views of organization. Sociologists sought to highlight the prevalence and functionality of organizational forms that could not be classified as markets or hierarchies. As a result of this work, we now know that network forms of organization foster learning, represent a mechanism for the attainment of status or legitimacy, provide a variety of economic benefits, facilitate the management of resource dependencies, and provide considerable autonomy for employees. However, as sociologists move away from critiquing what are now somewhat outdated economic views, they need to balance the exclusive focus on prevalence and functionality with attention to constraint and dysfunctionality. The authors review work that has laid a foundation for this broader focus and suggest analytical concerns that should guide this literature as it moves forward.

Network Support and the Success of Newly Founded Businesses

Abstract: The "network approach to entrepreneurship" is a prominent theoretical perspective within the literature on entrepreneurship. This literature assumes that network resources, networking activities and network support are heavily used to establish new firms (network founding hypothesis). Further, those entrepreneurs, who can refer to a broad and diverse social network and who receive much support from their network are more successful (network success hypothesis). Based on a study of 1,700 new business ventures in Upper Bavaria (Germany), the article gives an empirical test of the network success hypothesis. It is argued that one reason, why previous studies did not consistently find positive network effects, may be that social capital (network support) is used to compensate shortfalls of other types of capital (human capital and financial capital). This compensation hypothesis, however, does not find empirical confirmation. On the other hand, however, the network success hypothesis proves to be valid in our analyses, i.e. network support increases the probability of survival and growth of newly founded businesses.

Relationships and Unethical Behavior: A Social Network Perspective

Abstract: Recent models of unethical behavior have begun to examine the combination of characteristics of individuals, issues, and organizations. We extend this examination by addressing a largely ignored perspective that focuses on the relationships among actors. Drawing on social network analysis, we generate propositions concerning types of relationships (strength, multiplexity, asymmetry, and status) and the structure of relationships (structural holes, centrality, and density). We also consider the combination of the type and structure of relationships and how this embeddedness perspective relates to social contagion and conspiracies.

The gender of social capital

Abstract: Legitimacy affects returns to social capital. I begin with the network structure of social capital, explaining the information and control benefits of structural holes. The holes in a network are e...

A structural theory of social influence

Abstract: List of tables and figures Preface Part A. Theory and Setting: 1. Social structure and social Control 2. Toward a structural social psychology 3. A setting in the scientific community Part B. Measures of the Theoretical Constructs: 4. A structural parameterization 5. Interpersonal influence 6. Self and other 7. Social positions Part C. Analysis: 8. The structure of social space 9. The production of consensus 10. Influence of actors and social positions 11. Durkheim's vision References Index.

Social Networks, Gender, and Immigrant Incorporation: Resources and Constraints

Abstract: Most research on social networks and immigrant incorporation focuses on the short-term and positive functions of networks, neglecting changes in networks over time. Author present a dynamic and variable portrayal of networks to demonstrate how they gradually assume different forms and functions for women and for men that differentially affect settlement outcomes, particularly opportunities to become legal. The gendered social relations of neighborhood, work, and voluntary associations interact to produce this outcome. The conclusions suggest that social networks can both strengthen and weaken over time, can change differentially for different segments of the immigrant community, and therefore can have disparate effects on incorporation.

Social Capital, Social Networks, and Political Participation

Abstract: Social Capital is created through the patterns of interdependence andsocial interaction that occur within a population, and we attempt to understand the participatory consequences of these patterns relative to the effects of human capital and organizational involvement. The production of social capital in personal networks was examined with the use of social network and participation data from the 1992 American study of the Cross National Election Project. The results suggest that politically relevant social capital (that is, social capital that facilitates political engagement) is generated in personal networks, that it is a by-product of the social interactions with a citizen's discussants, and that increasing levels of politically relevant social capital enhance the likelihood that a citizen will be engaged in politics. Further, the production of politically relevant social capital is a function of the political expertise within an individual's network of relations, the frequency of political interaction within the network, and the size or extensiveness of the network. These results are sustained even while taking account of a person's individual characteristics and organizational involvement. Hence, the consequences of social relations within networks are not readily explained away on the basis of either human capital effects or the effects of organizational engagement.

A paradigm for social capital

Abstract: This paper reconsiders James S. Coleman's concept of social capital. The concept has gained wide use and acceptance in sociology since its first publication, but, Coleman's own writings on the subj...

Introduction: Origins of the Concept

Abstract: Reviews the theoretical and empirical study of the regional innovation system (RIS), serving as an introduction to a collection of essays on the notion. Though there has been an upsurge surrounding the study of national systems of innovation since the 1980s, it was not until 1992 that the term 'regional innovation system' came into use. The RIS is characterized by economic coordination emphasizing the importance of cultural factors, including trust, cooperation, and social network relationships. A typology of regional innovation systems is formulated, drawing on regional science and innovation studies, and rejecting the neoclassical explanation in favor of an evolutionary theory of economics. This formulation includes analysis of grassworks, network, dirigiste, localist, interactive, and globalized RIS, as well as the key roles of governance and business innovation. In contrast to neoclassical theory, which posits the firm as a homogenous, atomistic unit of rational utility maximization, in evolutionary economics the firm is differentiated, making use of heterogeneous inputs, and learns through the double feedback loop of assessing its own experience and the experience of peers. The process of innovation becomes systematic as it develops within clusters of inter-firm relationships. 'Learning by doing,' 'learning by using' and 'learning by interaction' are three complementary approaches to instilling a learning culture in industry -- that is, a culture characterized by institutional, cooperative learning that leads to innovative progress. Policy should serve as the infrastructure reinforcing this learning economy by supporting linkages between society and economy. Finally, to set up the question of the region's importance to economics in the age of globalization that will be explored in later essays in this book, the region is defined as a system of collective order maintained through trust and reliability, rather than, at it has traditionally been defined, an area characterized by economic specificity, administrative homogeneity, and shared culture. The other essays in this book are organized intto three categories: market-driven and informal coordination, network governance, and the impact of public policies. (CJC)

Clarifying the social support theory-research linkage

Abstract: Social support is a multi-faceted concept that has been difficult to conceptualize, define and measure. Although this concept has been extensively studied, there is little agreement among theoreticians and researchers as to its theoretical and operational definition. As a result, the concept remains fuzzy and almost anything that infers a social interaction may be considered social support. Social support researchers have consistently ignored the complexity of the concept and have measured the variable in a simplistic manner. The purpose of this article is to analyse the linkage between theory and research related to social support by categorizing definitions of social support, exploring the theoretical aspects and conceptualizations of the concept, proposing models of social support, and examining how social support is measured in current social support research (1993-1996). The inadequacy of current research and directions for future study are discussed.

Work, friendship, and media use for information exchange in a networked organization

Abstract: We use a social network approach to examine how work and friendship ties in a university research group were associated with the kinds of media used for different kinds of information exchange. The use of electronic mail, unscheduled face-to-face encounters, and scheduled face-to-face meetings predominated for the exchange of six kinds of information: Receiving Work, Giving Work, Collaborative Writing, Computer Programming, Sociability, and Major Emotional Support. Few pairs used synchronous desktop videoconferencing or the telephone. E-mail was used in similar ways as face-to-face communication. The more frequent the contact, the more “multiplex” the tie: A larger number of media was used to exchange a greater variety of information. The closeness of work ties and of friendship ties were each independently associated with more interaction: A greater frequency of communication, the exchange of more kinds of information, and the use of more media. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Sweet Mothers and Gangbangers: Managing Crime in a Black Middle-Class Neighborhood

Abstract: Black middle-class neighborhoods have higher internal poverty rates and are closer to high-poverty and high-crime areas than white middle-class neighborhoods, which presents particular challenges to neighborhood social organization. This study uses ethnographic data from a black middle-class neighborhood in Chicago to explore how residents manage this ecological context. The author finds that dense social networks fostered by residential stability facilitate the informal supervision of neighborhood youth and enhance the activities of formal organizations and institutions. Nevertheless, the incorporation of gang members and drug dealers into the networks of law-abiding kin and neighbors thwarts efforts to completely rid the neighborhood of its criminal element. The conflicting effects of dense networks challenge traditional social organization theory

Who Are Employees' Social Referents? Using a Network Perspective to Determine Referent Others

Abstract: A social network perspective was used to determine whom brokerage firm employees selected as social referents. In particular, this study focused on cohesive actors (friends) and structurally equiva...

Theories of citation

Abstract: Citations support the communication of specialist knowledge by allowing authors and readers to make specific selections in several contexts at the same time. In the interactions between the social network of (first-order) authors and the network of their reflexive (that is, second-order) communications, a sub-textual code of communication with a distributed character has emerged. The recursive operation of this dual-layered network induces the perception of a cognitive dimension in scientific communication.Citation analysis reflects on citation practices. Reference lists are aggregated in scientometric analysis using one (or sometimes two) of the available contexts to reduce the complexity: geometrical representations (‘mappings’) of dynamic operations are reflected in corresponding theories of citation. For example, a sociological interpretation of citations can be distinguished from an information-theoretical one. The specific contexts represented in the modern citation can be deconstructed from the perspective of the cultural evolution of scientific communication.

Getting the Goods on Social Capital1

Abstract: This article presents an overview of the origins, development, rapid diffusion, and current usage of the concept of social capital in both the academic (research-oriented) and more applied (social policy) literature. Following a short quantitative survey of the appearance of the term in both theses and journals, various meanings of social capital are examined in the light of classical and contemporary sociological theory. Three main research approaches, which are based on the operationalization of social capital or its application as a heuristic device, are critically examined. These approaches are associated with the work ofJames Coleman, Pierre Bourdieu, and Robert Putnam, but there are also some references to the work of economists. The authors contend that, while social capital has value and appeal as a new term, basic theory needs greater development. In particular, attention should be paid to acknowledging the specific perspective on social capital that underlies its usage, the scale or level of analysis employed, and the value of a qualitative use of social capital.

Social network dynamics and HIV transmission.

Abstract: The objective of this study was to prospectively study the changes in the social networks of persons at presumably high risk for HIV in a community with low prevalence and little endogenous transmission. From a cohort of 595 persons at high risk (prostitutes injecting drug users and sexual partners of these persons) and nearly 6000 identified contacts we examined the social networks of a subset of 96 persons who were interviewed once per year for 3 years. We assessed their network configuration network stability and changes in risk configuration and risk behavior using epidemiologic and social network analysis and visualization techniques. Some significant decrease in personal risk-taking was documented during the course of the study particularly with regard to needle-sharing. The size and number of connected components (groups that are completely connected) declined. Microstructures (small subgroups of persons that interact intensely) were either not present or declined appreciably during the period of observation. In this area of low prevalence the lack of endogenous transmission of HIV may be related in part to the lack of a network structure that fosters active propagation despite the continued presence of risky behaviors. Although the relative contribution of network structure and personal behavior cannot be ascertained from these data the study suggests an important role of network configuration in the transmission dynamics of HIV. (authors)

The Contribution of Social Resources To Volunteering.

Abstract: Volunteer work calls both individual and social resources. While they each make an independent contribution, they also interact with each other. Social capital is most productively used by those richly endowed with individual resources. Using two-wave panel data from the Amerincans' Changing Lives study, the authors estimated the effects of human capital (education), social class (occupational status, family income, and family assets), formal and informal social interaction, and network size and density on range of volunteer activities and hours spent volunteering. The main effects of human and social capital discovered in previous studies are replicated. Interaction terms reveal that social capital is a better predictor of both range and amount of volunteering among people with higher social status and more human capital.

Perspectives on Socioemotional Selectivity in Late Life: How Personality and Social Context Do (and Do Not) Make a Difference

Abstract: This research extends earlier cross-sectional findings suggesting that although social network sizes were smaller in very old age as compared to old age, the number of emotionally close relationships in the network did not distinguish age groups. In a representative sample of community dwelling and institutionalized adults, aged 70 to 104 years, we explored whether such indication of socioemotional selectivity was related to personality characteristics and family status. Extroversion, Openness to Experience, and Neuroticism as assessed by the NEO-PI were related to overall network size but unrelated to the average emotional closeness of social partners in the network (i.e., our indicator of socioemotional selectivity). Family status, in contrast, was related to average emotional closeness to network members. Moreover, family status moderates the relationship between average emotional closeness to network members and feelings of social embeddedness. Findings suggest a stronger influence of contextual rather than personality factors on social functioning in late life.

Research in Community and Mental Health

Abstract: Includes two main sections: social networks within and between organizations and social networks and interpersonal relationships.

The psychology of the social

Abstract: Foreword R. M. Farr 1. Social representations in knowledge and language as approaches to a psychology of the social Uwe Flick Part I. Social Knowledge as an Issue in Social Psychology: 2. The knowledge of social systems Mario von Cranach 3. Everyday knowledge in social psychology Uwe Flick 4. Social attributions and social representations Miles Hewstone and Martha Augoustinos 5. The social construction of knowledge: social marking and socio-cognitive conflict Willem Doise, Gabriel Mugny and Juan A. Perez 6. Social memory: macrospyschological aspects Augustin Echebarria Echabe and Jose Luis Gonzalez Castro 7. Self as social representation Daphna Oyserman and Hazel Rose Markus Part II. Language and Discourse as Media for Social Psychology: 8. The epistemology of social representations Rom Harre 9. Social representations discourse analysis, and racism Jonathan Potter and Margaret Wetherell 10. Social representations and ideology: towards the study of ideological representations Martha Augoustinos 11. Social representations and development: experts' and parents' discourses about a puzzling issue Felice F. Carugati and Patrizia Selleri 12. Social representations and media communications Carlo Michael Sommer 13. The social representation of 'man' in everyday speech Lenelis Kruse Part III. Social Representations: History and Development of a Field of Research: 14. The history and actuality of social representations Serge Moscovici.

Using social network and ethnographic tools to evaluate syphilis transmission.

Abstract: Background and objectives Partner notification has been the cornerstone for the prevention and control of syphilis in the United States. This technique may not make full use of contextual data that an ethnographic and social network approach can offer. Goals of the study The occasion of a syphilis outbreak among young people was used to investigate the applicability of a social network approach and to test the validity of several traditional approaches to syphilis epidemiology. Study design An outbreak of syphilis was investigated by interviewing both infected and noninfected people, by directing resources based on network association, by creating and evaluating network diagrams as an aid to the epidemiologic process, and by including ethnographic observations as part of outbreak management. Results Diagrammatic display of network growth provided a useful alternative to the traditional epidemic curve. Case prevention was demonstrated by identifying uninfected people with multiple concurrent exposures. Concurrent, overlapping exposure in infected people rendered traditional "source" and "spread" criteria moot. Conclusions The current discussions of partner notification may be informed by recognizing that it is a subset of a broader and potentially more powerful approach. This approach calls some basic tenets of syphilis epidemiology into question.

Theories of Citation

Abstract: Citations support the communication of specialist knowledge by allowing authors and readers to make specific selections in several contexts at the same time. In the interactions between the social network of (first-order) authors and the network of their reflexive (that is, second-order) communications, a sub-textual code of communication with a distributed character has emerged. The recursive operation of this dual-layered network induces the perception of a cognitive dimension in scientific communication. Citation analysis reflects on citation practices. Reference lists are aggregated in scientometric analysis using one (or sometimes two) of the available contexts to reduce the complexity: geometrical representations (‘mappings’) of dynamic operations are reflected in corresponding theories of citation. For example, a sociological interpretation of citations can be distinguished from an information-theoretical one. The specific contexts represented in the modern citation can be deconstructed from the perspective of the cultural evolution of scientific communication.

The family and type 2 diabetes: a framework for intervention.

Abstract: Four broad groups of factors have been linked with self-management behavior in type 2 diabetes over time: (1) characteristics of patients, (2) amount and management of stress, (3) characteristics of providers and provider-patient relationships, and (4) characteristics of the social network/context in which disease management takes place. Of these four, social network/context has received the least amount of study and has been described in terms not easily applicable to intervention. In this paper, we identified the social network/context of diabetes management as residing within the family. We defined the family for clinical purposes, reviewed the literature concerning what is known about the link between properties of the family context of care and outcomes in type 2 diabetes and other chronic diseases, and identified areas of family life that are relevant to diabetes management. This information was then used to demonstrate how a family context of care can serve as a clinical framework for integrating all four groups of factors that affect disease management. Implications of this approach for practice and research are described.

Explanations of Social Exclusion: Where Does Housing Fit in?

Abstract: This paper takes the view that concepts of social exclusion are socially constructed by different combinations of economic, social and political processes. It is suggested that the core meaning of social exclusion is bound up with social isolation and social segregation, and it is therefore argued that an analysis of social mobility (or the lack of it) is crucial to understanding the content and extent of social exclusion. Three approaches to the analysis of social mobility are briefly considered, and it is concluded that the causation of social exclusion appears to have three interrelated dimensions: economic, legal/political, and moral/ideological. The main theoretical approaches to social exclusion, encompassing 'structural' and 'cultural' perspectives, are then examined, and a new, more holistic theory is proposed, using the concept of a duality of interrelated labour processes. This theory is developed on three different levels, corresponding to the three dimensions of social exclusion. The final par...