Showing papers on "Social network published in 2005"

Social Entrepreneurship Reserach: a Source of Explanation, Prediction and Delight

Abstract: Social entrepreneurship, as a practice and a field for scholarly investigation, provides a unique opportunity to challenge, question, and rethink concepts and assumptions from different fields of management and business research. This paper puts forward a view of social entrepreneurship as a process that catalyzes social change and/or addresses important social needs in a way that is not dominated by direct financial benefits for the entrepreneurs. Social entrepreneurship is seen as differing from other forms of entrepreneurship in the relatively higher priority given to promoting social value and development versus capturing economic value. To stimulate future research the authors introduce the concept of embeddedness as a nexus between theoretical perspectives for the study of social entrepreneurship. Different research methodologies and their implications are discussed.

Social Networks, the Tertius Iungens Orientation, and Involvement in Innovation:

Abstract: This study examines the microprocesses in the social networks of those involved in organizational innovation and their strategic behavioral orientation toward connecting people in their social network by either introducing disconnected individuals or facilitating new coordination between connected individuals. This tertius iungens (or “third who joins”) strategic orientation, contrasts with the tertius gaudens orientation emphasized in structural holes theory, which concerns the advantage of a broker who can play people off against one another for his or her own benefit. Results of a multimethod study of networks and innovation in an engineering division of an automotive manufacturer show that a tertius iungens orientation, dense social networks, and diverse social knowledge predict involvement in innovation. Implications of the study for innovation and social networks, as well as for social skill and agency within firms are presented.

Collaboration and Creativity: The Small World Problem 1

Abstract: Small world networks have received disproportionate notice in diverse fields because of their suspected effect on system dynamics. The authors analyzed the small world network of the creative artists who made Broadway musicals from 1945 to 1989. Using original arguments, new statistical methods, and tests of construct validity, they found that the varying “small world” properties of the systemic‐level network of these artists affected their creativity in terms of the financial and artistic performance of the musicals they produced. The small world network effect was parabolic; performance increased up to a threshold, after which point the positive effects reversed.

Models and Methods in Social Network Analysis

Abstract: Acknowledgements 1. Introduction Stanley Wasserman, John Scott and Peter J. Carrington 2. Recent developments in network measurement Peter V. Marsden 3. Network sampling and model fitting Ove Frank 4. Extending centrality Martin Everett and Stephen P. Borgatti 5. Positional analyses of sociometric data Patrick Doreian, Vladimir Batagelj and Anuska Ferligoj 6. Network models and methods for studying the diffusion of innovations Thomas W. Valente 7. Using correspondence analysis for joint displays of affiliation networks Katherine Faust 8. An introduction to random graphs, dependence graphs, and p* Stanley Wasserman and Garry Robins 9. Random graph models for social networks: multiple relations or multiple raters Laura M. Koehly and Philippa Pattison 10. Interdependencies and social processes: dependence graphs and generalized dependence structures Garry Robins and Philippa Pattison 11. Models for longitudinal network data Tom A. B. Snijders 12. Graphical techniques for exploring social network data Linton C. Freeman 13. Software for social network analysis Mark Huisman and Marijtje A. J. van Duijn Index.

Logics of History: Social Theory and Social Transformation

Abstract: While social scientists and historians have been exchanging ideas for a long time, they have never developed a proper dialogue about social theory. William H. Sewell Jr. observes that on questions of theory the communication has been mostly one way: from social science to history. Logics of History argues that both history and the social sciences have something crucial to offer each other. While historians do not think of themeselves as theorists, they know something social scientists do not: how to think about the temporalities of social life. On the other hand, while social scientists' treatments of temporality are usually clumsy, their theoretical sophistication and penchant for structural accounts of social life could offer much to historians. Renowned for his work at the crossroads of history, sociology, political science, and anthropology, Sewell argues that only by combining a more sophisticated understanding of historical time with a concern for larger theoretical questions can a satisfying social theory emerge. In Logics of History, he reveals the shape such an engagement could take, some of the topics it could illuminate, and how it might affect both sides of the disciplinary divide.

Social networks and Internet connectivity effects

Abstract: This paper explores the impact of communication media and the Internet on connectivity between people. Results from a series of social network studies of media use are used as background for exploration of these impacts. These studies explored the use of all available media among members of an academic research group and among distance learners. Asking about media use as well as about the strength of the tie between communicating pairs revealed that those more strongly tied used more media to communicate than weak ties, and that media use within groups conformed to a unidimensional scale, showing a configuration of different tiers of media use supporting social networks of different ties strengths. These results lead to a number of implications regarding media and Internet connectivity, including: how media use can be added to characteristics of social network ties; how introducing a medium can create latent tie connectivity among group members that provides the technical means for activating weak ties, a...

Geographic routing in social networks

Abstract: We live in a “small world,” where two arbitrary people are likely connected by a short chain of intermediate friends. With scant information about a target individual, people can successively forward a message along such a chain. Experimental studies have verified this property in real social networks, and theoretical models have been advanced to explain it. However, existing theoretical models have not been shown to capture behavior in real-world social networks. Here, we introduce a richer model relating geography and social-network friendship, in which the probability of befriending a particular person is inversely proportional to the number of closer people. In a large social network, we show that one-third of the friendships are independent of geography and the remainder exhibit the proposed relationship. Further, we prove analytically that short chains can be discovered in every network exhibiting the relationship.

Co-authorship networks in the digital library research community

Abstract: The field of digital libraries (DLs) coalesced in 1994: the first digital library conferences were held that year, awareness of the World Wide Web was accelerating, and the National Science Foundation awarded $24 Million (US) for the Digital Library Initiative (DLI). In this paper we examine the state of the DL domain after a decade of activity by applying social network analysis to the co-authorship network of the past ACM, IEEE, and joint ACM/IEEE digital library conferences. We base our analysis on a common binary undirectional network model to represent the co-authorship network, and from it we extract several established network measures. We also introduce a weighted directional network model to represent the co-authorship network, for which we define AuthorRank as an indicator of the impact of an individual author in the network. The results are validated against conference program committee members in the same period. The results show clear advantages of PageRank and AuthorRank over degree, closeness and betweenness centrality metrics. We also investigate the amount and nature of international participation in Joint Conference on Digital Libraries (JCDL).

The Network Society: Social Aspects of New Media

Abstract: Introduction Networks: The Nervous System of Society Technology Economy Politics and Power Law Social Structure Culture Psychology Conclusions and Policy Perspectives

Method and system for reputation evaluation of online users in a social networking scheme

Abstract: A method and system for evaluating the reputation of a member of a social networking system is disclosed. Consistent with an embodiment of the invention, one or more attributes associated with a social networking profile of a member of a social network are analyzed. Based on the analysis, a ranking, rating or score is assigned to a particular category of reputation. When requested, the ranking, rating or score is displayed to a user of the social network.

Proactive personality and job performance: a social capital perspective.

Abstract: This study of 126 employee-supervisor dyads examined a mediated model of the relationship between proactive personality and job performance. The model, informed by the social capital perspective, suggests that proactive employees reap performance benefits by means of developing social networks that provide them the resources and latitude to pursue high-level initiatives. Structural equation modeling suggested that the relationship between proactive personality and job performance is mediated by network building and initiative taking on the part of the employee.

Using Social Psychology to Motivate Contributions to Online Communities

Abstract: Under-contribution is a problem for many online communities. Social psychology theories of social loafing and goal-setting can lead to mid-level design goals to address this problem. We tested design principles derived from these theories in four field experiments involving members of an online movie recommender community. In each of the experiments participated were given different explanations for the value of their contributions. As predicted by theory, individuals contributed when they were reminded of their uniqueness and when they were given specific and challenging goals. However, other predictions were disconfirmed. For example, in one experiment, participants given group goals contributed more than those given individual goals. The article ends with suggestions and challenges for mining design implications from social science theories.

The ties that lead: A social network approach to leadership

Abstract: This article investigates, for leadership research, the implications of new directions in social network theory that emphasize networks as both cognitive structures in the minds of organizational members and opportunity structures that facilitate and constrain action. We introduce the four core ideas at the heart of the network research program: the importance of relations, actors' embeddedness, the social utility of connections, and the structural patterning of social life. Then we present a theoretical model of how network cognitions in the minds of leaders affect three types of networks: the direct ties surrounding leaders, the pattern of direct and indirect ties within which leaders are embedded in the whole organization and the interorganizational linkages formed by leaders as representatives of organizations. We suggest that these patterns of ties can contribute to leader effectiveness.

Zooming In and Out: Connecting Individuals and Collectivities at the Frontiers of Organizational Network Research

Abstract: The role of individual action in the enactment of structures of constraint and opportunity has proved to be particularly elusive for network researchers. We propose three frontiers for future network research that zoom back and forth between individual and collective levels of analysis. First, we consider how dilemmas concerning social capital can be reconciled. Actors striving to reap maximal network advantages may benefit or detract from the collective good; investigating these trade-offs, we argue, will advance our understanding of learning and knowledge processes in organizations. Second, we explore identity emergence and change from a social network perspective. Insights about how networks mold and signal identity are a critical foundation for future work on career dynamics and the workplace experiences of members of diverse groups. Third, we consider how individual cognitions about shifting network connections affect, and are affected by, larger social structures. As scholarly interest in status and reputational signaling grows, articulating more clearly the cognitive foundations of organizational networks becomes imperative.

Two Routes to Influence: Integrating Leader-Member Exchange and Social Network Perspectives

Abstract: We develop and test a model of the relational antecedents of members' influence in organizations that is based on an integration of leader-member exchange (LMX) and social network perspectives on individuals in organizations. We focus on how the relationships between LMX and members' centrality in the advice network and influence depend on two factors: the extent to which members share ties with their leaders in the organization's trust network, which we define as sponsorship, and the centrality of their leaders in the advice network. Our model seeks to explain how sponsorship and leaders' centrality shape the influence members gain by virtue of their LMX relationships and their centrality in advice networks. Longitudinal data gathered from two organizations, using survey and network measures, offer strong support for a nuanced model of the relational antecedents of influence. Both LMX and members' advice centrality are related to influence, but those relationships in turn depend on sponsorship and leader...

Social Traps and the Problem of Trust

Abstract: 1. Reflections after a very long day in Moscow 2. On the rational choice of culture 3. On the theory and practice of social capital 4. Social capital in the social democratic welfare state 5. How is social capital produced? 6. The problem of institutional credibility 7. Trust and collective memories 8. The transition from mistrust to trust 9. The conditions of trust and the capacity of dialogue.

System and method for employing social networks for information discovery

Abstract: Systems and methods are provided that enable searches of social networks by acting as a “compass” that assists users in navigating the social network. Individual user participation is not required in response to queries from other users. The systems and methods offer navigational assistance or information as opposed to a traditional search which returns requested information, thus currently acceptable social mechanisms for arbitrating trust can be exploited. As a result, users do not make their personal information publicly searchable, while at the same time, they are protected from potential misrepresentations of facts.

Discovering Social Networks from Event Logs

Abstract: Process mining techniques allow for the discovery of knowledge based on so-called "event logs", i.e., a log recording the execution of activities in some business process. Many information systems provide such logs, e.g., most WFM, ERP, CRM, SCM, and B2B systems record transactions in a systematic way. Process mining techniques typically focus on performance and control-flow issues. However, event logs typically also log the performer, e.g., the person initiating or completing some activity. This paper focuses on mining social networks using this information. For example, it is possible to build a social network based on the hand-over of work from one performer to the next. By combining concepts from workflow management and social network analysis, it is possible to discover and analyze social networks. This paper defines metrics, presents a tool, and applies these to a real event log within the setting of a large Dutch organization.

System and method for creating a secure trusted social network

Abstract: A system for a plurality of users to share resources with access, control and configuration based on pre-defined relationships of trust between the users of the system. A computer-based authority provides the services of authentication, identification and verification of each user within network. Processes are described that leads to the formation of an electronic community, which facilitates electronic communication and transactions in a defined manner.

Weak Ties in Networked Communities

Abstract: Communities with high levels of social capital are likely to have a higher quality of life than communities with low social capital. This is due to the greater ability of such communities to organize and mobilize effectively for collective action because they have high levels of social trust, dense social networks, and well-established norms of mutuality (the major features of social capital). Communities with “bridging” social capital (weak ties across groups) as well as “bonding” social capital (strong ties within groups) are the most effective in organizing for collective action. People who belong to multiple groups act as bridging ties. When people with bridging ties use communication media, such as the Internet, they enhance their capability to educate community members and to organize, as needed, for collective action. This article summarizes evidence from stratified household survey data in Blacksburg, VA, showing that people with weak (bridging) ties across groups have higher levels of community i...

Evaluating similarity measures: a large-scale study in the orkut social network

Abstract: Online information services have grown too large for users to navigate without the help of automated tools such as collaborative filtering, which makes recommendations to users based on their collective past behavior. While many similarity measures have been proposed and individually evaluated, they have not been evaluated relative to each other in a large real-world environment. We present an extensive empirical comparison of six distinct measures of similarity for recommending online communities to members of the Orkut social network. We determine the usefulness of the different recommendations by actually measuring users' propensity to visit and join recommended communities. We also examine how the ordering of recommendations influenced user selection, as well as interesting social issues that arise in recommending communities within a real social network.

Social matching: A framework and research agenda

Abstract: Social matching systems bring people together in both physical and online spaces. They have the potential to increase social interaction and foster collaboration. However, social matching systems lack a clear intellectual foundation: the nature of the design space, the key research challenges, and the roster of appropriate methods are all ill-defined. This article begins to remedy the situation. It clarifies the scope of social matching systems by distinguishing them from other recommender systems and related systems and techniques. It identifies a set of issues that characterize the design space of social matching systems and shows how existing systems explore different points within the design space. It also reviews selected social science results that can provide input into system design. Most important, the article presents a research agenda organized around a set of claims. The claims embody our understanding of what issues are most important to investigate, our beliefs about what is most likely to be true, and our suggestions of specific research directions to pursue.

Topic and role discovery in social networks

Abstract: Previous work in social network analysis (SNA) has modeled the existence of links from one entity to another, but not the language content or topics on those links. We present the Author-Recipient-Topic (ART) model for social network analysis, which learns topic distributions based on the direction-sensitive messages sent between entities. The model builds on Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) and the Author-Topic (AT) model, adding the key attribute that distribution over topics is conditioned distinctly on both the sender and recipient--steering the discovery of topics according to the relationships between people. We give results on both the Enron email corpus and a researcher's email archive, providing evidence not only that clearly relevant topics are discovered, but that the ART model better predicts people's roles.

Social networks applied

Abstract: Social networks have interesting properties. They influence our lives enormously without us being aware of the implications they raise. The authors investigate the following areas concerning social networks: how to exploit our unprecedented wealth of data and how we can mine social networks for purposes such as marketing campaigns; social networks as a particular form of influence, i.e.., the way that people agree on terminology and this phenomenon's implications for the way we build ontologies and the Semantic Web; social networks as something we can discover from data; the use of social network information to offer a wealth of new applications such as better recommendations for restaurants, trustworthy email senders, or (maybe) blind dates; investigation of the richness and difficulty of harvesting FOAF (friend-of-a-friend) information; and by looking at how information processing is bound to social context, the resulting ways that network topology's definition determines its outcomes.

Social Capital and Social Trust in Britain

Abstract: Most quantitative research in social capital focuses on civic engagement in formal organisations. Data on social capital in informal social networks are harder to obtain and there has also been insufficient means for investigating this. In this paper, we use the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS) to conceptualise and measure three types of social capital: neighbourhood attachment, social network and civic participation. The first two refer to informal social networks and the last to formal social networks. We use gllamm (Generalized Linear Latent and Mixed Models) to construct the latent variable scores from the categorical component variables. We also analyse the socio-cultural determinants of the three types of social capital and their impacts on social trust. The results show that socio-cultural conditions affect social capital generation. People in disadvantaged positions are more likely to draw social capital from weak ties and those in advantaged positions are more likely to do so from formal civic engagement. We also find that social capital has an effect over and above people’s own socio-cultural positions. Informal social networks, especially having good neighbourly relations, tend to foster greater trust than does formal civic engagement.

Local method for detecting communities.

Abstract: We propose a method of community detection that is computationally inexpensive and possesses physical significance to a member of a social network. This method is unlike many divisive and agglomerative techniques and is local in the sense that a community can be detected within a network without requiring knowledge of the entire network. A global application of this method is also introduced. Several artificial and real-world networks, including the famous Zachary karate club, are analyzed.

Participating in social activities helps preserve cognitive function: an analysis of a longitudinal, population-based study of the elderly

Abstract: BACKGROUND This study examines how changes in cognition over time are related to participation in social activities and the extent of social networks. METHODS Data are drawn from a population-based, longitudinal study that began in 1989 among elderly Taiwanese. An over-dispersed Poisson model is used to regress the number of failed cognitive tasks (0-5) in 1996, 1999, and 2000 on prior measures of cognitive impairment, social activities, social networks, health status, and sociodemographic characteristics. The analysis sample comprises 2387 individuals, who contribute a total of 4603 observations across three survey intervals (1993-96, 1996-99, 1999-2000). RESULTS After adjusting for prior cognitive impairment, baseline health status, and sociodemographic factors, respondents who participated in one or two social activities failed 13% fewer cognitive tasks (P < 0.01) than those with no social activities; those who engaged in three or more activities failed 33% fewer cognitive tasks (P < 0.001). In contrast, none of the social network measures was related to cognitive impairment. CONCLUSIONS Despite a social structure where elderly persons often live with their children and social interaction is likely to be more family-centered than in western countries, data from Taiwan suggest that participation in social activities outside the family may have a bigger impact on cognitive function than social contacts with family or non-relatives.