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Social Contagion's Impact On Decision-Making Among Millennial Parents Seeking A Christian School, Laura Alysson Farien

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Connections in a social network influence people in both positive and negative ways (Christakis & Fowler, 2009), and this study describes how connections in a virtual network affect school choice decision-making in a market heavily saturated with school choice options. This is a qualitative ethnographic study of millennial parents who experience social contagion across online platforms. Participants have at least one child enrolled in a private school in Shelby County, Tennessee. Social contagion is what flows between participants in a social network and influences decision-making (Christakis & Fowler). This study examined influence as the specific social contagion impacting school choice …