Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Linkedin As An Information Source For Human Resources, Competitive Intelligence, Nancy E. Fawley

Nancy Fawley

LinkedIn, the online professional network, provides people with the opportunity to interact with other professionals in their fields, locate potential employers through company pages and employees, and participate in forums relevant to their professions.

Internal Migration, Networks And Gender Roles Among Domestic Workers In Vietnam, Van Nguyen

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This thesis examines social networks and gender roles among domestic workers who are rural-to-urban female migrants in Vietnam. Using qualitative data collected from 10 in-depth interviews and one focus group with 17 domestic workers and one interview with a NGO staff member, I argue that networks and gender are closely linked as migrant women drew support from their circles of female friends and families yet these networks also constrained them by monitoring behaviours against rigid gender expectations and ideal womanly virtues. My findings show that while most migrant women continued to adhere to their traditional gender roles and overcame many …

Competing Infant Feeding Information In Mothers’ Networks: Advice That Supports V. Undermines Clinical Recommendations, Sato Ashida, Freda B. Lynn, Natalie A. Williams

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

Objective: To identify the social contextual factors, specifically the presence of information that supports v. undermines clinical recommendations, associated with infant feeding behaviours among mothers in low-income areas.

Design: Cross-sectional survey evaluating social support networks and social relationships involved in providing care to the infant along with feeding beliefs and practices.

Setting: Out-patient paediatric and government-funded (Women, Infants, and Children) clinics in an urban, low-income area of the south-eastern USA.

Subjects: Eighty-one low-income mothers of infants between 0 and 12 months old.

Results: Most mothers reported receiving both supportive and undermining advice. The presence of …

Competing Infant Feeding Information In Mothers’ Networks: Advice That Supports V. Undermines Clinical Recommendations, Sato Ashida, Freda B. Lynn, Natalie A. Williams, Ellen J. Schafer

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

Objective: To identify the social contextual factors, specifically the presence of information that supports v. undermines clinical recommendations, associated with infant feeding behaviours among mothers in low-income areas.

Design: Cross-sectional survey evaluating social support networks and social relationships involved in providing care to the infant along with feeding beliefs and practices.

Setting: Out-patient paediatric and government-funded (Women, Infants, and Children) clinics in an urban, low-income area of the south-eastern USA.

Subjects: Eighty-one low-income mothers of infants between 0 and 12 months old.

Results: Most mothers reported receiving both supportive and undermining advice. The presence …

The Strength Of Social Bonds In Preventing At Risk Youth From Engaging In Delinquent And Law Violating Behavior, Christopher A. Falcone

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of the study is to assess whether social bonds (i.e., attachment, commitment, involvement, and belief) are associated with a decrease in delinquent and law violating behavior among at-risk youth in various geographical locations. According to Travis Hirschi's (1969) social bonding theory, delinquent acts occur when an individual's bond to society is weak or broken. Hirschi stated that humans by nature are deviant, and that the value individuals place on their relationships prevent them from engaging in such behavior. Using data from the 2000 ICPSR Evaluation of the Children at Risk Program in Austin, Texas; Bridgeport, Connecticut; Memphis, Tennessee; …

Global Network Inference From Ego Network Samples: Testing A Simulation Approach, Jeffrey A. Smith

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Network sampling poses a radical idea: that it is possible to measure global network structure without the full population coverage assumed in most network studies. Network sampling is only useful, however, if a researcher can produce accurate global network estimates. This article explores the practicality of making network inference, focusing on the approach introduced in Smith (2012). The method uses sampled ego network data and simulation techniques to make inference about the global features of the true, unknown network. The validity check here includes more difficult scenarios than previous tests, including those that go beyond the initial scope conditions of …

The Digital Gap: An Investigation Into The Access And Use Of Internet In Matagalpa, Nicaragua, Kayla Steinberg

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Although still less than 20 percent of the Nicaraguan population has access to the internet, in the years preceding 2012, internet in Nicaragua grew by 113 percent. This rapid development of internet in the country generates several questions, including: “Who has access to the internet in Nicaragua?,” Where are they using the internet?,” and “How are they using it?” This paper answers these three questions and investigates how the answers differ between different demographic groups, especially between young and older people and women and men, through the results of a survey distributed primarily in a public park with free wifi …

Multi-Roles Affiliation Model For General User Profiling, Lizi Liao, Heyan Huang, Yashen Wang

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Online social networks release user attributes, which is important for many applications. Due to the sparsity of such user attributes online, many works focus on profiling user attributes automatically. However, in order to profile a specific user attribute, an unique model is built and such model usually does not fit other profiling tasks. In our work, we design a novel, flexible general user profiling model which naturally models users’ friendships with user attributes. Experiments show that our method simultaneously profile multiple attributes with better performance.

A Risk Based Approach To Node Insertion Within Social Networks, Chancellor A. J. Johnstone

Theses and Dissertations

Social Network Analysis (SNA) is a primary tool for counter-terrorism operations, ranging from resiliency and influence to interdiction on threats stemming from illicit overt and clandestine network operations. In an ideal world, SNA would provide a perfect course of action to eliminate dangerous situations that terrorist organizations bring. Unfortunately, the covert nature of terrorist networks makes the effects of these techniques unknown and possibly detrimental. To avoid potentially harmful changes to enemy networks, tactical involvement must evolve, beginning with the intelligent use of network in filtration through the application of the node insertion problem. The framework for the node insertion …

Measuring The Support Networks Of Transition-Age Foster Youth: Preliminary Validation Of A Social Network Assessment For Research And Practice, Jennifer E. Blakeslee

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Multi-dimensional social support is an important factor in any positive transition into young adulthood, and youth who are exiting foster care ideally receive comprehensive social support from a range of informal and formal sources. Yet the social networks of transition-age foster youth are likely influenced over time by child welfare involvement, which can weaken or disrupt natural support relationships, while introducing service-oriented relationships that are not intended to last into adulthood. To better understand the social support context of youth aging out of care, we can apply social network theory and methods to systematically identify their networks of supportive relationships …

Going It Alone: The Social And Emotional Life Of Disconnected Youth, Jacquelyn K. Mallette, Jay A. Mancini, Catherine Walker O'Neal, Alycia Degraff, Audrey R. Lanier

National Youth Advocacy and Resilience Conference

This study presents patterns across multiple dimensions of social isolation among a sample of military youth, and describes how these patterns are related to preceding risk factors and distal outcomes. The presentation will be of interest to professionals interested in strategies for fostering positive outcomes by developing and enhancing family and community support for at-risk youth populations.

Social Media And Celebrities: The Benefits Of A Social Media Presence, Kristin Wright

Journalism

This study analyzes celebrities and their social media presence and how they can benefit from using different social platforms. The rise of social media has caused people to rely on it for news, viewing content, and making connections with others. Celebrities no longer have to relay messages or content through their managers and publicists before releasing it. The way people interact through social media has allowed celebrities to engage their fans, enhance their career, and ultimately increase their stardom. This study investigates how social media impacts a celebrity’s career and what the best practices are for receiving positive benefits.

Political Connections And Firm Value: Evidence From The Regression Discontinuity Design Of Close Gubernatorial Elections, Quoc-Anh Do, Yen Teik Lee, Bang D. Nguyen

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Using the regression discontinuity design of close gubernatorial elections in the U.S., we identify a significant and positive impact of the social networks of corporate directors and politicians on firm value. Firms connected to elected governors increase their value by 3.89%. Political connections are more valuable for firms connected to winning challengers, for smaller and financially dependent firms, in more corrupt states, in states of connected firms’ headquarters and operations, and in closer, smaller, and active networks. Post-election, firms connected to the winner receive significantly more state procurement contracts and invest more than do firms connected to the loser.

Scientific Teams: Self-Assembly, Fluidness, And Interdependence, Jian Wang, Diana Hicks

Jian Wang

2015-4 Social Interactions, Mechanisms, And Equilibrium: Evidence From A Model Of Study Time And Academic Achievement, Tim Conley, Nirav Mehta, Ralph Stinebrickner, Todd R. Stinebrickner

Centre for Human Capital and Productivity. CHCP Working Papers

No abstract provided.

Cracking The Code Of Process Safety Culture With Organizational Network Analysis, Keith O. Hunter, Elliot M. Wolf

Organization, Leadership, and Communication

Organizations in the chemical process industry invest considerable amounts of time and resources managing change and implementing best practices to maintain safe operations and achieve operational objectives. Consequently, most executives and senior managers responsible for performance rely on formal organizational structure to achieve these objectives. However, front line employees responsible for ensuring safe operation of hazardous chemical processes are often influenced more by the informal than the formal organization in their daily activities. The dynamics of informal networks among workers are critical determinants of strong operational discipline (OD), process safety culture, and business performance. Yet, organizational social networks are often …

Sociality Increases Juvenile Survival After A Catastrophic Event In The Feral Horse (Equus Caballus), Cassandra M.V. Nuñez, James S. Adelman, Daniel I. Rubenstein

Cassandra M.V. Nuñez

In several social species, adult associations have been linked to individual fitness. Less is known about offspring associations and the mechanisms by which they may influence fitness. We investigate the effects of sociality on juvenile survival in feral horses (Equus caballus). We use foal degree (number of associates) and foal weight (number of interactions) to assess sociality’s importance to foal survival of a catastrophic event, the gathering and removal of 40% of the horse population. We found that 1) foal degree was a better predictor of foal survival than was foal weight; 2) following the gather, foals with access to …

Knowledge Sharing In Organisations: A Bayesian Analysis Of The Role Of Reciprocity And Formal Structure, Alberto Caimo, Alessandro Lomi

Articles

We examine the conditions under which knowledge embedded in advice relations is likely to reach across intraorganizational boundaries and be shared between distant organizational members. We emphasize boundary-crossing relations because activities of knowledge transfer and sharing across subunit boundaries are systematically related to desirable organizational outcomes. Our main objective is to understand how organizational and social processes interact to sustain the transfer of knowledge carried by advice relations. Using original fieldwork and data that we have collected on members of the top management team in a multiunit industrial group, we show that knowledge embedded in task advice relations is unlikely …

Community Discovery From Social Media By Low-Rank Matrix Recovery, Jinfeng Zhuang, Mei Tao, Steven C. H. Hoi, Xian-Sheng Hua, Yongdong Zhang

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

The pervasive usage and reach of social media have attracted a surge of attention in the multimedia research community. Community discovery from social media has therefore become an important yet challenging issue. However, due to the subjective generating process, the explicitly observed communities (e.g., group-user and user-user relationship) are often noisy and incomplete in nature. This paper presents a novel approach to discovering communities from social media, including the group membership and user friend structure, by exploring a low-rank matrix recovery technique. In particular, we take Flickr as one exemplary social media platform. We first model the observed indicator matrix …

Networks Of Digital Humanities Scholars: The Informational And Social Uses And Gratifications Of Twitter, Anabel Quan-Haase, Lori Mckay-Peet, Kim Martin

FIMS Publications

Big Data research is currently split on whether and to what extent Twitter can be characterized as an informational or social network. We contribute to this line of inquiry through an investigation of digital humanities (DH) scholars’ uses and gratifications of Twitter. We conducted a thematic analysis of 25 semi-structured interview transcripts to learn about these scholars’ professional use of Twitter. Our findings show that Twitter is considered a critical tool for informal communication within DH invisible colleges, functioning at varying levels as both an information network (learning to ‘Twitter’ and maintaining awareness) and a social network (imagining audiences and …

Falls Among Community-Dwelling Older Adults: Determining The Relationship Between Social Networks And The Risk For Falls, Smita Sikhrakar

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Falls among community-dwelling older adults is a big public health problem, which have an effect on older adults' health, independence, and quality of life. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between social networks and the risk for falls among community-dwelling older adults. This was a descriptive correlational study, which utilized a cross-sectional survey for the data collection. The dependent and independent variable of this study were the risk for falls among the community-dwelling older adults, and the strength and type of social networks respectively. In this study, 218 community-dwelling older adults were recruited, who were living …

Social Capital At The Capitol: A Social Network Analysis Of Interest Group Influence In The 111th Congress, Steven A. Martin

Theses and Dissertations--Political Science

This dissertation builds on existing scholarship in political science and political sociology to explore the influence of interest groups in legislative action networks. The primary theoretical insight is that as the number of interest group affiliations between two members of Congress increases, so does the frequency with which they forge other sorts of social ties necessary to advance the interests of their interest group constituencies. In particular, the analysis looks at interest group donation strategies, legislative co-sponsorships, and roll-call votes during the 111^th Congress (2009-2010). The analysis uses social network analysis methods to create network models of 19 different …

The Relationship Of Age To Personal Network Size, Relational Multiplexity, And Proximity To Alters In The Western United States, Emily Smith, Christopher Marcum, Adam Boessen, Zack Almquist, John Hipp, Nicholas Nagle, Carter Butts

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Works

Objectives.

This study examines the association of age and other sociodemographic variables with properties of personal networks; using samples of individuals residing in the rural western United States and the City of Los Angeles, we evaluate the degree to which these associations vary with geographical context. For both samples, we test the hypothesis that age is negatively associated with network size (i.e., degree) and positively associated with network multiplexity (the extent of overlap) on 6 different relations: core discussion members, social activity participants, emergency contacts, neighborhood safety contacts, job informants, and kin. We also examine the relationship between age and …

Microbuses And Mobile Homemaking In Exile: Sudanese Visiting Strategies In Cairo, Anita Fábos

Sustainability and Social Justice

Paying home visits to mark social events and maintain networks is an established cultural pattern in Arab countries.Northern Sudanese displaced in Cairo in the 1990s made significant efforts to continue visiting each other in their temporary homes, despite having to travel long distances to members of their widely scattered networks.The deterioration of the legal and political status of Sudanese living in Egypt during the 1990s contributed to longer-term uncertainty for those who sought safety and security in Cairo.In this article, I argue that this long-term uncertainty constitutes a protracted refugee situation, and that Sudanese visiting practices constituted a mobile homemaking …

Networks Of Digital Humanities Scholars: The Informational And Social Uses And Gratifications Of Twitter, Anabel Quan-Haase, Kim Martin, Lori Mccay-Peet

Lori McCay-Peet Dr.

Big data research is currently split on whether and to what extent Twitter can be characterised as an informational or social network. We contribute to this line of inquiry through an investigation of digital humanities scholars’ uses and gratifications of Twitter. We conducted a thematic analysis of 25 semistructured interview transcripts to learn about these scholars’ professional use of Twitter. Our findings show that Twitter is considered a critical tool for informal communication within DH invisible colleges, functioning at varying levels as both an informational network (learning to ‘Twitter’ and maintaining awareness) and a social network (imagining audiences and engaging …

Cost-Oriented Agile Innovation For Mechatronics Management In Less Developed Regions, Edmond Hajrizi, Muzafer Shala, Valmir Hoxha, Larry Stapleton

Edmond Hajrizi

Friends Or Traders? Do Social Networks Explain The Use Of Market Mechanisms By Farmers In India?, Tisorn Songsermsawas, Kathy Baylis, Ashwini Chhatre, Hope Michelson, Satya Prasanna

Kathy Baylis

A farmer's long-term relationship with a trader can improve access to market information, but removes the farmer's option to sell to other traders in any specific year. Social networks could ace either as substitutes to traders, helping disseminate market information and fostering economies of scale, or as complements, where farmers help build relationships between their trader and their peers. Using a household survey from India, we investigate whether and how social networks are associated with a farmer's choice to enter into a long-term relationship with a trader. We find that peers directly affect this choice. Further, we find that network …