Bridging the gap between research and practice in organizational network analysis: a conversation between Rob Cross and Martin Kilduff

The article features a conversation between Rob Cross and Martin Kilduff about organizational network analysis in research and practice. It demonstrates the value of using social network perspectives in HRM. Drawing on the discussion about managing personal networks; managing the networks of others; the impact of social networking sites on perceptions of relationships; and ethical issues in organizational network analysis, we propose specific suggestions to bring social network perspectives closer to HRM researchers and practitioners and rebalance our attention to people and to their relationships.

Weighted alpha-rate dominating sets in social networks

We are looking into variants of a domination set problem in social networks. While randomised algorithms for solving the minimum weighted domination set problem and the minimum alpha and alpha-rate domination problem on simple graphs are already present in the literature, we propose here a randomised algorithm for the minimum weighted alpha-rate domination set problem which is, to the best of our knowledge, the first such algorithm. A theoretical approximation bound based on a simple randomised rounding technique is given. The algorithm is implemented in Python and applied to a UK Twitter mentions networks using a measure of individuals��� influence (klout) as weights. We argue that the weights of vertices could be interpreted as the costs of getting those individuals on board for a campaign or a behaviour change intervention. The minimum weighted alpha-rate dominating set problem can therefore be seen as finding a set that minimises the total cost and each individual in a network has at least alpha percentage of its neighbours in the chosen set. We also test our algorithm on generated graphs with several thousand vertices and edges. Our results on this real-life Twitter networks and generated graphs show that the implementation is reasonably efficient and thus can be used for real-life applications when creating social network based interventions, designing social media campaigns and potentially improving users��� social media experience.

A survey of data mining techniques for social media analysis

Social network has gained remarkable attention in the last decade. Accessing social network sites such as Twitter, Facebook LinkedIn and Google+ through the internet and the web 2.0 technologies has become more affordable. People are becoming more interested in and relying on social network for information, news and opinion of other users on diverse subject matters. The heavy reliance on social network sites causes them to generate massive data characterised by three computational issues namely; size, noise and dynamism. These issues often make social network data very complex to analyse manually, resulting in the pertinent use of computational means of analysing them. Data mining provides a wide range of techniques for detecting useful knowledge from massive datasets like trends, patterns and rules [44]. Data mining techniques are used for information retrieval, statistical modelling and machine learning. These techniques employ data pre-processing, data analysis, and data interpretation processes in the course of data analysis. This survey discusses different data mining techniques used in mining diverse aspects of the social network over decades going from the historical techniques to the up-to-date models, including our novel technique named TRCM. All the techniques covered in this survey are listed in the Table.1 including the tools employed as well as names of their authors.

The game of contacts: Estimating the social visibility of groups

Estimating the sizes of hard-to-count populations is a challenging and important problem that occurs frequently in social science, public health, and public policy. This problem is particularly pressing in HIV/AIDS research because estimates of the sizes of the most at-risk populations-illicit drug users, men who have sex with men, and sex workers-are needed for designing, evaluating, and funding programs to curb the spread of the disease. A promising new approach in this area is the network scale-up method, which uses information about the personal networks of respondents to make population size estimates. However, if the target population has low social visibility, as is likely to be the case in HIV/AIDS research, scale-up estimates will be too low. In this paper we develop a game-like activity that we call the game of contacts in order to estimate the social visibility of groups, and report results from a study of heavy drug users in Curitiba, Brazil (n = 294). The game produced estimates of social visibility that were consistent with qualitative expectations but of surprising magnitude. Further, a number of checks suggest that the data are high-quality. While motivated by the specific problem of population size estimation, our method could be used by researchers more broadly and adds to long-standing efforts to combine the richness of social network analysis with the power and scale of sample surveys. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

BlueFriends: measuring, analyzing and preventing social exclusion between elementary school students

Social exclusion is a relatively recent term, whose creation is attributed to Ren�� Lenoir(Lenoir, 1974). Its concept covers a remarkably wide range of social and economic problems, and can be triggered for various reasons: mentally and physically handicapped, abused children, delinquents, multi-problem households, asocial people, and other social ���misfits��� (Silver, 1995, pp. 63; Foucault, 1992). With an increasingly multi-cultural population, cultural and social inequalities rapidly ascend, bringing with them the need for educational restructuring. We are living in an evermore diverse world, and children need to be educated to be receptive to the different types of people around them, especially considering social and cultural aspects. It is with these goals that inclusive education has seen an increased trend in today���s academic environment, reminding us that even though children may be taught under the same roof, discriminatory practices might still happen. There are, however, a number of developed tools to assess the various dimensions of social networks. These are mostly based on questionnaires and interviews, which tend to be fastidious and don���t allow for longitudinal, large scale measurement. This thesis introduces BlueFriends, a Bluetooth-based measurement tool for social inclusion/exclusion on elementary school classes. The main goals behind the development of this tool were a) understanding how exclusion manifests in students��� behaviors, and b) motivating pro-social behaviors on children through the use of a persuasive technology. BlueFriends is a distributed application, comprised by an application running on several smartphones, a web-hosted database and a computer providing a visual representation of the data collected on a TV screen, attempting to influence children behaviors. The application makes use of the Bluetooth device present on each phone to continuously sample the RSSI (Received Signal Strength Indication) from other phones, storing the data locally on each phone. All of the stored data is collected, processed and then inserted into the database at the end of each day. At the beginning of each recess, children are reminded of how their behaviors affect others with the help of a visual display, which consists of interactions between dogs. This display illustrates every child���s best friends, as well as which colleagues they don���t interact with as much. Several tips encouraging social interaction and inclusiveness are displayed, inspiring children to change their behaviors towards the colleagues they spend less time with. This thesis documents the process of designing, deploying and analyzing the results of two field studies. On the first study, we assess how the current developed tools are inferior to our measuring tool by deploying a measurement only study, aimed at perceiving how much information can be obtained by the BlueFriends application and attempting to understand how exclusion manifests itself in the school environment. On the second study, we pile on the previous to try and motivate pro-social behaviors on students, with the use of visual cues and recommendations. Ultimately, we confirm that our measurement tool���s results were satisfying towards measuring and changing children���s behaviors, and conclude with our thoughts on possible future work, suggesting a number of possible extensions and improvements.

O amor em tempos de internet: as expectativas amorosas na rede social Badoo

This research aims to examine the phenomenon of sexual relations by observing the Social Network Badoo. As a means to achieve this objective, qualitative in-depth interviews were conducted online. The main question is to understand how the amorous expectations in the liquid modernity are configured. Added to that, there is as analysis categories the insight about relationships and the love experiences provided by the use of the Social Network Badoo. There are three initial hypotheses: 1) a time of transition is experienced, in which the liquid love in the proposed terms by Bauman (2004) was gaining ground and, as consequence, the relationships would be presenting themselves shorter, more open and with another interactive proposals for the relations. 2) The consuming practices of the liquid modernity can interpellate the relational practices molding them according to your logic. 3) It is assumed that the reasoning, inherent to the market, of the use followed by the disposal settles itself in the social behavior and this practice is accentuated by technology, through the use of the internet for the establishment of romantic relationships.the empirical analysis shows that both the vision on relationships as the amorous expectations in liquid modernity have as references the model of solid loving relationship, inherent to the traditional modernity. However it also demonstrates that the romantic experiences and practices refer to the liquid relationship model. Therefore, from these statements it is argued that there is in liquid modernity the cohabitation of the liquid and solid models of romantic relationships. In summary, this research aims to understand the contemporary love relationships across the spectrum of relationships that develop on the Internet Social Network: Badoo

An��lisis organizacional del Partido de la Democracia Social Brasile��a en el Estado de San Pablo (1988-2006)

The article represents a theoretical and methodological approach to the analysis of organizational dynamics of political parties today, based on a study of the Party of Brazilian Social Democracy (PSDB) in the State of Sao P��ulo (period between 1988 to 2006). It is hypothesized that the structure and the institutional rules of a particular party, or even their election results, are insufficient to explain the inner workings, such as the role of party organization in the electoral system. An approach that articulates the relationship patterns, election results and posts held in the party, identified the factors that explain the political capital that circulated within the party and ensured its organizational dynamics over the period analyzed.

A Universidade Aberta a Terceira Idade e as redes de apoio afetivo e social do idoso

P��s-gradua����o em Educa����o - FFC

Rede social e pap��is de g��nero de casais ribeirinhos de uma comunidade amaz��nica

Este estudo descreve as redes sociais de dois casais de uma comunidade ribeirinha (Rio Araraiana, Munic��pio de Ponta de Pedras, Ilha do Maraj��/Par��). Os dados foram coletados com um invent��rio s��cio-demogr��fico, um invent��rio de rotina e di��rios de campo e, analisados pelo mapa de rede de Sluzki. Constatou-se que os v��nculos dos casais s��o baseados em alian��as de ajuda econ��mica e de trabalho, companhia para lazer ou atividade religiosa. Verificou-se que as rela����es s��o marcadas por padr��es de g��nero que delimitam os ambientes das atividades cotidianas, definem o status ocupado na fam��lia e condicionam a forma����o de v��nculos na rede social.

Levantamento sobre uso de ��lcool, tabaco e outras drogas, redes de apoio e apoio social entre universit��rios

Funda����o de Amparo �� Pesquisa do Estado de S��o Paulo (FAPESP)

Scientific collaboration network among Brazilian universities: an analysis in Dentistry area

This paper analyses the scientific collaboration network formed by the Brazilian universities that investigate in dentistry area. The constructed network is based on the published documents in the Scopus (Elsevier) database covering a period of 10 (ten) years. It is used social network analysis as the best methodological approach to visualize the capacity for collaboration, dissemination and transmission of new knowledge among universities. Cohesion and density of the collaboration network is analyzed, as well as the centrality of the universities as key-actors and the occurrence of subgroups within the network. Data were analyzed using the software UCINET and NetDraw. The number of documents published by each university was used as an indicator of its scientific production.

Domin��ncia hier��rquica, organiza����o social e perfil de hidrocarbonetos cuticulares de Pachycondyla striata Fr. Smith, 1858 (Formicidae: Ponerinae)

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cient��fico e Tecnol��gico (CNPq)

An��lisis organizacional del partido de la democracia social brasile��a en el estado de San Pablo (1988-2006)

The article represents a theoretical and methodological approach to the analysis of organizational dynamics of political parties today, based on a study of the Party of Brazilian Social Democracy (PSDB) in the State of Sao P��ulo (period between 1988 to 2006). It is hypothesized that the structure and the institutional rules of a particular party, or even their election results, are insufficient to explain the inner workings, such as the role of party organization in the electoral system. An approach that articulates the relationship patterns, election results and posts held in the party, identified the factors that explain the political capital that circulated within the party and ensured its organizational dynamics over the period analyzed.