119,633 research outputs found

    iSchools and Social Identity ??? A Social Network Analysis

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    We analyze the publication co-authorship network of an iSchool faculty community using ???Social Identity Theory??? as the theoretical lens. Initially, we discuss the need for a theoretical framework to analyze and interpret social network data. Then, we find out the patterns in the levels of interaction happening within the faculty community at an inter-group level. We grouped faculty members into different clusters according to several parameters such as their educational backgrounds, affiliations with research centers/labs, and h-indices. We based our analysis on this classification and we try to understand the relationship among social identity, group affiliation and academic collaborations. We conclude with the remarks that one could avoid idiosyncratic ways of interpreting social network data by using a proven theoretical lens like ???Social Identity Theory??

    Development of Computer Science Disciplines - A Social Network Analysis Approach

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    In contrast to many other scientific disciplines, computer science considers conference publications. Conferences have the advantage of providing fast publication of papers and of bringing researchers together to present and discuss the paper with peers. Previous work on knowledge mapping focused on the map of all sciences or a particular domain based on ISI published JCR (Journal Citation Report). Although this data covers most of important journals, it lacks computer science conference and workshop proceedings. That results in an imprecise and incomplete analysis of the computer science knowledge. This paper presents an analysis on the computer science knowledge network constructed from all types of publications, aiming at providing a complete view of computer science research. Based on the combination of two important digital libraries (DBLP and CiteSeerX), we study the knowledge network created at journal/conference level using citation linkage, to identify the development of sub-disciplines. We investigate the collaborative and citation behavior of journals/conferences by analyzing the properties of their co-authorship and citation subgraphs. The paper draws several important conclusions. First, conferences constitute social structures that shape the computer science knowledge. Second, computer science is becoming more interdisciplinary. Third, experts are the key success factor for sustainability of journals/conferences

    Social Networks of Researchers in Business To Business Marketing: A Case Study of the IMP Group 1984-1999

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    Science is a social process that functions through social networks of researchers that form invisible colleges. Analysis of these social networks provides a means for examining the structure of relations among researchers. The Industrial Marketing and Purchasing (IMP) group, "an informal international group of scholars concerned with developing concepts and knowledge in the field of business-to-business marketing and purchasing," is used as a case study of a network of researchers because it has been responsible for considerable research over the last decades in the area of business-to-business marketing, yet its structure remains hidden because of its informal network characteristics. The results of a social network analysis of the IMP group is described based on the pattern of co-authorship at annual IMP conferences. The results reveal a power law distribution of paper co-authorship and a small world network that conforms to the results of studies of other types of social networks. A core network of 57 researchers is identified and its network properties are described, including how it has evolved over time. The study provides the basis for further studies of the social networks of marketing and business researchers.informal networks, business-to-business marketing

    Collaboration in sensor network research: an in-depth longitudinal analysis of assortative mixing patterns

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    Many investigations of scientific collaboration are based on statistical analyses of large networks constructed from bibliographic repositories. These investigations often rely on a wealth of bibliographic data, but very little or no other information about the individuals in the network, and thus, fail to illustrate the broader social and academic landscape in which collaboration takes place. In this article, we perform an in-depth longitudinal analysis of a relatively small network of scientific collaboration (N = 291) constructed from the bibliographic record of a research center involved in the development and application of sensor network and wireless technologies. We perform a preliminary analysis of selected structural properties of the network, computing its range, configuration and topology. We then support our preliminary statistical analysis with an in-depth temporal investigation of the assortative mixing of selected node characteristics, unveiling the researchers' propensity to collaborate preferentially with others with a similar academic profile. Our qualitative analysis of mixing patterns offers clues as to the nature of the scientific community being modeled in relation to its organizational, disciplinary, institutional, and international arrangements of collaboration.Comment: Scientometrics (In press

    Static and Dynamic Aspects of Scientific Collaboration Networks

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    Collaboration networks arise when we map the connections between scientists which are formed through joint publications. These networks thus display the social structure of academia, and also allow conclusions about the structure of scientific knowledge. Using the computer science publication database DBLP, we compile relations between authors and publications as graphs and proceed with examining and quantifying collaborative relations with graph-based methods. We review standard properties of the network and rank authors and publications by centrality. Additionally, we detect communities with modularity-based clustering and compare the resulting clusters to a ground-truth based on conferences and thus topical similarity. In a second part, we are the first to combine DBLP network data with data from the Dagstuhl Seminars: We investigate whether seminars of this kind, as social and academic events designed to connect researchers, leave a visible track in the structure of the collaboration network. Our results suggest that such single events are not influential enough to change the network structure significantly. However, the network structure seems to influence a participant's decision to accept or decline an invitation.Comment: ASONAM 2012: IEEE/ACM International Conference on Advances in Social Networks Analysis and Minin

    Knowledge Networks of the Information Technology Management Domain: A Social Network Analysis Approach

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    Using the social network analysis technique, we decomposed the knowledge networks of the information technology management (ITM) domain. We included a total of 893 papers published during the 1995-2014 period in the network analysis. From this domain, the network and ego level properties—such as, degree centralities, density, components, structural holes, and degree distribution—suggest that, unlike the other information systems communities, the ITM is a community with a unique character and distinct collaboration patterns. The results show that the ITM knowledge networks are fragmented and exhibit a power law distribution in which incoming nodes and links prefer to attach to the nodes that are already well connected. We discuss several implications that arise from the network configuration that could aid the future development of the ITM domain

    Designing for Collaboration Using Social Network Analysis: Towards a Conceptual Method to Understand Organisational Interaction

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    The spreading of innovation within organisations is an area of interest for both academics and practitioners. Within information systems research collaboration issues are often addressed and solved through implementation of technology artefacts to meditate communication. With more and more resources being spent on collaborative technologies we argue that there can be cost advantages in looking at the socio-technical aspects of the information system when trying improve organisational communication. As an initial step of information system interventions we argue that an overview of the information exchange network within organisations can lead to valuable insights into where to start and we argue that social network analysis can provide such an bird’s-eye view over organisational interaction. This leads us to our research question: How can social network analysis be used to describe, understand and explain organisational interaction in designing information systems for collaboration? Taking a design science approach to the research question we aim to construct a meta-artefact, i.e. in our case knowledge about how to design for collaboration with the help of social network analysis. To test the applicability of social network analysis we collect sociometric interaction data from a knowledge intensive organisation using a name generating survey. The usability of the visualisations that are the output of the social network analysis are evaluated by decision makers within the organisation through interviews. We conclude that social network analysis is a time-efficient method of collecting empirical data that can lead to deep insights into the structure of the organisational communication network. The visualisation can be seen as a map used to pinpoint the emergence of social networks within organisations and thereby acting as a tool to drive continuous change and innovation

    The Evolution of a Collaborative Network: Understanding Partnerships in a Policy Mandated Collaboration Through Social Network Analysis

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    Federal funding agencies that administer financial support in the form of program grants to non-profit organizations (NPOs) that provide child and family services increasingly require NPOs to formalize inter-organizational partnerships in order to receive this vital source of funding. That is, by mandate NPOs must participate in inter-organizational collaboration networks to receive these essential federal funds. Therefore, there is a need to understand the collaboration behavior of NPOs in a policy-mandated environment. This study considers collaboration behavior as information sharing and advice-seeking between the organizations who are part of a collaboration network as a result of a policy mandate. Drawing on collaboration theory, social capital theory, and social network theory, this study examines the evolution of a collaboration network by assessing how NPOs in a policy-mandated context chose to engage in information-sharing behaviors and how these behaviors changed over time as NPOs developed a working history together. This research examined the production and distribution of social capital as the primary mechanism for motivating collaboration (i.e., information exchange) as the network evolved. Using Louisiana’s Project Linking Actions for Unmet Needs in Children’s Health (LAUNCH) as a case study, this study analyzed five years of self-reported organization-level data on collaboration behaviors and information exchanged among NPOs within the LAUNCH network. A social network approach was used to analyze the evolution of collaboration practices and found that existing ties play a pivotal role in facilitating information exchange behaviors among the NPOs in the study. That is, organizations are more likely to create information-sharing partnerships with other organizations that have been endorsed and vouched for by an existing partner, or they share information with organizations that have already shared information with them in the past. This showed a tendency towards bonding social capital wherein organizations are provided security against the high levels of risk within a policy-mandated collaboration by the convenience and accessibility offered by maintaining existing relationships. Results of this study were consistent throughout the different model specifications employed in the analysis, and reveal key implications for organizations engaged in policy-mandated partnerships, as well as for funders who require collaboration. Keywords: Collaboration, Partnerships, Collaboration Network, Collaboration Theory, Social Capital Theory, Social Network Theory, Social Network Analysi
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