Interviewer-driven Variability in Social Network Reporting: Results from Health and Aging in Africa: a Longitudinal Study of an INDEPTH community (HAALSI) in South Africa

Social network analysis depends on how social ties to others are elicited during interviews, a process easily affected by respondent and interviewer behaviors. We investigate how the number of self-reported important social contacts varied within a single data collection round. Our data come from Health and Aging in Africa: a Longitudinal Study of an INDEPTH community (HAALSI), a comprehensive population-based survey of individuals aged 40 years and older conducted over 13 months at the Agincourt health and demographic surveillance site in rural South Africa. As part of HAALSI, interviewers elicited detailed egocentric network data. The average number of contacts reported by the 5,059 respondents both varied significantly across interviewers and fell over time as the data collection progressed, even after adjusting for respondent, interviewer, and respondent–interviewer dyad characteristics. Contact numbers rose substantially after a targeted interviewer intervention. We conclude that checking (and adjusting) for interviewer effects, even within one data collection round, is critical to valid and reliable social network analysis. Measurements of social networks depend on the number and type of social ties to others (Berkman et al. 2000; Smith and Christakis 2008). These ties are typically elicited through interviews, a process easily affected by respondent or interviewer characteristics and behaviors. Understanding social network structure and composition requires substantial amounts of information from respondents (“egos”) about the people (“alters”) they have relationships with (Marsden 1990). Notably, the survey burden associated with network data collection depends heavily on the number of alters elicited through “name generator” questions: Each alter named leads to the repetition of all follow-up questions characterizing the ego–alter relationship (“name interpreters”; Burt 1984). Interviewers have been identified as a key source of variation in survey responses, particularly for questions that are attitudinal, ambiguous, or have complex skip patterns (West and Blom 2016). Several studies have previously identified interviewer effects on network size (Brüderl et al. 2013; Josten and Trappmann 2016; Marsden 2003; Paik and Sanchagrin 2013; van Tilburg 1998). These interviewer effects may arise from differential understanding of survey questions, and therefore how questions are presented to respondents. Interviewers can also affect which alters are elicited due to their own characteristics (e.g., sex, race, age, or experience), or the nature of the interviewer–respondent dyad (e.g., gender, race, or age homophily), leading to different lines of enquiry, levels of probing, or expectations of social acceptability (Collins 1980; Hox 1994; Marsden 2003; Phung et al. 2015). Furthermore, if respondents or interviewers are aware that naming more alters substantially increases survey length, then either group may consciously or unconsciously seek to minimize the number of alters named (Eagle and Proeschold-Bell 2015; van der Zouwen and van Tilburg 2001). In cross-sectional surveys, the opportunities for respondents to learn are limited, but those for interviewers will increase as the survey period progresses. Interviewers may try to reduce survey burden, either for themselves or for respondents, by favoring language or probes that decrease the number of alters elicited. Indeed, past studies in Europe have found evidence of interviewers intentionally filtering out questions by entering fewer responses that would trigger more questions. Such filtering behavior has been seen in Europe for interviewers who are being compensated by the interview rather than by the hour (Josten and Trappmann 2016; Kosyakova et al. 2014), for interviewers with prior experience using the relevant screening tool (Matschinger et al. 2005), and where interviewers are under substantial pressure to complete more interviews (Schnell and Kreuter 2000). We aim to extend this literature by assessing how the number of alters elicited systematically changed over the course of a cross-sectional social network survey of older adults in rural South Africa. We show a substantial drop in alter numbers over time, and a swift reversal following retraining, providing substantial evidence for interviewer effects

Networks in Polarized Times: What Americans Talk about, with Whom and When?

What do American people talk about, with whom, and when? What people talk about influences and is influenced by who they talk with, and when they talk structures the interdependency between discussion topics and relationships. This context-alter-topic interdependency provides an opportunity to identify contextual mechanisms by which social and political networks are activated and deactivated in response to salient social events and polarized contexts. Do people talk about important matters with fewer people than ever before? Do people organize their political belief systems in ideological ways using the single liberal-conservative dimension? Do people discuss politics with more people who are more politically diverse in contested elections? This dissertation answers these and related questions by revisiting the same survey data that others have found useful in the past, but with a new and fresh lens. Do people talk about important matters with fewer people than ever before? The 2004 General Social Survey (GSS) reported significant increases in social isolation and significant decreases in ego-network size relative to previous periods. These results have been repeatedly challenged, though none precisely identify the cause of decreased ego-network size. The second chapter shows that it matters that the 2004 GSS -- unlike other GSS surveys -- was fielded during a highly polarized election period. I show that political priming induced by presidential election events makes people frame "important matters" as political matters, and political polarization further suppresses network size especially for non-partisans. Do people organize their political belief system in ideological ways using the single liberal-conservative dimension? By considering a set of interrelated political beliefs as a network of belief systems, the third chapter seeks to resolve theoretical puzzles concerning the organization of political belief systems, and address competing accounts of the role of political ideology and core values. I compare results from the American National Election Studies and General Social Surveys, and show the strong contextual influence on belief systems. I find that belief systems, often thought to be relatively stable, need to be "activated" by certain social cues. Do people discuss politics with more people who are more politically diverse during contested elections? The fourth chapter focuses on battleground states to investigate the mutual interrelationship between political discussion partners and topics: who people discuss politics with depends on which issues they discuss and vice versa. I propose that increases in the salience of politics and exposure to opposing views contribute to the activation of interpersonal political echo chambers. I present evidence to support this claim based on statistical analysis of the 1992, 2000, and 2008 National Election Studies. My dissertation shows, throughout three empirical chapters, why we need to seriously consider socio-temporal context in studies of social and political networks. I use survey timing, exogenous events, and battleground states to show how political situations induced by political events activate ideological thinking, which in turn deactivates our core discussion networks, and ultimately activates interpersonal political echo chambers. In sum, I discover situational activation of network processes

Strong tie, weak tie and in-betweens

AbstractThe contact diary method, an alternative data collecting method, is introduced. The brief summary of other methods collecting ego-centred network data (name- and the position generator) is followed by previous contact diary studies (Fu, 2007). Then our contact diary application with some results is shown. Using contact diary to collect data on egocentric networks, one can acquire a wider and more complex personal network structure. Based on our data we model a more refined continuum of categories than the so-called ‘classical’ strong and weak ties. A Strength of Tie (SoT) index is computed and compared in the two datasets

Explaining Variation in Child Labor Statistics

Child labor statistics are critical for assessing the extent and nature of child labor activities in developing countries. In practice, widespread variation exists in how child labor is measured. Questionnaire modules vary across countries and within countries over time along several dimensions, including respondent type and the structure of the questionnaire. Little is known about the effect of these differences on child labor statistics. This paper presents the results from a randomized survey experiment in Tanzania focusing on two survey aspects: different questionnaire design to classify children work and proxy response versus self-reporting. Use of a short module compared with a more detailed questionnaire has a statistically significant effect, especially on child labor force participation rates, and, to a lesser extent, on working hours. Proxy reports do not differ significantly from a child’s self-report. Further analysis demonstrates that survey design choices affect the coefficient estimates of some determinants of child labor in a child labor supply equation. The results suggest that low-cost changes to questionnaire design to clarify the concept of work for respondents can improve the data collected.child labor, survey design, Tanzania

WHO DO YOU KNOW: IMPROVING AND EXPLORING THE NETWORK SCALE-UP METHOD

The purpose of this dissertation was to examine ways to improve and explore the network scale-up method (NSUM). This dissertation improved the NSUM by proposing a new mean of sums (MoS) estimation process, improving recursive back-estimation techniques, exploring how NSUM design changes effected estimates of personal network size, what predicts having larger personal networks, and the cognitive process used by participants taking a NSUM survey. Data was collected from an address-based survey (n=617) of Nebraskans conducted in 2014 and a series of cognitive interviews (n=19) conducted in 2016. The MoS estimator better predicted the size of a target group than the traditional estimator. Further, recursive back-estimation was shown to retain more scaling variables when used with the MoS than the traditional estimator. However, the MoS estimator did produce larger average estimates of personal network size. The application of recursive back-estimation reduced the average of both the MoS and traditional estimates of personal network size to comparable levels. Differences in the treatment of item nonresponse among NSUM scaling questions had little to no impact on the average estimate of personal network size. Eighteen different estimates of personal network size were calculated based upon different assumptions and methodological choices for regression models. In all eighteen models rural Nebraskans had larger networks than their urban counterparts, and those who made less than $25,000 had smaller networks than those who made between$50,000 and $99,999. In some models education, religious attendance, and age were associated with expected network size, but these associations were erratic. This shows that NSUM methodological decisions NSUM can have effects on both estimates of network size and statistical inference. Finally, cognitive interviews revealed a series of issues around participants’ ability to accurately answer NSUM questions including memory search, definition retention, and differences between the known-population technique and the summation method. A series of suggestions for practical implementation and further testing of these issues are discussed. This dissertation demonstrates new ways to adapt the NSUM without having to use the generalized NSUM and explores how participants’ process NSUM style questions when developing their answers. Advisors: Kirk Dombrowski and Lisa Kort-Butle

Ties and Narratives:Qualitative methods and visualizations in the study of friendship networks

One of the most powerful aspects of social network data is the fact that they can reproduce social relationships in a formal and comparable way. Relational matrices abstract from the hustle and bustle of everyday interaction, and systematise information in terms of presence or absence of ties expressing them in a directed or undirected, binary or valued form. While the formal approach represents an advantage of social network analysis, as it allows bracketing off the idiosyncratic and subjective content of social structures, the mathematization of the complex nature of social relationships has also been criticised for the lack of engagement with the subjective meaning and context of relationships. Such stream of critique has called for an increase of use of qualitative methods in social network research. The first goal of the paper is to address these critiques by rebalancing the argument and showing how social network analysis has always engaged with both formal and contextual aspects of social structures. The paper reviews some theoretical perspectives that discuss and systematise a mixed method approach, and explores the methodological advantages of using network visualizations together with qualitative interviews in the collection, analysis and interpretation of personal networks. The advantages of adopting a mixed method approach are illustrated over some examples of friendship networks of 23 single male and female people collected in Milan, Italy, in 2005. A classic name generator is used to reconstruct their egonets of friends, and the visualization is adopted as the input for in-depth interviews with specific attention devoted to the meaning of friendship relationships, the kind of resources they offer, the conflicts and constrains they entail, and how they have developed and evolved over time. By comparing information obtained respectively with name generators and in-depth interviews, the paper shows how the mix of data improves and specify the understanding of personal networks. </jats:p

Measuring Social Networks and Social Resources: An Exploratory ISSP Survey around the World

This publication documents the development of the ISSP module for the year 2017 titled "Social Networks and Social Resources". The authors begin by discussing instruments that have been developed to measure social relationships and networks. Subsequently, the conceptual framework underlying the module is presented. For the assessment and selection of items for the final module the authors can draw on a rich set of comparative survey data from pretests in China, Taiwan, France, Germany, Switzerland, Turkey, Great Britain, United States and Venezuela. Based on these data measures for all concepts of the theoretical model are derived and preliminary analysis of their validity, reliability and cross-national equivalence are performed. The publication ends with a description of items finally selected for the 2017 ISSP module and some suggestions for analyzing these data.Diese Publikation dokumentiert die Entwicklung des ISSP-Moduls für das Jahr 2017 mit dem Titel "Social Networks and Social Resources". Die Autoren diskutieren zunächst Instrumente, die zur Messung sozialer Beziehungen und Netzwerke entwickelt wurden. Anschließend wird der dem Modul zugrunde liegende konzeptionelle Rahmen vorgestellt. Für die Bewertung und Auswahl der Fragen für das endgültige Modul können die Autoren auf einen umfangreichen Satz vergleichender Umfragedaten aus Pretests in China, Taiwan, Frankreich, Deutschland, der Schweiz, der Türkei, Großbritannien, den USA und Venezuela zurückgreifen. Basierend auf diesen Daten werden Messungen für alle Konzepte des theoretischen Modells abgeleitet und eine vorläufige Analyse ihrer Gültigkeit, Zuverlässigkeit und länderübergreifenden Äquivalenz durchgeführt. Die Veröffentlichung endet mit einer Beschreibung der schließlich für das ISSP-Modul 2017 ausgewählten Fragen und einigen Vorschlägen zur Analyse dieser Daten

Measuring Social Networks and Social Resources: An Exploratory ISSP Survey around the World

This publication documents the development of the ISSP module for the year 2017 titled "Social Networks and Social Resources". The authors begin by discussing instruments that have been developed to measure social relationships and networks. Subsequently, the conceptual framework underlying the module is presented. For the assessment and selection of items for the final module the authors can draw on a rich set of comparative survey data from pretests in China, Taiwan, France, Germany, Switzerland, Turkey, Great Britain, United States and Venezuela. Based on these data measures for all concepts of the theoretical model are derived and preliminary analysis of their validity, reliability and cross-national equivalence are performed. The publication ends with a description of items finally selected for the 2017 ISSP module and some suggestions for analyzing these data

The Use and Effect of Social Capital in New Venture Creation - Solo Entrepreneurs vs. New Venture Teams

This paper examines the use of social capital in the venture creation process. We compare solo entrepreneurs (n=182) and new venture teams (n=274) from a random sample of start-ups in innovative industries and test social capital use and its effects on firm performance. Our results reveal that solo entrepreneurs and new venture teams do not differ in their degree of use of social capital. However, there are differences in the determinants of social capital use in both groups. We find that weak ties assist solo entrepreneurs and have positive significant effects on new venture performance. For team start- ups, we find no direct effect of social capital. However, further tests indicate for teams that human capital variety positively moderates the effect of social capital on performance.Entrepreneurship, Nascent entrepreneurship, Social capital, Start-up teams, Entrepreneurial learning

Do Labor Statistics Depend on How and to Whom the Questions Are Asked? Results from a Survey Experiment in Tanzania

Labor market statistics are critical for assessing and understanding economic development. In practice, widespread variation exists in how labor statistics are measured in household surveys in low-income countries. Little is known whether these differences have an effect on the labor statistics they produce. This paper analyzes these effects by implementing a survey experiment in Tanzania that varied two key dimensions: the level of detail of the questions and the type of respondent. Significant differences are observed across survey designs with respect to different labor statistics. Labor force participation rates, for example, vary by as much as 10 percentage points across the four survey assignments. Using a short labor module without screening questions on employment generates lower female labor force participation and lower rates of wage employment for both men and women. Response by proxy rather than self-report yields lower male labor force participation, lower female working hours, and lower employment in agriculture for men. The differences between proxy and self reporting seem to come from information imperfections within the household, especially with the distance in age between respondent and subject playing an important role, while gender and educational differences seem less important.Tanzania, survey design, labor statistics, field experiment