Longitudinal analysis of personal networks : the case of Argentinean migrants in Spain

Premi a l'excel·lència investigadora. 2010This paper discusses and illustrates various approaches for the longitudinal analysis of personal networks (multilevel analysis, regression analysis, and SIENA). We combined the different types of analyses in a study of the changing personal networks of immigrants. Data were obtained from 25 Argentineans in Spain, who were interviewed twice in a two-year interval. Qualitative interviews were used to estimate the amount of measurement error and to isolate important predictors. Quantitative analyses showed that the persistence of ties was explained by tie strength, network density, and alters' country of origin and residence. Furthermore, transitivity appeared to be an important tendency, both for acquiring new contacts and for the relationships among alters. At the network level, immigrants' networks were remarkably stable in composition and structure despite the high turnover. Clustered graphs have been used to illustrate the results. The results are discussed in light of adaptation to the host society

Acculturation of host individuals: Immigrants and personal networks

There has been a vast amount of research on the changes experienced by immigrants, but little is known about the changes experienced by host individuals. This article focuses on the role of host individuals in the networks of relations between immigrant populations and the communities from the dominant culture, as well as the changes experienced by host individuals because of their continuous contact with immigrants. This research applied a network approach to the study of the acculturation of host individuals. Two independent studies were carried out: a systematic analysis of the personal networks of Argentinean (n = 67), Ecuadorian (n = 59), Italian (n = 37) and German (n = 37) residents in Seville and Cadiz (Spain) (Study 1); and an ethnographic study with human service workers for Latin American immigrants in Boston (USA) (Study 2). With two different strategies, the role of host individuals in personal networks of foreigners in the United States and Spain was analyzed. The results show that host individuals tend to have less centrality than compatriots, showing an overall secondary role in the personal networks of immigrants. The lowest average centrality was observed in recent and temporal migrants, whereas the highest corresponded to the individuals with more time of residence in Spain. The personal networks of human service providers in the United States vary in ethnic composition and in their structural properties, and therefore shape different types of integrative bridges for immigrants.Department of Housing and Urban Development (Estados Unidos)Woodrow Wilson Foundation (Estados Unidos)Eileen Blackey Fellowship (Estados Unidos)American Association of University Women (Estados Unidos)Missy Carter Dissertation Fellowship (Estados Unidos)Junta de Andalucí

Changing times: migrants’ social network analysis and the challenges of longitudinal research

Focusing on migrant social networks, this paper draws upon the sociology of time to incorporate complex notions of temporality into the research process. In so doing, we consider firstly, the challenge of going ‘beyond the snapshot’ in data collection to capture dynamism through time. Secondly, we apply the concepts of timescapes to explore ways of addressing the wider context and the interplay between spatiality, temporality and relationality in migration research. We argue that integrating a mixed methods approach to SNA, crucially including visualisation, can provide a useful methodological and analytical framework to understand dynamics. SNA can also be helpful in bridging the personal and structural dimensions in migration research, by providing a meso level of analysis. However, it is also important to connect the investigation of local and transnational networks with an analysis of the broader social, economic and political contexts in which these take shape; in other words, connecting the micro and the meso with the wider macro level. Drawing upon reflections from our migration research studies, we argue that different combinations of quantitative, qualitative and visual methods do not just provide richer sets of data and insights, but can allow us to better connect conceptualisations – and ontologies – of social networks with specific methodological frameworks

Changing times: migrants’ social network analysis and the challenges of longitudinal research

Focusing on migrant social networks, this paper draws upon the sociology of time to incorporate complex notions of temporality into the research process. In so doing, we consider firstly, the challenge of going ‘beyond the snapshot’ in data collection to capture dynamism through time. Secondly, we apply the concepts of timescapes to explore ways of addressing the wider context and the interplay between spatiality, temporality and relationality in migration research. We argue that integrating a mixed methods approach to SNA, crucially including visualisation, can provide a useful methodological and analytical framework to understand dynamics. SNA can also be helpful in bridging the personal and structural dimensions in migration research, by providing a meso level of analysis. However, it is also important to connect the investigation of local and transnational networks with an analysis of the broader social, economic and political contexts in which these take shape; in other words, connecting the micro and the meso with the wider macro level. Drawing upon reflections from our migration research studies, we argue that different combinations of quantitative, qualitative and visual methods do not just provide richer sets of data and insights, but can allow us to better connect conceptualisations – and ontologies – of social networks with specific methodological frameworks

Recent Advancements, Developments and Applications of Personal Network Analysis

We are pleased to introduce recent advancements in personal network analysis and applications in this special issue of the International Review of Social Research - IRSR. The idea of this special issue yielded in the summer of 2015, during the 8th edition of the Summer Course on personal networks given by the Universitat Autònoma deBarcelona(specifically, the egolab-GRAFO research team at the Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology, UAB). That idea very soon turned into an invitation to international scholars to submit original papers focused on either a fully personal research design or on a design combining personal network analysis with other approaches (e.g. mixed research methods). In addition, we encouraged authors from all disciplines and fields to submit both theoretically and methodologically oriented papers, as long as they employ a personal network analysis approach. In the end, a bouquet of ten papers was kept for publication. Equally eclectic and complementary, these papers are related under the personal network analysis umbrella. In what follows, our foreword continues with two interrelated sections. First, we provide a glance on the field of personal network studies, which targets a wide general public less familiarized with structurally analytic approaches (for a detailed view on structural thinking underpinning social network analysis (SNA), see Borgatti et al. 2014; Wellman, 1988). And, second, we briefly introduce each of the ten papers comprising this special issue

The Geographical Distribution of the Personal Networks of People Living in Catalonia : a dual society

Background of INCASI Project H2020-MSCA-RISE-2015 GA 691004. WP1: CompilationBased on a survey concerning personal networks of a sample of 416 people living in Catalonia we address two questions: First, are there differences between native-born and foreign-born residents in terms of the geographical repartition of their personal networks? Second, regarding active contacts providing support, where do they live? Our data show that on average 70% of the active contacts of native-born residents live in the same city whereas immigrants have more than 50% of their active contacts living in another city or country, regardless of the length of residence in Catalonia. Natives and immigrants also differ in the location of supportive network contacts, mostly non-locals in the latter case. With regard to the social interactions among nationals and immigrants, our results bring us to characterize the Catalan society as a "dual society", with a social divide between the two groups. We suggest that this situation can be applicable to most of the countries where a "sub-functional class" is working in a dual labour market

Understanding the reconstruction of personal networks through residential migration trajectories

This article examines how residential trajectories influence the spatiality and composition of personal networks. Three mechanisms are considered: the addition of spatially close network members, the selection of spatially distant network members, and the substitution of spatially distant network members by spatially close ones. An ego-centred network analysis combined with sequence analysis of residential experiences is used to capture the personal networks and the residential trajectories of individuals from two birth cohorts in Switzerland. A series of regression models tests the association between the types of personal networks that individuals develop, in terms of both spatial dispersion and composition, and their residential trajectories. The results show that individuals who moved far away from their place of birth are embedded in large and diversified personal networks, which include spatially distant relatives, local nuclear family members, and local friends. On average, individuals who experienced residential migration have larger and more diverse personal networks than individuals who stayed close to their place of birth. The addition mechanism accounts for much of this greater diversity.</p