The Role of Status Differentials and Homophily in the Formation of Social Support Networks of a Voluntary Organization

Given the important implications of social support on managing volunteers and their organizational commitment, we investigated how members of a Korean immigrant church (N = 178) exchanged two distinctive kinds of social support (i.e., informational and tangible). We used theories of centrality and homophily to hypothesize patterns of social connections among organizational members. Employing exponential random graph modeling (ERGM), the current study estimated the likelihood of age and gender homophily/heterophily in forming supportive ties while considering structural parameters. The results of analysis of variance showed that members with higher socioeconomic status and in official staff positions in the church were more central in the informational support exchange. However, ERGM for both types of support networks did not show hypothesized gender and age homophily/heterophily of Korean immigrants’ support exchange, suggesting the importance of other potential organizational and cultural influences. The findings shed light on the internal structuring of organizational support networks and suggest practical implications for managing organizational volunteers

Transactive Memory and the Job Search: Finding Expertise and Influence in Socio-technical Networks

This article has been accepted for publication in Western Journal of Communication, published by Taylor & Francis.Structural, communicative, and relational attributes of transactive memory (TM) affect the expertise and influence job seekers perceive in their job information networks. Using a sample of U.S. job seekers (N = 285), we found perceived expertise and influence varied across structural attributes (both source status and bridging ability) and relational attributes (emotional closeness) of job search sources. Communicative attributes (communication frequency) were associated with influence, but not expertise. In addition, we found a significant divergence in perceived influence across different sources. This study contributes to an understanding of job information networks, extends transactive memory to a socio-technical context, and adds influence as a meaningful outcome of transactive memory systems

Sociología de los entornos cercanos: Redes personales y capital social en la Argentina

Based on the National Survey on Social Relations (ENRS), the present article analyses Argentinians’ close environments (CE), which are defined as the relationships that they consider closest. Their composition is described, as well as their degrees of homophily and isomorphism. Furthermore, a typology is built that combines the type of bond between individuals (egos) with the members of their CEs and the type of relationship they establish with each other. It also explores the prevalence of each type according to age, gender, class and place of residence of the egos.Este artículo, basado en la Encuesta Nacional sobre Relaciones Sociales (ENRS), presenta un análisis de los entornos cercanos (EC) de los argentinos, definidos como el conjunto de relaciones que consideran más próximas. Se describe su composición y se analizan sus grados de homofilia e isomorfismo. Por otra parte, se construye una tipología que combina el tipo de vínculo de los individuos (egos) con los miembros de sus EC, el tipo de relación que establecen entre sí, y se explora la prevalencia de cada tipo de acuerdo con la edad, el género, la clase y el lugar de residencia de los egos

Evaluating the impact of statewide policy implementation on interorganizational collaboration at the regional level : an application of network analysis.

One challenge to improving population health in the United States is that the systems tasked with the responsibility of providing services across the continuum of care often operate in silos, missing opportunities to provide quality, coordinated care. In 2011, Texas received approval from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) for a five-year 1115(a) Medicaid Waiver Demonstration Project. This dissertation focuses on one element of the Waiver, the Delivery System Reform Incentive Payment (DSRIP) Program, which was designed to incentivize activities that support organizations’ collaborative efforts with other organizations in addressing the Triple Aim strategies. DSRIP was implemented through the formation of 20 Regional Healthcare Partnerships (RHPs) across Texas. These RHPs represent networks comprised of organizations within sectors and across sectors, including hospitals, community mental health centers (CMHCs), and public health departments among others. Three overarching research questions were posed: 1. To what extent did participation in DSRIP affect the role CMHCs had within their RHPs? 2. To what extent did the formation of RHPs impact intersectoral collaboration under DSRIP? 3. Which community-based partners did DSRIP providers perceive as critical to delivery system reform, and what types of connections were formed with such partners? 4. A non-randomized, pre-post interorganizational network study design was used to assess collaboration within each RHP, where data were collected for three time periods. The findings suggest: 1. The Waiver prioritized mental health, promoted collaboration, and allowed CMHCs to provide intergovernmental transfer funds, all of which elevated the role and power of CMHCs in their RHPs. 2. The Waiver promoted meaningful opportunities for intersectoral collaboration, particularly around resource and data sharing for service integration efforts. This allowed otherwise unintegrated organizations, such as public health agencies and CMHCs to assume more central roles in delivery system reform. 3. DSRIP-participating organizations worked extensively and uniquely with community-based partners to integrate more forcefully the social determinants of health with health care in order to address the needs of low-income populations. Future waivers should consider expanding the pool of providers to include social service and non-traditional partners who are critical to population health improvement and health service delivery transformation

Perceptions of Paid Pastoral Staff of Volunteer Engagement in the Assemblies of God

Volunteers play a critical role in churches, and successful collaboration between paid pastoral staff and volunteers is essential for achieving the church’s mission. However, conflicts can arise when defining the roles and responsibilities of volunteers and paid pastoral staff. This qualitative phenomenological study explored the perceptions of paid pastoral staff regarding volunteer engagement in the Assembly of God’s (AG’s) church mission. The research drew from Harold Kelley and John Thibaut’s interdependence theory, which shed light on human interactions and their influences. Utilizing semi-structured interviews with 10 AG pastors in paid staff positions, the findings described the volunteer manager role that pastors perform. The findings suggested that staff-volunteer collaborative relationships derived from the paid pastoral staff’s perception of volunteerism as discipleship. The role of volunteer managers in a church contributes significantly to volunteer engagement through leadership modeling, ministry-based training, and spiritual gift identification. Therefore, the successful engagement of volunteers in the church’s mission depends on the willingness of paid pastoral staff to provide training and collaborate with volunteers. Finally, the study presented some suggestions for future research and exploration

Tolerance and Intolerance in Political Discourse on Twitter during the U.S. 2016 Presidential Election

This study explored tolerance and intolerance in political discourse on Twitter during the U.S. 2016 election. It was a combination of social network analysis of four Twitter networks the day before the election, the day of the election, the day after the election, and four days after the election (November 7, 8, 9, 12) and content analysis of 1,114 tweets from 40 largest clusters of the four networks. The study found significant differences between content frames (tolerant, intolerant, and neither) in relation to out-degree centrality. However, there were no significant differences between tolerant and intolerant content in relation to in-degree centrality, betweenness centrality, and closeness centrality. Findings show similarities among the overall network structures across four days as all of the networks had low centralization (no hierarchical structure), low density, high modularity, and low reciprocity scores. The networks were not polarized; instead, they were divided into several small clusters with mixed conversations about both in-group and out-group candidates. This finding is in contrast with previous studies that found political discourse in online social networks is highly polarized (Adamic & Glance, 2005; Cha et al., 2010; Himelboim et al., 2013; Himelboim et al., 2017; Smith et al., 2014). Another major finding of this study was that Twitter users were more intolerant than tolerant and the percentage of intolerant tweets was doubled the day after and four days after the election

Strength of weak ties and the modern job search

This dissertation examines the social networks of job seekers and information sources using two samples of Americans who have sought jobs in the past two-years. After a brief introductory chapter and a chapter reviewing network terminology and three network theories (strength of weak ties, structural holes theory, and social capital), two studies were conducted. The final chapter proposes nested levels of network influence and suggests revision to social network theory and research. Study 1 explored a random-digit dial survey of job seekers collected by the Pew Research Center. Data from participants who sought a job in the past two years was used to construct an affiliation (two-mode) network of job seekers and types of sources. Results from correspondence analysis, centrality measures, and an exponential random graph model (ERGM) show that job seekers used sources in conjunction at a rate greater than chance. Specifically, job seekers used three types of sources: (a) social sources (close friends and family, personal acquaintances, and professional acquaintances); (b) formal sources (print advertisements, career events, and employment agencies); (c) and online sources (social networking sites and online information and resources). Based on centrality measures, online information and resources were at the center of job seeker’s affiliation network. A discussion section reviews implications for Strength of Weak Ties theory as well as practical implications for the job search. Study 2 uses a survey of Amazon Mechanical Turk ® (MTurk) workers from the United States who have sought a job in the past two years. These participants responded to questions about the sources they used during the job search, including information sources accessed online and offline. Strong ties included close friends and family contacted online and in-person as well as websites; in contrast, the weakest ties were direct online application, employment agencies, and career events. Results showed that, controlling for homophily, tie strength was positively related to social support, bridging, and ease of access. Additionally, weakness of tie was related to influence. Contrary to strength of weak ties theory, information quality was not related to tie strength. Finally, this study explored within-person attributes related to tie strength. Perceptions of the job search as a networking task were positively related to use of stronger ties; in contrast, feelings of uncertainty, above one’s comfort, led to use of weaker ties on average. Perceptions of a larger personal network had a positive indirect effect on the strength of ties. A final chapter presents implications for sociomateriality, latent tie theory, and network research, in general. These studies paint a complicated picture both supporting and challenging strength of weak ties theory. Specifically, the final chapter discusses these findings and concludes that the modern job search does not follow the premises accepted by most strength of weak ties research. Implications of research findings in three major areas: (a) the social and material similarities and differences between human and non-human information sources are discussed, (b) the situated use of ties is explored using the lens of latent tie theory, (c) the implications for social network analysis are detailed at multiple levels

Testing Matching and Mirroring With Homophily in Onboarding Leadership Socialization

This study was designed to test the relationship between matching and mirroring (MM) and homophilous perceptions (PHM) in leadership socialization. Elevated PHM levels were hypothesized to affect workplace acceptance levels. The need for testing leadership socialization skills was magnified with the current demographic shift known as the leadership succession crisis, creating problems with onboarding strategies. The theoretical foundations of the study were based on the social identity theory, the social presence theory, the leader-member exchange theory, and the similarity-attraction paradigm. The study conducted at Workforce Solutions North Texas in Wichita Falls, Texas was sampled based on the calculated strength of the effect in a pilot study. Test group participants engaged in MM enhanced social conversation with a coached candidate and control group participants conversed with an uncoached participant from the general population engaging in normal conversation. MM processes were differentiated from natural synchronic tendencies using specialized software and Kinect-® sensors. A contrasted group, quasi-experiment was examined with an analysis of covariance. No statistically significant difference was found between groups on PHM levels, correcting for age, gender, ethnicity, height, glasses, hobbies, and professions. However, PHM and coworker acceptance were statistically significant but with no difference between groups. Further research is needed to test PHM as a metric for rapport in socialization strategies. Nevertheless, the homophily lens rather than the rapport lens can help organizational development and human resource professionals quantify and develop more effective socialization strategies aimed at solving problems associated with the leadership succession crisis

Diversity and trust in the newsroom : examining the role of homophily on establishing trust using ERGM

This dissertation focuses on the trust relationship in the newsroom to examine journalists’ status-based homophily, which refers to an individual’s tendency that similarity in social statuses breeds informal connection at work. It analyzes South Korean newspapers as a case study because their newsroom composition has become diverse and intergroup relationships emerged as a key issue for newsroom management. Trust at work serve facilitates knowledge, information, and the skill set relevant to organizational survival. However, trust is not shared by everyone because status-based homophily governs the informal relationship. In particular, separated informal relationships between the majority with power and control and minority groups lead to the following research question of “which social characteristics of individuals that represent a symbol of social statuses at work generate homophily in journalists’ trust?” To answer this research question, the author incorporated network homophily and social identity theory as main theoretical frameworks and employed inferential network analysis with the Exponential Random Graph Model (ERGM) as a primary methodological approach. Considering the unique nature of local characteristics in South Korea, the author assesses five social statuses on South Korean journalists’ homophilous tendency in their trust network: (1) gender, (2) tenure, (3) academic prestige (4) recruitment, and (5) competence. In particular, a separate empirical analysis on two cases of the South Korean newspapers verifies whether status-based homophily is consistently found across the newspapers with different cultures and organizational composition. The inferential network analysis of ERGM identified tenure-based homophily for both newspapers, while recruitment-based homophily and competence-based homophily were only found in one of the newspapers. Gender-based homophily became statistically insignificant as additional status-based homophily terms were added, which shows its relative weakness in determining journalists’ homophilous tendency compared to other status-based homophily terms. Academic prestige-based homophily was not found to be significant for both newspapers. This dissertation will add more insight into the theoretical adaptation of the social network theory and its association with the journalism practice inside the newsroom. Primarily, newsroom managers will learn a practical implication of how to manage the growing diversity inside the newsroom to unlock the positive effect of diversity.Journalis