Research Areas and Projects

Relationship
Change

Network
Change

Understanding
Mechanisms

Support
Networks

Data Collection
Methods

Work and
Occupations

Measuring Density and Embeddedness

The primary purpose of this project is to test the reliability of an alternative method of measuring to structural characteristics in ego networks: the embeddedness of individual alters and the overall network density. I have collected survey data on 600 ego networks in which respondents to report, for each alter, whether that person knows "All or almost all", "most", "about half", "less than half", or "none or a few"  of the other network members. Respondents then completed a full dyad census. Using these data I test the reliability of this alternative measure and examine how this varies with the type of name generator used and with tie and network characteristics.

Data collected as part of this project will also be used to examine how three different name generator approaches influence the composition and structure of network elicited; to examine how respondents' estimation of alter embeddedness may be shaped by heuristics for storing networks in memory; and to test a hypothesized mechanism connecting network density and social support provision.

This work is funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

Theorizing Tie Dormancy and Re-Connection

This study examines personal networks and problematizes the nature of those ties that were once measured as being present within a respondent’s personal network but are not included at a later time. Conceptualizing the state of dormancy as multidimensional, the study seeks to understand the relationship between different dimensions of dormancy and to develop an empirically informed method of measuring dormancy.  I ask,

1.    Which dimensions of relationship activity/inactivity are most characteristic of dormant ties and  how do different dimensions of dormancy relate to each other and to reactivation outcomes?
2.    What are the predictors of dormancy and tie re-activation?
3.    How do people understand dormant ties and tie re-activation with regards to their own network members?

Data for this project are being collected using an innovative interview method that uses photo-based elicitation instead of name generators. Respondents who are or have been married answer questions about persons pictured in their wedding albums and their relationships to those persons at the time of the wedding and at the time of the interview. This method allows for retrospective data collection that shows change over time while minimizing the bias due to free-recall errors and telescoping timelines.

This work is funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and the American Sociological Association Fund for the Advancement of the Discipline.

Network Change

Networks change over time and understanding why and how this happens can help us to understand the mechanisms by which network structures and compositions come to vary across the life course and across classes of individuals.

In a forthcoming paper with Keith Hampton, we show that even among people who are not in the midst of major life changes, networks experience significant change. In fact, support networks experience rates of dormancy similar to those observed during periods of major upheaval.  Ties were less likely to become dormant if they were geographically or emotionally close, immediate kin or neighbors, highly supportive, the same sex, or more embedded in the network. These findings provide context for how support networks operate when not buffeted by exogenous forces. They provide a baseline for understanding the impact on networks of transitions, trauma, new media, and difficult life circumstances.

A paper in progress with Wendy Roth compares skin-colour homophily of migrants to the U.S. from the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico to non-migrants in those same countries. Though we cannot examine network change directly because the same individuals were not studied pre- and post-migration, the the comparison is suggestive of the ways in which the "rules" governing tie formation may change post-migration. Results show that while there is skin-colour homophily among migrants, this pattern of tie formation appears imported from the home countries, rather than developed in response to the U.S. system of racial classification.

Collecting Ego Network Data

I have a long-standing interest in understanding and improving the collection of ego network data. My research in this area examines the reliability of common methods of collecting egocentric network data and develops and tests innovative new methods of collecting network data.

In a project in progress I examine the use of single and multiple name generators for the collection of longitudinal network data. Results show that the use of single name generators across multiple waves can create methodological artifacts in which ties that continue to be active appear dormant and longstanding ties appear to be newly-created. Examining changes in network composition and structure using both approaches shows that single name generators may not provide reliable views of network change.

As part of the Theorizing Dormancy project, I have developed an innovative photo-based interview method to collect retrospective data. The interviewer browses the respondent's wedding album with the respondent and populates the ego network from the people pictured. Respondents answer questions about their relationship with each person selected at the time of the wedding and at the time of the interview. This interview method allows for the collection of retrospective data that are not biased by respondents' tendency to free-recall ties that are still active, and anchoring the earlier time period with an important life event helps to prevent the problem of telescoping. Results show that this method is more enjoyable for respondents than traditional name generators and is an effective method for examining relationship change.

In a paper with Keith Hampton, we examine the reliability of using single name generators to reduce respondent burden when studying social support. Our results show that while some name generators are function better alone than others, data from single name generators often do not provide reliable measures of network composition or structure. We test an alternative method of reducing respondent burden by reducing the number of name interpreters, instead. Results show this to be a more reliable approach, in general, though more effective for some kinds of measures than others.

In a study of the GSS Important Matters name generator, I show that respondents frequently forget to list people with whom they discuss important matters. Forgetting is not random. Respondents are more likely to forget alters to whom they are less closely tied and alters who are less embedded in their networks. The results suggest that measures of egocentric network properties based on data collected using this single name generator may have high levels of measurement error, possibly resulting in mis-estimation of how these network properties relate to other variables.

As part of other projects, I am also developing new methods of measuring density and embeddedness, examining how networks elicited vary with three different structures of name generators, and testing how estimations of alter embeddedness are shaped by memory heuristics.

This work is funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, and the American Sociological Association Fund for the Advancement of the Discipline.

Job-Worker Match

This project grows out of my work on job search in which I show that the flow of job information through social networks varies across labour markets. Information holders' reluctance to share potentially-unwanted information is an important mechanism creating variations in information flow across different labour markets.  I identified the strength of the link between occupations and fields of study a labour market characteristic important in creating that variation.  In this work I develop measures of this link for occupations in the Canadian labour market. Using data from the National Graduates survey

This work was funded by the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada and GRAND Network Centre of Excellence.

Networks and Job Search

Drawing on in-depth qualitative interviews with insurance agents working in a Toronto call centre, this project examines how information about job openings travels through social networks. I focus on the role of information holders who make decisions to share or withhold information from their network members. Because I conducted interviews with information holders directly my data includes situations in which job information that was not shared as well as the pool of network members who did not receive information. These data are inaccessible using data on job seekers or job applicants. Findings from this research have called attention to the importance of information holders' agency in choosing to share or withhold job information, mechanisms linking network-based job search to workplace segregation, and the importance of labour market structure in mediating this link.

This work was funded by the Connaught Fellowship at the University of Toronto and the Edmund J. Curley Fund at Harvard University.