Book contents
- Personal Networks
- Structural Analysis in the Social Sciences
- Personal Networks
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Contributors
- I Background
- II Early Foundations
- III Later Foundations
- 8 From Claude S. Fischer, To Dwell among Friends
- From the Northern California Community Study, 1977–1978, to the University of California, Berkeley, Social Networks Project, 2015–2020
- 9 From Mark S. Granovetter, “The Strength of Weak Ties”
- Strength of Weak Ties in the Labor Market: An Assessment of the State of Research
- 10 From Barry Wellman and Scot Wortley, “Different Strokes from Different Folks”
- A Network Pilgrim’s Progress: Twenty-Six Realizations in Fifty-Five Years
- 11 From James S. Coleman, “Social Capital in the Creation of Human Capital”
- Three Decades of Research into Social Capital: Achievements, Blind Spots, and Future Directions
- 12 From Bernice A. Pescosolido, “Beyond Rational Choice”
- Confronting How People Cope with Crisis: From the Social Organization Strategy Framework to the Network Episode Model to the Network Embedded Symbiome
- 13 From Scott L. Feld, “The Focused Organization of Social Ties”
- Reflections on “The Focused Organization of Social Ties” and its Implications for Bonding and Bridging
- 14 From Ronald S. Burt, Structural Holes
- Structural Holes Capstone, Cautions, and Enthusiasms
- 15 From Edward O. Laumann, Peter V. Marsden, and David Prensky, “The Boundary Specification Problem in Network Analysis”
- On the Boundary Specification Problem in Network Analysis: An Update and Extension to Personal Social Networks
- 16 From Miller McPherson, Lynn Smith-Lovin, and James M. Cook, “Birds of a Feather”
- The Enormous Flock of Homophily Researchers: Assessing and Promoting a Research Agenda
- 17 From Robert Huckfeldt and John Sprague, “Networks in Context”
- Individuals, Groups, and Networks: Implications for the Study and Practice of Democratic Politics
- 18 From Nan Lin, “Building a Network Theory of Social Capital”
- Social Capital: An Update
- 19 On the General Social Survey
- IV New Perspectives
- Index
- Recent Books in the Series
- References
19 - On the General Social Survey
Egocentric Network Studies within the General Social Survey: Measurement Methods, Substantive Findings, and Methodological Research
from III - Later Foundations
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 October 2021
- Personal Networks
- Structural Analysis in the Social Sciences
- Personal Networks
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Contributors
- I Background
- II Early Foundations
- III Later Foundations
- 8 From Claude S. Fischer, To Dwell among Friends
- From the Northern California Community Study, 1977–1978, to the University of California, Berkeley, Social Networks Project, 2015–2020
- 9 From Mark S. Granovetter, “The Strength of Weak Ties”
- Strength of Weak Ties in the Labor Market: An Assessment of the State of Research
- 10 From Barry Wellman and Scot Wortley, “Different Strokes from Different Folks”
- A Network Pilgrim’s Progress: Twenty-Six Realizations in Fifty-Five Years
- 11 From James S. Coleman, “Social Capital in the Creation of Human Capital”
- Three Decades of Research into Social Capital: Achievements, Blind Spots, and Future Directions
- 12 From Bernice A. Pescosolido, “Beyond Rational Choice”
- Confronting How People Cope with Crisis: From the Social Organization Strategy Framework to the Network Episode Model to the Network Embedded Symbiome
- 13 From Scott L. Feld, “The Focused Organization of Social Ties”
- Reflections on “The Focused Organization of Social Ties” and its Implications for Bonding and Bridging
- 14 From Ronald S. Burt, Structural Holes
- Structural Holes Capstone, Cautions, and Enthusiasms
- 15 From Edward O. Laumann, Peter V. Marsden, and David Prensky, “The Boundary Specification Problem in Network Analysis”
- On the Boundary Specification Problem in Network Analysis: An Update and Extension to Personal Social Networks
- 16 From Miller McPherson, Lynn Smith-Lovin, and James M. Cook, “Birds of a Feather”
- The Enormous Flock of Homophily Researchers: Assessing and Promoting a Research Agenda
- 17 From Robert Huckfeldt and John Sprague, “Networks in Context”
- Individuals, Groups, and Networks: Implications for the Study and Practice of Democratic Politics
- 18 From Nan Lin, “Building a Network Theory of Social Capital”
- Social Capital: An Update
- 19 On the General Social Survey
- IV New Perspectives
- Index
- Recent Books in the Series
- References
Summary
Survey methods that randomly sample respondents from populations abstract their subjects out of the settings where social phenomena form and develop. By measuring the egocentric networks that surround respondents, surveys can re-incorporate these interpersonal contexts. This chapter reviews approaches to egocentric measurement implemented within the U.S. General Social Survey (GSS). Among these are global items that obtain direct reports about network properties (e.g. size, composition), short sets (aggregated relational data, position generators) that allow estimation of certain network properties, and longer name generator instruments that obtain more granular data on the individual contacts (“alters”) and relationships within a respondent’s egocentric network. The review gives particular attention to the “important matters” name generator for measuring “core” networks, first administered in the 1985 GSS. It covers that instrument’s origins and subsequent use in both substantive and methodological research. Substantive studies show how networks vary by (e.g.) age, socioeconomic standing, gender and residential setting, and offer suggestive evidence about how they shape outcomes including well-being, political activity, and sociopolitical attitudes. Methodological studies reveal that the important matters name generator can be sensitive to several aspects of survey settings, and call for care in its administration.
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- Personal NetworksClassic Readings and New Directions in Egocentric Analysis, pp. 519 - 552Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2021
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