Elsevier

Social Networks

Volume 19, Issue 4, October 1997, Pages 303-323
Social Networks

Eliciting representative samples of personal networks

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0378-8733(96)00302-4Get rights and content

Abstract

In this paper we introduce and evaluate a method for eliciting a representative sample of total personal networks. First names were used as a cue to elicit a sample of 14 alters from 712 respondents through a telephone interview. Network characteristics for each respondent were calculated as averages and proportions across the 14 alters. These were compared to other studies using more specialized network generators. Our method produced results which are logically consistent with those expected from a generator that elicits a sample from the total rather than a specialized subset of the total network. The proportions of kin relations, average tie strength and frequency of contacts are found to be lower than network generators designed to elicit networks of social support. Given our conclusion that the sample is representative of the total network, we examine the varying characteristics of respondents and their networks based on the domination of a particular relation type in their network. This analysis provides answers to such questions as ‘What characteristics of respondents account for the proportion of family relations in their network?‘ and ‘What are the similarities between respondents whose networks are made up of mostly work-related relations?’

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    PSN variables used in this analysis were: Alter sobriety; substance use with the alter; treatment-related alters (including treatment providers, peers in treatment, and peers in support groups); sobriety support; isolates; and network density. Network size was not examined for this study as this study limited participants to identifying exactly 25 alters, the minimum network size to obtain a valid density score (McCarty et al., 1997), an important variable in this analysis. Operationalization and descriptive statistics of these variables are shown in Table 2.

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