NODES AND TIES: USING SOCIAL NETWORK ANALYSIS AS A QUANTITATIVE METHOD IN GEOSCIENCE EDUCATION RESEARCH (Invited Presentation)

Social network analysis is a method of mapping, modeling, and describing communities. In social network analysis, individuals within the community of interest form the nodes of the network and interactions between those individuals are indicated by ties. Once the network is mapped, analyses can be used to, for example, quantify the relative importance of individual nodes within in the network or identify patterns of frequent interaction between nodes or types of nodes. Descriptive characteristics, such as demographics, can be mapped onto each node and used to better characterize patterns or trends within the network. In addition to node-level analyses, whole-network analyses can be used to measure network equality or evaluate if the network has evolved over time.

This presentation will highlight innovative ways in which social network analysis can be used in geoscience education research. This includes applications like describing classroom interactions among students, mapping research collaborations, tracking citation practices, and modeling academic hiring practices. Like many quantitative methods, social network analysis’ strength lies in its ability to identify patterns and quantify complex systems, and therefore lends itself to mixed-methods research.