Applied Network Analysis Methods in Action

Featured Research

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  Mapping Business Networks in the Asia-Pacific

  As the economies of East and Southeast Asia have exploded in size, the activities of Asian firms have become more and more interdependent. The number of cases in which firms from different countries shared the same director increased almost tenfold from 2006 to 2020.

  Nov 9, 2021

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  Approaches to Counter Russian Social Media Influence

  In this briefing, Elizabeth Bodine-Baron, co-director of the Center for Applied Network Analysis, discusses her research on the challenges combating the threat of Russian influence via disinformation spread on social media. She also shares proposed approaches and recommendations for policymakers.

  Mar 15, 2019

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  Developing a Manual for Cultural Analysis

  Drawing from cognitive and evolutionary anthropology traditions, the authors describe a set of tools capable of dealing with cultural data at various emergent levels, ranging from variation among individuals within local subcultures to small- and large-scale network topologies and finally to longstanding lineages of inherited cultural information. This is the first time these techniques have been organized into a single manual structured around a formally theorized notion of culture.

  Jul 9, 2018

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  How to Counter Russian Social Media Influence in Eastern Europe

  Russia uses social media in nearby states to sow dissent against neighboring governments and NATO. To understand the scope of Russian social media campaigns and how to counter them, researchers employed a mixed-methods approach that used careful quantitative analysis of social media data as well as interviews with regional and security experts.

  Apr 12, 2018

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  Testing a Social Network Intervention to Reduce Substance Use

  A small randomized clinical trial found that a brief computer-assisted Motivational Interviewing social network intervention has potential to positively impact readiness to change alcohol and other drug use and abstinence self-efficacy among formerly homeless individuals transitioning to permanent supportive housing.

  Feb 9, 2018

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  A General Agent-Based Model of Social Learning

  Social networks may affect individual decisions in such a way as to also produce profound effects on decisionmaking at the population level. Researchers describe a general agent-based model (ABM) for studying social influence, and use that ABM to explore the relationship between micro-influence and macro-dynamics.

  Mar 31, 2017

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  Examining ISIS Support and Opposition on Twitter

  ISIS uses Twitter to inspire followers, recruit fighters, and spread its message. Its opponents use Twitter to denounce the group. To identify and characterize in detail both networks on Twitter, researchers use a mixed-methods analytic approach that draws on community detection algorithms to help detect interactive communities of Twitter users, lexical analysis that can identify key themes and content for large data sets, and social network analysis.

  Aug 16, 2016

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  Evaluating a Social Network Intervention to Reduce Risk Behaviors Among Housing First Residents

  Individuals transitioning from homelessness to housing face challenges reducing risky behaviors. Researchers piloted a study combining social network visualization with motivational interviewing to help participants transition and reduce high-risk behaviors.

  Mar 29, 2016

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  Health Implications of Social Networks for Children Living in Public Housing

  Social networks were significantly associated with alcohol consumption among teens living in public housing and with mental distress among girls, underscoring the potential importance of networks for the health of vulnerable children.

  Dec 3, 2015

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  Adolescents and Marijuana: Factors Contributing to Use, Non-Use, and Cessation

  With marijuana use increasing among American adolescents, a study examines the factors associated with quitting—including neighborhood, family, peer network, and individual factors. Results highlight the importance of such factors and show that relocated and isolated individuals may face challenges with cessation.

  Nov 1, 2014

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  Public Housing: Does Location Affect Health Perceptions?

  Leveraging a natural experiment in Montgomery County, Maryland, in which residents were randomly assigned to different types of public housing, researchers surveyed 453 heads of household, asking about their own health as well as the perceived health of their network members, including their neighbors. Residents of public housing scattered throughout market-priced neighborhoods reported modest health advantages compared to residents concentrated in public housing developments.

  Jan 1, 2014

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  Peer Influence on Marijuana Use in Different Types of Friendships

  An examination into whether structural features of friendships moderate friends' influence on adolescent marijuana use over time found reciprocation in the friendship and popularity to be important mitigating factors in the process of influence.

  Jan 1, 2013