容忍延迟网络中基于生灭模型的消息控制方法

提出了在多拷贝传递的基础上增加消息拷贝消除机制,合理地控制了网络中的消息拷贝数。在网络中根据节点相遇时消息拷贝数发生变化的特性,构造了消息拷贝数的离散时间的马尔可夫链,建立生灭模型,进一步验证并得出了平稳分布。通过仿真实验比较,相遇次数与时间基本上是线性关系,与理论模型极为相近。与传染路由比较,采用拷贝消除机制网络中的消息拷贝数有了明显的减少,消息成功传递率达到90%,适当增加延迟时间,能够达到100%。消息拷贝数的平稳分布与仿真实验中基本一致。     

QQ群好友关系的复杂网络研究

本文抽样构建了QQ群好友关系的复杂网络模型,并对其属性及动力机制进行了分析,然后通过对微软俱乐部好友群的问卷调查,讨论中心度对组织活动的意义。得出QQ群好友网络具有稀疏性、增长性与小世界性,以及成员的中心度越大,参与活动的力度与影响力越大的结论。     

复杂性范式视野下的复杂网络研究及其意义

在对复杂性的探索过程中,科学研究的思维方式经历了由“还原论范式”到“整体论范式”再到“复杂性范式”的转换,复杂网络理论是近年来在探索复杂性问题上的一个新的研究视角。本文对复杂性研究和复杂网络理论的研究进展作了梳理,对二者的关系和意义进行了探讨,结合实例分析了复杂网络模型方法模拟复杂系统涌现的过程,在肯定这一方法的同时,也指出了该方法的局限性。     

Subcontracting and the incidence of change orders in procurement contracts

In public procurement, most contracts are renegotiated ex post and involve subcontractors. We examine whether there is a causal link between subcontractor use and the incidence of change orders to amend the original scope of a project. Since subcontracting is likely related to unobserved project complexity, we use a novel IV, the predicted level of subcontracting from a method modeled after Christakis et al. (2010), to estimate the likelihood of renegotiation. The results establish that subcontractors are associated with an increased likelihood of change orders as well as a higher dollar amount renegotiated.     

Not necessarily a place: How mobile transnational online workers (digital nomads) construct and experience ‘home’

This article adds to current research on mobile transnational online workers (digital nomads) who travel the world in search of a holistic lifestyle that balances work and leisure. Using Kannisto's (2014) and D'Andrea's (2007) work on ‘global nomads’ as a theoretical lens and Nowicka's (2007) research on mobile professionals as a guide, I discuss the multiple meanings of ‘home’ for digital nomads who stayed in Chiang Mai, Thailand, in 2019. I will show that people feel at home when travelling with a loved one or by surrounding themselves with objects of emotional value. Furthermore, digital nomads create a feeling of being at home by connecting with their family via social media and video calling apps, while at the same time keeping them at a comfortable distance. Finally, some digital nomads envision an idealized ‘home base’ that is defined by social relations and not necessarily by the geography or amenities of a place.     

Order of recall and meaning of closeness in collecting affective network data

The paper investigates how study participants handle the so-called “hierarchical mapping technique”, an affective name generator developed by Antonucci (1986), which is accompanied by a diagram enabling respondents to compare alters with regard to different degrees of closeness. By applying the thinking-aloud method, we identified three patterns in the order of recalling alters: closeness as overarching schema (with either role relationships or relationship properties as subordinate schema), roles and foci as overarching schema, and a fraying schema. In addition, we investigated how study participants understand and interpret “closeness”. The meanings of closeness can refer to various relationship properties, cultural framing, and relationship dynamics. Results show that specific meanings of closeness are related to different recall patterns. Furthermore, recall patterns vary according to the socio-economic status of the participants. Finally, implications for the construction of name generators and data collection are discussed.     

Network Canvas: Key decisions in the design of an interviewer-assisted network data collection software suite

Self-reported social network analysis studies are often complex and burdensome, both during the interview process itself, and when conducting data management following the interview. Through funding obtained from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA/NIH), our team developed the Network Canvas suite of software – a set of complementary tools that are designed to simplify the collection and storage of complex social network data, with an emphasis on usability and accessibility across platforms and devices, and guided by the practical needs of researchers. The suite consists of three applications: Architect: an application for researchers to design and export interview protocols; Interviewer: a touch-optimized application for loading and administering interview protocols to study participants; and Server: an application for researchers to manage the interview deployment process and export their data for analysis. Together, they enable researchers with minimal technological expertise to access a complete research workflow, by building their own network interview protocols, deploying these protocols widely within a variety of contexts, and immediately attaining the resulting data from a secure central location. In this paper, we outline the critical decisions taken in developing this suite of tools for the network research community. We also describe the work which guides our decision-making, including prior experiences and key discovery events. We focus on key design choices, taken for theoretical, philosophical, and pragmatic reasons, and outline their strengths and limitations.     

Collecting experimental network data from interventions on critical links in workplace networks

This article describes and discusses challenges associated with interventionist network data gathering in organizational settings, with a special focus on dyadic interventions. While pointing out major risks of these approaches, we argue that collecting data in combination with dyadic network alteration methods can enable social network researchers to explore network mechanisms from a new angle and potentially benefit the members of the targeted social networks and the entire collectives, if certain research design and implementation principles are followed. We introduce a facilitated self-disclosure method for strengthening critical dyads in social networks in combination with longitudinal and retrospective network measurement. We assess the participants’ perceptions of the different stages of this process by qualitative interviews. The study illustrates that experimental network data collection includes some extra challenges in addition to the many challenges of observational network data collection but participants also reported practical benefits that would not be gained through observational network surveys alone. The results highlight the importance of early and continuous communication during the data collection process with all research participants, not just the management, and the benefits of sharing more of the preliminary results. The lessons learnt through this study can inform the design of experimental network data collection to prioritize the preferences of the participants and their benefits.     

Hubs and Authorities in the Koch Brothers Network

The empirical focus is centered on the large social movement network created by the Koch Brothers to further their aims of transforming the US. The network was obtained by using the VOSON web crawler given a starting set of known allies of the Koch Brothers. This produced a large directed network with links between units. We propose using the idea of hubs and authorities as another way of considering the roles played by the units within this network. These roles may be more complex than has been realized. We have included an analysis of the core interests for the members of this network.     

Innovation capability: A sociometric approach

To remain competitive worldwide, firms need to focus on their knowledge-based activities and possess specific abilities that allow them to unravel their potential to innovate. This need has led to an increasing interest in understanding the factors that allow a firm to develop its innovation capability. However, given the complexity of the phenomenon, there is no consensus on the nature and definition of innovation capability. Moreover, most existent studies have focused on studying innovation as a psychometric phenomenon; however, this approach neglects the social dimension of the construct. Thus, an exploratory study is conducted to examine a firm’s capability to innovate from a sociometric perspective. To achieve this objective, 61 surveys were distributed in the biotechnology area of a Mexican university. In addition, informal relations and knowledge sharing are analyzed as determinants of innovation capability. Since, the multiple regression quadratic assignment procedure (MRQAP) is applied.The results reveal that friendship relations become the base for knowledge sharing and, at the same time, this factor positively impacts a firm’s innovation capability.