Portland State University PDXScholar Dissertations and Theses Dissertations and Theses Winter 3-21-2016 Finding the Missing Links: A Comparison of Social Network Analysis Methods Shawn James Mehess Portland State University Follow this and additional works at: https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/open_access_etds Part of the Developmental Psychology Commons, Educational Sociology Commons, and the Social Psychology Commons Let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Mehess, Shawn James, "Finding the Missing Links: A Comparison of Social Network Analysis Methods" (2016). Dissertations and Theses. Paper 2728. https://doi.org/10.15760/etd.2724 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of PDXScholar. Please contact us if we can make this document more accessible: pdxscholar@pdx.edu. Finding the Missing Links: A Comparison of Social Network Analysis Methods by Shawn James Mehess A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Psychology Thesis Committee: Thomas Kindermann, Chair Ellen Skinner Andrew Mashburn Portland State University 2016 Finding The Missing Links, i Abstract Too many students leave school without even the essential skills (ACT, 2011), and many others are so drained by the experience they lack a desire to continue on to a post-secondary education. Academic engagement has emerged as a construct representing students’ personal investment in school (Greenwood, Delquadri, & Hall, 1984), and may be a psychological variable which can be intervened on. However, interventions must occur as quickly as possible to maximize their efficiency (Heckman, 2007). Students’ peer groups may be a particularly potent venue of intervention, however several options exist for how to go about measuring their social networks. In this thesis, social networking data of the only middle school of a small town in the north-eastern United States is analyzed to determine the properties of two collection methods (self-reported networks and participant observations) and four network identification methods (probability scores, reciprocal nominations, factor-analyses, and rule-based). Analyses overwhelmingly supported participant observations as a more inclusive, less biased data collection method than self-reports. Meanwhile, hypothesis tests were somewhat mixed on the most inclusive, least biased network identification method, but after a consideration of the findings and the structural properties of each network, the probability score method was deemed the most useful network. Implications, future research, strengths, and limitations are discussed. Finding The Missing Links, ii Acknowledgements This thesis was written over the course of seven years, and without the help of a small village of loved ones, well-wishers, and interested scholars it may have taken much more. I thank my advisor Thomas Kindermann for believing in me and sticking with me for so long, spending the countless hours typing e-mails and meeting with me to help shape the focus, hypotheses, and analyses. Ellen Skinner has also been an invaluable source of suggestions and alternate takes on many of my assumptions. Andrew Mashburn, for attacking such a lengthy thesis on such a short time-line, but giving it his all and providing wonderful and helpful critiques. Finally, the many conversations I have had with Justin Vollet, Price Johnson, Hyuny Clark-Shim, and James DeLaney have been vital in shaping my approach, hypotheses, and analyses. Finally, I would like to thank my family. First, my wife, Brittany Vuylsteke, who has stuck it out with me for so long, supporting me even while working on her own Master’s degree. Without her help, her understanding, her encouragement, and her ideas, this thesis would surely be a fraction of what it is now. Second, my parents, who were so excited about my thesis, even if they had trouble understanding it, and whose excitement boosted me and kept me going along. Finally, my four-year-old son, James Vuylsteke- Mehess, whose unending love for me inspires me to attempt so much more than I ever dreamed I would, all for him. Finding The Missing Links, iii Table of Contents Abstract ................................................................................................................................ i Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................. ii List of Tables ..................................................................................................................... ix List of Figures ..................................................................................................................... x CHAPTER 1: Introduction ................................................................................................. 1 CHAPTER 2: Literature Review ........................................................................................ 6 Academic Engagement ................................................................................................... 6 Competence................................................................................................................. 7 Autonomy ................................................................................................................... 8 Relatedness ................................................................................................................. 8 Defining Social Network Analysis ............................................................................... 11 Social networking metrics......................................................................................... 13 Network Identification Methods ................................................................................... 14 Friendships ................................................................................................................ 14 Participant observations ............................................................................................ 23 Social Network Analysis Methods................................................................................ 47 Actor dependencies ................................................................................................... 47 Modeling influence ................................................................................................... 50 Procedures for modeling influence ........................................................................... 60 Finding The Missing Links, iv Social networks and academic engagement .............................................................. 65 Social network context .............................................................................................. 69 CHAPTER 3: The Current Study ..................................................................................... 73 Network Measurement .................................................................................................. 74 Network Identification Methods ................................................................................... 77 Research Questions ....................................................................................................... 79 CHAPTER 4: Method ....................................................................................................... 82 Setting and Sample ....................................................................................................... 82 Design and Measures .................................................................................................... 83 Teacher-reports of engagement ................................................................................. 83 Peer groups................................................................................................................ 84 Network identification .............................................................................................. 85 CHAPTER 5: Results ....................................................................................................... 89 Descriptive Statistics ..................................................................................................... 89 Collection Method Hypothesis Tests ............................................................................ 89 Whole population ...................................................................................................... 90 Population by gender ................................................................................................ 91 Population by engagement ........................................................................................ 92 Network Identification Method Hypothesis Tests ........................................................ 93 Whole population ...................................................................................................... 93 Finding The Missing Links, v Population by gender ................................................................................................ 94 Population by engagement ........................................................................................ 95 Agreement Analyses ..................................................................................................... 96 Percent overlap.........................................................................................................