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Chasing shadows: defining network boundaries in qualitative social network analysis
Open accessAbstract
Defining network boundaries is a key challenge in social network analysis. In our recent qualitative study of network influences on educational decision-making — based on interviews with 107 individuals from 16 case study networks — the set of members with whom interviews were secured in each case represented only a sub-set of the broader networks from which they were drawn. Following an introduction to our study and an outline of our approach, we consider some of the processes of filtering and selection that affected the specific composition of our network sample, and reflect upon what this tells us about the processes by which participants in network-based research make decisions about the representation of their networks within research contexts. We then explore the question of whether the partiality of our data actually matters, and conclude that it reflects the permeable, partial and dynamic nature of social networks, characteristics which are central to qualitatively-informed understandings of SNA.
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“A growing body of research (e.g., Heath et al. 2009, Edwards 2010, Hollstein 2014, Bellotti 2014, Ahrens 2018, Yousefi Nooraie et al. 2020) highlights the benefits of integrating quantitative and qualitative approaches in SNA to gain a more comprehensive understanding of social phenomena.”
From A heuristic framework to portray agroecological transition initiatives in reflexive arrangements, illustrated with a conservation agriculture network in Denmark (2025) · cites this paper as Heath et al. 2009
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Metadata
- Authors
- Heath, S., Fuller, A., & Johnston, B.
- Affiliations
- University of Southampton (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Heath, Sue
- Venue
- Qualitative Research
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2009-11
- Volume
- 9
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 645-661
- ISSN
- 1468-7941 (ISSN-L)
- 1741-3109
- OpenAlex
- W1991552697
- Cited by
- 137
- References
- 21
- Citations by year
- 2026: 7 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 14 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 9 · 2021: 15 · 2020: 15 · 2019: 7 · 2018: 8 · 2017: 10 · 2016: 9 · 2015: 8 · 2014: 7 · 2013: 6 · 2012: 6
- FWCI
- 7.58
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Locations
- Qualitative Research (publishedVersion)
- Research Explorer (The University of Manchester) (publishedVersion)
- ePrints Soton (University of Southampton) (acceptedVersion)
- UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Economic and Social Research Council (RES-139-25-0232)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Sociology and Education Studies
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Statistical and Nonlinear Physics › Complex Network Analysis Techniques
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Focus Groups and Qualitative Methods
- Keywords
- network boundaries, network sampling, network composition, educational decision-making, network dynamics
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