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Instructional reform in STEM aims for the widespread adoption of evidence based instructional practices (EBIPS), practices that implement active learning. Research recognizes that faculty social networks regarding discussion or advice about teaching may matter to such efforts. But teaching is not the only priority for university faculty – meeting research expectations is at least as important and, often, more consequential for tenure and promotion decisions. We see value in understanding how research networks, based on discussion and advice about research matters, relate to teaching networks to see if and how such networks could advance instructional reform efforts. Our research examines data from three departments (biology, chemistry, and geosciences) at three universities that had recently received funding to enhance adoption of EBIPs in STEM fields. We evaluate exponential random graph models of the teaching network and find that (a) the existence of a research tie from one faculty member i to another j enhances the prospects of a teaching tie from i to j , but (b) even though faculty highly placed in the teaching network are more likely to be extensive EBIP users, faculty highly placed in the research network are not, dimming prospects for leveraging research networks to advance STEM instructional reforms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research reported in this article examines the impact of race and gender as status characteristics on the selection of teammates for a collectively oriented task. Expectation states research provides the theoretical grounding for the project and for hypotheses tested with choice models. Results suggest that expectation states/status characteristics theory may not apply to the task of teammate selection. We find that race and gender have different effects on the choices made by respondents; race does not function as a status characteristic but, rather, as an identity characteristic in which the ingroup is favored; and respondents, regardless of their own racial identity and gender identity, exhibit a strong bias toward women as teammates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As part of a longitudinal research effort that examines the influence of social capital on differential persistence and retention among undergraduate engineering majors, this study examines how engineering degree-related social capital differs for first-year engineering students by gender and ethno-racial groups. Social capital is operationalized as a person's network of relationships with individuals who hold influential positions (e.g. parent, teacher, advisers) and access to resources that support persistence in engineering programs. Our data comprise survey responses from 2186 first-year engineering students, from eleven diverse colleges and universities, who provided information about their participation in engineering-related courses, activities, and programs while in high school as well as the individuals who influenced their decision to pursue an engineering major. We found few differences in social capital between men and women, but found many differences among ethno-racial groups, which suggests that different levels of social capital could influence students' persistence and retention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives We aimed to examine scholarly collaboration between oral health and prenatal providers. Oral disease is a silent epidemic with significant public health implications for pregnant women. Evidence linking poor oral health during pregnancy to adverse pregnancy and birth outcomes requires oral health and prenatal providers to communicate on the prevention, treatment and co-management matters pertaining to oral health issues among their pregnant patients. The need for inter-professional collaboration is highlighted by guidelines co-endorsed by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the American Dental Association, stressing the importance of oral health care during pregnancy. Methods To assess if interdisciplinary communication occurs between oral health and prenatal disciplines, we conducted a network analysis of research on pregnancy-related periodontal disease. Results Social Network analysis allowed us to identify communication patterns between communities of oral health and prenatal professionals via scientific journals. Analysis of networks of citations linking journals in different fields reveals a core-periphery pattern dominated by oral health journals with some participation from medicine journals. However, an analysis of dyadic ties of citation reveals statistically significant 'inbreeding' tendencies in the citation patterns: both medical and oral health journals tend to cite their own kind at greater-than-chance levels. Conclusions Despite evidence suggesting that professional collaboration benefits patients' overall health, findings from this research imply that little collaboration occurs between these two professional groups. More collaboration may be useful in addressing women's oral-systemic health concerns that result in adverse pregnancy outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Teams are ubiquitous in contemporary business, government, health care, and education settings; hence, the process of team formation is worth close examination. We propose models based in expectation states theory for the probability that a particular candidate (or subset of candidates) is selected from a pool of potential team members who are differentiated along diffuse status characteristics. The candidates may be equally qualified in other respects, but the ways in which they differ will be activated under specified conditions and influence their chances of selection. We use the “motherhood penalty” literature to illustrate the model and the inferences it affords. Our concluding discussion notes that although a step forward in understanding team selection, the model cannot be the whole story as “suitability,” a legitimate consideration in the team formation process, is unaddressed by an expectation states based model focused solely on attributions of competence as the drivers of teammate choice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

I make the argument that mathematical sociology uniquely contributes to sociological theory through the theoretical models it develops to bridge the gap between the ideas of sociological theorists and data relevant to their empirical evaluation. My work on intergroup association and social integration, the fruit of a long-time collaboration with Fararo and more recently with Karpiński, is used throughout to illustrate my points. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article describes datasets from network exchange experiments collected at the University of South Carolina Laboratory for Sociological Research during 1989-1998. These datasets record time stamped negotiations between subjects as they seek to complete exchanges with one another. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article describes datasets from network exchange experiments collected at the University of South Carolina Laboratory for Sociological Research during 1989-1998. These datasets record time stamped negotiations between subjects as they seek to complete exchanges with one another. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We offer an integration of theory and method in the study of intergroup social associations. Specifically, we show that models for intergroup association tables developed using generic log-linear methods for categorical data analysis embody a general theoretical point of view on the driving force behind intergroup association, namely, as the outcome of a probabilistic process of repulsion from dissimilar others. We develop this argument and illustrate it with intermarriage data. We conclude by identifying the advantages that accrue to both theory and method when the theoretical assumptions underlying the application of a generic statistical methodology are clearly understood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine the impact of structural embeddedness, operationalized as a third-party effect, on bilateral trade of two goods (apparel and grain) with different levels of product differentiation and transactional uncertainty. Specifically, we test two competing hypotheses for how trade ties to third parties affect trade in a dyad: the balance hypothesis – common third-party contact(s) mediate information flows between two otherwise disconnected actors, thereby encouraging direct dyadic interactions between them and the structural hole hypothesis – such contact inhibits dyadic trade. Our longitudinal analyses of international trade data show that the balance hypothesis is supported in apparel trade (a differentiated good), whereas the structural hole hypothesis tends to be supported in grain trade (a homogeneous good). Implications of the findings are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Previous work on trade, mostly from an economic perspective, assumes dyadic independence, and thus that trade can be explained by attributes of such dyads. We critique these contentions from the perspective of structural embeddedness, hypothesizing that sharing common third-party trading partners encourages dyadic trade. We analyze international trade data of 78 countries in 1975 and 1996, using cross-sectional and longitudinal regression. Regression analyses support our hypothesis. A BIC analysis suggests that the structural embeddedness variables significantly improve the model fit. International exchange of commodities, like other social interactions, is shaped and constrained by structurally determined opportunities. Thus, an explanation of economic behavior, including trade, is not complete without reference to the triads in which a dyad is embedded. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Preferences for the racial neighborhood composition differ significantly between blacks and whites. Since [Schelling, Thomas. C. 1969. Models of Segregation. Memorandum RM-6014-RC. The RAND Corporation, Santa Monica, CA], it has been clear that these preference differences alone, even if mild, can lead to complete separation of racial groups. Recently published work by [Fossett, Mark. 2006. Ethnic preferences, social distance dynamics, and residential segregation: theoretical explorations using simulation analysis. Journal of Mathematical Sociology 30, 185–274] adds even greater certainty to the proposition. We explore this process empirically through a case study of a university housing system that recently experienced an increase in the residential separation between black and white students. Unlike residential segregation in the larger community, separation on the college campus does not have deep roots in institutionalized mechanisms of discrimination. In fact, residence assignment procedures are completely “color-blind.” Thus a college campus is an (almost) ideal place to study the role of preferences in residential segregation. We use data on the ranks continuing students give to residence halls in response to their housing applications and we relate the ranks different types of student give to halls of different racial composition. Not surprisingly, we find that percent black is associated with a higher, more preferred, rank for black students, but, surprisingly, we find such an integrationist preference is common among white students as well. However, the effect is much stronger for black than for white students and this difference has important consequences for the residential separation process. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The article presents an introduction to the paper "Ethnic Preferences, Social Distance Dynamics, and Residential Segregation: Theoretical Explanations Using Simulation Analysis," by Mark Fossett and the commentaries following it.

We describe and illustrate methodology for comparing networks from diverse settings. Our empirical base consists of 42 networks from four kinds of species (humans, nonhuman primates, nonprimate mammals, and birds) and covering distinct types of relations such as influence, grooming, and agonistic encounters. The general problem is to determine whether networks are similarly structured despite their surface differences. The methodology we propose is generally applicable to the characterization and comparison of network–level social structures across multiple settings, such as different organizations, communities, or social groups, and to the examination of sources of variability in network structure. We first fit a p[sup *] model (Wasserman and Pattison 1996) to each network to obtain estimates for effects of six structural properties on the probability of the graph. We then calculate predicted tie probabilities for each network, using both its own parameter estimates and the estimates from every other network in the collection. Comparison is based on the similarity between sets of predicted tie probabilities. We then use correspondence analysis to represent the similarities among all 42 networks and interpret the resulting configuration using information about the species and relations involved. Results show that similarities among the networks are due more to the kind of relation than to the kind of animal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

I reflect on the last 30 years of mathematical sociology from my point of view as a student of the field 30 years ago and how I expected the field to grow and develop. I discuss how the problems and prospects that concerned me 30 years ago are still relevant today. In particular, I elaborate on the intellectual frustrations faced by formal sociologists, the need for new mathematics to capture social science insights, the diversity of inquiry and lack of unification in mathematical sociology, and the need for formalists to offer empirically grounded models that appeal to the general reader on the basis of the empirical puzzles they explain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Once confined to networks in which dyads could be reasonably assumed to be independent, the statistical analysis of network data has blossomed in recent years. New modeling and estimation strategies have made it possible to propose and evaluate very complex structures of dependency between and among ties in social networks. These advances have focused exclusively on one-mode networks—that is, networks of direct ties between actors. We generalize these models to affiliation networks, networks in which actors are tied to each other only indirectly through belonging to some group or event. We formulate models that allow us to study the (log) odds of an actor's belonging to an event (or an event including an actor) as a function of properties of the two-mode network of actors' memberships in events. We also provide illustrative analysis of some classic data sets on affiliation networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social and economic exchanges often occur between strangers who cannot rely on past behavior or the prospect of future interactions to establish mutual trust. Game theorists formalize this problem as a "one-shot prisoner's dilemma" and predict mutual noncooperation. Recent studies, however, challenge this conclusion. If the game provides an option to exit (or to refuse to play), strategies based on "projection" (of a player's intentions) and "detection" (of the intentions of a stranger) can confer a "cooperator's advantage." Yet previous research has not found a way for these strategies to evolve from a random start or to recover from invasion by aggressive strategies that feign trustworthiness. We use computer simulation to show how trust and cooperation between strangers can evolve without formal or informal social controls. The outcome decisively depends, however, on two structural conditions: the payoff for refusing to play, and the embeddedness of interaction. Effective norms for trusting strangers emerge locally, in exchanges between neighbors, and then diffuse through "weak ties" to outsiders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Theoretical arguments which imply that organizational responses to problems of organizing work have different structural consequences than responses to problems of organizing people are empirically evaluated in a population of formal organizations. Data on 125 U.S. customshouses in 1885, 1886, 1890, and 1892 are used to test for hypothesized relationships between work volume, heterogeneity of work, organization size, three measures of differentiation, and two measures of task generalization/specialization. Results support the conventional argument that work differentiation is driven more by the social problems of organizing people than by the instrumental problems of organizing work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article proposes a theory to explain how actors in social exchange networks reach agreements on division of resources. Social exchange theory grew. from the application of the economic theory of exchange to social relationships. Sociology focuses on a problematic area for economic theory, the exchange of valued objects in, relatively small groups, where actors seek to settle on one optimal outcome out of a range of possibilities. Central to theoretical development today is a class of networks in which subtle power differences occur. This phenomenon is known as weak power. In these weak power networks, some positions may have advantages over others in acquiring resources through exchange. However, unlike the advantages in strong power networks, advantages in weak power networks are not progressive. Over a series of exchanges, a strong power advantage eventually results in one, exchange partner receiving nearly all available resources. Weak power is limited in range and magnitude. This necessitates theoretical refinement because adequate assessment of power differences between positions in weak power structures requires more, precise predictions of exchange rates at equilibrium.

A mathematical model of participation in person groups, derived from expectation states theory by Skvoretz (a), was tested in six-person task-oriented groups with systematically varying sex compositions The groups of undergraduate subjects performed a task modeled after that used by Fisek. Videotapes were made of group interactions and later coded for participation, interruptions, and conversational overlaps. The Skvoretz model fits the participation data poorly (as measured by a Chi-square goodness-of-fit test), primarily because there was much more variation in participation within statuses (male and female) than predicted by the model. A revised model which represents the groups' status structure as differentiated along a primary status dimension, sex, and then differentiated along secondary status dimensions within members of the same sex is suggested for a better fit to the participation data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Production systems are ordered sets of if-then rules linking knowledge and action. The authors show how these systems, developed and applied in artificial intelligence and cognitive science, can be used to construct empirically based symbolic interactional models of situated human interaction. The authors argue that production system models enhance the conceptual clarity and formal analytic capabilities of key ideas in Herben Blumer's methodological directives for sociology's symbolic interactionist perspective. The authors present both a general discussion and outline of production system model building and a case study in which they evaluate a model for the detailed analysis of customer-waitperson interactions in a restaurant setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our aim is the development of a formal basis for the analysis of institutional structure. While the concept of an institution is a central one in sociology, there has been much doubt about its analytical utility (Buckley, 1967: 161). The notion of a role- programme model, set out and discussed in this paper, appears to offer a precise analytical version of the institution concept. Its formal basis rests on representational techniques developed in information science. The approach is presented and exemplified with reference to a common institution, the restaurant, specifically waitress-customer interaction patterns, and its main implications for the analysis of institutional structure are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The method of E-state structuralism provides dynamic models for the evolution and development of networks in small groups. Our interest lies in the kind of social networks that these models produce. We ask the question of whether such models produce "interesting" structure from a network point-of-view, in particular, from the perspective of Holland and Leinhardt who argue that any network that can be modeled adequately using only properties of nodes and dyads has no social structure. We show that E-state structuralism models are models of social structure in this technical sense because they assume a bystander mechanism in the creation of ties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Actors accumulate resources--wealth--in exchange networks by making frequent and profitable exchanges. Network exchange research offers structural explanations for actors' differential earnings in particular exchanges, but not for the differential frequency with which particular exchanges occur. We address this deficiency by outlining and evaluating three explanations for exchange frequencies. We adapt the first two explanations, a random structure model and a random mutuality model, from existing theories of earnings differentials. The third model, a reciprocity model, offers an explanation based on actors' structurally determined tendencies to reciprocate the attention of others. The frequency with which various exchanges occur is conceptualized as a function of how actors' attempts to exchange with partners are biased by their locations and their partners' in the overall exchange network. Although the reciprocity model generally provides the best fit, our results suggest that the explanatory power of structural factors varies considerably between networks and settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article adds to the body of findings on how network position and the conditions of exchange influence an actor's power to obtain favorable outcomes. Four network structures of four persons each are examined in each of two experimental settings: a face-to-face setting, in which negotiations are carried out directly, and the ExNet setting, in which negotiations are carried out through a microcomputer-based electronic network. The structures are selected to provide further tests of the Markovsky et al. `s (1988) procedure for locating power positions. The different settings allow an assessment of the scope of their analysis. The results generally support their predictions. Also examined are two types of predictions. contingency and value, derived from the operant basis of Emerson's (1969) power-dependence theory. The contingency predictions receive more support than do the value predictions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several models of participation in status-differentiated groups are proposed, and their fit is examined with data from 31 six-person discussion groups which vary systematically in sex composition from entirely male to entirely female. The six models share a common framework in which participation is viewed as the outcome of two processes. first, a process by which chances to participate are channeled to group members, and second, a process by which chances are taken (or not) by the group members to whom they are allocated. The models differ at the level of specific assumptions about these processes: for example. in the baseline model chances are allocated equally to group members and each member has the same likelihood of taking a chance to which he or she is exposed. The best-fitting models are the basic hierarchy model first proposed by Horvath and a variant of this model in which higher-status actors are more likely than lower-status actors to take balances to which tiles are exposed. Neither model, however, provides completely satisfactory accounts of the data, suggesting the need for further study of how status differentiation affects participation in small-group task-oriented discussions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study of exchange in networks has been extremely fruitful, generating much theory and empirical analysis and uncovering basic structural principles governing the distribution of power in exchange networks. However, exchange is only one type of fundamental relation between actors. Willer's "Theory of Elementary Relations" proposes two others: coercion and conflict. There are several empirical studies of coercive relations but virtually no studies of conflict relations in networks. We propose a modified definition of conflict relations that we believe facilitates their experimental study. We then describe two experimental protocols designed to implement conflict relations as theoretical defined. Finally, we report on a study intended to evaluate the technical merits of each design and to provide a "proof of concept," namely, that conflict relations in networks can be studied experimentally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Leading theories of power in exchange networks make assumptions about actors' reactions to being included in or excluded from exchanges. These assumptions, that actors consistently included increase their demands on others and that actors consistently excluded decrease their demands, provide the behavioral mechanism by which structural differences in position convert into power advantages or disadvantages. We test these assumptions with data gathered by experiment from five different networks. We find that while actors generally respond as assumed, the parameters of response to inclusion and to exclusion are not symmetric, depend on the level of experience of the subjects, and interact both with type of network (strong power versus weak power) and with network position. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Much research on power development in exchange networks has demonstrated the effect of an actor's structural location on the exchange outcomes s/he experiences, without explicit attention to the process by which exchanges are completed. Our concern is with this process and, in particular, with the evaluation of some theoretical models of such negotiations. Observations of negotiations in two contrasting network exchange structures form the empirical basis for the examination of ideas from "resistance" theory, proposed by Heckathorn (1980) and Willer (1981), and simulation models built on simple actor decision strategies. We find that resistance ideas ate consistent with gross differences in negotiation patterns in the two structures and that at least some aspects of differences in negotiation can be accounted for by simple random activity channeled by network-based constraints on actors' opportunity sets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While much attention has been paid to the identification and distribution of power in exchange networks, little has been paid to the role information plays in these processes. This is surprising because information availability is one of the key differences between the two mare experimental research paradigms in this field, power-dependence and network exchange/elementary theory. The former investigates power distribution when subjects have no information about network structure while the latter examines the same problem under conditions of full information. We derive specific hypotheses about power devel- opment in ‘strong power’ networks under different information conditions using ‘resistance’ analysis, a set, of orienting ideas found in network exchange/elementary theory. We evaluate these derived functional forms against experimental data. We find that the effect of information on power development is consistent with the general resistance framework even though there is little support for its specific claims. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Narrative analysis is applied to episodes of interaction generated by coupled production systems con- trolling the activity of different processing units. Formal analysis of such coupled systems, conceived of as models of institutionalized social action, has shown that they generate context-free languages of interaction. This note suggests that narrative analysis of interaction strings in such languages has limited analytical utility: it offers neither a method to discriminate between well-formed and malformed strings of interaction nor a procedure to induce the underlying generative rule structure from a corpus of well-formed interaction strings. Therefore, the narrative method holds hale promise as a technique to examine the routinized activity composing a social institution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three research traditions that have developed formal representations of action structures are presented in the first part of this paper and preliminary attempts are made to unify them. These three efforts differ more or less substantially in focus: affect control (Heise 1979; 1985), institutionalized social action (Fararo and Skvoretz 1984; 1986) and action feasibility (Nowakowska 1973). In the second part of the paper, we attempt to place these formal models in a more general theoretical context, namely, that of sociological action theory as it has been developed in the work of Talcott Parsons. Our presentation here concentrates on cybernetic imagery in Parsonian action theory, particularly in relation to his famous AGIL scheme of analysis and in relation to his concern with types of actions and corresponding value-standards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay summarizes an inquiry that explores relations between the structure of stratified systems and the processes of vertical mobility. The inquiry considers economic stratification (the distribution of wealth) and is directed to determining whether the structural properties of stratification systems are sufficient to generate basic patterns in vertical mobility observed in empirical research, especially, the rank-distance effect. In particular, the question is whether these patterns can be generated even if movement is constrained by nothing more than the size of the population over which wealth is distributed and the total amount of wealth to be distributed. Our results show that the rank-distance effect emerges even under these minimal assumptions and, further, that rates and distances of vertical mobility are closely related to changes in these boundary parameters of a stratified system. The basic theory developed to relate structure and mobility provides results that are highly consistent with many empirical observations. It also challenges existing claims concerning the nature of the mechanisms determining the relative status immobility of most people in large scale systems. The theory implies that the way in which system structure constrains opportunity for movement is, by itself, sufficient to produce this result and others commonly observed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents a response by the authors to the commentaries on their paper "Institutions as Production Systems," that appear in the 1984 issue of the "Journal of Mathematical Sociology." Information on the main criticism of the paper; Assertion of the support on the use of formalisms developed in artificial intelligence and cognitive science to represent systems of social action; Revelation that the production system model with finite set of institutionalized normative rules does have the capability to generate an infinity of normatively acceptable sequences of action that may differ from one another in underlying structures.

This paper proposes a formal mode of representation and a corresponding way of thinking about institutionalized social action. It draws its representational technique and its way of thinking about its subject from several sources, including systems theory, cognitive science, and structuralism. It is based on the idea that a model involves a proposed generative mechanism for observable patterns of action and that such a generator must be a system of rules. We discuss the philosophical and sociological presuppositions of our proposal, then outline in detail and illustrate the idea of a production system model. Following this, we argue that the proposed mode of representation is appropriate for the action frame of reference and then develop a series of specific "problematics" involving the structural analysis of institutionalized social action. We conclude with a discussion of issues an problems for further research. The paper does not include mathematical work found elsewhere, although it tries to indicate its significance. Similarly, it does not include data analyses reported elsewhere, although it tries to show that the models make definite predictions about certain forms of data. In short, the paper strives to be a readable introduction to the conceptual foundations of a line of investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Frequently applications of game theory assume, but do not show, that games are contained in social structures. The new analysis offered here uncovers games embedded in structures by attributing strategies to some positions and deriving the pay-off matrices for others. As structures vary so do the games embedded in them. All strong power structures contain prisoners' dilemma games for at least some range of pay-offs while some contain a chain of prisoners' dilemma games linked by defections. As a result, the development of interpersonal power in strong power structures is produced by free-riding of those low in power. Examples of other types of structures are given and other games are found that do not contain defection chains. Issues of dynamics including rates of change of power and coalition formation as a condition of countervailing power are addressed. New experiments offer support for central formulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A program of research on the formal representation and analysis of institutional structures is taken a step further by integrating it with recent developments in the formal representation of hierarchical levels of inclusion or part-whole relations. We begin by reviewing a cybernetic conception of action and show how this relates to the construction of production system models of institutional structures. Thereafter, we treat the inclusion hierarchy to show how the production rule constitutes the conceptual unit integrating social knowledge and social action upon which are built two hierarchies, involving institutional entities and social networks, respectively. We indicate some of the detailed forms of control involved in these hierarchies and then show how a form of functional analysis can be undertaken on this basis. Finally, we provide a lengthy discussion of the promise and problems of this mode of structural analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We evaluate four theories that predict the distribution of power in exchange networks. All four theories--core theory, equidependence theory, exchange-resistance theory, and expected value theory--assume actors rationally pursue self-interests. Three of the theories add social psychological assumptions that place the pursuit of self interest in an interactive context. Predictions of exchange earnings by the four theories are evaluated against data from eight experimental networks, including types of networks not previously studied These networks vary conditions that affect the chances that a position can be excluded from exchange. We find that when the theories base predictions on a network position's structural potential for exclusion, exchange-resistance theory provides the best fit, but when predictions are based on actual experiences of exclusion, expected value theory fits best. Our discussion focuses on the distinction between the a priori potential for exclusion versus experienced exclusion as factors in the genesis of power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We extend network exchange theory (Markovsky, Wilier, and Patton 1988) to accommodate a new class of power phenomena. Previous theory and research have shown that structural configurations in some networks promote or inhibit exchange opportunities, leading to robust power and resource differentials. The extension identifies a structural basis for subtler forms of differentiation. Using computer simulations and laboratory experiments, we show that the degree to which this "weak power" is manifested in resource accumulations is conditioned by local and global network patterns, and by the experience and strategies of actors in the network. Experimental tests corroborate the predicted weak power effects and the consequences of variations in actors' negotiating experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper unifies two strands of theoretical method in sociology. On the one hand, the structuralist or network program of research involves the fundamental rule that basic data and analytic procedures of sociology must focus on social relations. This leads to theories about structural stability or change, for example, although the network approach generally has been stronger on technique than on explanatory theory. An interest in theoretical explanation is the basis of the second theoretical method, which is drawn from the expectation states theoretical research program: namely, the idea of a dynamic co-causal process involving an unobservable relational construct termed an expectation state and an observable form of social behavior. The paper outlines the basic ideas of each of these two theoretical methods. It then proposes a new theoretical method which synthesizes the two and whose function is to provide a procedure for constructing explanatory models of social structural stability and change. This new method is termed "E-state structuralism." An extended example is provided of how the method is used to construct a theory, first presenting the theory in axiomatic form and then empirically testing it. The subject matter of the theory is the over-time transformation in the structure of dominance relations among a small group of animals. The paper concludes with a review of how the generic method was exemplified in the particular theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article responds to Barry Markovsky's critique of the paper "Games and Structures" written by the present authors and appeared in a previous issue of "Rationality and Society." The author relates that their paper introduces a new method, strategic analysis which attributes parametric rationality to some positions in order to derive games for others. Most strikingly, when high power positions are parametrically rational, low power positions play a virtual prisoners dilemma (P/D) game. The game is virtual because low power positions are not directly connected to each other. Nevertheless, the structure plus the parametric rationality of the high power position links activity such that low power players' cooperation and defection are related in a P/D pay-off matrix. The paper includes a general proof that all strong power structures contain P/D games for at least some range of settlements. Examples of other kinds of structures are given and it is shown that they do not contain P/D games. As shown in the paper, because defection is Pareto suboptimal, when peripheral players defect, they gain less with the benefit going to the high power positions with which they are exchanging. That benefit is the power exercise.

The STEM climate is overall less welcoming for queer students, and is especially harrowing for transgender, nonbinary, and students with additional gender non-conforming identities (TNBGNC+). Professional STEM societies provide students with a range of resources that help them persist in STEM, though qualitative research shows that such societies geared toward queer and trans students may offer less professional and academic resources and prioritize identity management. The objective of our research is to identify, among queer and trans students, whether there are differences between how TNBGNC+ students and gender majoritized students access resources important in STEM persistence across professional society types, including those societies organized to serve women, racial/ethnic minoritized groups, queer and trans groups, as well as those science societies and chapters without a stated group focus. The society resources we focus on include: sense of community, social networking, professional resources, leadership skills, academic resources, reduced isolation related to identities, and perceptions that societies in which they may participate are helpful to them in their degree progress. This study offers an analysis of survey data from 477 queer and trans STEM undergraduates relating to their participation in STEM professional societies. To conduct this research, we embraced and enacted recommendations by scholars on strategies and frameworks to queer our methodology, survey, and analysis. We found that at oSTEM, TNBGNC+ students may not be benefitting to the same extent as gender majoritized students when it comes to feeling in community with other members and having opportunities for social networking. However, TNBGNC+ students may benefit more from a reduction in isolation related to their identities. Differences in how SWE served TNBGNC+ students echoes previous work, and may speak to the society's organization around the cisgender, patriarchal framework. SHPE's relative success with TNBGNC+ students also reproduces existing work, suggesting the society may be more largely scaffolded for more affirming environments writ large. As well, that science in comparison to industry chapters were more beneficial to TNBGNC+ students brings forward possible differences between science and industry chapters, in which the former may be influenced more by the scholarship and science of gender, while the latter, with its more business and public focus, could be more influenced by dominant narratives in STEM. This work has implications for societies when it comes to enacting policies to cultivate more inclusive community environments and buttress potentially unequal access to social networking as well as professional and academic resources. At the same time, there is room for oSTEM to augment how it supports TNBGNC+ students with academic and professional resources and benefit students' progress in their degree programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the increasing availability of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), Latinx men who have sex with men (LMSM) are not receiving PrEP-related information. To understand the influence of LMSM sexual networks on PrEP-related conversations and encouragement to use PrEP, this cross-sectional egocentric network study characterized the PrEP-related communication of 130 LMSM egos with 507 sexual partners (alters). Participants were recruited using respondent-driven sampling methods from a Miami-Dade County community-health organization. Egocentric-level data were collected from 2018–2019 and analyzed using multilevel modeling. Of egos, 30% reported using PrEP. Closeness between participants and sexual partners played a role in PrEP conversation and encouragement. Participants believed they would have less success convincing sexual partners to use PrEP if partners were older. Participants perceived higher likelihood to talk about PrEP or success in encouraging alters to use PrEP if, relative to meeting sexual partners on Grindr, they met at a friend's party, gay-centric community event, or school/work. Given that increased closeness and in-person sexual partner meeting venues are associated with PrEP information dissemination and encouragement, social network-based interventions can capitalize on PrEP navigators who run network visualizations, and with this information develop a longitudinal plan to increase PrEP conversation and encouragement as needed for each network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the wide availability of PrEP, Latino men who have sex with men (LMSM) continue to experience access barriers. Novel HIV prevention research strategies to increase PrEP uptake and adherence among the high incidence populations, such as LMSM who misuse drugs, include social network analyses. This study identified the associations of drug use homophily within LMSM friendship networks and PrEP promotion conversations and described the physical overlap between geographic drug risk areas with conversations of PrEP promotion. Respondent-driven sampling was used to recruit 10 sociocentric networks. Quadratic assignment procedure (QAP) correlations and multiple regression QAPs were used to identify influences of drug use homophily, and geocoding and visualizations to describe drug use polygons and PrEP conversations. Friendship relationships in which both friends used cocaine or marijuana were more likely to report PrEP-related conversations in the past six months. The likelihood of talking about PrEP in the next six months was higher among dyads with cocaine use homophily and ecstasy use homophily, while lower among dyads with marijuana use homophily. Participants reported using marijuana and cocaine throughout Miami-Dade County while ecstasy polygons were mostly in urban areas. The majority of drug polygons associated with PrEP conversations were located in north and central Miami. Future interventions can consider enrolling entire sociocentric friendship groups, configuring friendship networks to connect those without PrEP information to those with information, and incorporating peer leaders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the dataset that represents the printed program of the Sunbelt Conference, the annual meeting of the International Network for Social Network Analysis (INSNA), held in Hamburg, Germany, in May 2013. It explores the process creating the conference program based on submitted abstracts and proposed paper presentations and sessions. The dataset includes several tables used to create the printed and the interactive online program.

Undergraduates with sexual and/or gender minority (SGM) identities, including lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, pansexual, intersexual, asexual, or additional positionalities, often face an unwelcoming STEM microclimate. The STEM microclimate includes the places students experience, such as classrooms or labs, and the people, such as peers or professors, with whom they discuss their STEM program. While previous work offers a framework of microaggressions faced by SGM people, and the behavioral, cognitive, and emotional strategies they use to react to them, little is known about the strategies SGM students use to persist in the STEM microclimate. We analyze interviews with 29 SGM STEM undergraduates to uncover how they fit in STEM, their experiences that affect fit, how social capital in the form of influential others affects fit, and the strategies used to deal with microaggressions and cultivate a supportive network. Using thematic analysis, we find that students vary in their feelings of fit, with students with gender minority identities experiencing more frequent and more severe microaggressions than students with sexual minority identities (which are often less visible). We likewise find that students with racial minority identities report compounding issues related to identity. SGM students with social capital, or a network of people to whom they can turn in order to access advice and resources, believe they fit in better than those without such capital. To support their feelings of fit, students use defenses against discrimination, including micro-defenses, wherein they change how they present their self to avoid microaggressions and/or surround themselves with accepting people. This research highlights the role of microaggressions and social capital in affecting fit as well as the micro-defenses students use to defend against discrimination. Our introduction of the concept of micro-defenses provides a way to theorize about micro-interactional dynamics and the site at which students defend against microaggressions so they feel more welcome in STEM. Implications provide insight into how SGM students can be supported in STEM as well as the institutional changes STEM departments and campuses can make in order to better support and include SGM students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: US Latino men who have sex with men (LMSM) are a group at highest risk for HIV. One driver of HIV among LMSM is inadequate access to pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) information. The social network theory of homophily suggests that sharing similar sociodemographic factors could influence PrEP conversations within networks. This study aimed to determine how the effects of homophily across sociodemographic, immigration, cultural, and PrEP-related factors are associated with PrEP-related communication. Setting: This study was conducted in Miami-Dade County, FL. Methods: Data collected between August 2018 and October 2019 included 10 sociocentric friendship groups of 13 LMSM (N = 130). Participants were recruited using respondent-driven sampling by a community-based organization in Miami. We used the multiple regression quadratic assignment procedure to identify the effects of homophily and relationship characteristics on PrEP-related conversations using R software. Results: More frequent PrEP-related conversations were associated with dyadic friendships characterized by homophily on knowledge of PrEP effectiveness, heterophily on depressive symptom severity, home addresses proximity, friend closeness, and interaction frequency. Past PrEP-related conversation frequency also increased based on heterophily on the Latino cultural value of familism (ie, emotional support to family). Racial homophily, heterophily on severity of depressive symptoms, home addresses proximity, friendship closeness, and frequency of interactions increased likelihood to encourage a friend to use PrEP. Discussion: Social and spatial closeness and homophily play a role in PrEP-related conversations. Information from social networks contextualized in geographic settings can be elucidated to contribute toward the design of novel opportunities to end HIV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]