|
Table of Contents | Background
& Objective | Contributors
Spatially Integrated Social Science: Chapter 10
< Chapter 9 - Chapter
11 >
The
Spatial Structure of Urban Political Discussion Networks
Munroe Eagles,
Paul Bélanger, and
Hugh W. Calkins
Abstract
Social network analyses have increased
in popularity in recent years, partly because the snowball
sampling technique they employ "liberated" scholars
from their reliance on geographically constrained research
designs in their investigations of interpersonal influence
on political behavior. While refreshingly sociological in
their approach, such innovations in survey research have ironically
further contributed to the intellectual devaluation of space
in quantitative analyses of political behavior. In this chapter,
we take up the challenge of bringing geography back in to
the analysis of sociometric data. Using a truncated snowball
sample survey of South Bend, Indiana residents in which we
have geocoded respondents, we show that there are identifiable
patterns in the geographic structure of urban political discussion
networks, as measured by the distance separating discussion
partners ("dyad distance"). Specifically, dyad
distance is shown to vary as a function of the main respondent's
education, age, income, race, the intimacy of the relationship,
and the setting in which discussion partners met. However,
the distance separating discussion partners does not appear
to significantly enhance the transmission of political influence,
net of other factors.
Figures
Tables
|
