About us

The Center of Theory and Methods of Social Network Analysis has been founded by Prof. Andrea Salvini, and a group of researchers and scholars in 2007 at the University of Pisa, Department of Political Science.

The Center is one of the national poles in the sociological field, having a longtime tradition in the areas of Third Sector, Social Capital, Social Work, School and Education, Religion, and Interactions. We also work on qualitative methods, and on qualitative network analysis.

The core activities are different, mainly devoted to combine research and education. We edited an introductive monograph on Social Network Analysis (Pisa University Press, 2007), a successful collective book (FrancoAngeli, 2009), and many other publications on social phenomena and social relationships. The Center organized three International Workshops on Social Network Theory and Methods (2009, 2011, 2013), and a Spring School on Methods of Social Network Analysis with R (2020). We are currently involved in projects and research activities, also in partnership with Institutions, Universities, (public and private) Organizations, both in Italy and abroad.

You’ll find more info about all the previous lines in the related sections of our website.

Ciclo di seminari Introduzione alla Scienza della Complessità

Il Center of Theory and Methods of Social Network Analysis organizza un ciclo di seminari con il Prof. Manlio De Domenico (Docente di Fisica Applicata presso l’Università di Padova) sui temi: #complessità, #modelli, #retisociali, #multilayernetwork.

I 3 seminari si svolgeranno secondo la seguente scansione:
martedi 17 maggio, ore 9:30-11:30
mercoledi 18 maggio, ore 9:30-11:30
Venerdi 20 maggio, ore 9:30-12:30

In allegato il programma

Il link per connettersi all’aula virtuale dei seminari è:
https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting_MTdmZTRlZTktNTNlOC00MjMxLWEyY2MtMzc2ODc2NjAyOWM3%40thread.v2/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%22c7456b31-a220-47f5-be52-473828670aa1%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%22b4398f1e-8d93-434b-8495-2725010910b9%22%7d
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EUSN 2021 – Session on Multilevel Analysis for the study of Welfare Communities

We inform you the Call for Abstracts is now open for the EUSN 2021 – 5th European Conference on Social Networks, to be held in Naples (Italy) from 7 to 10 September 2021 (online or in-person). We invite you to send proposals to the following session:

Social network perspective and multilevel analysis for the study of welfare communities

Description
The networked structure of community welfare generates a complex system where organizations, local institutions, third sector actors, or individuals are knitted together. Such knitting shapes both formal and informal structures of participation for the construction of intervention communities and affects their results and performance at multiple levels. SNA provides a wide range of measures, tools, useful not only for reading and interpreting the phenomena of community welfare network, community participation, and governance but also for implementing network policies with the aim of generating social change.
This organized session aims to bring together studies on community welfare and formal and informal participation networks that address the structure of networks and the implications of one-level o cross-level processes that lead to the emergence of relationships and outcomes at various levels. Interested participants are allowed to submit theoretical, methodological, or empirical papers, contributing to one or several of the following thematic areas:
a)    Multilevel network between social and other kinds of networks within and across community settings: how networks structure is affected by the affiliation of individuals or organizations to events or groups;
b)    Formal and informal participation networks between various actors in the intervention communities: what factors in these networks are able to influence individual and community performance.

Keywords
Multilevel analysis, Network approach, Communities, Welfare, Third sectors, Community performance, Formal and informal Network, Network governance, Inter-organizational network, Inter-personal network

Session organizers
Andrea Salvini and Antonietta Riccardo

Deadline: May 31
The submission linkhttp://www.eusn2021.unina.it/callforpapers.html



Accepted to #Networks2021!

Happy to share that we have an abstract accepted for #Networks2021!

For more info about Networks 2021, click https://networks2021.net/

For more info about our abstracts, please see below:

Analysis of urban participation networks through Multilevel Ergm

Authors: Andrea Salvini and Antonietta Riccardo

Abstract

Recent application examples of Social Network Analysis show the capability of this theoretical and methodological perspective to capture the complexity of system interactions, in particular forms of multilevel dependencies that affect the formation of interpersonal connections.

Some of the most promising statistical models used for multilevel dependencies analysis are multilevel exponential random graph models (MERGMs), belonging to ERGM models family: analytical tools potentially able to analyse multi-level networks. MERGMs offer a statistical strategy that captures this complex structure through certain network configurations based on the assumptions of constraint dependence; according to this approach, these configurations should provide evidence on the social processes that give rise to the network structure observed at the micro level (Wang et al., 2013).

The general aim is to show how these models are fit for analysis of urban participation networks, a combination of flows and people, both at a micro, meso and a macro level: they are characterized by a complex social morphology since they are embedded in larger structures which can include several levels of action or layers of the urban social system. The tendency of citizens to form interpersonal links depends not only on spatial co-habitation, but also on other types of relational micro dimensions to which they are affiliated in, and on the incorporation of these relational structures in a macro (districts, neighborhoods) urban context. The multilevel perspective is based on the idea that social contexts are not simply made up of “alters” as social actors, but rather of differentiated social foci around which shared activities are organised. Such social foci tend to induce dependency relationships among participants because: “individuals will tend to create interpersonal links to form a group” (Feld 1981, p. 1015) and thus to condition each other.

In this sense, a very interesting cognitive challenge will be offered by the experience of urban participation of the so-called Quartieri Uniti Eco Solidali (QUES) in the city of Livorno, Italy. The aim of these neighbourhood groups is to create a participatory process aimed at building an eco-solidarity neighbourhood model based on a network adopting solidarity and environmental sustainability practices. The ultimate goal is to create a real network of neighbourhoods throughout the city in order to experiment with methods of bottom-up democracy.

The paper aims to report on an empirical research conducted within the QUES groups, carried out according to the perspective of SNA and Mergms, aimed at understanding the structure of the relationships among members and among the groups themselves, in order to understand their characteristics and properties at different levels. The research questions that the survey attempted to answer are, in particular:

  • Participation in the same urban participation events or engagement in thematic groups formed across neighbourhood (macro-level network) is a factor able to influence the structure of the intra-neighbourhood networks (micro-level network) and vice versa;
  • Ques participation networks have led to increased levels of civic engagement and collective efficacy;
  • MERGM can represent a feasible analytical strategy to represent multi-level mechanisms of network link formation.

New publication out – #SNA and #UrbanNetwork #Theory

Riccardo A. & Salvini A., La Social Network Analysis e le reti di partecipazione urbana, in Elena Dundovich (a cura di), “Partecipazione, conflitti, sicurezza. Mutamento e dinamiche evolutive dagli anni Cinquanta ad oggi”, 2020, Pisa University Press, ISBN 978-883339-3681

https://www.pisauniversitypress.it/scheda-libro/autori-vari/partecipazione-conflitti-e-sicurezza-978-883339-3681-575694.html

NOTICE: PISA SPRING SCHOOL POSTPONEMENT

Due to the particular situation with regard to the spreading of the Covid-19, the Spring School on “Methods of Social Network Analysis with R“, scheduled for April 20 to 24, is temporarily suspended.

The decision is necessary to protect everyone’s health and to encourage a more serene and less difficult participation. The hypothesis on which we are working on is to realize the Summer School from July 6 to 10 or the following week. Further information will be provided shortly. Those who have already paid will be refunded their fees if they are not available to participate on the dates that will be scheduled. Please contact the organizers for details.

The new application deadline is: 31 May 2020.

New publication Springer #SNA

Salvini A., Riccardo A., Vasca F., Psaroudakis I.”Inter-Organizational Networks and Third Sector: Emerging Features from Two Case Studies in Southern Italy” , in M.P. Vitale, G. Ragozini (Eds), Challenges in Social Network Research. Methods and Applications, Springer International Publishing, 2020, ISBN 978-3-030-31462-0

https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9783030314620?wt_mc=Internal.Event.1.SEM.ChapterAuthorCongrat&fbclid=IwAR0CL3bg_YSji3S16JzdijpsFlWECUYfOQjL8pslq21cW5IpDV3g3JFauRo

Abstract. Social Network Analysis is a useful technique for studying emergent behaviours of cooperation, intervention and governance in inter organizational networks. In this work, an empirical study of two networks of organizations operating in local territories in Southern Italy and focusing on Third Sector and welfare activities is presented. The actors are committed to experimenting a model of coordinated intervention induced by two corresponding egos which are local Caritas centres. The nodes of the two graphs are determined by combining egonetwork and whole-network approaches. The weighted edges representing mutual knowledge and collaboration between nodes are determined through interviews with all actors of the local groups. It is shown that metric properties of the networks can be useful indicators to monitor and evaluate endogenous features, e.g. relational and structural embeddedness, and exogenous features characterized by homophili mechanisms. The analysis provides insights on the networks governance of the social interacting organizations and reliable descriptors of the social processes that govern their functioning.