Mixed Methods Research into Social Networks
Betina Hollstein, Elisa Bellotti
The workshop focuses on the use of mixed methods research designs when studying whole and ego-centered social networks. The workshop will be conducted in two parts. The first part introduces social network qualitative research and the principles of mixed methods research designs and its contributions to the study of social networks, pointing out advantages and challenges of this approach. Illustrations of the theoretical and methodological aspects are given by bringing examples from a variety of fields of research. The second part is devoted to the presentation of concrete procedures to apply mixed methods in network research both at the level of data collection and analysis. This part includes an introduction of different approaches to the collection of whole and ego-centered network data, i.e. interviews, ethnographic methods, archival data, together with visual instruments. It then moves to the analysis of the quantitative and qualitative dimensions of network relationships and structures in a mixed method perspective.