Jacobs, 2018
Abstract
With single examples, we can not in general know how much of observed network structure is explained by historical accidents, random noise, or meaningful social processes, nor can we claim that network structure predicts outcomes, such as organization success or ecosystem health.
- Notes: There are many questions which could not be explained by the current research on network structure in single examples, including whether the formation of the structure results from historical and political contigencies, or substantial social change processes; or how can network structure predict outcomes like organization success and ecosystem health.
The comparative approach makes previously untested theories testable.
Why populations of networks?
- Studying Populations of Online Organizations by Hill & Shaw
community assembly
- Ecological analogs: composition of the current community; ordering effects; competition within and between systems; and natural limits on growth (due to local and global resources)
- Comparative approach, or multiple instances
boundaries of sociotechnical systems
- ==set the inclusion criteria for a group of users==
Last modified on 2021-07-25