Full presentations of many of the entries below have already been distributed to BMS subscribers and RC33 members over the BMS-RC33 distribution list
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Bing Wu, Shan Jiang and Hsinchun Chen, “The Impact of Individual Attributes on Knowledge Diffusion in Web Forums”, 2015, Quality & Quantity 49(6): 2221-36. Web forums – one of the most important Web 2.0 developments – have become a useful platform for tracking and exploring knowledge diffusion among online users. Such networks are usually large, complex, and multi-dimensional, consisting of various types of nodes and ties. Therefore we use exponential random graph models to model online multi-dimensional knowledge diffusion and to systematically evaluate the impact of individual characteristics on knowledge diffusion networks. Experiments are conducted on a longitudinal data set that covers one decade, drawn from the Yahoo! Finance Wal-Mart message board. The results show that reciprocal knowledge diffusion occurs in the forum; high-authority individuals play an important role in knowledge diffusion networks; a high level of online activity has a positive impact on knowledge diffusion; and polarized emotions have little influence on the knowledge diffusion processes.
Nathalie Bulle, “A Method of Measuring Inequality within a Selection Process”, 2016, Sociological Methods & Research 45(1): 69-108. To explain the inequalities in access to a discrete good G across two populations, or across time in a single national context, it is necessary to distinguish, for each population or period of time, the effect of the diffusion of G from that of unequal outcomes of underlying micro-social processes. The inequality of outcomes of these micro-social processes is termed inequality within the selection process. We present an innovative index of measurement that captures variations in this aspect of inequality of opportunity and is insensitive to margins. We applied this index to the analysis of inequality of educational opportunity by exploring the effects of the British 1944 Education Act. The relationships between the measure of inequality within a selection process presented and classical measures of inequality of opportunity are analyzed.
Floyd J. Fowler, Jr., Stephanie J. Lloyd, Carol A. Cosenza, and Ira B. Wilson, “Coding Cognitive Interviews - An Approach to Enhancing the Value of Cognitive Testing for Survey Question Evaluation”, 2016, Field Methods 28(1): 3-20. Cognitive testing protocols vary widely, analysis of the results is not systematic, results are not replicable, and the bases for conclusions are not transparent. In this study, cognitive interviews were structured so that interviewers gathered information concerning possible problems with the four standard question answering issues: comprehension, retrieval, estimation and providing an answer. From the tape-recorded interviews, the percentage of respondents who had “no problems” with any of the issues was tabulated for each question. Being systematic and transparent, the approach also documents the positive features of questions, provides evidence for the validity of answers and identifies possible question problems.
