Informations

RC33 Fall 2018 Newsletter

Books / Livres

Xiaoming Fu, Jar-Der Luo and Margarete Boos (eds), Social Network Analysis – Interdisciplinary Approaches and Case Studies, 2017, CRC Press, ISBN 9781498736648, 395 pages. This book addresses the issue of interdisciplinary understanding of collaboration on the topic of social network studies. Researchers and practitioners from various disciplines have worked largely independently, each with quite different principles, terminologies, theories and methodologies. This book intends to bring together the diverse disciplines using social network analysis through the presentation of a number of the latest interdisciplinary collaboration studies. The book’s 15 chapters are divided into five sections: I. Methodologies for Interdisciplinary Social Network Research (three chapters); II. Social Network Structure (four chapters); III. Social Network Behaviors (two chapters); IV. Social Networks as Complex Systems and their Applications (three chapters); and V. Collaboration and Information Dissemination in Social Networks (three chapters). This book is the result of an ongoing effort between researchers at the Nanjing University in China and the University of Göttingen in Germany who visited their respective institutions in 2009. Examples of collaborative studies include measurement of Guanxi circles, triadic closure in online communities, prediction of venture capital co-investment, syndication in the Chinese venture capital industry, virtual playfield group movements, and spam message detection.

Malcom Tight, Understanding Case Study Research – Small-scale Research with Meaning, 2017, Sage, ISBN 9781446273920, 208 pages. This short book provides a comprehensive, student-friendly guide to the nature and use of case study research, whether as part of a more substantial study or as the foundation for a self-contained smaller project, showing that case studies provide viable and valuable alternatives to conducting large-scale research. Grounded in both theory and practice, the key debates and ethical issues surrounding case study research are sets out. The book focuses specifically on the work of other’s researcher and how you can understand, use, and write about secondary data as the basis for your own research project. There is an extensive 14-page bibliography, an index, but BMS readers will be particularly interested in the section ‘Sampling and Selection Issues’ (pp. 143–150) of chapter 8, and chapter 9, ‘Method, Analysis and Report in Case Study’ (pp. 165–187), with its two large sections on ‘Methodology and Methods’ and ‘Collecting and Analysing Data’.

Julien Longhi (coordinateur du dossier), Humanités numériques, corpus et sens – Questions de communication 31, 2017, ISBN 9782814303256, 592 pages. Ce dossier n. 31 de Questions de communication s’adresse à la question du sens en relation avec des corpus. Dans les « Échanges », 10 chercheurs prolongent la discussion ouverte par R. Baroni sur la narratologie, ses défis et ses faiblesses, tandis que Nathalie Heinich met en débat « Dix propositions sur les valeurs » (pp. 291–311). Cet article propose un condensé en dix points de son ouvrage Des valeurs – Une approche sociologique (Gallimard, 2017), dont ont été extraits les passages les plus susceptibles d’entraîner des discussions, voire des controverses. Y sont notamment ciblées les réductions de la notion de valeur opérées par l’économie classique et néo-classique, par la sociologie quantitative des valeurs, et par la plupart des approches philosophiques de cette notion. « Notes de recherche » comprend six présentations. Les « Notes de lecture » rendent compte de plus de 50 publications, et dans la large section, « Théories, méthodes » (pp. 538–574), on trouve des présentations de : L’alerte ou l’enquête – Une sociologie pragmatique du numérique, par Nicolas Auray ; La bonne focale – De l’utilité des cas particuliers en sciences sociales, par Howard S. Becker ; Entretiens sémiotiques, par Amir Biglari ; Oral History and Digital Humanities – Voice, Access and Engagement, sous la direction de Douglas A. Boyd et Mary A. Larson.

Journals / Reviews / Reports

A recent issue of the Journal of Official Statistics (2017, 33(2)), was a special issue on ‘Total Survey Error (TSE)’, guest edited by Stephanie Eckman and Edith de Leeuw who stated (p. 301): Mixed mode data collection designs are increasingly being adopted with the hope that they may reduce selection errors in single mode survey designs. Yet possible reductions in selection errors achieved by mixing modes may be offset by a potential increase in total survey error due to extra measurement error being introduced by the additional mode(s). Few studies have investigated this empirically, however. In the present study, we compute the Mean Squared Error (MSE) for a range of estimates using data from a mode comparison experiment. We compare two mixed mode designs (a sequential Web plus mail survey, and a combined concurrent and sequential CATI plus mail survey) with a single mode mail survey. The availability of auxiliary data on the sampling frame allows us to estimate several components of MSE (sampling variance, non-coverage, non-response and measurement bias) for a number of sociodemographic and target variables. Overall, MSEs are lowest for the single mode survey, and highest for the CATI plus mail design, though this pattern is not consistent across all estimates. Mixing modes generally reduces total bias, but the relative contribution to total survey error from different sources varies by design and by variable type.

A recent issue of Survey Research Methods (2017, 11(3)) was a special Issue on ‘Uses of Geographic Information Systems Tools in Survey Data Collection and Analysis’, guest edited by Stephanie Eckman, who stated that: The application of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and related tools such as remote sensing to survey data collection and analysis has dramatically increased in recent years. Traditionally, GIS tools have been applied primarily in the frame construction, sampling, and data collection phases of survey research. More recently, researchers have begun to use records of interviewer travel to detect falsification and to study how to make data collection more efficient. The techniques of geostatistics and geospatial models can provide new methods for studying and reducing nonresponse and measurement error. We also see surveys merging in additional variables via GIS tools: for example, data on air pollution, access to grocery stores and parks, and others can be merged in once we know respondents’ locations. However, the use of location data in surveys also raises new issues of respondents’ and interviewers’ privacy. As these technologies become less expensive and easier to use, and geographic data becomes more widely available on the Web, we expect survey researchers to find even more uses for these tools. While we embrace these tools, however, we should also maintain a healthy skepticism about their capabilities and limitations. We encourage papers on all these topics, as well as related issues.

The recent volume 53, issue 1, of Social Networks (2018) was a special issue on ‘The Missing Link – Social Network Analysis in Migration and Transnationalism’, edited by Basak Bilecen, Markus Gamper and Miranda J. Lubbers, who stated that (1–3): The focus on social networks in migration studies marked a significant departure of understanding. Social networks are not only a mechanism through which the migration process is patterned, but they also have broader implications for migrants and non-migrants alike. Despite the fact that the network character of migration processes has long been recognized in migration studies, for a long time, Social Network Analysis has not been applied. Taking this scholarly omission as a starting point, we seek in this special issue to discuss recent research into social networks and migration that use SNA approaches. The issue included articles on: ‘Neither Global nor Local – Heterogeneous Connectivity in Spatial Network Structures of World Migration’, by Valentin Danchev and Mason A. Porter (4–19); ‘The Network of Global Migration 1990–2013 – Using ERGMs to Test Theories of Migration Between Countries’, by Michael Windzio (20–29); ‘In Transit – Changing Social Networks of Sub-Saharan African Migrants in Turkey and Greece’, by Marieke Wissink and Valentina Mazzucato (30–41); ‘Comparing the Discussion Networks and Voluntary Association Memberships of Immigrants and Non-Immigrants in US Suburban Gateways’, by Pamela A. Popielarz and Tünde Cserpes (42–56); ‘Communication Flows and the Durability of a Transnational Social Field’, by Ashton M. Verdery, Ted Mouw, Heather Edelblute and Sergio Chavez (57–71); “A Personal Network Approach to the Study of Immigrant Structural Assimilation and Transnationalism’, by Raffaele Vacca, Giacomo Solano, Miranda Jessica Lubbers, José Luis Molina and Christopher McCarty (72–89); ‘Do Transnational Brokers Always Win? A Multilevel Analysis of Social Support’, by Basak Bilecen and Andrés Cardona (90–100); ‘Mobilising Social Network Support for Childcare – The Case of Polish Migrant Mothers in Dublin’, by Sara Bojarczuk and Peter Mühlau (101–110); ‘Mobility Types, Transnational Ties and Personal Networks in Four Highly Skilled Immigrant Communities in Seville (Spain)’, by Romina Cachia and Isidro Maya Jariego (111–124); ‘Financial and Emotional Support in Close Personal Ties among Central Asian Migrant Women in Russia’, by Olga Kornienko, Victor Agadjanian, Cecilia Menjívar and Natalia Zotova (125–135); ‘Transnational Entrepreneurial Activities – A Qualitative Network Study of Self-Employed Migrants from the Former Soviet Union in Germany’, by Elena Sommer and Markus Gamper (136–147); and ‘Changing Times – Migrants’ Social Network Analysis and the Challenges of Longitudinal Research’, by Louise Ryan and Alessio D’Angelo (148–158).

The January 2018 issue of Sociological Methods & Research (47: 1) was a special issue on ‘Combining Cross-case Methods and Process Tracing in Set-Theoretic Multi-method Designs’, guest edited by Derek Beach and Ingo Rohlfing who stated (3–36) that: In recent years, there has been increasing interest in the combination of two methods on the basis of set theory. In our introduction and this special issue, we focus on two variants of cross-case set-theoretic methods – qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) and typological theory (TT) – and their combination with process tracing (PT). Our goal is to broaden and deepen set-theoretic empirical research and equip scholars with guidance on how to implement it in multimethod research (MMR). At first glance, set-theoretic cross-case methods and PT seem to be highly compatible when causal relationships are conceptualized in terms of set theory. However, multiple issues have not so far been thoroughly addressed. Our article builds on the emerging MMR literature and seeks to enhance it in four ways. First, we offer a comprehensive and coherent elaboration of the two sequences in which case studies can be combined with a cross-case method. Second, we expand the perspective and discuss QCA and TT as two alternative methods for the cross-case analysis. Third, based on the idea of analytical priority, we introduce the distinction between a condition-centered and a mechanism-centered variant of set-theoretic MMR. Fourth, we point attention to the challenges of theorizing and analyzing arrangements of conditions and mechanisms associated with sufficient conjunctions.

Articles

Mick P. Couper, ‘New Developments in Survey Data Collection’, Annual Review of Sociology, 2017, 43:121–145. This review focuses on recent methodological and technological developments in survey data collection. Surveys are facing unprecedented challenges from both societal and technological changes. Against this backdrop, I review the survey profession’s response to these challenges and developments to enhance and extend the survey tool. I discuss the decline in random digit dialing and the rise of address-based sampling, along with the corresponding shift from telephone surveys to self-administered (mail and/or Web) modes. I discuss the rise in nonprobability sampling approaches, especially those associated with online data collection. I also review so-called big data alternatives to surveys. Finally, I discuss a number of recent methodological and technological trends designed to modernize the survey method. I conclude that although they face a number of major challenges, surveys remain a robust and flexible method for collecting data on, and making inference to, populations.

Roger Tourangeau, Aaron Maitland, Gonzalo Rivero, Hanyu Sun, Douglas Williams and Ting Yan, ‘Web Surveys by Smartphone and Tablets – Effects on Survey Responses’, Public Opinion Quarterly, 2017, 81(4): 896–929. With respondents increasingly completing Web surveys on tablet computers and smartphones, several studies have examined the potential effects of the switch from PCs to mobile devices. The studies have looked at a range of outcomes, including completion rates, breakoffs, and item nonresponse. We carried out a field experiment that compared responses obtained by smartphones, tablets, and laptop computers, focusing on the potential effects of the different devices on measurement errors. We examined whether the differences across devices in screen size (and the related need to scroll to see the entire question or the full set of response options) might moderate the effects of response order, affect the strategy respondents used to decide which of two options was preferable, change the effect of question context, or influence the use of definitions. Our experiments were based on the principle of visual prominence – the idea that respondents are more likely to notice and consider information that is easy to see. The experiments were deliberately designed to maximize the impact of screen size on the results, since the screen size would affect the visual prominence of key information. However, like many of the prior studies examining mobile devices, although response order, context, and evaluation strategy affected the answers respondents gave, few device effects emerged.

Claire Bidart, Alain Degenne and Michel Grossetti, ‘Personal Networks Typologies – A Structural Approach’, Social Networks, 2018, 54: 1–11. Building typologies allows to compare networks on multiple dimensions, and to approach a generalization grounded on empirical data. In this article, we present a typology of personal networks only based on indicators related to the structure of relations between alters. It is designed from very detailed data on young French people who were involved in a longitudinal study. Our typology mobilizes a small number of indicators to discriminate the types that compose it. In so doing, we intend to make it applicable to various surveys.

Douglas D. Heckathorn and Christopher J. Cameron, ‘Network Sampling – From Snowball and Multiplicity to Respondent-Driven Sampling’, Annual Review of Sociology, 2017, 43:101–119. Network sampling emerged as a set of methods for drawing statistically valid samples of hard-to-reach populations. The first form of network sampling, multiplicity sampling, involved asking respondents about events affecting those in their personal networks; it was subsequently applied to studies of homicide, HIV, and other topics, but its usefulness is limited to public events. Link-tracing designs employ a different approach to study hard-to-reach populations, using a set of respondents that expands in waves as each round of respondents recruit their peers. Link-tracing as applied to hidden populations, often described as snowball sampling, was initially considered a form of convenience sampling. This changed with the development of respondent-driven sampling (RDS), a widely used network sampling method in which the link-tracing design is adapted to provide the basis for statistical inference. The literature on RDS is large and rapidly expanding, involving contributions by numerous independent research groups employing data from dozens of different countries. Within this literature, many important research questions remain unresolved, including how best to choose among alternative RDS estimators, how to refine existing estimators to make them less dependent on assumptions that are sometimes counterfactual, and perhaps the greatest unresolved issue, how best to calculate the variability of the estimates.

Piotr Tarka, ‘An Overview of Structural Equation Modelling – Its Beginnings, Historical Development, Usefulness and Controversies in the Social Sciences’, Quality & Quantity, 2018, 52(1): 313–354. This article is a tribute to researchers who have significantly contributed to improving and advancing structural equation modelling (SEM). It is, therefore, a brief overview of SEM and presents its beginnings, historical development, its usefulness in the social sciences and the statistical and philosophical (theoretical) controversies which have often appeared in the literature pertaining to SEM. Having described the essence of SEM in the context of causal analysis, the author discusses the years of the development of structural modelling as the consequence of many researchers’ systematically growing needs (in particular in the social sciences) who strove to effectively understand the structure and interactions of latent phenomena. The early beginnings of SEM models were related to the work of Spearman and Wright, and to that of other prominent researchers who contributed to SEM development. The importance and predominance of theoretical assumptions over technical issues for the successful construction of SEM models are also described. Then, controversies regarding the use of SEM in the social sciences are presented. Finally, the opportunities and threats of this type of analytical strategy as well as selected areas of SEM applications in the social sciences are discussed.

J. N. K. Rao and Wayne A. Fuller, ‘Sample Survey Theory and Methods – Past, Present, and Future Directions’, Survey Methodology, 2017, 43(2): 145–160. This ‘special paper’ discusses the past, present and future of sample surveys and is followed by four short discussions of the paper. We discuss developments in sample survey theory and methods covering the past 100 years. Neyman’s 1934 landmark paper laid the theoretical foundations for the probability sampling approach to inference from survey samples. Classical sampling books by Cochran, Deming, Hansen, Hurwitz and Madow, Sukhatme, and Yates, which appeared in the early 1950s, expanded and elaborated the theory of probability sampling, emphasizing unbiasedness, model free features, and designs that minimize variance for a fixed cost. During the period 1960–1970, theoretical foundations of inference from survey data received attention, with the model-dependent approach generating considerable discussion. Introduction of general purpose statistical software led to the use of such software with survey data, which led to the design of methods specifically for complex survey data. At the same time, weighting methods, such as regression estimation and calibration, became practical and design consistency replaced unbiasedness as the requirement for standard estimators. A bit later, computer-intensive resampling methods also became practical for large scale survey samples. Improved computer power led to more sophisticated imputation for missing data, use of more auxiliary data, some treatment of measurement errors in estimation, and more complex estimation procedures. A notable use of models was in the expanded use of small area estimation. Future directions in research and methods will be influenced by budgets, response rates, timeliness, improved data collection devices, and availability of auxiliary data, some of which will come from ‘Big Data’. Survey taking will be impacted by changing cultural behavior and by a changing physical-technical environment.

Bas Hofstra, Rense Corten, Frank van Tubergen and Nicole B. Ellison, ‘Sources of Segregation in Social Networks – A Novel Approach Using Facebook’, American Sociological Review, 2017, 82(3): 625–656. Most research on segregation in social networks considers small circles of strong ties, and little is known about segregation among the much larger number of weaker ties. This article proposes a novel approach to the study of these more extended networks, through the use of data on personal ties in an online social network. We illustrate this method’s potential by describing and explaining the degree of ethnic and gender segregation on Facebook among a representative survey of adolescents in the Netherlands (N = 2,810; ∼1.1 million Facebook friends). The results show that large online networks are more strongly segregated by ethnicity than by gender. Drawing on the same survey data, we find that core networks are more segregated in terms of ethnicity and gender than are extended networks. However, an exception to this pattern is personal networks of ethnic majority members, whose core networks are as segregated by ethnicity as their extended networks. Further analysis suggests this exception is due to their larger population size and the ethnic segregation of their social settings. We discuss the implications of these findings for the role of structural opportunities, homophily, and balance.

Viktoria Spaiser, Peter Hedström, Shyam Ranganathan, Kim Jansson, Monica K. Nordvik and David J. T. Sumpter, ‘Identifying Complex Dynamics in Social Systems – A New Methodological Approach Applied to Study School Segregation’, Sociological Methods & Research, 218, 47(2): 103–135. It is widely recognized that segregation processes are often the result of complex nonlinear dynamics. Empirical analyses of complex dynamics are however rare, because there is a lack of appropriate empirical modelling techniques that are capable of capturing complex patterns and nonlinearities. At the same time, we know that many social phenomena display nonlinearities. In this article, we introduce a new modelling tool to partly fill this void in the literature. Using data of all secondary schools in Stockholm county during the years 1990 to 2002, we demonstrate how the methodology can be applied to identify complex dynamic patterns like tipping points and multiple phase transitions with respect to segregation. We establish critical thresholds in schools’ ethnic compositions, in general, and in relation to various factors such as school quality and parents’ income, at which the schools are likely to tip and become increasingly segregated.

Leo Pasquazzi and Michele Zenga, ‘Components of Gini, Bonferroni, and Zenga Inequality Indexes for EU Income Data’, Journal of Official Statistics, 2018, 34(1): 149–180. In this work we apply a new approach to assess contributions from factor components to income inequality. The new approach is based on the insight that most (synthetic) inequality indexes may be viewed as (weighted) averages of point inequality measures, which measure inequality between population subgroups identified by income. Assessing contributions of factor components to point inequality measures is usually an easy task, and based on these contributions it is straightforward to define contributions to the corresponding (synthetic) overall inequality indexes as well. As we shall show through an analysis of income data from Eurostat’s European Community Household Panel Survey (ECHP), the approach based on point inequality measures gives rise to readily interpretable results, which, we believe, is an advantage over other methods that have been proposed in literature.

Jessica Gabriele Walter, ‘The Adequacy of Measures of Gender Roles Attitudes – A Review of Current Measures in Omnibus Surveys’, Quality & Quantity, 2018, 52(2): 829–848. The measures of attitudes toward gender roles included in many representative international and national omnibus surveys were developed mostly in the 1970s and 1980s with a focus on the male breadwinner model. This article deals with the issue of whether or not the measures provided in these omnibus surveys need to be adjusted to specific social changes. A review of these measures has found that adjustments have occurred in a limited way that focused on the role of women and disregarded the role of men. Furthermore, most of these measures only examined the traditional roles of men and women. More egalitarian role models have not been considered sufficiently. In addition, most items that have been measured are phrased in a general form and, for example, do not specify parents’ employment or the ages of children. A specification of these aspects of measurement would help to clarify the conceptual meaning of the results and increase the possibility of more accurately analyzing gender role attitudes over time.

Alexandru Cernat and Peter Lynn, ‘The Role of E-mail Communications in Determining Response Rates and Mode of Participation in a Mixed-mode Design’, Field Methods, 2017, (30)1: 70–87. This article is concerned with the extent to which the propensity to participate in a Web face-to-face sequential mixed-mode survey is influenced by the ability to communicate with sample members by e-mail in addition to mail. Researchers may be able to collect e-mail addresses for sample members and to use them subsequently to send survey invitations and reminders. However, there is little evidence regarding the value of doing so. This makes it difficult to decide what efforts should be made to collect such information and how to subsequently use it efficiently. Using evidence from a randomized experiment within a large mixed-mode national survey, we find that using a respondent-supplied e-mail address to send additional survey invites and reminders does not affect survey response rate but is associated with an increased proportion of responses by Web rather than face-to-face and, hence, lower survey costs.

Mario Callegaro, ‘Recent Books and Journals Articles in Public Opinion, Survey Methods, Survey Statistics, Big Data and User Experience Research. 2017 Update’, Survey Practice, 2018, 11(2): online. This is an excellent source of new research and reference material and should be read by all those currently working or interested in sociological methodology.

Past Meetings & Calls/Réunions & Appels passés

Le 17 novembre 2017, à Paris, l’Association des sociologues de l’enseignement supérieur a organisé une journée sur « Précarité enseignement supérieur », http://www.sociologuesdusuperieur.org/article/journee-precarite-enseignement-superieur.

On 7 December 2017, in Paris, the 5th Céreq Training & Employment Biennial took place on the theme of ‘The School-to-work Transition of Young People over the Last 20 Years – Continuity and Change’, http://www.cereq.fr/themes/Version-anglaise/News-from-Cereq.

On 7 December 2017, in Colchester, England, a conference on ‘Understanding Brexit – The Latest Research on the EU Referendum’ took place, chaired by Professor Paul Whiteley, Department of Government, University of Essex, http://iser.cmail19.com/t/r-l-jreykid-iiuiutuhil-d/.

On 14-16 December 2017, in Norwich, England, the second Cultural Transmission and Social Norms workshop (CTSN 2) took place at the University of East Anglia, co-organized by the University of East Anglia and the Max Planck Institute (Bonn) for Research into Collective Goods, https://www.uea.ac.uk/economics/ctsn.

On 8-19 January 2018, in Limerick, Ireland, the Annual Winter School in Social Science Research Methods took place at the University of Limerick, http://www.ul.ie/sociology/winter.

On 10-12 January 2018, in Trento, Italy, an IRVAPP winter school on ‘Advanced Methods for Impact Evaluation’ took place, designed for graduate students and researchers with a high level of proficiency in applied policy evaluation and quantitative micro-econometrics, https://irvapp.fbk.eu/trainings/detail/11399/irvapp-winter-school-2018-advanced-methods-for-impact-evaluation-2018/.

Le 23 janvier 2018, à Villetaneuse près de Paris, l’atelier « Sciences des Données et Humanités Numériques » a été organisé par l’Université Paris Nord, dans l’objectif de réunir des spécialistes en sciences de l’homme et de la société (SHS) et des spécialistes en sciences des données pour discuter ensemble de l’apport des algorithmes aux données produits par les SHS, https://sdhn2018.sciencesconf.org/.

On 19 February-9 March 2018, in Cologne, the 47th GESIS Spring Seminar on ‘Advanced Methods of Quantitative Data Analysis’ took place. It offered three consecutive one-week courses in advanced methods of quantitative data analysis for social scientists: Week 1 – Multilevel Analysis; Week 2 – Spatial Analysis and Spatial Econometrics; Week 3 – Longitudinal Network Analysis Using RSiena, https://training.gesis.org/?site=pDetails&pID=0x8DCC6FCA520546D7B42E968787B6FF84.

On 28 February-2 March 2018, in Cologne, the 2018 General Online Research conference took place at the University of Applied Sciences, https://www.gor.de. GOR is organized by the German Society for Online Research (DGOF, http://www.dgof.de) since 1997. The main topics were Internet Surveys, Mobile Web, and Online Research Methodology, Big Data and Data Science, Politics and Online Communication, Online Market Research.

On 12-18 March 2018, in Bremen, Germany, the BIGSSS-LIVES Winter School on Life Course, a one-week intensive program on life course research, took place with two interdisciplinary workshops drawing from sociology, social psychology, life-span psychology, social demography and social policy, https://www.lives-nccr.ch/en/page/livesbigsss-winter-school-2018-n2554.

On 22 March 2018, in Grenoble, France, the 7th international workshop on Bibliometric-enhanced Information Retrieval (BIR 2018) took place as part of the 40th European Conference on Information Retrieval (ECIR 2018), http://www.gesis.org/en/services/events/events-archive/conferences/ecir-workshops/ecir-workshop-2018/. Cyril Labbé (Université Grenoble Alpes) gave the keynote presentation on “Trends in Gaming Indicators - On Failed Attempts at Deception and their Computerised Detection”. The aim of the workshop was to engage with the IR community about possible links between bibliometrics and complex network theory which also explores networks of scholarly communication.

On 6-7 April 2018, in Nuremberg, Germany, the ‘Demographics, Immigration & The Labor Market’ conference took place as the 4th Annual Conference of the DFG Priority Program 1764, http://kooperationen.zew.de/dfg1764/startseite.html.

On 23 April 2018, in Lyon, France, the MATNet’18 International Workshop on Mining Attributed Networks took place at the WebConf2018, http://www-lipn.univ-paris13.fr/man-www2018.

On 24-25 April 2018, in Calgary, Canada, the International Symposium on Big Data Management and Analytics took place, https://bidma.cpsc.ucalgary.ca/2018/.

On 7-8 May 2018, in Athens, Greece, the 2018 Sociology Conference of the Athens Institute for Education and Research (ATINER) took place, atiner@athenianmeeting.gr.

On 8 May 2018, in Miyazaki, Japan, the workshop ‘Computational Impact Detection from Text Data’ took place with the aim of bring together research from different theoretical paradigms and methodologies for the extraction of impact-relevant indicators from natural language text data and related meta-data, http://www.islrn.org/.

On 14 May-22 June 2018, the University of Florida, Department of Anthropology, organized its Research Methods in Social Sciences & Cultural Anthropology Online courses, http://distance.ufl.edu/rma/.

Les 15-16 mai 2018, à Toulouse, en France, un atelier sur les comparaisons internationales et dans le temps des réseaux personnels a eu lieu à l’Université Toulouse Capitole, à la Manufacture des Tabacs. La première journée était consacrée aux aspects méthodologiques des grandes enquêtes sur les réseaux personnels. La seconde journée a été consacrée à la présentation des tendances générales de l’évolution des réseaux personnels en France, aux Etats-Unis et en Espagne, https://arshs.hypotheses.org/619.

On 27-30 May 2018, in Amsterdam, 10th International ACM Web Science Conference took place, https://websci18.webscience.org. Web Science is the premier interdisciplinary conference on understanding the World Wide Web in all its facets – technological, social, cultural, political. Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the World Wide Web and the recipient of the 2016 ACM A. M. Turing Award, more popularly known as the Nobel Prize for Informatics, delivered his Turing Lecture as one of the keynote speeches.

Le 28 mai 2018, à Paris-Cachan, le workshop « Question(s) de méthode – La pluralité méthodologique dans les sciences sociales de l’Asie du Sud » a eu lieu à la Maison des Sciences de l’Homme Paris-Saclay à Cachan. Le workshop était consacré à la réflexivité des méthodes employées dans l’étude des sociétés sud-asiatiques, http://msh-paris-saclay.fr/event/workshop-ajei/.

Le 31 mai 2018, à Paris, la séance du Séminaire de Méthodologie de Sciences Po (MetSem) a accueuilli Bernhard Rieder du Digital Methods Initiative d’Amsterdam qui a donné une présentation sur « Médias sociaux – Terrains ou objet de recherche ? », http://metsem.hypotheses.org.

Les 7-8 juin 2018, à Marseille, en France, les « XXIVèmes Journées du Longitudinal », organisées par le Céreq, a eu lieu sur le thème « Jeunesse(s) et transitions vers l’âge adulte – Quelles permanences, quelles évolutions depuis trente ans ? », jdl2018@cereq.fr.

On 7-9 June 2018, in Galway, Ireland, the conference – Violence, Space and the Political– took place at the National University of Ireland with keynote speakers Mustafa Dikeç (Université Paris-Est and Malmö University) and Mark Devenney(CAPPE, University of Brighton), http://www.violencespaceandthepolitical.com.

On 11-12 June 2018, in Paris, the 3rd workshop organized by the Institut Marcel Mauss (IMM), Centre d’étude des mouvements sociaux (CEMS), Groupe sciences et technologies (GST) and the ERC Disconex Team, “Researchers & Their Practices, Discourses, Knowledge, Power”, took place at the EHESS, http://www.disconex.discourseanalysis.net.

On 12 June 2018, in Paris, the workshop ‘More than Complex – Large & Rich Network Structures’ took place as a satellite meeting of NETSCI2018, https://www.netsci2018.com/. There were five prominent invited international scholars: Camille Roth (Sciences-Po Paris); Matthieu Latapy (LIP6-UPMC Paris); Alessandro Lomi (ETH Zurich); Fariba Karimi (GESIS Cologne); Noshir Contractor (Northwestern University).

On 12-14 June 2018, in Paris, INSEE organized the ‘XIII Statistical Methodology Days’ (Journées de Méthodologie Statistique), http://jms-insee.fr.

On 12-15 June 2018, in Crete, Greece, the ‘Demographics Workshop on Population State of Health and Mortality Estimates’ took place, focused on Population Health State and Mortality Estimates and Verifying the HALE measurements of the Global Burden of Disease Study via Quantitative Methods Proposed, secretariat@smtda.net and http://www.cmsim.net. It was part of the Stochastic Modelling Techniques & Data Analysis conference, http://www.smtda.net/.

On 14-15 June 2018, in Berkeley, California, the conference and workshop on ‘Social Networks and Health Using 2015–2017 UCNets Data’ took place, http://ucnets.berkeley.edu/2018/01/19/wave-2-newsletter-january-2018/. UCNets is the University of California Berkeley Social Networks Study, a longitudinal study funded by the National Institute on Aging, with Claude Fischer as Principal Investigator. The objective of the UCNets study is to understand how network composition changes over time as a result of life course transitions and how these changes are related to health status and outcomes.

On 25-27 July 2018, in Colchester, England, at the University of Essex, the international conference ‘Methodology of Longitudinal Surveys II’ took place, https://www.mols2.org.uk/. The conference brought together scholars and research professionals involved in the design, implementation and analysis of longitudinal surveys, to share methodological research findings and to discuss the state of the art in carrying out longitudinal surveys.

Du 24 au 28 septembre 2018, à Cargèse, en Corse, le CNRS a organisé une école thématique sur « Analyse de réseaux et complexité », https://www.azur-colloque.fr/DR14/inscription/fr. Les grands axes du programme étaient : La question des sources – quelles données relationnelles pour quels réseaux ; Etudier des collectifs et des communautés par l’analyse de réseaux ; Les analyses dynamiques – Temporalités et transformations des réseaux ; Modèles d’analyse et réseaux – Multi-agents, multi-niveaux, narrations quantifiées ; Enjeux méthodologiques - Qualitatif/quantitatif, micro/macro, distances/flux ; Découverte et mise en œuvre de logiciels d’analyse de réseaux ; Visualisation et restitution de l’analyse des réseaux.