Noshir Contractor participated in a panel at the Innovative Assessment of Collaboration 2014 workshop organized by Educational Testing Services in Washington DC on November 3, 2014
New SONIC Blog Entry: Only the Strongest Ties Matter
While both strong and weak ties have their place in social networks, which type better supports team collaboration and problem solving?
Using Network Modeling to Predict Traffic
A team of researchers from MIT and Notre Dame are using an innovative modeling approach to predict the flow of traffic. This new model takes into account potential changes that may occur in the network (eg. construction or road closures), and is better able to deal with such changes than previous versions of the model. In the future, similar models could be applied to any network flows that include human choices.
“This work fills a gaping hole in our understanding of — and ability to predict — network flows,” says Stephen Eubank of the Network Dynamics and Simulation Science Lab.
For the full article, see here.
CANCELLED: Prasad Balkundi to present in the SONIC Speaker Series Nov. 18
Due to the adverse weather, this talk has unfortunately been cancelled.
SONIC Lab is proud to welcome Prasad Balkundi who will present a talk on Tuesday, November 18, 2014 at 2:00 P.M. in SONIC Lab in the Frances Searle Building room 1.459.
All are welcome to attend. To schedule a one-on-one meeting with a Dr. Balkundi please schedule a time here. Please contact Nancy McLaughlin with any questions/comments.
Culture, Labor Markets and Attitudes: A Meta-analytic Test of Tie-Strength Theory
Although the strength-of-weak-tie theory is foundational in social network research, studies have reported inconsistent results sometimes supporting the weak tie theory and other times contradicting it. To address these inconsistencies, we explicate three boundaries of weak-tie theory: Culture, labor markets and outcomes. First, the theory was developed and tested extensively in western nations, raising the issue of whether cultural context affects outcomes. Second, the theory was tested using lower-level applicants finding jobs across organizations, raising the issue as to the applicability of the theory for job movement within organizations for high-ranking employees. Third, beyond the question of finding a job, the question arises as to strength-of-tie effects on a broader set of outcomes such as access to information and job attitudes. Based on a meta-analysis of 101 studies (n = 23,303) we found that strong ties were more potent than weak ties in conformist cultures. Second, strong ties within the organization were more beneficial than weak ties. Also, managers benefitted more from strong ties. Third, strong ties facilitated immediate effectiveness and positive job attitudes whereas weak ties enhanced distal effectiveness for low-end employees.
About Prasad Balkundi
Dr. Prasad Balkundi is an Associate Professor in the Organization and Human Resources Department in the School of Management at the University of Buffalo. He received his Ph.D. in business administration from Pennsylvania State University. His research interests include social networks and leadership in teams and his work has appeared in the Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Review, Journal of Applied Psychology and Leadership Quarterly.
Computer Model Predicts Where Ebola is Most Likely to Hit Next
Using Wolfram technologies, Dr Marco Thiel from Aberdeen University created a computer model to predict which countries are most likely to suffer an Ebola outbreak next.
He said: “The US would be less at risk than the European countries, that is, it would get significant numbers of infected later. All of that seems to be qualitatively quite correct. Australia and Greenland would get the disease very late, or not at all, again in agreement with our model.”
Read more here. For a more in-depth look, see Dr. Thiel’s discussion on the Wolfram forum here.
Dylan Walker to Speak at NICO Seminar Nov. 5
Facebook’s ‘Voter Megaphone’ in National Election
Some facts first:
- It’s the most wide-open Senate and Governor election in a decade;
- Young people (Facebook user base) are more Democratic but less likely to get out to vote;
- There is a strong social influence and peer pressure in social networks.
Tomorrow, Facebook’s high-profile button that proclaims “I’m Voting” or “I’m a Voter” will remind its 150 million users to get out and vote. This may be a deciding factor in the close race. Moreover, what is hidden is that Facebook also takes this as an experiment to study how to affect users’ voting behavior. In the future, social media could offer political campaign services besides traditional marketing and advertising businesses.
More information at http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/10/can-voting-facebook-button-improve-voter-turnout
SONIC is proud to welcome visiting scholar Silvia Andreoli
SONIC happily welcomes Silvia Andreoli, visiting scholar from University of Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Noshir Contractor presented SONIC research at Cornell University’s Information Science Colloquium co-sponsored by Yahoo! on October 15, 2014
For more information, see here