Network Models of the Diffusion of Innovations (Thomas W. Valente)

Quantity in Basket:none Code: 1-881303-22-5 Price:$24.95 Title: Network Models of the Diffusion of Innovations Author(s): Thomas W. Valente Publish Date: 1995 Pages: 188 Format: Paper

Quantity:

This book presents a key to understanding how ideas, products, opinions, and so on take off and spread throughout society, and provides a better means to estimate how fast or slow that spread occurs. This spread is referred to as the diffusion of innovations. The diffusion of innovations occurs among individuals in a social system, and the pattern of communication among these individuals is a social network. This book analyzes how social networks structure the diffusion of innovations. Chapter 1 reviews diffusion of innovations theory, network analysis, and the datasets used as examples. Chapter 2 provides a review of prior research, and chapter 3 provides relational network models of diffusion which posit that individuals adopt innovations based on their direct relations with others in their social system. Chapter 4 provides structural network models of diffusion which posit that individuals adopt innovations based on their position in the social system. Chapters 5 and 6 present threshold and critical mass models of diffusion. Chapter 7 develops a general threshold model of adoption based on social networks. This book is addressed to researchers, policymakers, and students interested in the diffusion of innovations or network analysis and to individuals interested in studying the process of social change as represented by a diffusion/network paradigm. Finally, individuals interested in developing, evaluating or understanding communication campaigns and media effects can use these concepts to improve their work. Contents: INTRODUCTION. Diffusion of Innovations and Network Analysis. Diffusion versus Collective Behavior. Datasets Analyzed. Contagion. PRIOR RESEARCH ON THRESHOLD AND CRITICAL MASS EFFECTS. Epidemiology. Geography. Markets and Economies. Collective Behavior. Interactive Communication Technologies. Public Opinion. Decay Processes. Subgroups. RELATIONAL DIFFUSION NETWORKS. Opinion Leadership. Group Membership. Personal Network Density. Personal Network Exposure. STRUCTURAL DIFFUSION NETWORKS. The Strength of Weak Ties. Centrality. Positional Equivalence. Structural Equivalence. Relational vs. Structural. THRESHOLD MODELS OF DIFFUSION. Threshold Models. Network Thresholds. Personal Network Exposure. Threshold Lags. Structural Network Thresholds. CRITICAL MASS MODELS OF DIFFUSION. Inflection Points. Structural Measures of the Critical Mass. Finding the Critical Mass. Testing Critical Mass Definitions. EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS OF THRESHOLD MODELS. Micro- and Macrolevels of analysis. Adopter Categories. A Threshold/Critical Mass (T/CM) Model. OTHER NETWORK MODELS AND METHODS. Other Threshold Models. Corrected Threshold. Event History Analysis. Complementarity. Dyads. CONCLUSIONS AND DISCUSSION. Applications. Contrasting Network Thresholds with the Classic Diffusion Model. Conclusion. Limitations. Future Research. Glossary. Appendixes. References. Author Index. Subject Index.