Commentary: Understanding social network analysis

In the linked study, Fowler & Christakis investigated the new & intriguing hypothesis that people's happiness is influenced by, among other things, the happiness of their acquaintances, particularly first degree relatives, close friends, neighbors, & coworkers. The authors cleverly...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:BMJ 2008-12, Vol.337 (7685), p.27-28
Main Author: Sainsbury, Peter
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Database design
Happiness
Heart diseases
Humans
Interpersonal Relations
Social network analysis
Social networking
Social networks
Social Support
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Summary:In the linked study, Fowler & Christakis investigated the new & intriguing hypothesis that people's happiness is influenced by, among other things, the happiness of their acquaintances, particularly first degree relatives, close friends, neighbors, & coworkers. The authors cleverly use the Framingham heart study's existing database that includes, fortuitously rather than by design, information that can be used for social network analysis. Their results broadly confirm this hypothesis, but many readers will be unfamiliar with social network analysis, confused by the analytical techniques, & unsure about the validity of the findings. Adapted from the source document.
ISSN:0959-8138
0959-535X
1468-5833
1756-1833
DOI:10.1136/bmj.a1957