Personal Networks

Combines classic and cutting-edge scholarship on personal social networks. A must-have resource for both newcomers and seasoned experts.

The effort to understand personal relationships has traditionally focused on the individual characteristics of participants. Personal Relationships and Personal Networks takes this analysis a step further, focusing on research linking participants' feelings and actions within a given personal relationship to the larger social context surrounding it. Author Malcolm R. Parks expands on the idea that the initiation, development, maintenance, and dissolution of relationships are inextricably connected to each participant's social network-a perspective that allows for a better appreciation of our connection to the world, and a greater understanding our significant power as social actors. This book offers a new way to consider basic notions about how relationships form, such as how particular people meet, and how relationships are started. Among many findings, the volume demonstrates that individuals in relationships feel closer and generally more connected when they also have a greater amount of contact with the members of each other's personal networks and when they believe that network members support their relationship. Additional topics discussed include how this social context model is applicable to different types of relationships; how participants interact with network members; how social networks are involved in the deterioration of personal relationships; and what drives change in relationships. Students, researchers, and professionals in a wide variety of disciplines such as communication, psychology, sociology, anthropology, family studies, clinical psychology, public health nursing, education, and social work will find this book useful, as will anyone seeking to better understand their own personal relationships.

Innovative study examining how relationships and personal networks evolve throughout life, and how these connect individuals and society.

This updated edition provides detailed information on the amendments to the standard including IEEE 802.15.4a, IEEE 802.15.4c, IEEE 802.15.4d, IEEE 802.15.4e, IEEE 802.15.4f, and IEEE 802.15.4g, as well as an update on the ZigBee Alliance. This book extends the previous editions by adding a new section centered on providing a complete presentation of the WirelessHART protocol. Divided into four parts, the first part of the book presents an overview of the low-rate wireless personal area technology and IEEE 802.15.4. Not only a technical introduction, this part of the book is valuable to marketing and business professionals. It can help them understand the technology and vision behind the standards’ conception so they can more effectively plan marketing and business strategies. The second part of the text concentrates on the technical features and components of the standard, while the third part focuses on implementation and system design considerations. WirelessHART is covered in the fourth part providing details that demonstrate how a high performance and reliable industrial standard can be built on the IEEE 802.15.4 technology.

This edited volume demonstrates the potential of mixed-methods designs for the research of social networks and the utilization of social networks for other research. Mixing methods applies to the combination and integration of qualitative and quantitative methods. In social network research, mixing methods also applies to the combination of structural and actor-oriented approaches. The volume provides readers with methodological concepts to guide mixed-method network studies with precise research designs and methods to investigate social networks of various sorts. Each chapter describes the research design used and discusses the strengths of the methods for that particular field and for specific outcomes.

This book provides an introduction to the major theories, methods, models, and findings of social network analysis research and application with attention to medical and public health topics.

The effort to understand personal relationships has traditionally focused on the individual characteristics of participants. Personal Relationships and Personal Networks takes this analysis a step further, focusing on research linking participants' feelings and actions within a given personal relationship to the larger social context surrounding it. Author Malcolm R. Parks expands on the idea that the initiation, development, maintenance, and dissolution of relationships are inextricably connected to each participant's social network-a perspective that allows for a better appreciation of our connection to the world, and a greater understanding our significant power as social actors. This book offers a new way to consider basic notions about how relationships form, such as how particular people meet, and how relationships are started. Among many findings, the volume demonstrates that individuals in relationships feel closer and generally more connected when they also have a greater amount of contact with the members of each other's personal networks and when they believe that network members support their relationship. Additional topics discussed include how this social context model is applicable to different types of relationships; how participants interact with network members; how social networks are involved in the deterioration of personal relationships; and what drives change in relationships. Students, researchers, and professionals in a wide variety of disciplines such as communication, psychology, sociology, anthropology, family studies, clinical psychology, public health nursing, education, and social work will find this book useful, as will anyone seeking to better understand their own personal relationships.

Timely and topical, this book explores how technological communities and networks shape a broad range of new computer based technologies in regional, national and international contexts.