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Summary IOR - English 2018/2019
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KEY PAPERSGRANOVETTER (1973) – WEAK TIES
Currently: sociological theory does not relate micro-level interactions to macro-level patterns in a convincing
way
Strength of interpersonal ties 0a combination of the amount of time, the emotional intensity, the intimacy
(mutual confiding), and the reciprocal services which characterize the tie”
STRONG, WEAK & ABSENT TIES
The stronger the tie between A and B, the larger the proportion of individuals in S to whom they will both be
ties, that is, connected by a weak or strong tie. This overlap in their friendship circles Is predicted to be at least
when their tie is absent, most when it is strong, and intermediate when it is weak.
- Common sources of weak ties: formal organizations and work settings
If C and B have no relationship, common strong ties to A will probably bring them into interaction and generate
one.
If A&B and A&C have a strong tie, they are more similar, which means that it is more likely that B&C
are similar, which increases the likelihood of a friendship.
Cognitive balance theory: if strong ties A&B and A&C exist, and if B and C are aware of one another,
anything short of a positive tie would introduce a 0psychological strain” into the situation since C will
want his own feelings to be congruent with those of his good friend, A, and similarly, for B and his
friend, A. However, where the ties are weak, such consistency is psychologically less crucial.
o Assumption that this forbidden triad never occurs (so the B-C) tie is always present.
- Based on implication that processes of cognitive balance eliminate this triad.
- Bridges: since each person has a great many contacts, a bridge between A&B provides
the only route along which information or influence can flow from any contact of A to
any contact of B, and, consequently, from anyone connected indirectly to A to anyone
connected indirectly to B. NO STRONG TIE IS A BRIDGE a strong tie can be a bridge
only if neither party to it has any other strong ties, unlikely in a social network of any size.
Weak ties suffer no such restriction, though they are certainly not automatically bridges
BUT ALL BRIDGES ARE WEAK TIES.
- In large networks it happens rarely that a specific tie provides the only path between two
points (see figure 2). so Granovetter refers to a tie as a 0local bridge of degree n”,
which represents the shortest path between its two points (other than itself) in the
top network of figure 2 it is 3 and in the bottom network it is 13
Then the significance of weak ties would be that those which are local bridges
create more, and shorter, paths.
o This means that whatever is to be diffused can reach a larger number
of people and traverse greater social distance when passed through
weak ties rather than strong. (with strong ties it will be limited to a few
cliques)
Previous diffusion studies: central (many sociometric choices) vs. marginal (few choices)
Conclusions: early innovators are marginal; those named more frequently adopt an innovation earlier;
central figures lead in adoption of perceived relatively safe and uncontroversial programs, otherwise
marginal ones do; first adopters are marginal, early adopters (next group) are more integrated
, raises question from Granovetter: if they are marginal, how can they ever spread innovations
successfully?
o Local bridges!
o The marginal innovators can be rich in weak ties
o 6 degrees of separation story where people had to indicate whether someone was their
friend or acquaintance higher completion rate for acquaintances
Discuss significance of findings from this part at two levels: individual & community (next parts).
WEAK TIES IN EGOCENTRIC NETWORKS
Variables that previous research looked at for analysing the impact on the behaviour of individuals of the social
networks in which they are embedded:
Close-knit network (when one’s friends tend to know one another) vs. Loose-knit network (don’t tend
to know each other)
Density
o However: Different parts of ego’s network might have different density!
- Effective network: those with whom one interacts most intensely and most regularly,
and who are therefore also likely to come to know one another (= strong ties)
- Extended network: the remainder (= weak ties)
No general agreement about inclusion of contacts of contacts in this paper they use the division of strong
ties with nonbridging weak ties and bridging weak ties to deal with both (direct and indirect ties)
Weak sector: contacts in strong sector are connected to individuals that are not tied to ego
o Finding more jobs through weak sector those whom we are weakly tied to are more likely
to move in circles different from our own and will thus have access to information different
from that which we receive.
- Short information paths (when it is a long information path, large numbers of people
might have found out about a job)
Weak ties affect social cohesion when someone changes jobs, they are establishing a link between two
networks of ties. Information and ideas then flow more easily.
WEAK TIES AND COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION
Analyzing why some communities organize for common goals easily and effectively whereas others seem
unable to mobilize resources, even against dire threats.
Example of communities completely partitioned into cliques requires for an organization to develop
independently in each clique to insure success
Trust: whether a person trusts a given leader depends heavily on whether there exist intermediary
personal contacts who can, from their own knowledge, assure him that the leader is trustworthy, and
who can, if necessary, intercede with the leader or his lieutenants on his behalf. Trust in leaders is
integrally related to the capacity to predict and affect their behaviour.
o Network fragmentation, by reducing drastically the number of paths from any leader to his
potential followers, would inhibit trust in such leaders.
West End’s social structure:
o Macro level: extremely fragmented
o Local: cohesion
, o Supposing the ties are either strong or absent and no forbidden triad for any ego, all his
friends were friends of one another, and all their friends were ego’s friends as well.
- Difficult to act toward common goals.
Principle: The more local bridges (per person?) in a community and the greater their degree, the more cohesive
the community and the more capable of acting in concert.
MICRO AND MACRO NETWORK MODELS
Meant for linkage between micro and macro levels.
Weak ties are more likely to link members of different small groups than are strong ones, which tend
to be concentrated within particular groups.
Transivity: a function of the strength of ties (according to Granovetter’s argument)
P choosing X (or X, P) is most likely when both ties, P-O and O-X, are strong, least likely when both are
weak, and of intermediate probability of one is strong and one weak.
Previous logic of transitivity: Let P choose O and O choose X
o Can only be applied when the group is small enough so that any person knows enough about
every other person to be able to decide whether to choose him, and encounters him often
enough that he feels the need for such a decision. Granovetter’s argument that includes
weak ties lessens the expectation of transivity.
CONCLUSION
Showing that the personal experience of individuals I closely bound up with larger-scale aspects of social
structure.
Weak ties are seen as indispensable to individuals’ opportunities and to their integration into communities;
strong ties, breeding local cohesion, lead to overall fragmentation.
BURT (1992)
About the competitive advantage (in getting higher rates of return on investment) that the structure of the
player’s network and the location of the player’s contacts in the social structure provide. how social
structure renders competition imperfect by creating inequal entrepreneurial opportunities.
OPPORTUNITY AND CAPITAL
Financial capital, human capital & social capital (relationships with other players) You have friends,
colleagues, and more general contacts through whom you receive opportunities to use your financial and
human capital.
The social capital of people aggregates into the social capital of organizations (people delivering a
quality product (= financial and human capital) and people who deliver clients (=social capital))
Financial Capital & Human Capital Social Capital
Ownership Property of individuals Jointly owned by the parties to a
relationship
Part of Market Production Investment Rate of return
Equation
, Ownership of social capital: when one partner withdraws from the relationship, the social capital
dissolves.
Market production equation of social capital: opportunities through social capital to transform
financial and human capital into profit.
How do only some dominate their markets?
Who? (related to network as your access to people with specific resources)
o Network structure is used to predict similarity between attitudes and behaviours
resources available to any one person in a population are contingent on the resources
available to individuals socially proximate to the person.
- Socially similar people spend time in the same places relationships emerge
more shared interests relationships are maintained
How? (how networks are themselves a form of social capital)
o Network range, indicated by size, is the primary measure.
- E.g. people with larger contact networks obtain higher-paying positions than people
with small networks
Social capital = The resources contacts hold (who?) and the structure of contacts in a network (how?).
Burt ignores the question of who to concentrate on how, because of:
o Generality
o Correlation (between who and how) To the extent that people play an active role in
shaping their relationships , then a player who knows how to structure a network to provide
high opportunity knows whom to include in the network.
NETWORK BENEFITS IN THE COMPETITIVE ARENA
BENEFIT RICH NETWORKS
INFORMATION
ACCESS, TIMING, AND REFERRALS
Who knows about these opportunities (access), when they know (timing), and who gets to participate
in them (referrals)
o Access: information is not evenly spread across the competitive arena, because players are
unevenly connected with one another, are attentive to the information pertinent to
themselves and their friends, and are all overwhelmed by the flow of information.
o Referrals: knowing whom to bring into the opportunity given a limit to the financing and
skills that we possess individually, most complex projects will require coordination with other
people as staff, colleagues, or clients.
o Timing: an early warning is an opportunity to act on the information yourself or invest it back
into the network by passing it on to a friend who could benefit from it.
o Optimal structure = more information = more rewarding opportunities = higher rates of
return
- But: logistics problem (only able to be in a limited number of places within a limited
amount of time) & legitimacy issue (you are a suspect source of information even if
you know about an opportunity and can present a solid case for why you should get
it)
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