My previous blog entries (for e.g., in 2006 and 2007) on social network analysis (SNA) flirted with tools available in Knowledge Forum. At the time, I was focused so intensely on completing my thesis that I couldn’t delve very deeply into the literature or software (scroll down to see download links for UCINET and others). I did run some basic analyses on my iteration 2 data, however, which yielded some promising insights into studying the social relationships among key participants.
While my Ph.D. research focused more on how concepts developed over time (i.e., scaffolding online discourse for knowledge building and characterizing pivotal moments in which ideas were improved), I vowed to explore SNA again when the opportunity arose. As I indicated for the CSCL 2009 Early Career Workshop in Rhodes, I’m particularly interested in examining the interplay of relationships between ideas and the relationships between people over time. I’ll have the opportunity to present my data and explore various kinds of interaction analysis in the upcoming months, so stay tuned.
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