PhD Graduate Guang Ying Mo and Professor Barry Wellman published an article in the Bulletin of Sociological Methodology that discusses the role of the concept of sequencing in social networking research. Sequencing refers to the prioritization of some network actors over others and the authors argue that this concept has important implications for understanding the connection between individual behaviour and broader social structures.
Guang Ying Mo obtained her PhD in Sociology from the University of Toronto in 2015. She is currently a postdoctoral fellow at the Ontario Telemedicine Network. Her research focuses on social networks and innovation. Barry Wellman is a retired Professor of Sociology at the University of Toronto.
We have posted the citation and the abstract of the article below. The full text is available through the University of Toronto Library Portal here.
Mo, Guang Ying and Barry Wellman. 2012. "Understanding Sequencing in Social Network Communications." BMS: Bulletin of Sociological Methodology, 113:76-87.
Sequencing is an indispensable decision-making process during information flows. This paper proposes the conceptualization of sequencing to understand how and why infor mation senders prioritize some network members when they communicate with others. We examine the usefulness of this conceptualization with data collected from GRAND, a scholarly network. The concept of sequencing enables researchers to explore the decision-making process that occurs prior to information flows and link individuals' behavior to the social context.
Read the full article here.