SONA: A relational methodology to identify structure in networks

Abstract

The study of networks has been characterized by a dualism of methods. Researchers either use interpretive methods to explore the quality of social relations, or quantitative methods to assess the formal structure of network connectivity. However, because relational and structural characteristics of networks are interdependent, we present a method for Situational Organizational Network Analysis to overcome this dualism. In sequencing and integrating qualitative, quantitative and action research techniques, SONA is designed to help unveil authentic understandings of socially meaningful structure in compliance with research ethics. Drawing on a decade of research experience we describe the workings of this integrative method and elaborate on its valued-added compared to single methods. Building on selected applications, we demonstrate how the tailored use of SONA enhances cross-validation, supports original theory-building, and empowers reflexive transformative research.

Time Banks as Transient Civic Organizations? Exploring the Dynamics of Decline

“…In concluding this, however, we should not sacrifice the value of a detailed micro-relational analysis of the social process and the structural dynamics that these practices create. At their best, researchers conducting studies on civic organization and their practices should consider mixed-method designs that combine the best of both worlds (Small, 2011;Glückler, Panitz, & Hammer, 2020). In any case, it is worthwhile and necessary to explore the empirical nature and dynamics of social practices in civic organizations more deeply, rather than limiting the debate to normative accounts of their potential virtues and liabilities.…”

Unleashing the potential of relational research: A meta-analysis of network studies in human geography

“…Despite its potential, the use of mixed-methods has been an exception rather than a rule in network research within human geography over the last decades. Combining qualitative and quantitative network analysis in mixed-method designs is still an emerging field (Crossley, 2010; Crossley and Edwards, 2016; Domínguez and Hollstein, 2014; Edwards, 2010; Glückler et al, 2020; González Canché, 2019; Nooraie et al, 2018). Recent approaches range from network ethnographies (Berthod et al, 2017), cultural network approaches (Edelmann, 2018), and the use of participant observation in formal network analysis (Conti and Doreian, 2010) to the ‘quantitization’ of qualitative content (Williams and Shepherd, 2017).…”

“…Second, in a bifocal approach (Coviello, 2005), scholars rely on qualitative methods during data collection to capture the differential meanings of social relations, whereas they mix quantitative and qualitative methods only at the stage of data analysis. Third, qualitative and quantitative methods are used at both the stage of data collection and the stage of analysis to attain the full benefits from triangulation, a strategy adopted, for instance, in the ‘Situative Organizational Network Analysis’ approach (Glückler et al, 2020). Whereas this typology refers to different types of sequencing and mixing of qualitative and quantitative methods, we would like to highlight three strategies for trading-off the tension between structure and meaning and for ensuring internal validity and potential transferability of research findings on meaningful social structure.…”

Lateral Network Governance

“…Its governance structure typifies shared governance with a jointly operated NAO (Provan & Kenis, 2008). I researched both organized networks according to the research procedure SONA-situational organizational network analysis (Glückler & Hammer, 2015;Glückler, Panitz, & Hammer, 2020)-and evaluated them for an extended period. SONA includes qualitative observation during personal and group interviews as well as quantitative data gathered with a standardized network survey and evaluated with methods of social network analysis.…”